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Hardware Synth recommendantion

Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 9:51 pm
by sentokan
Hello guys! I want to get a hardware synth for my dubstep production.
What synth would u recommend from the following: Moog LP, DSI Mopho or Tetra, DSI Evolver, Nord Lead2, Virus TI?
Thanks a lot!

Re: Hardware Synth recommendantion

Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 10:24 pm
by curmee
Get virus,its big,lots of knobs for realtime tweaking+smooth computer intg.
Dsi,i recomend you try it before buy,it has dsi sound,some like some dont,i did not like at all..
I had moog little phatty for tryout couple months ago,moog is moog,ewen one osc can produce groundshaking bass...
I recomend you go to your local music shop and try the stuff out.
Nord is well built machine,if u like sound,go for nord wave.
If money is no problem,get alesis andromeda.

Re: Hardware Synth recommendantion

Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 7:47 am
by Ldizzy
depends on what ur currently lacking the most

Re: Hardware Synth recommendantion

Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 7:48 am
by wub
sentokan wrote:Hello guys! I want to get a hardware synth for my dubstep production.
What synth would u recommend from the following: Moog LP, DSI Mopho or Tetra, DSI Evolver, Nord Lead2, Virus TI?
Thanks a lot!
What is your existing setup?

What current production needs do you have that you feel are not being serviced by your existing setup?

Re: Hardware Synth recommendantion

Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 8:22 am
by wormcode
That's an odd list, a couple of different markets/price points from medium range desktop sound generators to top of the line VA. If you can afford a TI, and are considering a Little Phatty, a good compromise for you could be a Moog Voyager. It also has editing software, and it can achieve very nice textured sounds, even huge pads not just bass. Detuning and layering can really make it shine. It's monophonic, but since you'll be using it with your computer it seems, then nothing would stop you from playing chords and layering.

The Moogs sound like Moogs, and the Virus sounds like a Virus. Just depends which sound you prefer. Viruses can emulate any analogue synth fairly well with the right programming, but when you use the effects and filters it retains a Virus signature sound still that can be obvious. That's not necessarily bad though.

Nord Leads are great but excel at certain types of sounds like really lush chords and pads, and bright leads.
The Nord Modulars have editing software that can get very in depth and complex, if you're looking for something like "total integration".

The type of music you make comes into play as well.

Re: Hardware Synth recommendantion

Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 8:28 am
by Volatile Psycle
curmee wrote:If money is no problem,get alesis andromeda.
:W:

Re: Hardware Synth recommendantion

Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 8:59 am
by sentokan
I am looking specifically at making dubstep bass and skrillex/noisia type of sounds. Sorry I didn't mention that! :?

Re: Hardware Synth recommendantion

Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 9:00 am
by wub
sentokan wrote:I am looking specifically at making dubstep bass and skrillex/noisia type of sounds. Sorry I didn't mention that! :?

What's your current setup?

Re: Hardware Synth recommendantion

Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 9:03 am
by Electric_Head
skrillex/noisia ?
do they fall in the same group?

Re: Hardware Synth recommendantion

Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 9:18 am
by leeany
I got a NordRack2x (same as the lead but without the keyboard) and I love it

Re: Hardware Synth recommendantion

Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 12:15 pm
by wormcode
Electric_Head wrote:srlle/niia ?
do they fall in the same group?
Nah reading them together in the same sentence made my computer crash.

OP if you want to make typical basses like that, software is really what you want, a good sampler like Kontakt. If you want something outboard, I'd invest in some hardware distortion and filter unit. Those sounds are made mostly by resampling normal synth sounds ITB.

Re: Hardware Synth recommendantion

Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 4:35 pm
by sentokan
wormcode wrote:
Electric_Head wrote:srlle/niia ?
do they fall in the same group?
Nah reading them together in the same sentence made my computer crash.

OP if you want to make typical basses like that, software is really what you want, a good sampler like Kontakt. If you want something outboard, I'd invest in some hardware distortion and filter unit. Those sounds are made mostly by resampling normal synth sounds ITB.
Ok, and those itb sounds are better than of a hardware synth??

Re: Hardware Synth recommendantion

Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 8:29 pm
by Ldizzy
Groundhog day

nah seriously... i was there once, ud get amazed by how much ur computer can excell at things if u LEARN your tools inside and out...

the level of complexity of the sounds you're after lies in resampling mostly... and is it a cool thing if i tell u both noisia and skrillex use itb setups

as a general rule of thumb... get hardware if u think your software is lacking in sonic QUALITIES... rather then possibilites... cause softsynths are incredibly easy to program when compared with hardware imo

Re: Hardware Synth recommendantion

Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2012 6:15 pm
by nowaysj
For what you want to do, stay in the box, yes in the box is far better for what you want to do.

For what I want to do, Minibrute. :)

Re: Hardware Synth recommendantion

Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2012 12:17 am
by cmgoodman1226
sentokan wrote:I am looking specifically at making dubstep bass and skrillex/noisia type of sounds. Sorry I didn't mention that! :?
Noisia has the virus TI. That being said, just because you buy that synth does NOT mean you will be able to sound like them. They've been perfecting their sound and craft for years. And making stuff like that you'll find out soon enough that it's not about what synth you have so much as it's about how you use it.

Re: Hardware Synth recommendantion

Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2012 8:27 am
by wormcode
sentokan wrote:
wormcode wrote:
Electric_Head wrote:srlle/niia ?
do they fall in the same group?
Nah reading them together in the same sentence made my computer crash.

OP if you want to make typical basses like that, software is really what you want, a good sampler like Kontakt. If you want something outboard, I'd invest in some hardware distortion and filter unit. Those sounds are made mostly by resampling normal synth sounds ITB.
Ok, and those itb sounds are better than of a hardware synth??
When speaking of VA hardware, they are equal at the end of the day because you're going to need to edit the hell out of the sounds anyway. You can get samples of all those synths you mentioned, and put them into a sampler for editing. You can even download every single Virus sound in the default banks from the internet, gigs of samples.

I just mean if you expect to buy a synth for 2k+, and get those kinds of sounds in 10 minutes you'll be pretty disappointed. You'd still have to sample them into your computer, throw them into a sampler and edit them for a good while. Obviously something like a Voyager would sound better than a run of the mill VST, but the more you mangle the sounds the less it matters. At that point it won't really matter what the sound originated from. You can get Moog multisamples as well. Something like Omnisphere maybe which includes real Moog/Virus sounds.

A hardware synth that costs as much as those is really a workhorse type solution, so if you're looking specifically to make talking basses and ripping reeses, I would save the money and invest in something like Kontakt and Omnisphere/Trilogy. You're going to need a good sampler anyway. Btw Kontakt has LOADS of samples, and you can add even more including Little Phatty and other analogue multisample instruments.

This is really where the software realm shines because the editing possibilities are endless, and it's because of new digital software that those types of sounds are now possible and commonplace to the point of becoming infamous.

I'm all for hardware, and have several pieces including Viruses, but for those type of sounds I look to software because it's all about editing and resampling. This can be done purely with hardware too, but it gets more expensive. If you're absolutely set on getting hardware, try to wait a while and check out the new Moog Minitaur and maybe the Arturia Minibrute which offer real analogue bass synthesis at a really low cost. There are also good analogue Moog-type clones like the Macbeth M line which sound amazingly similar. Not cheap, but cheaper than vintage Moogs.

Re: Hardware Synth recommendantion

Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2012 10:58 am
by cmgoodman1226
^^^
This

Re: Hardware Synth recommendantion

Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2012 10:59 am
by Volatile Psycle
Used to love my novation supernova II :corncry:

Re: Hardware Synth recommendantion

Posted: Fri Jan 27, 2012 6:11 pm
by benjam
Buy my GAIA! Got an ad in snh discount for forum members obviously :)

Re: Hardware Synth recommendantion

Posted: Sat Jan 28, 2012 12:07 am
by CaveLvl
I picked up a blofeld from a friend and im really liking it. Its not a weighty analog kind of thing though, its digital and sounds that way. Im on day 2 of straight sound design and its a lot of fun, Trilian and Massive both handle bass way better out of the box imo though.