• Categories

Vanilla 1.1.4 is a product of Lussumo. More Information: Documentation, Community Support.

 
    •  
      CommentAuthorbartley
    • CommentTimeDec 26th 2007 edited
    Looking into synthesizers/keyboards:
    Anyone have a preferance or favorite they would reccomend?
    Thanks,
    mathias
    •  
      CommentAuthorBregt
    • CommentTimeDec 26th 2007
    I moved your discussion to the Music Making category.
    I can't help though, but I'm sure Demetris and others can!
    Kazoo
    •  
      CommentAuthorSteven
    • CommentTimeDec 26th 2007
    I use a Korg SP-250:

    http://www.korg.com/gear/info.asp?A_PRO … egory_id=1

    Though I only use it for playing, not necessarily composing. It sounds amazing though, and the feel of the keys is even better than our grand piano!
  1. I'd get something like Yamaha Motif maybe...
    http://www.filmmusic.pl - Polish Film Music Review Website
    •  
      CommentAuthorDemetris
    • CommentTimeDec 27th 2007 edited
    Bartley,

    Nice topic!

    So; Yamaha sucks. I've used / still using at the studio and uni many brands and many kinds but Yamaha always has the worst type of sounds, being so generic and ridiculously unrealistic. They've usually have a good feeling on their piano-keyed synths though but it all depends on what you'll be willing to pay, which - for yamaha, is ALWAYS ridiculously overprized. Thing is that they've actually managed to create a very good name with standard and home users and they sell a lot, mostly "in blind". On the other side ROLAND is now a dead empire and the professional choice for all kinds of music has always been KORG. From R'n'b to your hardest black metal looney-band out there, the choice for the best combination of features, the most realistic sounds, outstanding overall quality of features, hardware and built-in software, on-line support and the feel of the keys and logical prices with good expansion capabilities for your synth is always KORG.

    Here's what i use which i combine with heavy sound editing and get 100% perfect results for my needs: http://users.auth.gr/~dichrist/homestudio.html * details at the bottom of the page but please ignore the last 2 entries as they're out-dated* and i would deeply recommend the KORG TRITON STUDIO which is the finest piece of hardware you can get currently and comes in various key-settings (number of keys and octaves covered, type of keys (piano or synth)) depending on what do you want to pay.

    http://korg.com/

    Please feel free to ask for any further info.
    Love Maintitles. It's full of Wanders.
    •  
      CommentAuthorbartley
    • CommentTimeDec 27th 2007
    Hey, Thanks guys.

    Yeah, I've played around on Yamaha for a while (never buying of course) and they are definitely not
    for me. Korg, however, seems to be pretty good, though I haven't had any 'hands on' experience with 'em. Thanks for the support, I'm now in the research lane.... and when it comes to buying, its
    all about the ratio of price to quality.

    Q: Someone suggested shopping around in the area for used stuff; is this a bad idea?
    •  
      CommentAuthorDemetris
    • CommentTimeDec 27th 2007
    I believe so, yes. Unless you get someone experienced to check the candidate hardware out, you might step into big traps; and i am not sure you'll save significant money in comparison with a new piece of hardware. In any case though, make sure you check out the background of the device's usage (who used it, for what reason / profession, where (type of location in which it was used), for how long and stuff like that) . If you hear of anything specific, let me know here and i'll let you know what i think.

    Cheers
    D
    Love Maintitles. It's full of Wanders.
    •  
      CommentAuthorbartley
    • CommentTimeDec 27th 2007
    Thanks. Last Q: some places (like Sweetwater.com) have 'demos' for sale (used minimally of review etc.)
    bad idea?
    •  
      CommentAuthorDemetris
    • CommentTimeDec 28th 2007
    You mean hardware that has been used very little for reviewing purposes etc? Could you share an example link?
    Love Maintitles. It's full of Wanders.
    •  
      CommentAuthorbartley
    • CommentTimeDec 28th 2007 edited
    Sure:

    http://www.sweetwater.com/feature/sale0 … d+%26+MIDI

    That's from Sweetwater.com's Treasure Vault (or something) ...basically holidays sales.
    •  
      CommentAuthorDemetris
    • CommentTimeDec 28th 2007
    Anything interests you from that list? I didn't see anything worthy, personally speaking and the prices seem overprized to me.
    Love Maintitles. It's full of Wanders.
    • CommentAuthorpmrsim
    • CommentTimeDec 28th 2007 edited
    Depends for what purpose really.

    Hardware:
    Roland XP50 / XP80 / JV1080 (basically the same machine in different guises) is an absolutely stunning piece of work. Although it's a synth, it has a lovely light (almost acoustic) kind of sound. Not to mention it's got loads of really useable sounds (and it's expandable).

    Korg workstations are great, but Korg does sound very, typically synthy. I owned a Wavestation and an NS5R. And while the sounds are very cool, sometimes it was just too "sci fi" and hard to use in acoustic-like music.

    Yamaha make some good machines, but they tend to be more appropriate for middle of the road pop music.

    Software:

    Steinberg have a soft-synth called Hypersonic and it's huge, absolutely huge and sounds stunning.
    IK Multimedia have a program called Sampletank which is also huge, easier to use than Hypersonic, but the sound quality is less (although ONLY JUST).
    The Korg Legacy pack is a software version of some classic Korg sound. Awesome program, but again, it's very synth-y.

    Personally I'm working mostly with Sampletank these days, but the other day I unwrapped my Roland JV1080 and man... I fell in love again.
    •  
      CommentAuthorbartley
    • CommentTimeDec 29th 2007
    Christodoulides wrote
    Anything interests you from that list? I didn't see anything worthy, personally speaking and the prices seem overprized to me.


    See, I have no clue as far a prices go, thats why I asked y'all for advice. I have little experience with synths/keyboards... just looking for something to do some composition with, beyond the piano etc.
    •  
      CommentAuthorDemetris
    • CommentTimeDec 29th 2007
    Check out the korg page first smile
    Love Maintitles. It's full of Wanders.
    •  
      CommentAuthorSteven
    • CommentTimeDec 30th 2007 edited
    Korg rule. I love my Korg... chics dig it as well while I'm at uni! biggrin
    •  
      CommentAuthorbartley
    • CommentTimeJan 2nd 2008
    Christodoulides wrote
    Check out the korg page first smile

    Will do.
    Thanks all..
    sounds like Korg is the one. I'll check em out
    and let you know what I think.