First hard synth ideas?

[Wiu]

Micro and Minibrutes etc are very fun and intuitive to use, but at the same time you can't save patches and are very dry sounding (which is not something that will keep me away from it as my next purchase).

This is exactly why I love the Minibrute and other synths that can't store presets or don't have a load of effects onboard. Every time I use the Minibrute I have to tweak until I get a nice sound and then just record it. If I want to add effects I'll run it through some pedals or add some in my DAW.

[Hades]

you know you can do the not save thing with synths that do make you save stuff.

I think I've hardly saved more than 5 drum kits on my Xbase888.
I just record the audio and don't bother to save unless it's really something massive I won't be able to find back.
Ever since I got my Fizmo out of storage I've been doing the same thing.
It keeps you more on edge, so to say.
And it pushes you inevitably forward...

[Macca]

One last thing from me, or ill end up being homeless with just a bunch of hardware that ill never sell because i love too much.
Anyone tried/like/recommened/dont reccomened the mbase 11?

[UN!T]

For synths that have no patch storage simply take a photo of the settings of the settings.

Waldorf Blofeld sampling option is only available in the keys version I believe.

[tdmusic]

Nah, pretty sure Blofeld sampling option is available on both, but you do have to pay for it. However I've read mixed reviews of it, apparently the sample loading process is really clunky (you have to load the whole set of samples every time rather than just uploading a new one when you fancy it) and slow because it's over MIDI, so maybe not worth it...

[UN!T]

You are correct, it is available on the desk top version too. Wasn't sure about that. 60 Megs is not a lot. Still its better than a kick in the nuts.

I don't understand why it needs to use sysex for sample transfer though. It has a USB port on it.

[Senko]

Just to keep the thread alive and not having to post a new one, what's a good recommendation for a poly synth with midi for a budget of roughly $1k? I'm a sucker for older Shed-esque sounds if that means anything

[Hades]

any youtube video's for the sounds you want ?
That might give us a better idea.

I'm under the impression Shed uses a lot of sampling btw.


And with 1000 you have a LOT of options.
You want new or used ?
keys or rack/desktop ?
you want a lot of knobs/sliders or you can live with menu-diving ?
You just want RA/VA or you're willing to get more exotic ?
you need stuff like arpeggiator or step sequencer ?
...

[Senko]

any youtube video's for the sounds you want ?
That might give us a better idea.

I'm under the impression Shed uses a lot of sampling btw.


And with 1000 you have a LOT of options.
You want new or used ?
keys or rack/desktop ?
you want a lot of knobs/sliders or you can live with menu-diving ?
You just want RA/VA or you're willing to get more exotic ?
you need stuff like arpeggiator or step sequencer ?
...

I'm up for new or used and preferably a rack, but if worst comes to worst i'll be totally fine with a fully-functional keyboard. I can live with menu-diving, but this will be my first hard synth so i'm guessing the plethora of knobs would benefit me. I'm a fan of both VA and RA, such as Waldorf XTK, Poly61, and then Polysix and Prophet 5. Chord memory + Arpeggiator is a major major major plus, but totally cool if those aren't present. I just want something with the sound i'm looking for. Everything else i'm willing to live with, even if it's a FM synth with a tiny little screen.

At the moment it seems as if Korg synths are the closest ones that will have what i'm looking for.

These are my personal favorite and these are the sounds i'm going for.

youtu.be/Yo5A44qltmk
youtu.be/fJlAXZgLdFs
youtu.be/hNpeVgpa_oU
youtu.be/OsgyBq8uvsY

[Hades]

I'll get back to this when my kids aren't disturbing me every 5 seconds like the last 15 minutes now,
but you can most definitely forget about a prophet 5 for 1000$.
and I do suspect the "sound you're looking for" isn't just one type of synth,
it's just clever patch programming, in sheds case probably even clever sampling.

[Senko]

There just seems to be some type of commonality with the synth work in those tracks. It just doesn't come off as a bog 106 to me. Of course it's processed to all hell, but still. Anything similar to the chords in Red Planet Express or Selection One would be great. For the moment the prime candidate seems to be a modded poly with Kiwisix upgrade, but I'm really open to every other option.

[oddmyth]

Like sampling? Shed has professed that he works in the box and is a huge sampling nerd.

Not to say that he's always done that or he did that for those tracks, but I wouldn't go spending duckets on synths in an attempt to achieve the sound of someone else.

The best part of Shed to me, is the sound he achieves, and it's across everything in his tracks which leads me to believe it has much more to do with mixing and mastering than it does with a synth.

[Senko]

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to copy Shed. I just genuinely enjoy those 70's style synth sounds.

[UN!T]

Yeah he mentions no hardware in his studio in the car interview.

What I notice about these tracks is the careful use of nice reverb. In the 4th track he kills the verb @45 seconds then brings it back a little later then kills it again towards the end. I agree with what Oddmyth says about production values.

I don't think you will be able to find an Xtk for $1K. A 10 voice rack Xt, yes that is about right on the mark. Maybe a little more maybe a little less. You never know.

A Prophet 5 is not going to happen at 1K or less unless you find it at a garage sale or in an alley. Best of luck. You can barely buy a Pro One for 1K. Closer to 1500-2K for one in good shape. Honestly I don't think you want a Pro-5 as your first synth. That is a scary idea. I think a Prophet 08 would be a better option. Financially and in terms of functionality not to mention maintenance.

[Senko]

I figured as much with the Prophet. Their prices are insane! Not so sure a prophet would be my go to anyways though. The synths I listed are just ones I like. Yeah I saw a XTK rack with custom add-ons go for $700, but I missed it by a couple days. But the big question is whether or not they can achieve that classic Boards of Canada sound.

@ 1:15

youtu.be/tDyuqBStHDY

[Hades]

at work here, can't immediately check the youtube links now,
but if you mean that over-used drifting melancholic BOC lead,
that's just using an LFO to modulate your pitch.
Seriously, just dial in a patch with 2 oscillators , detune them to your likings, close the filter enough,
obviously high sustain and some release, add some reverb, maybe a little bit of delay if you want,
but just make sure you route an (slow !!) LFO to your pitch.
That's all it is to get that drifting sound that made them famous.

[Hades]

any VA/RA synth can do that btw, VST's or HW

[Hades]

oh yeah, if I'd have to buy a polyphonic typical subtractive HW synth nowadays,
I'd get a prophet 08.
If you buy a rack, you can get one for around 1200 euro's I think.

I've had many HW synths over the years (I think I'm at 28 by now), some vintage, some new,
so I'm not gonna say I'm an expert, but I've seen quite a few,
and when I once played a prophet 08 in a store for a few hours about 2 years ago, I was really blown away by how warm it sounded (I know I know, cliché adjective to use), nice big round sound, very easy to program, covers a big sound range,...

In my opionion you can't go wrong with a Prophet 08.

[Senko]

oh yeah, if I'd have to buy a polyphonic typical subtractive HW synth nowadays,
I'd get a prophet 08.
If you buy a rack, you can get one for around 1200 euro's I think.

I've had many HW synths over the years (I think I'm at 28 by now), some vintage, some new,
so I'm not gonna say I'm an expert, but I've seen quite a few,
and when I once played a prophet 08 in a store for a few hours about 2 years ago, I was really blown away by how warm it sounded (I know I know, cliché adjective to use), nice big round sound, very easy to program, covers a big sound range,...

In my opionion you can't go wrong with a Prophet 08.

I'll take a look at the Prophet 08 and do a bit of research on it. Get back to me if you ever get a chance to listen to some of the vids.

And yes the XTK and P5 are def out of my price range seems like, maybe in the future. Having little to no experience with synthesis at all, I don't get much from listening to those clips as far as the engineering behind it. Couldn't tell you if it was monophonic or polyphonic, but I just know that I like what i'm hearing and willing to learn how to get similar lush synths and so forth.

[UN!T]

I figured as much with the Prophet. Their prices are insane! Not so sure a prophet would be my go to anyways though. The synths I listed are just ones I like. Yeah I saw a XTK rack with custom add-ons go for $700, but I missed it by a couple days. But the big question is whether or not they can achieve that classic Boards of Canada sound.

@ 1:15

youtu.be/tDyuqBStHDY

Yeah you're preaching to the choir with that. ^^^

BoC? Seems some people are quite interested in the secret sauce.
http://bocpages.org/wiki/Equipment