ebbrecordsyahoo.com Posted November 27, 2000 Share Posted November 27, 2000 My fav synth? That is a tough one. I have to choose 3 of them in a tie. 1. Ensoniq VFX SD-II - absolutely loved that board. I got to borrow one for about a year and really hated to give it back. I would really like to have one again. 2. Korg Triton PRO-X - would love to be able to have one of these. I played one last week and loved it immensely. 3. Kurzweil K2600 - They are pretty much tops in the sound department (and the pricey department too), but it is well worth the cost to have that level of sound technology. I currently have the following and really like them all: 1. Alesis QS6 - ballzy little synth that I really use onstage. The MIDI Grand sound is cool. 2. Ensoniq SQ2 32-voice - I really bought this one as a filler for the VFX I had to give back. I learned to love this synth too and still use it everyday. 3. Korg X5 - another ballzy synth. I love the layering and guitar sounds that are on it. 5. Roland JV-880 - I primarily use this box for Drums and Bass and the Digital Rhodes I tweaked. 6. Yamaha TG33 - Vector Synthesis and cool lead sounds and effects. 7. Yamaha DJX - shouldn't everybody have a play around board like this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 9, 2000 Share Posted December 9, 2000 Favorite Synth? Well, the synth I enjoy playing most is the Yamaha AN1x. It is my only VA, which could be reason. But there is something else to commend it... it sounds good. It does manage to pull off a number of 70's polysynth sounds (a bit of a chameleon), reasonably well. And it has reasonable depth for programming (2 free envelopes you can draw on the editor's screen and a 60 destination mod matrix). The filter self-oscillates nicely and you can do some sound-effects with it. I think though, that it's best purpose for me is pads/brass/strings. I am addicted to lush harmonies, so I am a bit of a sucker for a synth with a warm mid-range. Jerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DBENNVAhotmail.com Posted December 9, 2000 Share Posted December 9, 2000 Peeps, Sorry about coming in here late. My current fav is a toss up between the Korg/Triton Rack, & the Roland/XV-5080. It's a character thing. In retro mode I miss some of the original Moog stuff(Micro Moog/Mini Moog). My 1st synth was a used Micro Moog. I still miss that thing. I wish I'd never sold it. Sentimental(1st Love type of thang.) Quantum! C/O DBENNVA@hotmail.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Ventura Posted December 9, 2000 Share Posted December 9, 2000 Pure synth: Roland JP-8080 hands down. Generic tone Generator: didn't find a satisfactory one yet, the TR-Rack and Proteus 2000 are okay. Piano & classic sounds: Kawai MP-9000 digital piano. Live workhorse: Roland JX-305. Max Ventura, Italy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianK Posted December 17, 2000 Share Posted December 17, 2000 Akai S612 sampler. Done. Relax and float downstream... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Bryce Posted December 17, 2000 Author Share Posted December 17, 2000 Originally posted by MelloT@aol.com: Akai S612 sampler. Done. Ooooh - with optional QD 2 rack space disk drive/caddy, of course! dB ==> David Bryce Music • Funky Young Monks <== Professional Affiliations: Royer Labs • Music Player Network Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marc_dup2 Posted December 19, 2000 Share Posted December 19, 2000 Kurzweil K2000! ------------------ Marc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 20, 2000 Share Posted December 20, 2000 Disclaimer : My exposure to synths is limited. Unfortunately I never played a moog, ARP, prophet, obie.. and yes, my 1st synth was a poly 800. My fav right now is the yamaha cs6x. (except for the keybed which feels like a cheap casio home kybd). I find the sounds inspiring and cover a wide base. Not close to a VA but there's some decent analog type sounds, plus a cool arpeggiator. Having owned mostly 'budget' synths this is a breath of fresh air for me. Plus the option of adding the plug in boards (i have my eyes on the an and the dx boards)is pretty enticing... Rod Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 20, 2000 Share Posted December 20, 2000 First of all, I have to say this is my first post on this site, and my first time visiting. I'm honored to be able to write and discuss with all the people at Keyboard who I admire tremendously. I'm a younggin': I didn't grow up in the era of analog nor did I really get into keyboards until high school. I remember being intrigued but scared by the keyboards in my neighborhood music store as a kid. I thought that Korg's Wavestation was called "Wavestration", and the complexity of it all scared me away. In high school, where we had a studio of 6 stations of Atari's and various DX to M1 era equipment, I began to obsess over synthesizers and read every keyboard magazine I could get my hands on. My favorite synth then was the Oberheim Matrix 6, at first just because of the list of all the parameters on the front panel; it was the first synth where I truly learned to edit and customize the sound for expressive performances. There was nothing with knobs in my high school studio, but I loved (and still do love) the pair of benders, using aftertouch close the filter, and being able to use release velocity. Since I've bought one, I love the feelings of the keys and can spend hours customizing patches and finding strange things to do with the matrix. (on a side note, anybody remember that Access originally made a programmer for the matrix 1000?) Now, however, my favorite synth is the Kawai K5000S additive synth, which I picked up for $400 when it was being blown out. The range of expression on this synth is absolutely incredible. Granted, the original patches kinda sucked, but the amount of things you can do with a single patch is what makes this synth excel. There are sound modifying parameters that simply no other synthesizer has or can have, for example: the even/odd parameter, which will make anything sound like a square wave or a saw wave, the availability of a three harmonic groups per patch which is footswitch controllable, and the customizable formant filter. I also love the soft feeling of the keyboard, the responsiveness of the aftertouch, the nice set of knobs & pedal intputs, and the five part multi-effects engine (for a synth that's only 4 part multitimbral!). I do have a few gripes, from the portamento being a speed parameter, not time, to the lack of realtime response to resonance and pan parameters (which I dealt with by getting a pan pedal). The resonance is also an issue: though it's off the chart distortion can be awesome for some situations, the lack of self oscillation is a bit limiting. But for every limit there is on the keyboard, there are things that are just mind blowingly unlimited. Luckily SoundDiver's FFT's help me keep a grip on the intricacies of additive editing. This will be my favorite synth for a long time, and likely will be my main soloing board for most of my life, or at least until I get a K2600. For me, what makes a synthesizer wonderful is the number of realtime sound changing parameters, and of course how musical those are. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benhurbadhair.com Posted December 27, 2000 Share Posted December 27, 2000 i've only had a few, regrettably... but my favorite would be the Yamaha DX100... tiny little machine, but it's downright STINKY when you get to know it as well as I have! STINKY STINKY STINKY! i use a BigMuff, a fuzz wah, and several effects pedals...and i dig this little baby! btw, looking for another one to keep around for repairs... if you find one, please let me know... benhur@badhair.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Bryce Posted December 28, 2000 Author Share Posted December 28, 2000 Originally posted by benhur@badhair.com: i've only had a few, regrettably... but my favorite would be the Yamaha DX100... tiny little machine, but it's downright STINKY when you get to know it as well as I have! STINKY STINKY STINKY! i use a BigMuff, a fuzz wah, and several effects pedals...and i dig this little baby! 4-op FM synth with mini keys through vintage guitar stomp boxes...now THAT'S what I'm talking about! I'll bet that's got a touch of edge... dB ==> David Bryce Music • Funky Young Monks <== Professional Affiliations: Royer Labs • Music Player Network Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dansouth Posted December 30, 2000 Share Posted December 30, 2000 Originally posted by steve44@visto.com: In high school, where we had a studio of 6 stations of Atari's and various DX to M1 era equipment... Wow, times have changed! My high school had a piano. For me, what makes a synthesizer wonderful is the number of realtime sound changing parameters, and of course how musical those are. This is going to sound like fortune cookie advice, but when you're shopping for your dream synth, consider sound over features. You'll happier in the long run with a unit that appeals to your ears first and your brain second. I can think of nothing more disappointing than matrix modulation of a wimpy sample set. That said, the Kurzweils do sound very good (rich and agressive) even at the K2000 level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Bryce Posted April 18, 2001 Author Share Posted April 18, 2001 Another post from the nostalgia era...as a matter of fact, this was one of the very first threads that I posted. Any of you newer posters want to tell us what your favorite axe in your current arsenal is? dB ==> David Bryce Music • Funky Young Monks <== Professional Affiliations: Royer Labs • Music Player Network Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 18, 2001 Share Posted April 18, 2001 1974 Fender Rhodes. Sorry, what am I doing here? You mean "Keyboard"? oh well, I do like my Ensoniq EPS, I've been pretty amazed at what I could do with it. I used to love my Prophet 2000, unfortunately I sold it a long while ago. http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/frown.gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Room Warrior Posted April 18, 2001 Share Posted April 18, 2001 It's different from day to day, but on any given day it's either the Kurzweil K2000 or the Roland JV-1080... today, it's the 1080. - Jim Bordner Jim Bordner Gravity Music "Tunes so heavy, there oughta be a law." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Bryce Posted April 18, 2001 Author Share Posted April 18, 2001 Originally posted by truth@jamfree.com: 1974 Fender Rhodes. Sorry, what am I doing here? You mean "Keyboard"? oh well, I do like my Ensoniq EPS, I've been pretty amazed at what I could do with it. Hey, Steve - the Rhodes is perfectly valid - especially considering the burning work I've heard you do on it on your MP3 stuff - you make the thing talk, son! I didn't mean to imply that it was synths only... dB ==> David Bryce Music • Funky Young Monks <== Professional Affiliations: Royer Labs • Music Player Network Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Bryce Posted April 18, 2001 Author Share Posted April 18, 2001 Originally posted by Guest Room Warrior: It's different from day to day, but on any given day it's either the Kurzweil K2000 or the Roland JV-1080... today, it's the 1080. The K2000 is defintely enjoying a major resurgence in my studio currently as well. I have one sitting under my Andromeda on an Apex column, and I basically have been playing the daylights out of those two. http://cwm.ragesofsanity.com/otn/realhappy/yllol.gif dB ==> David Bryce Music • Funky Young Monks <== Professional Affiliations: Royer Labs • Music Player Network Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham English Posted April 18, 2001 Share Posted April 18, 2001 I've been playing my Trinity V3 a lot lately. The V3 expansion was definitely the way to go. I've got some screaming leads coming out of it. But it sits above my all time fave, the Clav. That keyboard is just too inspiring! I can get the wah wah funk, the distorted guitar-like chunk, and some clean-ass ostinato from this baby. And stomp boxes always come in handy. It's a very shape-able axe for its seemingly limited tone. Behind the Clav comes my OB-8. I can't take it to gigs, too unreliable, but it looks and sounds great in the studio. Just plain phatt! Then there's the Hammond and Leslie...... ++ Graham English ++ Ear Training, Songwriting Tips, and Music Theory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillW Posted April 18, 2001 Share Posted April 18, 2001 Several weeks ago, the praise and worship band I'm in was listening to the recording of a song we were learning. The synth on the track sounded familiar, so I pulled up a sound on my JV1080. We started off and when I came in, the guitarist/director spun around, pointed at me and yelled, "You nailed it!" Same sound. I refrained from kissing that little black box since the drummer was watching, but I luv it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 18, 2001 Share Posted April 18, 2001 Hi, I was sold when I bought a K2000 (no, I didn't sell myself to finance it) And shortly after that I bought a K2500. I don't have lust for any other keys at the moment (maybe a K2600) I have had many various brands and models and compared to them, Kurzweil is the king! ------------------ --Smedis,-- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Room Warrior Posted April 18, 2001 Share Posted April 18, 2001 David - Yeah, the K2000R (with the orchestral ROMs) was the first major box I bought for my room, and for a long time it was the only really great sounding synth I owned. So I put a hard drive in it and starting loading it up with cool samples from CDs.... now I don't know what I'd do without it. Among others, I use the "Sounds of the 70s" Rhodes samples (one of my Holy Grail patches) and the Sweetwater "Stereo Session Drums" all the time. Fooled clients with both of them on several occasions. http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif But man, I love my JV-1080, too. And lately I've been doing a lot of stuff in Reason (synched with Digital Performer via ReWire)... seems like everybody wants Progressive Trance all of a sudden, and the Reason synths sound pretty cool for that stuff. - Jim Bordner Jim Bordner Gravity Music "Tunes so heavy, there oughta be a law." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seclusion Posted April 18, 2001 Share Posted April 18, 2001 Got a Korg Trinity/Jv 1080/Gigastudio...All great in their own way.. Make sure you have a decent weighted keyboard too... I also have an old DX7 I personally haven't used it much.. But someone asked for it a couple of times.. I think it's nice to have a variety of synths... Some guys are so anal they can hear the different convertes on the synths.. I do think the 1080's been the most versatile.. But I like the organs/Bass/controllers in the trinity... I hate to say it but a buddy who's really good on Gigastudio sampled my DM5 and wants to do my 1080..5080 optical.. If they get the bugs out giga is quite heavy.... You could have many synths in a box with a couple of 40-50 gig drives... Just a little soon I think for reliability.. It also depends on how much you like to create sounds... Try the logic editor librarian for editing sounds... A little quicker for tweaking.. Brian Smile if you're not wearin panties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lightbg Posted April 18, 2001 Share Posted April 18, 2001 It has been ( since October 13th, 1967 ) and always will be my Hammond B-3 and twin Leslie 122's. Jake. 1967 B-3 w/(2) 122's, Nord C1w/Leslie 2101 top, Nord PedalKeys 27, Nord Electro 4D, IK B3X, QSC K12.2, Yamaha reface YC+CS+CP "It needs a Hammond" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joegerardi Posted April 19, 2001 Share Posted April 19, 2001 Though I have neither anymore (for which I still kick myself every day) my two all-time favs will always be my Prophet-10 and my Emulator III. Anachronistic, I know, but they were just felt like extensions of my hands. I felt there was nothing I couldn't get out of those two. Setup: Korg Kronos 61, Roland XV-88, Korg Triton-Rack, Motif-Rack, Korg N1r, Alesis QSR, Roland M-GS64 Yamaha KX-88, KX76, Roland Super-JX, E-Mu Longboard 61, Kawai K1II, Kawai K4. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dansouth Posted April 19, 2001 Share Posted April 19, 2001 My Tritons - all three of 'em. Reason is a close second. It does SO much more than I expected. Great sample library included! Got it on my Power Book for composing on the go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modulus10 Posted August 10, 2001 Share Posted August 10, 2001 My 2 favorites are my Prophet VS and my OB-8...I have a korg ms-2000 as well, pretty cool..needs more voices!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magpel Posted August 10, 2001 Share Posted August 10, 2001 Good thread to bump up to the top. My current fav synth is *not* the Roland RS 5 that I just bought, which is a bad sign. John Check out the Sweet Clementines CD at bandcamp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Bryce Posted August 10, 2001 Author Share Posted August 10, 2001 Originally posted by Magpel: My current fav synth is *not* the Roland RS 5 that I just bought, which is a bad sign. Why not? Just curious... dB ==> David Bryce Music • Funky Young Monks <== Professional Affiliations: Royer Labs • Music Player Network Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magpel Posted August 10, 2001 Share Posted August 10, 2001 Originally posted by Dave Bryce: Why not? Just curious... dB Thanks for the invitation to elaborate. The RS is by no means a bad instrument. In fact, in the under $600 range, it may be without equal (QS 6 fans feel free to object here). My reasons have to do mostly with my sitaution, which is: For a while I've wanted a non-weighted controller to supplement my QS 8, Korg module, and softsynths. My reasoning with controllers is it's always worthwhile to get a board with some onboard sounds for a little extra money, so the RS 5 fit the bill. It's got cheesy plastic keys, just like I wanted, and it's got 32MB of sounds. Highlights of this board: GREAT real-time tweaking setup, with 6 triple function knobs that are easily toggled between. Arpeggiator, though not a feature I would have thought myself to be into, is actually really cool. The effects are very good also. Downside: No aftertouch. No sustain in the envelope. Very limited programmability--as I said, real time tweaking capabilities are strong, but deep editing and sound design are not. Big downside for some people: not expandable, perhaps the only keyboard they make that's not expandable? Also, it doesn't integrate with Cakewalk very gracefully at all, so far (this could be more my slow learning--I've only had it a week). Also there's a known bug, which mine has just started to show, where effect setting drift over time. I've noticed lfo rate and depth picking up dramatically in the middle of playback. Not pleasant. I hear that Roland has a patch for this. And then the sounds, yes the sounds. I can't get a real feel for their quality yet. It is very very clean, I'll say that. I find it somewhat small and thin. The QS 8 blows it away, and I don't mean that as quality judgement. I just mean the QS is so much hotter, bigger sounding. I'm thinking about taking it back and saving for a Motif or a Triton. John Check out the Sweet Clementines CD at bandcamp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nursers Posted September 10, 2001 Share Posted September 10, 2001 Has anyone played a Karma long enough to consider it a fave? ------------------ www.mp3.com/thirdstoreystory The Keyboard Chronicles Podcast Check out your fellow forumites in an Apple Music playlist Check out your fellow forumites in a Spotify playlist My Music: Stainless Fields Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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