Set-Up Advice needed

[JE Harvey]

Hi there,

I am looking for some advice over my new set-up.

I have Ableton Live 9 and Ableton Push and am about to purchase the following;

Waldorf Blofeld
Korg MS20 mini

I plan to use a Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 with this.

My aim is to use a combination of the synths above aswell as software synths etc.

I'm a complete beginner - will this kit work together? Am I missing anything? I don't plan to play 'live', just write and compose at home.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you!

[ImNotDedYet]

Hi there,

I am looking for some advice over my new set-up.

I have Ableton Live 9 and Ableton Push and am about to purchase the following;

Waldorf Blofeld
Korg MS20 mini

I plan to use a Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 with this.

My aim is to use a combination of the synths above aswell as software synths etc.

I'm a complete beginner - will this kit work together? Am I missing anything? I don't plan to play 'live', just write and compose at home.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you!

Yes, it will work, and will be a lot of fun! Not sure if the Blofeield comes with a Midi cable, but the MS20 Mini does not. You'll need one. I have a BSII and Mini and just use the same cable for each as I typically don't have both going at the same time. You'll need a TRS cable or TRS -> XLR depending on the audio inputs on your Focusrite, at least for the Mini, and likely for the Blofield as well. Because the Mini has 1/8" main inputs/outputs, you'll need a converter to go from 1/8" to TRS. If the Blofield has CV/Gate or anything else in your house does, you might want to buy cables for that as well for the Mini just to have everything done in one fell swoop.

That's a helluva setup for a complete beginner. Congrats!

[JE Harvey]

Thank you! That's exactly what I was looking for. Possibly looking to add the Akai Rhythm Wolf to this set-up too depending on what it actually sounds like. Will I be able to use them all at the same time?

The 'Congrats' can wait until I've actually done something

I was left a little bit of money in a will to 'do something I have always wanted to do' with it. I've always wanted to do this, so here we are. Hence buying it all in one go which is probably something I will regret!

But the stuff about cables is what I don't know anything about. I know what I want to do and know what equipment I would like to do it with but the rest is a bit of a mystery with a very steep learning curve.

Thanks again

[ImNotDedYet]

Thank you! That's exactly what I was looking for. Possibly looking to add the Akai Rhythm Wolf to this set-up too depending on what it actually sounds like. Will I be able to use them all at the same time?

The 'Congrats' can wait until I've actually done something

I was left a little bit of money in a will to 'do something I have always wanted to do' with it. I've always wanted to do this, so here we are. Hence buying it all in one go which is probably something I will regret!

But the stuff about cables is what I don't know anything about. I know what I want to do and know what equipment I would like to do it with but the rest is a bit of a mystery with a very steep learning curve.

Thanks again

Look at the TB-3. Hella fun, especially if you're into more of an acid bassline sound, although you should be able to crank out some nice basslines in the Bloefield and Mini.

You might also want a Midi DIN cable to go between the Bloefield and the Mini, depends on how you're going to use them. You can always wait, they're cheap.

Personally, if I were you, I'd probably look at getting a Push instead of the Rhythm Wolf. Not the same price, but Push really adds a lot to using Ableton IMO. In fact, you could _probably_ get away with just getting the Bloefield at this point since it's got more functions than the Mini, and get the Push. Get Diva as it can actually mimic some older analog synths pretty well, including the MS-20. You'll have a hardware synth, one that's polyphonic in the Bloefield. You can always add a Mini later if you really like the sound.

Sorry for your loss. It's a long learning process, but if you're willing to put in the time and not get frustrated, good on you.

Best of luck!

[JE Harvey]

Thank you for the advice

I've got Push already - so am ok in that area. I don't need the Rhythm Wolf, do I?

Diva does look good but may be a little too power hungry for my PC.

So, I think that Push + Blofeld + Mini it is.

Any thoughts on the Focusrite Saffire Pro 24? It seems about the best I can get for the money but will it work with the above. I think it will but am not 100%.

[ImNotDedYet]

Do you need Rhythm Wolf? Do any of us really _need_ that new piece of gear? It may be fun, but you might also want to look at the TB-3, which is bass only, not drums as well. Roughly the same price I believe?

Diva's pretty awesome, but if you're concerned about CPU consumption, you could also look into Zebra. Different, less analog but all around great, diverse soft synth. If you upgrade getting dark zebra (ZebraHZ) you get most of the filters from Diva.

Don't know the Saffire Pro 24, but I know a lot of people use the Focusrites and like them. I went RME Babyface for my interface when I stopped using my mixer and getting into hardware synths because it's low latency and has excellent drivers. I'm on a PC so driver quality is important to me. You really only _need_ one audio input on your soundcard, assuming you can then hook up your hardware synths to the laptop. It will be a pain to switch, but it's doable. Ideally, you'd want a soundcard with multiple MIDI inputs as well as audio inputs, but again, this isn't necessary. I just switch my cables in and out when I switch up synths.