Hello all,

I am wondering what would be good hardware synth which would be a good one with which to start with (i.e produce a wide variety of sounds,not TOO complicated, etc.)

right now my budget will be at ~$600-700. Right now I am looking at:

Novation K-Station
Yamaha CS6X
Roland JP-8000
Korg MS2000
Access Virus B (or C)

Any suggestions/recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Dave

600-700$? I think the Access Virus/Roland JP8080/Yamaha CS6X is out of your range cuz they cost anywhere from $1500 to $2000+

if you have the money or can save up there is no question you should go for a Virus. It will give you sounds warm/phatt/and dirty alike that will sit easily in your mix. the jp8080 is good for the popular trance strings over used by ferry corsten and the likes.

between the K-station and MS2000 I'd say go for the K-Station. I heard that the MS2000 is hell to programme with and very low in polyphony only 4 voices so you're limited when it comes to creating some complex sounds.

just my 2 cents. you might want to check out this site for more info
www.vintagesynth.com

you could also consider the Waldorf Micro Q.

This little guy will give you an array of unique sounds, good for trance production. I've never used one, but would definately like to.

Ive got a nova which is a blinding synth, if a little bright and digital.

Ive tried out the micro q which id say is very digital but in a harsh dirty way, which is good. Id say it would be amazing for harder trance and psy noises. Plus its got an amazing noise called Dr Motte!!

Outta the ms2000r and k-station id say go for the k-station (or even better the A-station) as the korg has 2 parts at once, but the k-station can only play 1 noise. But the k-station does sound very very good.

Outta them all id persoanlly love the virus as the ability to have 16 sounds at once is not to be underestimated. I always come to the end of my nova 6 sound easily. Think bass, strings, leads, arp, fx?? etc and thats it.

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How about the Nord Lead 2?

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those syths are all very nice, but not quite the allrounders you can start a hardware setup with. For first piece of gear something along the lines of a Roland JV (fill in nr) would be better, as you can get a broad range of sounds out of it (try to get a nice drumkit out of a virus). Or if you have the dough a Korg Triton or karma, or a Yamaha Motif....or RS7000...tho these are above your price range. Maybe a yamaha rm1x or a Roland MC-505

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All rhythm evolves around a kick...

quote:

Originally posted by Pjotr G Or if you have the dough a Korg Triton or karma,

I thought these arn't even analog synths, but digital? I've used them both, and they are good for making realistic noises, such as strings.. but as a first synth for trance? I advise against it.

Ok, the first synth I got was the Korg EA-1.. It was pretty fun, but really not studio grade.. so I sold that one. Then I was going to buy an MS2000R . So I went and tried one out, and it sounded alright, but it is VERY limitting. I recommend u dont get it as a first synth.

So.. I decided to save up an extra $500 and go for the supernova pro rackmount instead (used off ebay for $1800 CND incl. shipping). I must say, this was a good move. It's got insane sounds and tons of power. You can use up to 8 sounds at one time (not as good as the virus' 16, but it is fine) and 44 voice polyphony takes care of draining fx like chorus. Plus the on board FX are AMAZING, you save lot of time by using the fx on the synth, rather than adding them later on cpu.

My personal opinion: save your money for a while longer, until you can get a supernova or virus, trust me you wont regret it.

one more thing. I don't know wat equipment you have right now, so I'll talk from personal experience. when u buy a hardware synth, you are gonna need alot of other stuff. First, you need some kind of Midi input to your pc (I have the midisport 2x2). Then, you'll need a sequencer program (Cubase, Sonar, LOgic, etc). then you'll want a midi controller keyboard (which I advise against getting a keyboard in the synth, saves money). Then your gonna need a good sound card (trust me, you DO hear the difference between cheap ones and good ones). and then, you need to make sure your computer can handle all this. My old p2, 400ghz 128 RAM couldnt take it. I needed to buy an entire new computer. when you start using 30 tracks of midi and audio data (in 24/96) with realtime fx, your cpu just gets drained. I've got 1024 RAM and that even lags at times when using Sonar. Plus you'll want a stable operating system that can make use of alot of ram, I recommend winXP. and you'll want good speakers to use as monitors, and need to get an amp if you dont already use one.


alright, just warning you about costs involved with buying a synth.

check out www.mp3.com/chrono if you want to hear what kind of sounds the supernova makes. both the songs their are made using my Supernova ONLY.. plus reason for all the drums. enjoy

quote:

Originally posted by DJ Chrono I thought these arn't even analog synths, but digital?

uhh yes...and?

they allow for sound creation, I thought that would do. If all you want is analog then don't bother talking about a virus, nord lead, MS2000 etc ect (virtual analog....that means digital)

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All rhythm evolves around a kick...

analogue and even VA's are generally better for making "trance sounds" in my opinion ..

Even though VA's are digitally controlled, they simulate real analogue sound modelling to give you a very similar sound. while true digital synths more often try to simulate real instruments, rather than simulating analogue sounds.

I dont know whether the triton or karma are fully digital, or virtual analogue, but I still wouldnt recommend them for a first synth, when making traNCE.

Last edited by DJ Chrono on Jun-27-2002 at 18:02

I think I'm gonna buy a synth this fall when I get my student loan (isn't that what it's for? )
I was at a music store today and tried out the Novation K-station and I really loved it. It seems perfect for trance, I don't think it has any percussion or drums, but I can use Reason for this.

Do you think it's a good first synth to buy?

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Uncredible Haak - September 2008 mix

get the virus rack!!!!! it's cheap, almost as good as a virus b (one less oscillator or some shit like that, who cares). You don't get any knobs, but you can edit everything on your computer screen.

Personally I'd stay with software but that's just me... a lot of you guys like knobs.