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I m thinking of adding one to my setup cos so far iv just been using cracked vsts and i reckon evry1 does so i want to get something else. I was thinking of koscillator pro, any1 got it? do you know if you can make your own patches from scratch? thats an option.
Will consider anything around the £300 mark tho any recommendations? what r u using?
inspirations mount kimbie, james blake, actress etc ...

For 300 pounds I'd stick with software and save some more.

If I were you I'd also research the subject heavily. Google is your friend for this kind of query

big producers only use massive crack

Doepfer Dark energy; £349
Thing is sick, it is great at making actress, ect... type sounds. It has a pure analogue sound, and has a semi-modular interface.
http://www.doepfer.de/Dark_Energy_e.htm

Dave Smith mopho; £255
Nic puree analogue soun,d comes with good presets, has a nice vintage sound with a little modern twisted. I don't like the interface, and found it a bit of a pain to program when i had a go on one.
http://www.davesmithinstruments.com/products/mopho/

I would choose one of these two over the korg, it might be worth having a look at the micro korg aswell, but im not a fan of digital hardware btw...

thanks man i ll check them both out iv tried the micro korg and i dont much fancy it myself : /

Alesis Micron Synthesizer £299

microKORG £299

i still love my micron to death

If i were you i'd save up a bit more and get a mopho keyboard especially if it's your first hardware synth your gonna want all those dials right in front of you and the mopho stand alone sounds like a bitch to program using their editor.

chewie wrote:If i were you i'd save up a bit more and get a mopho keyboard especially if it's your first hardware synth your gonna want all those dials right in front of you and the mopho stand alone sounds like a bitch to program using their editor.

Yeah, especially if you don't have a midi keyboard yet.

But I think I would still get the dark energy + a cheap midi keyboard.

DZA wrote:Alesis Micron Synthesizer £299

microKORG £299

I have both and they are great. The micron is a beast and if your keen into programming you can make almost all the sounds your looking for. It can be hard work, butt its got full size keys and its a bargain, you can usually get them second hand for under 200 pounds. microkorg is more simple, and easier to use, however you hear a lot of people using the same sounds with it. still fucking ace toy.

Just get 6 Korg Monotrons

I've played with a couple KORG's in bestbuy and they seem really cool and sound good. Why not just pick up a nice vst? Wouldn't that be easier than having to route and sample the synth? Moog's look pretty sick as well.

A hardware synth isn't gonna make you a better producer, stay software for a while.

For me having a hardware synth let me figure out the whole synthesis thing quicker. While i can get the same results with software i miss the hands on feel. Sound wise theyre almost the same but some purists would disagree. i dont really care about that side of things but hands on control matters to me. Ive had novations that are completely mapped out but still find my workflow isnt as good.

Either way you can get results with both. You can record midi of most hardware synths anyway so that side doesnt matter.

You still have to know the basics of synthesis before you're able to even figure out which parameters control what. Buying a hardware synth is not gonna do shit for you if you don't know the basics of LFO's, Envelopes, Different Wave types, Filters, etc.

soosh21 wrote:For me having a hardware synth let me figure out the whole synthesis thing quicker. While i can get the same results with software i miss the hands on feel.

This boys this....

therook wrote:You still have to know the basics of synthesis before you're able to even figure out which parameters control what. Buying a hardware synth is not gonna do shit for you if you don't know the basics of LFO's, Envelopes, Different Wave types, Filters, etc.

Thats true but i worked things out quicker being able to tweak them easier with hardware. You still need to read up, look at manuals, internet etc....but clicking with your mouse in submenus etc can put people off and its quite daunting at first. Either way, im using both software and hardware together so not an fanboy of either.

I like the dark energy, can you just connect it straight to mac and use the sounds and record as midi or does it go in as audio?

You can do both. Depends on what hardware though, really old school synths, it would be audio only. All newer ones, midi and audio.

I just got 4 vintage synths for a little more than your budget - lots of good stuff in that range:

New:
Alesis Micron
Dave Smith Mopho
Dave Smith Evolver
Doepfer Dark Energy
Korg MicroKorg
Vermona Lancet


Old:
Roland Junos
Akai AX or VX series
Yamaha DX or TX series
Korg Poly Series