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Marillo

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Everything posted by Marillo

  1. Nord Electro 6 + Yamaha MODX7 has cured me of GAS for the most part, it gives me almost everything I could need for live performance...may just add one of the Roland Boutiques for analogue.
  2. I have an Electro 6D 73 under a MODX7 and I can't envisage needing anything else for my classic rock band. Organ speaks for itself but also the 'Bright Grand' piano cuts so much better than the Yammy's CFX and the sample synth section is highly useful too - the Prophet Brass pad patch is the most versatile polysynth pad I've ever used in a live situation, everything from the pads in 'Final Countdown' to the chorus of 'Everyone Wants to to Rule the World'.
  3. Totally agree on the MODX7. The best bang-for-buck synth of the last 25 years for me, but that keybed. I guess a Montage 7 could be in my future. I use a Nord E6 underneath it as I much prefer Nord's Bright Grand piano to anything else i've tried in a live context (including Yamaha's CFX sample) and the organs sound nicer than this latest Yamaha release too. Generally most players will use two boards and this Nord + MODX setup is the happiest I've been with a setup in years.
  4. Had the 8 but sold it for the 7 since I also couldn't find a piano sound I liked for live playing. So got n Electro 6 on bottom tier for that and EP/organ duties. For synth duties it's great; I mainly use presets and the Scenes are invaluable for live work. Have learned basic programming of Superknob for volume / bringing in strings/pads. FM engine is powerful but haven't got into programming. Strings and brass also A1. Touch-screen works fine for me (and makes the Nord seem stone-age) but keybed as mentioned above is really bad. Plasticky, narrow keys and bottoms out horribly. I've made a few mistakes because of it and cursed it, but overall the board's power outweighs all that.
  5. I know they're the Voldermort of keyboard amplification but has anyone tried the Roland KC 220, the stereo version of the dreaded KC series? I'm in a similar market as the OP but as well as gigging I like the idea of setting up my keys at home (on an X-stand so studio monitors are out really) and playing through something other than headphones. The stereo of the KC-220 would be attractive to me for home use (particularly piano patches) as well as having the single-unit form factor as oppose to two active speakers. Budget-wise it comes in around the same price as a single QSC K8. I'd be interested to know if anyone owned or had tried one.
  6. Sounds like we have exactly the same rig and similar needs (I'm in a classic rock covers band and an 80s tribute)! I kept the Electro 6 for piano and organ since I find the Nord's pianos far superior to the Yamaha in a live setting, especially the latest White Grand sample. And as you say, some of the strings and sample synth patches are very useable too (eg the Prophet A1 pad is one of the most versatile poly synth patches I've ever come across in any board) The MODX does everything else brilliantly, of course. Might it be worth waiting for the OS update in late October, which apparently includes a Moog filter of some sort? Failing that, I did put a Roland SE-01 boutique on the right hand side spare space of the Electro...but did find the small knobs almost impossible to operate live. Ended up selling it. The Minilogue XD module IS very tempting (if it would fit in the same space) and looks a little easier to find the knobs when you need them.
  7. This is great news. The only thing i was keeping my Juno DS for was the pattern sequencer and some of the analogue basses - hopefully this takes care of it on MODX and I can sell the Roland (great little keyboard btw)
  8. Really sad to hear this. I was that rare thing, a UK owner of the Spacestation, and it served me very well. His spirit of invention and enthusiasm as evinced in his YouTube videos were one of the reasons I was happy to buy and support the product.
  9. Generally house PA and Yammy DXR10 for monitoring (overkill I know). The Pop/Rock Imperial Grand does have more bite, but again not the clarity of the Nords for me.
  10. This board does a lot of great things but oddly for Yamaha, piano isn't one of them. The CFX sample seems severely downgraded from the P515 which I also own (granted. this is a dedicated piano) and I despite endless twiddling I can't get anything that doesn't sound pretty boxy and lacking in sparkle. I've tried the various iterations of Rock Piano etc but these are also pretty thin, especially in a live mix. Anyone else experienced this and got any tips on fixing it? I sold a Nord Electro 5D to get the MODX and while i have no regrets I do really miss those Bright and Silver Grands which seemed to have such a full, present sound.
  11. I've had MODX 8 about two weeks and just wanted to sing the praises of the Scene buttons, without which I wonder how i ever managed. Here's an example based on that famous last two minutes of Mr Blue Sky, the coda after the big chord. This sounds complicated but the MODX makes it easy. Scene 1 - Piano patch in Part 1 for the chords with pedal bass note. Also has a choir patch on Part 2 which is silent until I bring it in via a fader for the repeat. Scene 2 - Same phrase but now thickened with String section added in Part 3 (so piano, choir, strings) and played an octave higher. Scene 3 - Mutes piano/choir and add 2nd string patch in Part 4 with more attack for descending arpeggios moving to the slower chord section. Scene 4 - Add piano back in under strings for the rippling, descending arpeggios. Scene 5 - After piano/strings figure hits climactic high note in Scene 4, this mutes everything except string section to play the final cello figure Scene 6 - Piano added back in for that last big chord. All this is without any note cut-off since I'm only using four parts (piano/choir/two string sections). I have to say i'm looking to add a 5th part for the vocoder at the end but that might actually cut out the last big chord of Scene 6. This four-part cut off IS a limitation that's quickly reached on the MODX, especially since a lot of the most impressive patches use more than 4 parts fairly regularly. Switching between those does result in cut-off. The once that don't (single parts, labelled green) are therefore the ones you're more likely to build your sounds from - and they're basically the Motif soundset. So I'm not finding the individual sounds themselves particularly mind-blowing (actually since i mention choirs here, the single-part patches are quite poor in this area!) But it's the possibilities for sculpting those sounds using the performance parameters that are exciting, and I've yet to really explore the Superknob etc. Add in the scenes as above, the light weight (altho the board is fairly deep) and the great price-point, and I think the MODX is a keeper.
  12. To add another perspective from the UK, I recently sold both a Nord Electro 5D 73 and a Roland Boutique SE-02 for prices I was happy with (£1075 and £275 respectively). I couldn't shift a 61-note Roland Juno DS, however.
  13. Well, the Gemini module is about £300 more than the Legend EXP, and drawbars extra. The EXP is very competitively priced indeed.
  14. Apols for off-topic question chas, but could you give me an idea of how bulky you find the EXP in use, particularly live? I'm considering adding one to the space on the right side of an 88-key MODX. But the specs say it's 29cm deep, which would leave it hanging over the back of the board. It seems unnecessarily unwieldy compared to others like the HX3
  15. Hi Michael, that's interesting you say that since the CP-88 has the same NWX keybed as the P515, which I own. I also used to own a CP4 and oddly I've found the keybed seemed to give my fingers a better workout than the P515. I was surprised at this since the NWX is supposed to be the better action. But yes - it is light. When I go from the P515 to an acoustic I find i'm lacking in finger strength, which I never had with a CP4. I think the 515 is a great buy overall, with the speakers and CFX sample which I DO think sounds better than the CP4 - but I do wish the touch was a tad heavier.
  16. I tried a MODX-7 today and was surprised by how much I didn't like the action - which felt to me identical to the MOXF-6. I can't imagine playing piano on it outside of basic rock/chords and actually prefer the action on my SW Nord Electro, which itself is a compromise. However the sounds are stellar, which is leading me towards a MODX-8 (they didn't have one on the floor but I played the Montage equivalent). I would pair this with a Viscount Legend or HX3 expander. There was also a Yamaha CP-73 on the floor and I loved its action. For a compact solution to mainly piano gigs this would be hard to beat. The paucity of other sounds though is baffling - even the same amount as the CP-4 would have justified its price tag a little more. I also tried a Stage 3 Compact and thought the MODX really trumped it in the synth section.
  17. Just two of the main features alone really tempt me to buy an MODX - the ability to morph/bring in other sounds using Superknob and setting Scenes within a performance. That's got to be incredibly useful playing live and if they're easy to program that elevates it above most of the competition at the price.
  18. Hmmm, interesting you think the MODX could cover organ duties, with Vent - even for Deep Purple stuff, of which we do a bit?
  19. Anyone running this combo? The module is bulky but looks like it would fit in the spare space on the MODX. At the moment I have a Nord Electro 5 73 + Juno DS 61 but am hankering after the higher quality MODX sounds compared to the DS. I play 70s/80s Classic Rock and pop covers. I would lose the sampling from the DS but could supplement that with one of the small Akai pad samplers for not much money. The pattern sequencer is also a very simple but useful tool - does the MODX have the sort of sequencing that would allow me to play, say, the pattern in 'Dancing on the Ceiling'? The DS also has a very handy mic input which can be applied to its vocoder - can this be done with the MODX? As you can see the DS has great functionality but the sounds just come up a little short. My plan was to sell the Electro 5D and Juno DS which would pretty much cover the cost of MODX + Viscount module
  20. I've owned the CP4 previously and now have a P515. I don't know if the CFX sample has been updated in the latter but it sounds better to me.
  21. I wonder if there's room for a third iteration of Montage with an even simpler, stripped-down version of MODX with fewer sounds and options?! (As they did with the MX range and Motif).
  22. You might be interested in my setup, which is an Electro 5D on the bottom for piano and organ, and Juno DS on top. The Juno DS is surprisingly powerful, and the latest OS update gives you multi-sampling as well as the general Roland palette of D50/synth sounds. The phrase pad is also very useful for recording and triggering riffs and motifs. Its MIDI functionality would be fine for operating your Peak. Of course you'd lose the RD2000's piano keybed, but you could pick up a Nord 5HP on the used market for about the same price. It's only 76 keys as oppose to the Roland's 88, dunno if that's a dealbreaker.
  23. It looks great and sounds fine, but I'm at the limit of how impressed I can be with another phased EP or upright AP. More synth tweakability might have edged it, but at the moment I can't see much here that's going to worry Nord unduly.
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