KeyboardEric

I was the grateful recipient of a new Behringer MS-1 this holiday season. Merry Synth-mas to me! It's red and the first analog synth I've ever owned. I'm mostly quite happy with it but a couple things I noticed have been bugging me. -a couple of the keys seem to stick occasionally. it has no bearing on the sound but its just a minor annoyance (so far). -I noticed that the default tuning is slightly out of whack. I feel like this is probably a normal thing with analog synths but for some reason I expected it to be in tune when I opened it out of the box, and take some time for it to drift off. When I turn the pitch tuning knob slightly over to 11'o'clock position then it sounds in tune with my other 440 hz instruments. (this is my least concern at the moment). -some of the keys in the middle area of the keybed have less tension than the ones further to the sides. I thought this was odd. -it seemed like the packaging inside the box possibly may have been opened then re-sealed. There was packing tape around the original plastic that houses the electronics (keyboard, power supply and accessory). This might just be standard but I don't recall other keyboards being packaged in this way. maybe I'm being too finicky but it kind of feels like I received a slightly used keyboard. I know for a fact it wasn't a "demo" model that was purchased at a discount rated. I also understand that this is a lower tier synth brand so maybe I just need to lower my standards and learn to be content with it. Thought I might get a second opinion from the experts here at this forum. Do I have any reason to contact the dealer? It's Sweetwater. thanks for reading.

where can I get that shirt?

The Africa Brass patch is definitely in the Kross 2, but it doesn't sound right to me. Maybe I am being overly particular but the attack on the filter envelope is too aggressive sounding. I thought it would be a good exercise to build it from scratch and if that doesn't work out, maybe tweak the factory version to my liking.

thanks for the detailed instructions. I'm looking forward to tinkering with it. I haven't seen any Africa tutorials that includes a pulse wave or PWM but it makes sense. Unfortunately I don't think the main board I program on supports PWM but there could be a workaround or I could try on my other board that has a Juno style synth built in. I have relatively low end synth gear (Korg Kross 2) so limited on some fronts. I am thinking about getting a more traditional analog style synth soon (one of the less expensive ones like Korg Monologue or Behringer MS1).

This looks cool. I will def check out the free lessons! great idea!

I'm not that great at programming on my boards but I'm trying to practice using the VA engines to get better. I know enough basics to get around but that doesn't mean I'm any good yet. Lately I've been working on TOTO Brass. I twiddle with the different settings forever, going back and forth, but I'm afraid I don't have the skills to nail it. Or I have something I'm happy with at home at home but when I get to practice it just doesn't work like I thought it would. I've watched a lot of the tutorials on youtube on how to make this brass sound but those sounds don't seem right compared to the original. And they all claim it's easy to program. Maybe my speakers are off or it could just be tough to recreate the exact sound and feeling of the original? TOTO Brass aside, I found this video not too long ago where he walks you through how to make 5 classic synth sounds. I wish there were more resources of this quality: He explains each step so I actually feel like I'm getting the process. I like building sounds from scratch like this. Any tips out there on nailing that TOTO Brass or other ways to build your synth skills? Or just want a thread to talk about what sounds you've been working on lately? Here is an opportunity!

Ah, okay thank you for clarifying. This makes more sense now. It sounds like the 3 series might be the way to go. I'm thinking of trying the 308.

I really appreciate the recommendations and am seriously considering the alto TS308 or 310. I'm just curious though, is there a reason you've needed to buy so many? I'm hoping to just get the one but i'm curious why you needed to get 6-7 of them. Thanks again for your help.

that being said, stereo amp sounds kind of interesting.

hey there, the information I'm seeing shows the QSC K8 at $649 and the KC 220 at $399. am i missing something? also, i'm not an audio head so maybe I am missing something else but 30 watts (KC220) vs. 2000 watts (KC8)? Seems like a lot.

As an owner of a VR 730 I would say that the action is closer to an organ as opposed to a synth or weighted piano. Obviously it has the waterfall style keys so that's what it is going for. That's the only reason I would upgrade to it. It's literally the same board in every other way. That being said it's very playable once you get used to it even though a lot of people complain about keybed action. Personally it's not a huge issue for me for the style of music I perform. As far as the price drop goes, I noticed that happening with other keyboards over the weekend, not just the VR. They dropped 500 off the Kronos over at Sweetwater and 400 off the Krome EX. I think it's just a Black Friday thing and prices will go back up.

Yes, the keyboards have eq features.

Thanks for the tip. the K10 sounds awesome. I have a mixer but I'd rather not get it involved just for the sake of logistics (more cords and crap to deal with). It's possible I'm not as particular as other folks. Keyboard amps seem heavy and cumbersome.

The EV ZLX-12BT looks pretty good over at sweetwater. I might go for that.

I was hoping to spend no more than 300 but since I'm most likely going to finance it I'm giving myself some wiggle room. Thanks for all the recommendations so far. Much much appreciated!

The time has come and of course I am on a budget. Someone recommended this Alto TS308 to me: https://www.guitarcenter.com/Alto/TS308-8-2-Way-Powered-Loudspeaker.gc#productDetail I was also looking at this Behringer Eurolive F1220D: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/F1220D--behringer-eurolive-f1220d-250w-12-inch-powered-speaker It's primarily for practices and the odd gig where there aren't enough house wedges to go around. My guitar player owns a PA so I can always borrow one of his QSC K10s if needed but it'd be nice to have my own. He also warned me against the Alto speaker even though others have recommended it. I don't think I can really afford a QSC K10 right now. Any thoughts or suggestions out there? I run mono through a Roland VR 730 and Korg Kross 2. Thanks.

Interesting.

Ok thank you for the useful app!

I think I may have found a bug in the V Combo editor. When layering sounds in the top half of the split section not all of the sounds respond to "damper off" setting. This is when damper is set to "lower only" and I believe it's the second slot in the top part that is unresponsive to the setting. The other three seem to work fine so just used those.