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... i was wondering how many Producers actually use hardware synths to make their wobbles. i'm considering trying a virus snow. has anybody got any experience with that? can you make wobbles with a blofeld?

virus is good but i know some of my friends have had synch issues and problemns with the internal effecTS

i'm always raving on about novation [lovely filters]

old junos are great, ms20...um microsynth apparently has crunchy low end

anything analog with a midi retrofit would be a good start too

I've had a virus b, and now the virus powercore. Don't bother with virus for bass unless you wanna make trance music.

If your looking down the hardware route I would defo +1 for the Juno, it can do thundering sine waves.

My ultimate favourite synth for monster bass is the Sequential Circuits Pro1, but these are mega expensive.

theonelikepaul wrote:I've had a virus b, and now the virus powercore. Don't bother with virus for bass unless you wanna make trance music.

If your looking down the hardware route I would defo +1 for the Juno, it can do thundering sine waves.

My ultimate favourite synth for monster bass is the Sequential Circuits Pro1, but these are mega expensive.

ah yer all sequential circuits is pretty dope, obv if you can get hold of any [prophet v has memory recall i belive?] then thas good, but auturia's version is rather good

this is what use

mega bass and spidif out as well

it's pretty inexpensive and you can purchase the Xio-synth and it has the same synth engine (as most novations share the same engine)

ezz

FSTZ wrote:
it's pretty inexpensive and you can purchase the Xio-synth and it has the same synth engine (as most novations share the same engine)

ezz

yes i use novation xiosynth in my band, lovely pieca kit, is also soundcard too |

great filters... some functions fuck me off... no way to assign lfo speed to mod wheel... x/y pad only really does a few things... lack of external input... no modulation matrix.

but

it's great still

... thanks for the info.

that's really dissapointing to hear about the virus i was hoping you could do some nice bass like caspa or something similiar.

i quite like the idea of those little desktop synths. i don't really want the keys.. for me size and portability is what matters more. at the Moment i use massive, Albino and predator the most. but is too much of a struggle to get to that full, crunchy and very deep analog Sound.

i don't really want to start with a huge, expensive analog thing, either. maybe the juno or novation could be an option, if you can get good Bass out of it. are the lfo's nice.?

@FSTZ: is that what you used on mr. positiv? i like that tune transcend also has a good sound.

has anybody tried the rozzbox ?

How about a Voyager rack? If you're going hardware, you might as well go analogue.

I've got an old Roland JX-3P, it's essentially the guts of an old juno, but instead of analog potentiometers all the parameters are digitally controlled, and it actually has midi in/out (it was one of the earlier synths to have midi capability). The only issue with it is that I need a new battery for the memory, so I can't save any presets, and have to create a sound from scratch every time I turn it on. it sounds pretty sweeet tho.

160R wrote:... thanks for the info.

that's really dissapointing to hear about the virus i was hoping you could do some nice bass like caspa or something similiar.

i quite like the idea of those little desktop synths. i don't really want the keys.. for me size and portability is what matters more. at the Moment i use massive, Albino and predator the most. but is too much of a struggle to get to that full, crunchy and very deep analog Sound.

i don't really want to start with a huge, expensive analog thing, either. maybe the juno or novation could be an option, if you can get good Bass out of it. are the lfo's nice.?

@FSTZ: is that what you used on mr. positiv? i like that tune transcend also has a good sound.

has anybody tried the rozzbox ?

caspa uses reason

I recommend this, a little pricey but worth every penny

http://moogmusic.com/littlephatty/?sect ... t_id=21113

I got the virus TI recently and i'm going to have to stick up for it. Good for grimey leads, the bass on it is good ( I presume the trance reference was about the presets that come with right?). Think of it as a better version of rob papens albino. To be honest as you said if you want something like caspa then just use a soft synth and save some bucks.

Virus B is good for wobbles. Yes, you can use it as a synth for trance, like any synth. But saying that a virus B is for trance is pretty ignorant, IMHO. The first thing to do is learn to program sounds and delete the presets from every synth you buy.

Anyway, I made very good wobble basses with DaveSmith Evolver, Waldorf Blofeld and a Emu E6400 Ultra (of course). Being creative with some dedicated FM-synths, like TX81z or FS1r can also yield very usable results...

with the money you would spend on a virus, you could pimp out your soft synth collection pretty nice...you can make phat wobbles on any synth if you figure out how to tweak it. coming from the drum n bass genre, i'm quite a huge fan of the group NOISIA...their bassline production/engineering is some of the best in the reese/wobble/midrange/ squelch business. there is a q & a thread on dogsonacid.com where they break down their production technique/software (cubase, soft synths, fx, resample to taste). none of it involves hardware synthesis or fx. there are certain sonic qualities that are unique to hardware synths (moog/ virus/nord) that can't be produced by soft synths..and the same is true that many hardware synths can't match the capabilities of software these days. sounds like you want to get an analog synth... but you might get better results spending more time engineering sounds with the gear you have. kind of like the apples vs. oranges question. both are sweet flavors when the fruit is ripe..

one more thing, i actually had the chance to ask caspa face to face what kind of synth he used, and this is a quote: "i won't be telling you that mate"...some of this stuff you have to figure out on your own...best of luck!!

drifterman_ wrote:

160R wrote:... thanks for the info.

that's really dissapointing to hear about the virus i was hoping you could do some nice bass like caspa or something similiar.

i quite like the idea of those little desktop synths. i don't really want the keys.. for me size and portability is what matters more. at the Moment i use massive, Albino and predator the most. but is too much of a struggle to get to that full, crunchy and very deep analog Sound.

i don't really want to start with a huge, expensive analog thing, either. maybe the juno or novation could be an option, if you can get good Bass out of it. are the lfo's nice.?

@FSTZ: is that what you used on mr. positiv? i like that tune transcend also has a good sound.

has anybody tried the rozzbox ?

caspa uses reason

I asked Rusko when he was down in Brighton for Streamizm, what synth's he uses. He told me he just uses Albino and Massive, sequenced on ACID.

I would not bother with hardware these days, very reduced productivity.

Oh yeh, the reason the Virus has such lame bass IMO is the oscilators just sound rubbish. i.e. if you bring up a sine wave, which in theory is all you need for thundering sub, it just doesnt cut the mustard the same way a sine wave on Massive does. (ps this is Virus poco I'm talkin). I have no idea why, and it allways dissapoints me as I had such high hopes for it.

.. i mentioned caspa, cause thats what came to my mind when thinking of making Bass with a Trance like synth, or something like that. i don't necessary want a sound exactly like that. i also believe that everybody needs to find their own way. just wanted to hear some opinions. i use my soft synths extensively. i know you can get pretty much any Sound you want. but its also about the way of working. i already use the bcr and run ableton and traktor skcratch on my laptop. for live use i would feel much better if i had another dedicated unit. thats why i wouldnt mind a soundcard or some extra dsp. don't really want to Start with a moog. the blofeld seems attraktiv, too. its just different approach and working when using hardware. even when its digital. same with Vinyl and traktor... if i get some hardware, i will want to use that and be more 'restricted' and therefore more creative i already find it hard not constantly just wasting time finding new plugs.... .. .

The Access Virus from Version B on can manage plenty of Bass. Trance? you obviously didn't get past the presets whoever said that. If you want to be lazy get a modern sftsynth so you can use the modern presets. If you like the idea of sculpting a synth sound the virus has excellent free-running osc's and a sub osc and a low EQ hidden away that can add 8 db of low frequency in the synth itself (different to eqing outside it).
If you want a listen go here http://www.d1.ie/page.php?intPageID=1 and scroll down till you see D1gital004 - Ikeaboy.The track liminal is anchored by a deep Virus B-Line (its techno btw). As for other hardware I'd go for a SH101 as the ultimate for sub-bass better than the juno but both of there LFO's need to be synced manually i.e. you need to judge yourself

ikeaboy wrote:The Access Virus from Version B on can manage plenty of Bass. Trance? you obviously didn't get past the presets whoever said that. If you want to be lazy get a modern sftsynth so you can use the modern presets. If you like the idea of sculpting a synth sound the virus has excellent free-running osc's and a sub osc and a low EQ hidden away that can add 8 db of low frequency in the synth itself (different to eqing outside it).
If you want a listen go here http://www.d1.ie/page.php?intPageID=1 and scroll down till you see D1gital004 - Ikeaboy.The track liminal is anchored by a deep Virus B-Line (its techno btw). As for other hardware I'd go for a SH101 as the ultimate for sub-bass better than the juno but both of there LFO's need to be synced manually i.e. you need to judge yourself

Like I said, I've had a virus b and now the virus poco. The presets were the first thing to be deleted. They are completely useless due to 'panorama' settings on everything, which means the sound pans left/right accross the stereo field, rendering any preset useless below 300hz (unable to cut to vinyl).

Seen here:


After deleting the presets your left with what I think is a weak set of oscilators.

Osc1 set to Sine on Virus, aint got nothing on Osc 1 set to Sine on Massive (my new favourite). In fact even the old MS20 from the Legacy plugin pack can do a better bass with just one Oscliator.

However after saying all that, I wouldnt mind hearing some tips for the virus as I did pay about 250 for that buggering vst!

theonelikepaul wrote:
Osc1 set to Sine on Virus, aint got nothing on Osc 1 set to Sine on Massive (my new favourite). In fact even the old MS20 from the Legacy plugin pack can do a better bass with just one Oscliator.

However after saying all that, I wouldnt mind hearing some tips for the virus as I did pay about 250 for that buggering vst!

LOL.
Sorry to laugh man:(

I know its not cool to use warez on this forum but maybe if you are willing to pay for the plugin you could download a demo of it eh?

Serox wrote:

theonelikepaul wrote:
Osc1 set to Sine on Virus, aint got nothing on Osc 1 set to Sine on Massive (my new favourite). In fact even the old MS20 from the Legacy plugin pack can do a better bass with just one Oscliator.

However after saying all that, I wouldnt mind hearing some tips for the virus as I did pay about 250 for that buggering vst!

LOL.
Sorry to laugh man:(

I know its not cool to use warez on this forum but maybe if you are willing to pay for the plugin you could download a demo of it eh?

Well I had the Virus B before this, and its the exact same sound engine (same panorama issue I think), no need to hear the demo version.

I was kidding myself thinking it was good. Once I got into it, and later on discovered other VSTs I resigned myself to dissatisfaction.

Maybe the Virus TI has better oscilators, who knows. I wouldnt bother with a hardware synth these days unless your getting a classic analog beast and running it through a classic desk which is gonna impart a musical tone, a la soundtracs or soundcraft.