I'll get one of these in next month, I need a microsynth mainly for vocoder use, but I appreciate the other nice sounds that my budget can buy!!

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So guys, the first duel: Korg R3 x Microkorg XL

They are 8 voices and the same Radias engine.

R3 worth the 100£ more?

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And now the final game: Korg duel winner (R3 or XL) x Novation UltraNova!

This is 12 Band Vocoder, not 16 as the Korgs.

We don't know exactly how it sounds but it promises something new for performances. A vocoder, a sound card that makes it plug and play, and effects that are more designed for nowadays (very compressed).

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So guys, say your preferences.

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quote:

Originally posted by cristianokeller So guys, say your preferences.

My opinion - none of the above. A Virus B/KB or C/KC or will cost about the same or a little more than some of those, comes with a 32-band vocoder, and isn't a pile of disposable plastic crap. You'll need your own mic, but that's a good thing - it gives you the option to buy something better than the toy microphones included with the Korgs/Novation. Others to consider:

- Waldorf MicroQ (can be had cheap, even after adding a nice MIDI controller and decent mic)
- Novation Nova (ditto) and comes with a 40-band vocoder
- Quasimidi Sirius - harder to find, but it's a much more serious synth than the ones that you're considering.

But, if you're dead set on getting one of those three, I'd probably say the UltraNova. I haven't used one, but I've used the Korgs and they are pretty much toys - I wouldn't recommend them to anyone when you consider other options in the same price range. I wouldn't expect much better from the UltraNova, though - Novation's design and construction quality (and quality control) has gone to hell ever since Focusrite got involved.

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quote:

Originally posted by cryophonik - Quasimidi Sirius - harder to find, but it's a much more serious synth than the ones that you're considering

Check out >> JAY B's channel he's messing about on 1. Sounds like a really nice synth and you can also download his sounds for it for free..

He also has live trance videos as well which are worth checking out

Ok guys, Sirius is a nice synth, I can assume I dreamed with it a lot of nights, but it has some problems too like any other system and it's too old for modern music. I'm not a vintagesynth fan anymore because vintage synths sounds a bit poor defined for modern music imo. I have a Virus Ti Snow and after it I know that new synths have a more clean sound, best designed sound engines, best quality (modern) DA converters.

Cryophonik, when you talk that the Korg microsynths are like toys, are you talking about its plastic housing construction and small keys (Xl) or its sound engines, and others sound quality facts? Because I liked the sound demos, sounds powerfull.

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• i7 950 class A Vanilla Hackintosh w/ Logic 9 • Dead Macbook Pro w/ error ts2377 pending court decision ( I hate apple ) • Apogee Duet • Access Virus Snow • Roland JP-8000 and Juno-G • Novation Ultranova • Mackie 802-VLZ3 Mixer • Yamaha HS-80 •

quote:

Originally posted by cristianokeller Cryophonik, when you talk that the Korg microsynths are like toys, are you talking about its plastic housing construction and small keys (Xl) or its sound engines, and others sound quality facts? Because I liked the sound demos, sounds powerfull.

Yeah, I'm talking primarily about the construction and small keys. That said, Novation usually has pretty good keyboards in their newer controllers, so the UltraNova may have a nice keyboard. The synths all sound pretty good and I really like the sound of the UltraNova demos that I've heard, but they do have relatively limited modulation capabilities compared to the synths I mentioned above and they obviously don't have all the tactile knobbiness that the other synths have. That's fine if you're going to be sticking mostly to presets and/or using a software editor, but designing sounds from the units themselves is a PITA.

BTW, do you want this synth for live or studio use? The reason I'm asking is that any of them would probably be cool to have on stage during a DJ set (at least I assume so, but I'm not a DJ) and would be dead simple to use for adding some sounds and vocoded parts. But, for studio use, I'd probably recommend not putting too much emphasis on the vocoder in any of these models and look for a good software vocoder instead (Vocodex rocks and is pretty cheap!). I'm typically more likely to recommend hardware when it comes to synths, but I think you get a LOT more bang for your buck with software vocoders and they're a lot easier to automate in your DAW.

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Last edited by cryophonik on Nov-08-2010 at 07:30

Maybe look at the older Korg MS2000b as well as it'll do pretty much exactly the same thing as the R3, may cost half as much and has far more hands on controlability :-

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If any of these, I advise to you
1/ Buy the microkorg
2/ Put stickers on it
3/ ???
4/die.

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quote:

Originally posted by kitphillips Do you wear skinny jeans? Do you ride a fixie? Do you have strange facial hair? Do you want to start an indie act with an annoyingly ironic name? Do you often try to be ironic at all? If any of these, I advise to you 1/ Buy the microkorg 2/ Put stickers on it 3/ ??? 4/die.

loooooolz


You are officially my new funny finder

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cryophonik, I'll use in both situations, live and studio. When in studio I'll plug my Shure Beta 58a why not, and control it using a 5/8 keyboard. So it will be like a synth module when in the studio.

Can anyone confirm if the Microkorg XL or R3 really got the same engine and powerful sound of the Radias?

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• i7 950 class A Vanilla Hackintosh w/ Logic 9 • Dead Macbook Pro w/ error ts2377 pending court decision ( I hate apple ) • Apogee Duet • Access Virus Snow • Roland JP-8000 and Juno-G • Novation Ultranova • Mackie 802-VLZ3 Mixer • Yamaha HS-80 •

also gonna say forget all that new shit and get the korg ms2000

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quote:

Originally posted by cristianokeller cryophonik, I'll use in both situations, live and studio. When in studio I'll plug my Shure Beta 58a why not, and control it using a 5/8 keyboard. So it will be like a synth module when in the studio. Can anyone confirm if the Microkorg XL or R3 really got the same engine and powerful sound of the Radias?

I had a Radias. Awful engine in my opinion. The filters on it are some of the worst I have heard. There was only one thing I liked about the Radias. It looked awesome. That's about it though.

Personally, I'd go with a Microkorg (NOT THE XL VERSION) - It has so much versatility and when put in the hands of a professional can rival the sound of anything

I find the Microkorg has great versatility but programming it is a bit less due to only 6 control knobs and 2 dials that you use to control all the parameters... (around 100 or so)

It's actually not bad, and in an hour you pretty much get the hang of how to program the synth.