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Has anyone bought a synth based on your own instinct?


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I remember being instinctively drawn to the Alesis ION, but was steered towards a YAMAHA MOTIF. That was the last time I walked into a Guitar Center.Salesman wanted to sell me a MOTIF and not an ION. Of course I walked out with neither.

I was also drawn to the Roland MC-303, and the Roland XP-80. Even the Yamaha SY-99. I had a salesman try to get me to buy a SY-22, over a wavstation. Only because, he new I could not afford a Wavestation.

I had another dealer sell me a Roland Juno D over and KORG MS2000.

 

There were a number of synths I bought, not because of instinct, but I thought was cool. Ensoniq Mirage, Roland Juno-106, JX-305, Multiple Poly61s, DX-7IIFD, Kawai K500s, ARP Omni, AXXE, AKAI AX-60.

 

I should have listened to myself, and relied on my own instinct, and not outside influence.

 

 

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I've purchased 4 keyboards during the last 12 years based on "instinct." Two of those are the Korg M3 and Korg Radias. I use both quite often and am very impressed with their features/sounds. You can shake the paint off the wall with the Radias. It's highly underrated.

 

Unfortunately, the other two didn't impress me: the Kurzweil K2661 and the Alesis Ion. While Kurzweil keyboards have a huge fan base, it was clear the K2661 just "wasn't made for me" as some may say. I couldn't get past the tiny display screen, convoluted menu diving, and promise of features that just didn't measure up.

 

The Alesis Ion was a different animal. While I was initially impressed with the amount of knobbage and modulation matrix, it's not a "fat-sounding digital synth" as was stated in an online review. Outboard effects are definitely required to make this synth sound good as the Ion's on-board effects are an afterthought... with no reverb! What were they thinking?

 

 

When an eel hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's a Moray.
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Original Nord Stage 88. I was not enamored with the pianos but had faith this company would somehow figure it out. Of course, I was met with little resistance from the sales guy as it was the most expensive synth in the room.

"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing."

- George Bernard Shaw

 

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I chose an MS-2000r over a JP-8080 after more than two hours A/B testing on Mars Musics sales floor. Not sure how instinctual it was, but I went there knowing I was going to leave with one or the other. The Korg was more edgy AND less $. Still have it, still happy with my choice...holy crud....that was like TWENTY years ago. Good golly.

 

The moment I heard the announcement, I instinctively knew the VR-09 was exactly what my live rig needed; a quarter of the size and heft of the VK-1000 with 40 times the sound palette. Got one of the first run. Still gigging with it; still mostly pleased with this love/hate relationship...Organ and Synths: YAY! Piano sound and action: BOO, HISS, YUCK!

 

With my ears tired of the pianos in the Fantom, and sorely displeased with that part of the VR-09, I had to get something to fill this void. Cue a crazy low price on a close-out demo Kawai ES-100...could not resist. Instinct? Perhaps more desperate desire and fortunate opportunity.

 

After decades of synth and organ keys, the Kawai action proved too heavy for my gigging playing style of machine-gun 32nd notes. I immediately knew the Numa Compact 2 was a good solution upon its announcement. Got an early demo model after a fairly well-known festival in Indiana, and am still quite pleased with my stage piano/midi controller decision.

 

After a firmware chip upgrade on the JX-10 so that an iPad app could control the programming via midi, I reluctantly (and now regrettably) sold the PG-800. Tiring of fiddling with that set-up, comes along the Deepmind12. I could not have hit the Pre-Order button any faster. I think my tablet might still have a dent there. Soooo pleased with this synth. Dont care what the haters say...the thing is instant joy-in-a-box for me.

 

With all of that being said, my great-aunts parlor piano was my first real hands-on experience at three years old. That defined a life-long fascination. Was that instinct or influence?

 

 

 

 

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no. especially if the synth is expensive and the manufacturer is new to me.

 

Even with my experience with Korg [or Roland], I would study/hesitate before buying any of their synths.

 

Any keyboard has to fit my requirements and bring something significant to my creative palette.

 

More is not better. Less is. I understand why folks might have 4 or more boards.

But that is not my preference.

 

I think it not a big deal to be an impulse buyer for inexpensive hardware stuff, lets say under

$200.

 

 

Why fit in, when you were born to stand out ?

My Soundcloud with many originals:

[70's Songwriter]

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Most of my synths were bought pursuing something specific (e.g., the Korg CX-3 for drawbar clonewheel, and only after researching online opinions), or because I saw them used for something I wanted to do (e.g., the MS-20 Mini for clicky Jarre sounds).

 

The most 'instinctive' purchase I made was probably the Ion or the System-8 ... actually, all my Rolands have been bought with little or no idea what I was actually getting, and I really like them all. But have yet to like the Ion. Hm..

 

 

It's not the gear, it's the player ... but hey, look -- new gear!

 

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haha yeah - the Roland JX-3P way before the internet!

With the internet though, not sure there is any reason to buy one, strictly based on what one feels...it certainly makes it easier to avoid (very expensive) mistakes...like "gotchas" in the OS system of the keyboard or other anomalies. Plus with such a wide variety of options available these days, not accessing the public resource that is the internet would be foolhardy at best, jmo :)

There is no luck - luck is simply the confluence of circumstance and co-incidence...

 

Time is the final arbiter for all things

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It wasn't entirely instinct that led me to buy a Kawai K5 additive synth, but I had somehow developed the erroneous idea that I could have some of that nice FM sheen minus the alien new programming form. FAIL! Swapping FM for additive is like putting a moped nerd on a major Harley. It had some inspiring presets in it, but good luck getting far with that peep-hole-sized display and only my far more subtractive knowledge. It was too soon for me and too soon for the CPU power of the time. The heavy lifting required for additive is far better served by software rather than hardware. NI's RAZOR is one inviting and clever way to go there.

 "I want to be an intellectual, but I don't have the brainpower.
  The absent-mindedness, I've got that licked."
        ~ John Cleese

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Moog Voyager, back in 2003 when the first ones came out. No regrets.

 

Hammond XK3. The minute I read that it could offer user customized tonewheel sets, that sold me. I wanted to emulate the sound of my favorite Hammond. Still have it.

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My instinct was and still is to immediately purchase a Dave Smith Oberheim. But I was tapped politely on the shoulder and reminded that the joint account is reserved for the renovation of the kitchen ... :blush: so after that"s done I can pull out the 'special' credit card.
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My PC3. Coming off my 72 pound stage piano I was looking for a single k/b that had a semi-weighted keybed that could do it all. No regrets at all.

 

Alesis 6.1, biggest POS I've ever purchased. Sounded like a toy. Outputs blew out after less than a year of use.

57 Hammond B3; 69 Hammond L100P; 68 Leslie 122; Kurzweil Forte7 & PC3; M-Audio Code 61; Voce V5+; Neo Vent; EV ELX112P; GSI Gemini & Burn

Delaware Dave

Exit93band

 

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