Synths and Similar - an electronic music gear thread

[Exit Chamber]

Got a Hydrasynth desktop recently and now I'm considering getting rid of a couple of my other synths and getting a second one. The interface is fantastic, really clever and I love the sound of it. Capable of some surprisingly analog sounds in addition to the icy digital wavetable stuff.

[Eighthours]

On 26/07/2022 at 17:50, Blunted said:

Got a Hydrasynth desktop recently and now I'm considering getting rid of a couple of my other synths and getting a second one. The interface is fantastic, really clever and I love the sound of it. Capable of some surprisingly analog sounds in addition to the icy digital wavetable stuff.

 

I'm really tempted by the Hydrasynth Deluxe. Basically I want a decent sized keyboard so that I can both do synthy stuff and also learn piano. I'm torn between the Hydrasynth Deluxe and just a decent MIDI keyboard with aftertouch (as I'm primarily producing in Ableton Live at the moment), maybe a Novation SL MKIII 61.

[amc]

Got a Roland SP404MKII coming tomorrow. Looks like a nice way to make some bedroom beats. Like, literally in bed, that's where I like to play with my music machines, well, sometimes anyway.

 

[Eighthours]

11 hours ago, amc said:

Got a Roland SP404MKII coming tomorrow. Looks like a nice way to make some bedroom beats. Like, literally in bed, that's where I like to play with my music machines, well, sometimes anyway.

 

 

Ha, I managed to flukily get one of these a couple of weeks ago before they started magically being in stock everywhere - I thought I'd struck gold!

 

IT. IS. AWESOME.

 

Never had an SP-404 before, though, so I'm a big noob when it comes to the workflow. Do let me know what you think when it arrives, we can compare notes.

[Exit Chamber]

Pretty immediate result of this crashing pound shenanigans, Qubit announced a new euro delay module yesterday (Nautilus), listed at $399 on their site, UK shops listing preorders at £439 😭

 

For comparison purposes, their reverb module (Aurora) released a few months back is listed at $359 and I bought one for £339.

Looks like I’ll only be buying stuff from UK companies… Or not at all in reality seeing as non-essentials are off the table for a while.

[CS2x]

I'm trying some great synths in Iceland!

[DeciderVT]

12 hours ago, CS2x said:

I'm trying some great synths in Iceland!

Very nice, what did you make of it? I'd love to have a Pulsar but I can't imagine spending that much on myself in one go.

[CS2x]

On 04/11/2022 at 13:25, DeciderVT said:

Very nice, what did you make of it? I'd love to have a Pulsar but I can't imagine spending that much on myself in one go.

It does sound really beautiful - really punchy and rich sounding - but I don’t think I could spend that much on myself in one go on a drum machine either. I haven’t spent much time with it, though, since there's an Oberhiem here! Perhaps it’s modulation capabilities / routing mean it can do extraordinary things that make it worth it even beyond the sound quality. The Moog One is lovely distraction from it too (though it does actually have a note hanging issue / bug over MIDI that really surprises me - for a poly analog costing over seven grand!) The last few years I've mainly been deep in software, which is more than good enough, but visiting a hardware heavy place does remind me how inspiring that can be. It's sad not to be able to do loud volumes with that gear due to sound sensivity, though. (Look after your ears!)

[Exit Chamber]

On 04/11/2022 at 13:37, CS2x said:

The Moog One is lovely distraction from it too (though it does actually have a note hanging issue / bug over MIDI that really surprises me - for a poly analog costing over seven grand!)

 

Ridiculous that this hasn't been fixed on a synth of that calibre.

 

I'd be all about the Obi too tbh @CS2x.

[CS2x]

18 hours ago, Exit Chamber said:

 

Ridiculous that this hasn't been fixed on a synth of that calibre.

 

I'd be all about the Obi too tbh @CS2x.

I learned something interesting about this from the engineer here when asking about the MIDI issues - that with more companies now (even “esteemed” ones), there’s no full staff programmers anymore; it’s all project-based. So this means firmware updates are less likely, because the hired programmers will have gone on. Maybe this should have been obvious to me, but it was new info and made sense of some software issues I’ve come across on hardware that take ages to get resolved. 

 

So glad you’re with me on the Oberheim! It’s creamy af and as good at a number of things as it is the brassy hyper modulated pads. More exciting than most things here. But weirdly it is the Juno 106 that we’ve resorted to a lot. I got one when it was cheap (but its voice chips died and didn’t bother repairing.) It’s only while here I’ve realised afresh what a wide sweet spot it has and how great it is for thick bass antics…I know everyone thinks it’s good and it’s a popular choice, but I had still underestimated the thing due to its apparent simplicity/limitations.

 

[Big_H]

On 14/07/2021 at 22:53, chris on the moon said:

So I decided that the midi lag was probably mostly the synthesiser. I tried doing the same thing with the volca FM and that fared much better. I also found that midi input does trigger the arpeggiator on that.  So that led to me feeling a bit let down with my main synth that I'd been using for the past 14 or so years. Then I watched a video about why it isn't good, and realised it wasn't just my lack of talent that stopped it from sounding great.

So I decided to buy a new bigger desk. Then I had to buy a minilogue XD to put on it. I'm pretty excited by it, I've been playing that and my new e-bow most of today. Totally baffled by all the preprogrammed sequences and how they've been created. Really impressive stuff.

 

 

Sorry, responding to a pretty old post here.

Not sure if it's of use or if I'm teaching you to suck eggs, but maybe the attached could help with external arp triggering? I had a similar thing going on with my Bass Station 2, and it's just a setting I'd not learned about.

 

And I'd not put too much stock into the bad gear youtube page. It's just his schtick, I've found.

 

[Mr Monday]

Does anyone own the Roland SH-01A boutique synth?  It sounds pretty close to the original SH-101 judging from the videos I’ve watched and has the bonus of having 4 note polyphony.

 

 

[Exit Chamber]

On 17/01/2023 at 22:16, Mr Monday said:

Does anyone own the Roland SH-01A boutique synth?  It sounds pretty close to the original SH-101 judging from the videos I’ve watched and has the bonus of having 4 note polyphony.

 

 

 

I don't own one but I have used one briefly and used to own an actual 101. 99.9% of people will be totally unable to tell the difference, plus you've got the bonus of being able to play chords on the 01A without having to sample.

 

If you want that sound, it's a great wee synth. 

[ZOK]

Not sure if this is the place for it, but teenage engineering have just announced a BEAUTIFUL field recorder, at their usual insane price:

 

In motion shot - it has a motorised tape wheel!

 

https://teenage.engineering/products/tp-7

 

If I was the sort of person who had £1299 lying around to spend on something I have practically no use for, I’d be buying one of these in a heartbeat.

 

 

[Eighthours]

Bit of an insane day today for fans of music production:

 

- Logic Pro comes out on the iPad (A12 chip or better)

- Ableton reveals its Push 3 STANDALONE hardware: https://www.ableton.com/en/push/

 

Wow!

[milko]

3 hours ago, Eighthours said:

- Logic Pro comes out on the iPad (A12 chip or better)

 

As a subscription, bleurgh! But yeah, p cool.

[Eighthours]

1 minute ago, milko said:

 

As a subscription, bleurgh! But yeah, p cool.

 

Yeah, this is pretty much the only app I'd consider a monthly subscription for, seeing how comprehensive it is as a DAW. Assuming it's comparable to the Mac version, of course - we'll find out in a few hours when it's launched and the review embargo ends. Unfortunately my iPad Pro is from 2017 and can't run it. If the Logic port is incredible, though, then I may be putting something on my credit card soon...

[milko]

You get a free month to test it out.

 

As a strict dabbler who under-uses enough of this stuff already, it's not for me. A one-off price on Cubasis was plenty and more. But yeah, I'm not dedicated enough to be the audience.

[Lochenvar]

On 23/05/2023 at 10:14, Eighthours said:

- Ableton reveals its Push 3 STANDALONE hardware:

 

Less than two months after I finally bite the bullet and get a Push 2....

 

I wouldn't even consider it, but the standalone one could replace both the Push 2 and the Akai Force, that I'm currently using.

[yakumo]

On 24/05/2023 at 12:03, Lochenvar said:

 

Less than two months after I finally bite the bullet and get a Push 2....

 

I wouldn't even consider it, but the standalone one could replace both the Push 2 and the Akai Force, that I'm currently using.

best time to sell the Push if I was you before prices drop. 

 

Anyway I like the idea of the Push, but even then because of the size and weight and having had a Live. I know from experience that I be just still at my desk chained to the computer making beats. I admit the idea is cool, but its not something portable enough to just carry anywhere to make music. Plus the price tag would mean it most likely be on somewhere secure anyway. 

[Lochenvar]

15 minutes ago, yakumo said:

best time to sell the Push if I was you before prices drop. 

 

Anyway I like the idea of the Push, but even then because of the size and weight and having had a Live. I know from experience that I be just still at my desk chained to the computer making beats. I admit the idea is cool, but its not something portable enough to just carry anywhere to make music. Plus the price tag would mean it most likely be on somewhere secure anyway. 

 

Yeah, I suspect Reverb.com is about to be awash with them...

 

Have you had a look at the Akai Force? It's basically Ableton in a box and is really good at controlling other stuff as well as being great in itself. It's a monster though and there's no battery, so it's not what I'd call portable. But it is ludicrously powerful.

 

If you want something similar, but less portable, the Circuit Tracks is worth a look too. A bit limited in what it can do, but really easy to use and surprisingly good at controlling other midi devices.

[yakumo]

On 25/05/2023 at 13:17, Lochenvar said:

 

Yeah, I suspect Reverb.com is about to be awash with them...

 

Have you had a look at the Akai Force? It's basically Ableton in a box and is really good at controlling other stuff as well as being great in itself. It's a monster though and there's no battery, so it's not what I'd call portable. But it is ludicrously powerful.

 

If you want something similar, but less portable, the Circuit Tracks is worth a look too. A bit limited in what it can do, but really easy to use and surprisingly good at controlling other midi devices.

 

I played with a Force before and I do like it, but then at the time I had a MPC Live. However, I think I gotten to the stage where I'm just tired of GAS and more than happy with  Ableton on my laptop and a midi controller. It may not be as hands on, but the footprint is more compact and I have more power in my hands than I would say any standalone product on the market. End-of-the-day gear is nice but its not going to make you a better musician or sound better. 

[Lochenvar]

2 minutes ago, yakumo said:

End-of-the-day gear is nice but its not going to make you a better musician or sound better.

 

No! Don't say that, it's my only hope!

 

Yeah, I should imagine you can do pretty much everything you'd need with a laptop and midi controller. What kind is it? Pads or keyboard, or both?

[yakumo]

16 minutes ago, Lochenvar said:

 

No! Don't say that, it's my only hope!

 

Yeah, I should imagine you can do pretty much everything you'd need with a laptop and midi controller. What kind is it? Pads or keyboard, or both?

Korg Microkey 37 or something, pads I just use the MPC.

 

I admit getting gear is cool, but then you're on to the next shiny thing. Rather just learn something and get good than having to spend time learning new stuff everytime I buy something.

[Lochenvar]

Yeah, that's part of the reason I'm getting the Push3 - I've worked my way up to Ableton, but like a knob twiddling interface, so I'm really enjoying the Push. But I do like to be away from the computer sometimes. At the moment, that means using the Force but the interfaces are so different (both good, just very different) that it's hard to get the muscle memory sorted and almost like I'm having to relearn stuff, every time I switch.

 

Hopefully this will be the last new thing for a while and I can just get good at it.

 

Although...

[Eighthours]

The Push 3 is very tempting just as an MPE controller, tbh. The standalone stuff looks great too, but it's a shame there's no touchscreen at that price. I'll be waiting for user reviews from people on Elektronauts and such before deciding whether or not to buy, as the efficiency of the standalone workflow will probably determine whether I fork out for the standalone or wait for the 'empty' version to come back in stock.

[yakumo]

If anyone is interested in a mpc 1000 jjos1 hit me up