What hardware synth would you choose?

[futures_untold]

I wouldn't mind a TB 303 to mess around with tbh

[fragments]

I've been dreaming a lot lately over hardware synths - it seems to be one of the many edges a lot of professional producers have over the rest and I was wondering what hardware synth people would choose if money was not an option.

Mini Moog? Little Phatty? Access Virus Ti2?

What do we all think of the Korg Volca series?

I love hardware synths, but it isn't an edge pros use. Though if I had the money at the moment I'd probably get a DSI Prophet or a Tempest (except I've heard they've completely ignored upgrading the OS and some features it is in dire need of). Or a Virus.

I like using a combo of hardware and software. I've always learned better using my hands and I seem to "get things" more when I have knobs to turn on a real box.

I'd also get the Korg Volca series if I had the money kicking around. I believe they are kind of meant to replace the Electribe series and a lot of their features seemed based on it. I'd love to do an album with some pedals, a small mixer and just the Volcas.

That's what I love about hardware...you choose a couple synths, a mixer and some FX and say I'm going to make an album with just these items and the limitations become the inspirations. The infinite options of the modern DAW loaded with VSTs is great and all, but it's really too much.

On the other hand you have these guys on Gearslutz with giant modular setups acting all snobby about hardware vs. software and their music is a boring ass series off blips and bloops that cost them 10K to produce ;p

Right now my setup is DSI Mopho (sequenced by Maschine), Maschine (stand alone) running 8 channels out from my interface to my mixer with hardware FX and dynamics processing routed through the mixer, recording live dubs to DAT. Having a blast. Haven't opened my DAW in months.

[ieatfunk]

Not saying one is supreme. But when it comes time to weigh the cost vs any perceived sonic improvements, it seems like a massive waste of money unless you've already got a pretty competent studio set up with near perfect monitoring and good conversion.

I'd say software can emulate analog to about 98%, whereas analog's ability to do the inverse is severely limited. The modulation is an issue as well, automating parameters is a pretty big pain in the ass and requires re-recording audio with every change you make. Were money not an issue though, I'd probably pick up a few analog synths just for the fun factor. I just don't see it as a wise investment if you're lacking other things that I'd prioritize over a synth.

You're just continuously arguing about emulation, like it's the most important factor, when it's actually pretty irrelevant. AGAIN, going back to how I NEVER mentioned having to choose between hardware or software and just use the one you pick - what I'm saying is that it seems a lot of the known producers, not just in EDM, use hardware synths. That, and it's pretty much fact that digital is cold and analog is warm

[Genevieve]

what I'm saying is that it seems a lot of the known producers, not just in EDM, use hardware synths. That, and it's pretty much fact that digital is cold and analog is warm

Oh my god.

[ieatfunk]

what I'm saying is that it seems a lot of the known producers, not just in EDM, use hardware synths. That, and it's pretty much fact that digital is cold and analog is warm

Oh my god.

Lol problem?
Fantastic input to the debate by the way

[Genevieve]

There's little debate, your argumentation is just so dogmatic. "The pros do it"? 'Pros' doesn't mean shit, pros are people like us, who ended up getting paid for what they do, who were also subject to the same biases and misinformation we are subjected to. And the 'warmth' thing is all in our heads. 'Warmth' is a nicer way of saying 'subdued high end, more saturation'. Which isn't to say that those are bad qualities. I low-pass and saturate things too. But 'warmth' is the excuse traditionalists came up with to keep pushing analog gear on younger engineers. You see the same thing in the movie industry where older directors are staunchly anti-digital cameras.

Digital audio can be as "warm". Or ever listened to '80s acid house or hard industrial techno from the '90s? That was all analog gear and it sounds colder than a witch's tit. And then, the cold industrial feel suited the music.

If people feel there's a subjective advantage to using analog or hardware gear that is worth the cost then I will not argue them. It's not my artistic choice (right now) but I also make artistic choices they wouldn't make. But almost all "gear", software or hardware, will have some preferened unique tonal qualities. "Hardware" as a group doesn't have an objective advantage over software in this regard. Some freeware synths sound great, some expensive hardware can sound pretty shoddy.

Hardware can also be a bit of a "status symbol". Beats headphones are shitty as fuck, but really expensive and Benga rocks them in his live sets. Though a pair of Sennheiser HD-25s that cost only a fraction of Beats do blow them out of the water. Would you suggest Beats to DJ because Benga, a pro, uses it?

DISCLAIMER TO ANYONE READING THIS WHO FEELS OFFENDED I AM NOT SAYING HERE THAT EVERYONE BUYS HARDWARE AS A STATUS SYMBOL, IF YOU DON'T DO IT FOR THAT REASON THEN YOU SHOULDN'T FEEL ATTACKED BECAUSE IT CLEARLY WASN'T AIMED AT YOU. BUT HARDWARE IS EXPENSIVE AND WE KNOW A LOT OF PEOPLE BUY THINGS FOR THAT REASON ALONE.

[ieatfunk]

There's little debate, your argumentation is just so dogmatic. "The pros do it"? 'Pros' doesn't mean shit, pros are people like us, who ended up getting paid for what they do, who were also subject to the same biases and misinformation we are subjected to. And the 'warmth' thing is all in our heads. 'Warmth' is a nicer way of saying 'subdued high end, more saturation'. Which isn't to say that those are bad qualities. I low-pass and saturate things too. But 'warmth' is the excuse traditionalists came up with to keep pushing analog gear on younger engineers. You see the same thing in the movie industry where older directors are staunchly anti-digital cameras.

Digital audio can be as "warm". Or ever listened to '80s acid house or hard industrial techno from the '90s? That was all analog gear and it sounds colder than a witch's tit. And then, the cold industrial feel suited the music.

If people feel there's a subjective advantage to using analog or hardware gear that is worth the cost then I will not argue them. It's not my artistic choice (right now) but I also make artistic choices they wouldn't make. But almost all "gear", software or hardware, will have some preferened unique tonal qualities. "Hardware" as a group doesn't have an objective advantage over software in this regard. Some freeware synths sound great, some expensive hardware can sound pretty shoddy.

Hardware can also be a bit of a "status symbol". Beats headphones are shitty as fuck, but really expensive and Benga rocks them in his live sets. Though a pair of Sennheiser HD-25s that cost only a fraction of Beats do blow them out of the water. Would you suggest Beats to DJ because Benga, a pro, uses it?

DISCLAIMER TO ANYONE READING THIS WHO FEELS OFFENDED I AM NOT SAYING HERE THAT EVERYONE BUYS HARDWARE AS A STATUS SYMBOL, IF YOU DON'T DO IT FOR THAT REASON THEN YOU SHOULDN'T FEEL ATTACKED BECAUSE IT CLEARLY WASN'T AIMED AT YOU. BUT HARDWARE IS EXPENSIVE AND WE KNOW A LOT OF PEOPLE BUY THINGS FOR THAT REASON ALONE.

As professionals are those being paid, they're obviously considered more of an authority in the industry than us, hence why we all watch hours of videos of these pros producing, or reading the many many pages of that Noisia Q&A from a few years back on DOA.
And the actually, DJTECHTOOLS voted one pair of the Beats as the best DJing headphones of the year... so it would seem that Benga and DJTECHTOOLS agree against you... I have no say because I have not tried either of them.

But for hardware, I get what you're saying about a status symbol, but the analog sound shouldn't be so easily discarded as "subdued high end, more saturation". If you take a a single saw in Massive, subdue the high end and add saturation, then do that on a piece of hardware, which do you think will sound better?
Also, you bring up the 80's acid house and 90's industrial techno, but you seem to forget that the hardware could have been manipulated to sound like that. Getting rid of warmth is easy.

ALSO, there's something to be said for the workflow of hardware gear, sitting there twiddling knobs on hardware is a lot more involving than sitting infront of Sylenth or FM8 dragging your mouse around.

[sburton84]

Even if the modelling is imperfect, by the time a producer has added effects to ensure the general qualities of the sound match those from a hardware synth, the end result is the same.

Theoretically, yeah. But in practice that 'add effects' part of a lot more complicated than it sounds, if you want to really emulate an analog sound. We'll be able to do it one day though, if we can't already; some VSTs like Diva are getting probably about as close as makes much difference.

[Genevieve]

As professionals are those being paid, they're obviously considered more of an authority in the industry than us, hence why we all watch hours of videos of these pros producing, or reading the many many pages of that Noisia Q&A from a few years back on DOA.

But you are not considering whether that authority is deserved or not. Skrillex barely knew how to produce on his first release and the sounds are pretty shit to my ears and he got a release. Most dubstep til around 2005/2006 doesn't have the production value the tunes that are being produced by board members here have, and that got release as well.

I've read that Noisia QNA because they know what they're doing, not because they get paid for it.

And the actually, DJTECHTOOLS voted one pair of the Beats as the best DJing headphones of the year... so it would seem that Benga and DJTECHTOOLS agree against you... I have no say because I have not tried either of them.

From what I know about DJTechtools, they're hype machines that want to sell products on their site.

But for hardware, I get what you're saying about a status symbol, but the analog sound shouldn't be so easily discarded as "subdued high end, more saturation". If you take a a single saw in Massive, subdue the high end and add saturation, then do that on a piece of hardware, which do you think will sound better?

Subjective

Also, you bring up the 80's acid house and 90's industrial techno, but you seem to forget that the hardware could have been manipulated to sound like that. Getting rid of warmth is easy.

That's what I'm saying. Hardware or software doesn't matter, what you do with it does. And both can produce a sound that is subjectively warm or cold.

ALSO, there's something to be said for the workflow of hardware gear, sitting there twiddling knobs on hardware is a lot more involving than sitting infront of Sylenth or FM8 dragging your mouse around.

Subjective

[Crimsonghost]

I'd love to get a mopho or sub phatty. Problem is right now I can't justify spending $1000 on a synth when I can get similar (NOT identical, so save your nerd rage) results with something that costs significantly less and doesn't take up any more room in my studio.

[fragments]

I'd love to get a mopho or sub phatty. Problem is right now I can't justify spending $1000 on a synth when I can get similar (NOT identical, so save your nerd rage) results with something that costs significantly less and doesn't take up any more room in my studio.

Man, you can get Mopho desktops (which take up zero space, I own one) for like 250-300 USD used. Moogs do sound great, but they are fucking expensive for what they are IMO. If you already have a MIDI keyboard or like to program MIDI in your DAW with a mouse the Mopho desktop will probably integrate fine into your workflow. Quite often I program my MIDI sequences on my Mopho either with Maschine or FL Studio...both are a matter of a few clicks.

I'm sure I'd love having more dedicated knobs on the Mopho Keyboard, but the Mopho is a two osc monophonic synth and the menu diving is a breeze. If you make bass music do yourself a favor and buy a used Mopho. Not to mention if you do, you just bought yourself pretty raw/dirty analog low pass filter you can run any of your sounds through.

The Aturia Minibrute and new Korg MS20 are something to look into as well as far as analog monosynths. Neither of those will break the bank.

[Crimsonghost]

Man, you can get Mopho desktops (which take up zero space, I own one) for like 250-300 USD used. Moogs do sound great, but they are fucking expensive for what they are IMO. If you already have a MIDI keyboard or like to program MIDI in your DAW with a mouse the Mopho desktop will probably integrate fine into your workflow. Quite often I program my MIDI sequences on my Mopho either with Maschine or FL Studio...both are a matter of a few clicks.

You actually just answered all my questions about the desktop mopho

I just wasn't sure how easy the integration was. Also nice to know it gets along with Maschine.

[fragments]

Man, you can get Mopho desktops (which take up zero space, I own one) for like 250-300 USD used. Moogs do sound great, but they are fucking expensive for what they are IMO. If you already have a MIDI keyboard or like to program MIDI in your DAW with a mouse the Mopho desktop will probably integrate fine into your workflow. Quite often I program my MIDI sequences on my Mopho either with Maschine or FL Studio...both are a matter of a few clicks.

You actually just answered all my questions about the desktop mopho

I just wasn't sure how easy the integration was. Also nice to know it gets along with Maschine.

Good! Yea, at least in FL Studio I just use that MIDI Out VST and set it to the correct channel, boom. Done. Also remember the Mopho has four "variable" knobs that you can assign any parameter too. I can't keep track of much more than four parameters when tweaking controls to dub a stem.

If you have more questions feel free to drop me a PM.

[ieatfunk]

I'd love to get a mopho or sub phatty. Problem is right now I can't justify spending $1000 on a synth when I can get similar (NOT identical, so save your nerd rage) results with something that costs significantly less and doesn't take up any more room in my studio.

Man, you can get Mopho desktops (which take up zero space, I own one) for like 250-300 USD used. Moogs do sound great, but they are fucking expensive for what they are IMO. If you already have a MIDI keyboard or like to program MIDI in your DAW with a mouse the Mopho desktop will probably integrate fine into your workflow. Quite often I program my MIDI sequences on my Mopho either with Maschine or FL Studio...both are a matter of a few clicks.

I'm sure I'd love having more dedicated knobs on the Mopho Keyboard, but the Mopho is a two osc monophonic synth and the menu diving is a breeze. If you make bass music do yourself a favor and buy a used Mopho. Not to mention if you do, you just bought yourself pretty raw/dirty analog low pass filter you can run any of your sounds through.

The Aturia Minibrute and new Korg MS20 are something to look into as well as far as analog monosynths. Neither of those will break the bank.

I've been wondering the quality of the Mopho vs these new Volca. Considering the Volca bass is a 3 osc polyphonic at under $150

[fragments]

I'd love to get a mopho or sub phatty. Problem is right now I can't justify spending $1000 on a synth when I can get similar (NOT identical, so save your nerd rage) results with something that costs significantly less and doesn't take up any more room in my studio.

Man, you can get Mopho desktops (which take up zero space, I own one) for like 250-300 USD used. Moogs do sound great, but they are fucking expensive for what they are IMO. If you already have a MIDI keyboard or like to program MIDI in your DAW with a mouse the Mopho desktop will probably integrate fine into your workflow. Quite often I program my MIDI sequences on my Mopho either with Maschine or FL Studio...both are a matter of a few clicks.

I'm sure I'd love having more dedicated knobs on the Mopho Keyboard, but the Mopho is a two osc monophonic synth and the menu diving is a breeze. If you make bass music do yourself a favor and buy a used Mopho. Not to mention if you do, you just bought yourself pretty raw/dirty analog low pass filter you can run any of your sounds through.

The Aturia Minibrute and new Korg MS20 are something to look into as well as far as analog monosynths. Neither of those will break the bank.

I've been wondering the quality of the Mopho vs these new Volca. Considering the Volca bass is a 3 osc polyphonic at under $150

From what I've seen in the Volca videos the bass synth looks pretty bad ass for 150, but if I had to choose I'd stick with my Mopho. Mopho has way more modulation options that probably allow it to have a richer sound pallet despite the lack of polyphony. I could be wrong though as I've not used the Volca Bass. Hoping guitar center gets them in the store so I can try them out though. I'm holding off on the Volca series for the moment as I have those bases covered in my studio already.

[ieatfunk]

I'd love to get a mopho or sub phatty. Problem is right now I can't justify spending $1000 on a synth when I can get similar (NOT identical, so save your nerd rage) results with something that costs significantly less and doesn't take up any more room in my studio.

Man, you can get Mopho desktops (which take up zero space, I own one) for like 250-300 USD used. Moogs do sound great, but they are fucking expensive for what they are IMO. If you already have a MIDI keyboard or like to program MIDI in your DAW with a mouse the Mopho desktop will probably integrate fine into your workflow. Quite often I program my MIDI sequences on my Mopho either with Maschine or FL Studio...both are a matter of a few clicks.

I'm sure I'd love having more dedicated knobs on the Mopho Keyboard, but the Mopho is a two osc monophonic synth and the menu diving is a breeze. If you make bass music do yourself a favor and buy a used Mopho. Not to mention if you do, you just bought yourself pretty raw/dirty analog low pass filter you can run any of your sounds through.

The Aturia Minibrute and new Korg MS20 are something to look into as well as far as analog monosynths. Neither of those will break the bank.

I've been wondering the quality of the Mopho vs these new Volca. Considering the Volca bass is a 3 osc polyphonic at under $150

From what I've seen in the Volca videos the bass synth looks pretty bad ass for 150, but if I had to choose I'd stick with my Mopho. Mopho has way more modulation options that probably allow it to have a richer sound pallet despite the lack of polyphony. I could be wrong though as I've not used the Volca Bass. Hoping guitar center gets them in the store so I can try them out though. I'm holding off on the Volca series for the moment as I have those bases covered in my studio already.

Yeah, not much on the side of modulation, I believe they have a single LFO and a single filter

[TheReptilianElite]

Moog is always a win! Especially for bass. But! Start off with something affordable that can also do the trick musically and creatively. Try a Korg Ms-20. Or an Arturia minibrute. Both priced reasonably and also deliver only what you can conjure up creatively. They are monophonic. Not sure if that's you gig.

[fragments]

Moog is always a win! Especially for bass. But! Start off with something affordable that can also do the trick musically and creatively. Try a Korg Ms-20. Or an Arturia minibrute. Both priced reasonably and also deliver only what you can conjure up creatively. They are monophonic. Not sure if that's you gig.

Moog is good, don't get me wrong. But if I was buying an analog monosynth I'd consider something else. When looking at price/features/sound versus price point, Moog doesn't do anything for me that DSI, Arturia, Vermona, or Korg doesn't do for me. And now with the Volca Bass coming in at 150ish all Moog really has to stand behind is a name...not a product that has kept up with the times.

The DSI Mopho does everything from absolutely RAW bass sounds (which you can layer and resample in your DAW) to smooth as fuck 808 style percs. And you can get them from 250-300USD. And you are getting an analog LPF to run all your stems/samples through.

[ieatfunk]

Moog is always a win! Especially for bass. But! Start off with something affordable that can also do the trick musically and creatively. Try a Korg Ms-20. Or an Arturia minibrute. Both priced reasonably and also deliver only what you can conjure up creatively. They are monophonic. Not sure if that's you gig.

Moog is good, don't get me wrong. But if I was buying an analog monosynth I'd consider something else. When looking at price/features/sound versus price point, Moog doesn't do anything for me that DSI, Arturia, Vermona, or Korg doesn't do for me. And now with the Volca Bass coming in at 150ish all Moog really has to stand behind is a name...not a product that has kept up with the times.

The DSI Mopho does everything from absolutely RAW bass sounds (which you can layer and resample in your DAW) to smooth as fuck 808 style percs. And you can get them from 250-300USD. And you are getting an analog LPF to run all your stems/samples through.

Yeah, when people think hardware they think of all the insanely expensive old, famous gear, when there's lost of stuff out there these days that can compete for great pricing. I'm definitely considering a DSI Mopho or the Volca Bass

[wub]

Solution - only buy cheap hardware. Can't think of anything I've bought in terms of hardware that cost more than £100, and most of it was in the <£35 bracket (Montron, 3630, Midiverb, Kaossilator etc)