Synth advice

aen · Post by **aen** » Wed May 23, 2012 3:39 pm

lorez wrote:
aen wrote:I hate to be that guy, but what about soft synths? Its a great way to do it. Then when you get really hooked on synthesis you can make better hardware choices for your particular pallette.
i might test this out but my only computer these days is a really old ibook. I will take a look later what I can get working on there and the cost of an adapter

Well, that's the big drawback, is that even if your softsynths work perfectly today, no doubt you will update one thing, then another and another and in a couple years your computer can't handle it's own goddamn operating system, much less your bleep bloop machines.

So in your case, unless you plan on upgrading your computer every couple years, i would go hardware. Pretty hard to beat the microkorg in terms of bang for your buck. Tiny keys though.

lorez · Post by **lorez** » Wed May 23, 2012 3:46 pm

thats the problem aen, only use the ipad at home now really. I might see if I can get anything running on the ibook though. I used to use reaper on it for recording and stuff. as you said for messing about with to begin with it should suffice. Other option is to look for a controller for the ipad for things like animoog.

aen · Post by **aen** » Wed May 23, 2012 4:16 pm

FANCY http://www.musiciansfriend.com/keyboard ... -ipad-dock

LESS FANCY http://www.musiciansfriend.com/keyboard ... -mobilizer

lorez · Post by **lorez** » Wed May 23, 2012 5:06 pm

Cheers aen, that fancy one looks pretty interesting. Time to watch demos tonight I think

MikeG · Post by **MikeG** » Wed May 23, 2012 5:08 pm

The Miniak is great. Bought mine when the priced crashed a couple of years ago.

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Thu May 24, 2012 3:05 am

Seriously, Microkorg is the standard for a reason. For every 20 sounds the Micron has, the Microkorg has 2 that are ALL YOU NEED. So many bands use it for both recording and touring-that should tell you something. Despite being a digital modelling synth I can spot it on recorded albums. If you pay attention to the synth world at all you know that technology gets old fast. Usually models have a lifespan of about 5 years before being replaced by the next big thing, or at least a significant price drop, but the Microkorg has been kicking for nearly 10 years and still selling like hotcakes at $400 new. Again. Good reason. It's the best synthesizer of our generation.

It does everything you need and nothing you don't. It has a tiny footprint. It sounds epic and is easy to use. It's roadworthy. Holds resale value.

Who uses a fucking Micron? In fact who would use ANY OTHER MODERN ULTRAPORTABLE SYNTH when you can get a Microkorg for the same price? Seriously the shit's like $200 used all day on eBay and everyone should own one.

My only gripe is there's no sustain pedal, which I like as a guitar player because I can drone notes and chords while I shift back to guitar...but the benefits of the MK outweigh lugging around my Yamaha MO6 for most shows.

lorez · Post by **lorez** » Thu May 24, 2012 9:17 am

ok played about on the mac last night trying to find some soft synths to work with it but as its an old power pc based one things weren't fruitful, more searching and then to start looking at gumtree & ebay for prices of some 2nd hand bits I think

thanks for your help though guys, its been really useful

timhulio · Post by **timhulio** » Thu May 24, 2012 9:56 am

I got a Korg R3 for about Â£300 used a couple of months ago. It's got proper sized keys and everything, while remaining portable. Sadly I've not have a spare moment to play the thing since I got it

paul_ · Post by **paul_** » Thu May 24, 2012 7:47 pm

I bought an Akai Miniak when they were $200 last year. Love it.

avj · Post by **avj** » Fri May 25, 2012 6:15 pm

Here was my take on this topic about three years ago. There were fewer options then, but I know I made the right choice.

Thoughts on the Alesis Micron synth...

First, to address the Micron vs. microKORG battle that wages on, I stand by my assessments made in that thread and elsewhere. Here's how I see it, simply stated: the Micron is a much more capable synth and feels much nicer to play than the microKORG, but the learning curve is a bit steeper because you have far more going on feature-wise. The microKORG is a simple, easy-to-use synth with baby keys and easier to get going on right away. While I agree with Nick's points about the microKORG's longevity and ubiquity, I can't help but view it as the Squier "Stop Dreaming, Start Playing" Starter Pack of synthesis. (I'll probably end up with one someday.)

If you're interested in complex synthesis and want to really nerd out, the Micron would be a much better fit; if you want to make cool sounds and don't give a shit how, the microKORG would be the way to go.

This guy's videos completely sold me on the Micron:

Gtechture on YouTube

Having said all that, my vote for you would be to get something to interface with the iPad. After buying my Moog LP, I sold the Micron to fund other things because I wasn't really using it for anything other than Moog sounds at that point and it was terribly underutilized. I had been vaguely looking around at compact hardware synths again to bring some polyphony back to my setup but never settled on anything.

When I saw the email from Moog about Animoog on the morning of its release (coincidentally my birthday), I went and bought an iPad later that day. I could never really justify the cost of an iPad, but here was an opportunity to buy a portable device to use not only for Animoog, but for ReBirth, iMS-20, Sunrizer, and other great soft-synth apps. For a bit more than the cost of about one fancy new hardware modeling synth, the iPad was well worth it and it's become an important part of my setup.

I've since purchased the $30 Apple Camera Connection Kit to use my Novation ReMote 25 LE with the iPad, but I've been waiting for that damned Akai SynthStation 49 that aen linked; for me, that's going to be a dream.

A quick note: if you decide to get the Line 6 Midi interface, be sure to get version II! The one aen linked is slightly cheaper, but it doesn't support iOS's CoreMIDI -- meaning you can only use it with their crappy synth apps. Also, the Alesis iO Dock may look tempting, but Alesis seem to have really fucked their userbase by not creating a version that works properly with iOS 5. It would be an amazingly useful piece of hardware if not for that.

Let us know what you decide!

rodvonbon · Post by **rodvonbon** » Sat May 26, 2012 1:46 am

The Roland SH-201 seems a descent starter synth and HERE is one on eBay that the seller misspelled as a SH-210. It's only got a couple bids with 20 hours left. I have never played one, but looks to have okay features for a starter and has usb midi built in.
Actually, piss on it - if it stays under $250 I might bid on it myself.
[youtube][/youtube]

lorez · Post by **lorez** » Sun May 27, 2012 8:12 am

AVJ thanks for the tips I think I'll explore the iPad possibilities further.

Rob, I'll see what the going rate for those in the uk are

lorez · Post by **lorez** » Mon Jun 18, 2012 1:03 pm

rodvonbon wrote:The Roland SH-201 seems a descent starter synth and HERE is one on eBay that the seller misspelled as a SH-210. It's only got a couple bids with 20 hours left. I have never played one, but looks to have okay features for a starter and has usb midi built in.
Actually, piss on it - if it stays under $250 I might bid on it myself.
[youtube][/youtube]

I had a play with the Gaia SH-101 yesterday and really liked all the knob twiddling I could do with it and get some great sounds out of it. i also tried the korg R3 as well which is similar. Now these are way over the budget I was considering