Synth advice: Triton - Ion - MicroKorg or...?

Danly · Post by **Danly** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 4:19 pm

i have a novation a-station and love it. I think it's like a K station without keys.. Probably also similar to the X station. So that I would definately recommend. Lots of knobs. Also, you can get a novation supernova or even supernova II for a fair price, and these are so awesome.
To get the most bang for your buck you should get a rackmount synth and a used controller like m-audio oxygen, or even a toy electronic piano as long as it's got midi out

b3groover · Post by **b3groover** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 4:34 pm

Man, a fellow SY77 owner. Wild. I've had mine since I was 15 (back in 1992). I love Yamaha stuff. Don't forget about the Motif. Now that they've released the XS series, the original Motifs are quite inexpensive and the "bread and butter" sounds are much better than the Triton, imo. Especially the electric pianos.

I own the SY77, an EX7 (great synth), an EX5r (even better synth) and a Motif ES Rack. I also had the ubiquitous DX7 before the SY77. Like I said, I like Yamaha!

b3groover · Post by **b3groover** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 4:35 pm

Oh, and the Yamaha MM6, which is $599 brand new, is supposed to be seriously neat-o, too. It's based on the Motif architecture.

apropos of nothing · Post by **apropos of nothing** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 11:20 am

Meriphew wrote:
Jpp wrote:VA is fun, sure, but I do need something polyphonic. Piano, organ, mini-moog, string and noise-based sounds are what I reach for most often.

Jpp
The Roland JV-1080 goes for about $200 used nowadays. It has some very good 'stock' sounds (ie. general workhorse sounds). It's also expandable via expansion cards. I have 2 JV-1080s in my collection, and I use them all the time.

How does the 1080 sound in terms of filters and stuff? I haven't played with one. I had a JV-80 for awhile, and I remember the filters being kind of anemic sounding and clipping really easily.

Meriphew wrote:
ipressrecord wrote:My next synth will be a DSI Evolver keyboard, or the Poly Evolver (that's a LOT of cash, though).
The Poly Evolver is my favorite synth out there right now.

Here's a secret (well it was a secret): if you can deal with the control interface, you don't actually need a poly evolver to get a poly evolver. You can do most of the same stuff by running any old mono or poly synth (or whatever else) into the inputs of a mono evolver and then modulating the input wiith filters. Shhh. Don't tell anyone.

Still doesn't stop me from wanting a poly-evo keyboard though. Sigh...

chovie d · Post by **chovie d** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 2:51 pm

Piano, organ, mini-moog, string and noise-based sounds are what I reach for most often.

I have enjoyed my microkorg and i got it really cheap, but it has NO piano sounds and only a couple organ sounds. I have tried to program my own piano sound into but i suck at programming those things and cant get even close to a realistic piano sond from the microkorg. hope that helps you narrow it down a bit.

bed eternity · Post by **bed eternity** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 3:29 pm

chovie d wrote:
Piano, organ, mini-moog, string and noise-based sounds are what I reach for most often.
I have enjoyed my microkorg and i got it really cheap, but it has NO piano sounds and only a couple organ sounds. I have tried to program my own piano sound into but i suck at programming those things and cant get even close to a realistic piano sond from the microkorg. hope that helps you narrow it down a bit.

ya its kinda hard to program a sound that you have in your mind and alot easier to just mess around and kind something you like. i have a microkorg too. i remember reading that it can load sounds from some other korg model synths. i have tried finding good resources for user programmed patches on the internet but couldnt find anything. anyone have any links to microkorg patches?

Kelly · Post by **Kelly** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 3:37 pm

I'd look for a Clavia Nord Lead or a JP8K series.

The Nord Lead will be with you for a long time. Extremely rich sound.

Resonant Serpent · Post by **Resonant Serpent** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 10:17 pm

If your looking for a good combination of rompler sounds and subtractive synthesis sounds, I'd go for a Kurzweil K2000 or the rackmount K2000r since you could just use the SY-77 as a controller.

I think your main decision comes down more to if you want to program your own sounds, or if your looking for good stock presets.

The K2000 can be a bitch to program if your looking for something specific and not willing to put in the time to understand the system functions. I'd go more for the Ion if you want typical synth sounds and programmability. But, the K2000 comes with great presets and there are literally thousands of great samples and patches for sale that you could load by cd and store into an internal or external hard drive. I have a little over 3000 patches organized on the hard drive on my K2000r. Everything from the pianos to the synth basses kick ass and I've found very little in hardware form that will mangle a sample like the K2000.

Another advantage of the K2000 is that it goes pretty cheap. You can get the keyboard version, with sampling option, pram upgrade, orchestral and contemporary roms and external drives for 500.00 to 600.00. I've seen them go for as low as 350.00. It is completely digital, but the filters sound incredible. Bob Moog worked on its conception, and it shows in how good it sounds. Just flipping through the original presets is like re-living every season of the X-files since it was Mark Snow's main rig for music for the series. I'd read up a little on the different versions before you buy, but I can help you out if you need it.

Mp3s of some of the presets:

http://www.synthmania.com/k2000_v3.htm

Hope this helps.

Resonant Serpent · Post by **Resonant Serpent** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 10:23 pm

Doh, I missed the comments about the knobs. The K2000 can be used with an external controller.

If it has to have knobs then definitely get the Ion. It sounds great and seems to be getting cheaper as the weeks go by.

Jpp · Post by **Jpp** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 12:35 pm

Thanks for all the thoughts and opinions. I got a kick out of that Mark Snow crack!

Internal samples vs. tweaky does seem to be the ol' workstation vs. analog knobs issue. And it's sure fun to twiddle those knobs (MicroKorg and VA style), but when I think harder about the sounds I'm actually going to use most often, I think a ROM machine would do fine. Most of those have a bank of "vintage synth" sounds that will get me decent filter sweeps and mini-lead sounds, and often a sine wave and white noise for itchy, scratchy fun. I've just really wanted to be able to waggle the cutoff/filter analog-style and my trusty SY77 doesn't make that easy. The Triton's got a few assignable knobs over on the left that should accomplish most of what I'm after.

Carry on,

Jpp

apropos of nothing · Post by **apropos of nothing** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 12:46 pm

Jpp wrote:Internal samples vs. tweaky does seem to be the ol' workstation vs. analog knobs issue. And it's sure fun to twiddle those knobs (MicroKorg and VA style), but when I think harder about the sounds I'm actually going to use most often, I think a ROM machine would do fine. Most of those have a bank of "vintage synth" sounds that will get me decent filter sweeps and mini-lead sounds, and often a sine wave and white noise for itchy, scratchy fun. I've just really wanted to be able to waggle the cutoff/filter analog-style and my trusty SY77 doesn't make that easy. The Triton's got a few assignable knobs over on the left that should accomplish most of what I'm after.

Yaknow, have you thought about just getting a knob-box for the SY-77? I mean that's a nice sounding instrument, and if the main problem is lack of knobs... Maybe you could just attach some knobs and save y'rself a few hunnert bux.

Jpp · Post by **Jpp** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 2:16 pm

Aha! Any recommendations? I assume these are keyboardless midi controllers that basically provide a control-panel?

Just took a look on the 'Bay and find things like the Doepfer Pocket Control and Behringer BCN44, M-Audio Trigger Finger... that kind of stuff?

And the Phat Boy looks like it could give me the knobs I need...

Jpp

apropos of nothing · Post by **apropos of nothing** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 3:03 pm

Jpp wrote:Aha! Any recommendations? I assume these are keyboardless midi controllers that basically provide a control-panel?

Just took a look on the 'Bay and find things like the Doepfer Pocket Control and Behringer BCN44, M-Audio Trigger Finger... that kind of stuff?

And the Phat Boy looks like it could give me the knobs I need...

You'll need something that's MIDI-out rather than just USB. I know that's a little obvious, but it bears mention.

I have a Peavey 1600 series slider box that I find awesome. (I also use it as faders fer my D'AW.) I dunno -- its all the same stuff, practically speaking. Some of its plastic, some of its metal. Some of it has knobs, some has sliders. Some's got scribble strips. Just depends on what you're looking for and what you want to spend. Mine had the virtues of being cheap and indestructible.

You probably want to think about where you'll put it on the SY. Looks like there's a lot of horizontal space above the control panel that you could put a box rather neatly, so you might want to think about elongated horizontal form factor. Measure and look at specs.

Also might want to look to see if there are templates for the SY with any of them. I know there's one for the 1600 which looks pretty useful and fun.
http://www.defectiverecords.com/pc1600/PC1600SY.TXT

palinilap · Post by **palinilap** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 7:10 pm

Jpp wrote:I've also had a lot of fun with a MicroKorg - love the knobs! - but I don't like the little keys.

If you found a midi controller that you liked you could use the MicroKorg as a synth module. I think for the price the MicroKorg is an awesome analog modeler.

tubejay · Post by **tubejay** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 8:09 am

I'd have to go with the Triton too, it does a lot, and can be useful for a wide range of sounds. Though the ms2000 and jp8000 are great for analog sound.

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Synth advice: Triton - Ion - MicroKorg or...?

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