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-- Cheap analog synth recommendations?


Posted by Frequency Frank on Apr-14-2008 17:29:

Cheap analog synth recommendations?

Looking to get some of that nice warm analog sound into my tracks (tech house, techno, progressivey sometimes). Any recommendations? Sub $400 would be key.


Posted by dannib on Apr-14-2008 18:30:

for that price, i would deifniately say the Waldorf Pulse. Awesome synthesizer, especially for bass and fx. It is only monophonic though. It would definately be worth checking into the Oberheim Matrix as well.


Posted by cryophonik on Apr-14-2008 18:57:

In that price range, your best bets are going to be monophonic - I agree with dannib that the Pulse would be a good choice if you're primarily interested in leads/basses. You could also pick up a Roland JX8P or Juno 106 in that price range.


Posted by IainS on Apr-14-2008 19:54:

check out some of the synths by novation - some good bargains to be had on ebay :0)


Posted by cryophonik on Apr-14-2008 20:04:

quote:
Originally posted by IainS
check out some of the synths by novation - some good bargains to be had on ebay :0)


Yeah, Novation makes some great synths (I love my Supernova), but none of them are analog.


Posted by Chronosis on Apr-14-2008 21:34:

You should check out some sound demos.

Juno-106 sounds quite different from Pulse. Pulse has a very aggressive sound, while Juno represents more what I consider "warm".


Posted by Freak on Apr-15-2008 04:00:

quote:
Originally posted by Chronosis
You should check out some sound demos.

Juno-106 sounds quite different from Pulse. Pulse has a very aggressive sound, while Juno represents more what I consider "warm".


Be vary wary of cheap juno 106s- which is definitely what you have if you find one for $400.... might have a fried chip which will hamper its capabilities.


What sort of sound are you after? All round capabilities? Certain sounds? Multi timbral? Multi output? MIDI? CV/GATE?
None of the following are analog...but as most people seem to have forgotten the meaning of the word nowadays, who gives a crap- they will all do a fine job for you.
Hugely under-rated and a bargain- yamaha An1x
My personal current favourite- novation nova

Ah fuck it...there are thousands of competent synths- plenty of demos and sounds on line- just do your research so you know the common potential problems with a particular model.... getting vintage gear serviced, fixed or put back together is a bit of a mission (he says looking at his poor battered Alpha Juno 2 )


Posted by kitphillips on Apr-15-2008 04:35:

quote:
Originally posted by cryophonik
Yeah, Novation makes some great synths (I love my Supernova), but none of them are analog.


I thought the bass station was analogue? That would be a good option in this price range IMO. Otherwise, have a look at a roland sh 101, I think they're not too pricey.


Posted by cryophonik on Apr-15-2008 15:03:

quote:
Originally posted by kitphillips
I thought the bass station was analogue?


Now that you mention it, I believe the rack version of the bass station is analogue.


Posted by echosystm on Apr-15-2008 15:26:

quote:
Originally posted by cryophonik
Now that you mention it, I believe the rack version of the bass station is analogue.


http://www.vintagesynth.com/novation/nvbs.shtml

they say it has VCOs, but the "VCOs" use ASM. ASM is the DSP code for the oscs in all their digital stuff (Nova, etc.).

pretty confusing? i don't know what to make of it heh.


Posted by cryophonik on Apr-15-2008 16:24:

quote:
Originally posted by echosystm
http://www.vintagesynth.com/novation/nvbs.shtml

they say it has VCOs, but the "VCOs" use ASM. ASM is the DSP code for the oscs in all their digital stuff (Nova, etc.).

pretty confusing? i don't know what to make of it heh.


Yeah that is confusing. Even more confusing is what they say about the keyboard version:

quote:
www.vintagesynth.com
Basically a 2-octave keyboard with a BassStation rack built-in. This synthesizer uses analog sound emulation to reproduce the sounds of a monophonic 2-VCO analog synthesizer with the same simple and intuitive controls via 17 knobs, 10 switches and 2 Moog-style pitch/mod wheels.[/url]


I always thought that the keyboard version was digital only, which the bold text seems to confirm, but it also says that it is the same as a Bass Station rack, which they say is analogue.


Posted by Frequency Frank on Apr-15-2008 17:27:

quote:
Originally posted by Freak
Be vary wary of cheap juno 106s- which is definitely what you have if you find one for $400.... might have a fried chip which will hamper its capabilities.


What sort of sound are you after? All round capabilities? Certain sounds? Multi timbral? Multi output? MIDI? CV/GATE?
None of the following are analog...but as most people seem to have forgotten the meaning of the word nowadays, who gives a crap- they will all do a fine job for you.
Hugely under-rated and a bargain- yamaha An1x
My personal current favourite- novation nova

Ah fuck it...there are thousands of competent synths- plenty of demos and sounds on line- just do your research so you know the common potential problems with a particular model.... getting vintage gear serviced, fixed or put back together is a bit of a mission (he says looking at his poor battered Alpha Juno 2 )



More than anything I'm looking to get 2 things that I feel I'm lacking:

1) A nice, round, rolling bassline. I know that just buying a synth won't achieve this, but I would rather mess with knobs than clicking my mouse for hours at a time.

2) Plunky percussive sounds with hard snaps.

Again, I know I'll need to spend months, years, lifetimes learning the gear, but this is what I'm looking for. The end result will be tech house/techno kinda stuff. I'll look into the synth sounds online myself, but I do appreciate the suggestions thusfar.


Posted by DeZmA on Apr-15-2008 18:32:

You're right, the bass station is analog, and it would be a pretty good deal for that price.


Posted by thecYrus on Apr-15-2008 20:02:

have a look at the studio electronics SE-1X

http://www.studioelectronics.com/products_se1x.php


Posted by sot on Apr-15-2008 21:44:

hey frank

a friend of mine just picked up an old siel synth from the 80s for 120 bux off craigslist..its some discontinued italian synth manufacturer and it sounds amazing

not too sure if any1 here is familiar with them but man the 10 mins i was twiddling around with it, i wanted one.

on the hunt for it too but its really hard to find, he was definitely lucky


Posted by DjAyTeKnOtRoNiC on Apr-15-2008 22:20:

quote:
Originally posted by sot
hey frank

a friend of mine just picked up an old siel synth from the 80s for 120 bux off craigslist..its some discontinued italian synth manufacturer and it sounds amazing

not too sure if any1 here is familiar with them but man the 10 mins i was twiddling around with it, i wanted one.

on the hunt for it too but its really hard to find, he was definitely lucky
Only 99 dollars for this dk-70 i might consider buying it if i had the money.


Posted by Frequency Frank on Apr-16-2008 13:39:

quote:
Originally posted by sot
hey frank

a friend of mine just picked up an old siel synth from the 80s for 120 bux off craigslist..its some discontinued italian synth manufacturer and it sounds amazing

not too sure if any1 here is familiar with them but man the 10 mins i was twiddling around with it, i wanted one.

on the hunt for it too but its really hard to find, he was definitely lucky


Ah nice, I'll be on the lookout.


Posted by echosystm on Apr-16-2008 13:50:

Re: Cheap analog synth recommendations?

quote:
Originally posted by Frequency Frank
Looking to get some of that nice warm analog sound into my tracks (tech house, techno, progressivey sometimes). Any recommendations? Sub $400 would be key.


a cheap synth is going to sound like a cheap synth, be it digital or analog. imo, you are better off buying one of the better vst emulations.

if i had to, i would get a dsi evolver or waldorf pulse. they seem to be the only reputable cheap analog synths.


Posted by rulzz on Apr-17-2008 01:27:

micro korg


Posted by MrJiveBoJingles on Apr-17-2008 01:29:

The microKORG isn't analog.



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