cheap hardware synths?

8bit · Post by **8bit** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 1:39 pm

whats the cheapeast hardware synrhs around?

masstronaut · Post by **masstronaut** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 1:41 pm

kwality · Post by **kwality** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 2:19 pm

Contadiction in terms I'm afraid. But the new Waldorf Blofield seems to represent pretty good value. Otherwise you're best off just trawling ebay.

What are you after exactly? Bass? Pads? Leads? A good all rounder?

cixxxj · Post by **cixxxj** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 5:41 pm

digital stuff 80ies way! Or if soldering iron is your tool of choice there are plenty of DIY projects all around, even complete kits!

two oh one · Post by **two oh one** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 8:18 pm

Why do you want cheap hardware? Just to *have* hardware? You may as well stick with software.

whineo · Post by **whineo** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 8:30 pm

What is your budget?

djake · Post by **djake** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 11:36 pm

to save another thread,

im also lookin at getting a hardware synth sometime soon once i have saved up enough.

price range is £0-1500 hopefully.

looking for a good all rounder, somefing fun with lots of knobs to twidle

cixxxj · Post by **cixxxj** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 6:14 am

Check out the FatMan by PAiA, you'll only need 250 $ and lots of time/patience, but its a bargain

http://www.paia.com/fatman.asp

Also Music from outer space is worth checking, you could end spend even less than the PAiA

http://www.musicfromouterspace.com/

james fox · Post by **james fox** » Wed Jul 16, 2008 9:02 am

got my nord rack 2 for 350 notes, it's a beast and will do any synth sound you can think of and sound slick doing it.

Littlefoot · Post by **Littlefoot** » Wed Jul 16, 2008 9:31 am

tell us some sounds similar to what youre after!

if you want cheap and versitile you dont want hardware.

if youre after some nice 80s lo fi sounds, or early 90s style you can get em dirt cheap!

I got a Yamaha DX27 for 20 quid on ebay, which is the full key version of the infamous DX100 used by every techno guy ever

setspeed · Post by **setspeed** » Wed Jul 16, 2008 9:45 am

james fox wrote:got my nord rack 2 for 350 notes, it's a beast and will do any synth sound you can think of and sound slick doing it.

why you sell you nord jimmeh?

why you no send me singy stanton track?

i cry

james fox · Post by **james fox** » Wed Jul 16, 2008 9:56 am

hello ed

matthew_ · Post by **matthew_** » Wed Jul 16, 2008 10:52 am

I think we've all gone through the wanting hardware for the sake of it phase at one point or another, but you could end up with something useless. I'd recommend splashing the cash on some really nice VST instruments or effects.

x

11eight · Post by **11eight** » Wed Jul 16, 2008 10:56 am

Matthew_ wrote:I think we've all gone through the wanting hardware for the sake of it phase at one point or another, but you could end up with something useless. I'd recommend splashing the cash on some really nice VST instruments or effects.

x

seconded

it may be nice to have an actual synth you can turn knobs and press buttons with....but in the long run its more hassle than its worth!

matthew_ · Post by **matthew_** » Wed Jul 16, 2008 11:12 am

11eight wrote:it may be nice to have an actual synth you can turn knobs and press buttons with

That's what midi controllers are for anyway!

Knock yourself out with a nice new dirty synth, or a load of tasty compressors and eq's and shizz, will make the world of difference.

x

jade_monkey · Post by **jade_monkey** » Wed Jul 16, 2008 1:22 pm

I can only recommend this little baby here:

http://www.waldorfmusic.de/en/products/ ... generation
http://www.thomann.de/gb/waldorf_blofeld.htm

It costs around 380 Euro and is amazingly good sounding! You get 3 oscs, filters, an arp, a really flexible routing engine with a lot of LFOs and some decent effects. I tried it for 30 minutes or so and got a lot of nice sounds out of it. I can't think of any other synth that offers you so much for this money.

slothrop · Post by **slothrop** » Wed Jul 16, 2008 1:48 pm

two oh one wrote:Why do you want cheap hardware?

That's the question, innit.

There's plenty of good reasons to want hardware but "I just want the cheapest synth out because you're not a real producer until you've got a h/w synth" isn't one imo... and particularly if money's tight hardware synths might not be the best option, eg I'm not convinced that cheap virtual analogue hardware sounds better than decent virtual analogue software, and if you just want a keyboard and knobs to play with then getting a midi controller might be a better option.

slothrop · Post by **slothrop** » Wed Jul 16, 2008 4:39 pm

Having said all that...

jade_monkey wrote:I can only recommend this little baby here:

http://www.waldorfmusic.de/en/products/ ... generation
http://www.thomann.de/gb/waldorf_blofeld.htm

It costs around 380 Euro and is amazingly good sounding! You get 3 oscs, filters, an arp, a really flexible routing engine with a lot of LFOs and some decent effects. I tried it for 30 minutes or so and got a lot of nice sounds out of it. I can't think of any other synth that offers you so much for this money.

... this looks pretty smart. 300 notes = not much more expensive than the equivalent plugins. Wavetable options look pretty smart, and apparently it sounds nice in general. The only downside is that it doesn't have a keyboard and loads of knobs (keeping the costs down), so the 'turn it on and play' immediacy thing of hardware is kind of lost.

two oh one · Post by **two oh one** » Wed Jul 16, 2008 4:49 pm

Slothrop wrote:
two oh one wrote:Why do you want cheap hardware?
That's the question, innit.

There's plenty of good reasons to want hardware but "I just want the cheapest synth out because you're not a real producer until you've got a h/w synth" isn't one imo... and particularly if money's tight hardware synths might not be the best option, eg I'm not convinced that cheap virtual analogue hardware sounds better than decent virtual analogue software, and if you just want a keyboard and knobs to play with then getting a midi controller might be a better option.

Indeed.

I used to be a hardware purist. Absolutely everything was hardware including the sequencer and the computer was only there as a 2 track recorder. I absolutely hated soft synths to death, but they sounded shite back then to be honest. I've sold almost all my hardware, except a few choice bits.

Soft synths now sound really good in their own right, but some of the emulations of classics are fantastic. I've sold a lot of my hardware now.

I'd only go hardware at this point if it is really something unique either in either sound, or controller input. Most modern tabletop synths don't appear to be doing anything special that software can't do, IMO.

magma · Post by **magma** » Wed Jul 16, 2008 5:29 pm

I've got a Novation X-Station 25, which is great... makes awesome noises, was very good value, seems pretty well made, has a decent full-size keyboard (unlike the mini-keys on the MicroKorg) and has a shitload of knobs and buttons (which can send MIDI).

*However* I seem to be using it more and more as just a MIDI controller because, frankly, if you're going to spend £200 odd on something, you might as well just buy Massive and a MIDI Keyboard.

Massive's BRILLIANT.

cheap hardware synths?

cheap hardware synths?

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