Ableton Forum

title is obviously inspired by that other post showing around here..
so here it is:
just sold my microkorg,first synth owned, and bought a virus a..which i find really amazing btw.
these times i mainly play alone in the studio making anything between telefontelaviv and minimal techno..nothing really serious but i've developed a bad form of gearlust..so i was wondering: any tips on what to add next to expand sound capabilities?i'm looking on hardware stuff as my ancient mac can barely manage 20-only-midi tracks and 2 vsts so everything i add requests for something to be scrapped.
but please with a bit of money-minded approach..i would not like to spend so much on it,maybe a 400-500euros..(so dont come up with a buchla or i will cry over and over again) i know it is not much, but on the used side of life maybe something good can be get.
so i was guessing at the blofeld,or some used waldorf xt as the more "digital" approach (if i well understood the reviews ive seen) looks as a good complement for the access; or on the opposite way maybe a monofonic, analog mfb?
still, i dont want to replicate my virus, but i dont want either to have all the core of synths i use made up by only one machine...(consumer love for variety i guess)...so, if someone has some tip and/or experience worth sharing it will be much appreciated.thanks in advance!

buy a new computer

i was expecting this. how useful a response!now everything looks clear & simple..maybe i could hire a gear-full human synth player and tickle my ego by watching how he plays well uh?!anybody cheap out here?

If you loiter on ebay you could find a Microwave XT for under EUR400 probably - I have one and it's a monster - there's some demo clips at my soundcloud page.

Id maybe look for something a little more retro, like an old roland jx3p.
You already look like you have some nice gear in your collection already.

I was once caught up in gearlust and bought/exchanged for years never actually getting to grips with any of it and regreting selling a few things like my Korg Z1 and MKS10, But finally went back to basics and kept one hardware synth and a few vsti's

I have been toying with buying a 2nd hand sampler....even though i have ableton sampler i do miss the hands on feel of manipulating my old Akai or Yamaha sampler. Will have to wait until im rolling in cash again though.

Good luck with you synth search

never heard of the jx3p before..looks nice, altough i'm into some extensive knob tweaking and for this purpose the microwave looks a bit better

sven303 wrote:I was once caught up in gearlust and bought/exchanged for years never actually getting to grips with any of it

i understand this is a concrete risk!but partly hardware stuff, as compared to software, forces you to focus on what you have under your hands..ive played around with vsts for years now but never ever got as near as enjoying one of them and customizing it like with the virus in just a couple of weeks..although obviously talking about VAs there is not much difference in terms of quality (see the virus tdm for example, or any sw version of VAs synths) so i understand lots of people wont agree with this, considering also that price ranges of HWvsSW are in a ratio of 10:1 or more..
but hey real world is something else as i'm discovering!

saw this on matrixsynth this morning:

http://cgi.ebay.com/WALDORF-MICROWAVE-X ... tsupported

if you already own a VA synth (Virus)...
I'd either get a new computer + the suite...
or go ANALOG....
plenty of cool small monophonic hw synths on the market right now...
(or old Rolands like the Juno106...)

A Nord 2.

You could probably get a Roland JP8000 for cheap (going for between $400-500 US these days) - great sound quality, tons of nobs, a worthy addition to the fold in any case.

go analog:



http://www.thomann.de/gb/mfb_kraftzwerg.htm

Dave Smith . MOPHO
http://www.davesmithinstruments.com/products/mopho/

Get an analog synth. Something dirty is what you're missing IMO.
I vastly prefer analog synths for bass sounds personally.
http://www.davesmithinstruments.com/products/mopho/
or save a little and get this!
http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2009/ ... nthesizer/

Conversely get a Sherman Filterbank. http://www.sherman.be/

Most of what I do is inside the box. I do have a couple of hardware units, though. Lexicon MX400 and Moog MF-101. Couple of synths, too. Novation Xio, which I've been really impressed with the sounds on it and the MicroKorg, which is actually a friends but he doesn't use it. And I'm sure most people here probably have the Alesis SR-16. But i really would love to get my hands on a Sherman Filterbank 2. The Restyler from Sherman and Rodec looks like fun, too. And at some point, I'd like to get more Moogerfoogers so I can actually call it a collection. or maybe i'll just get a Voyager RME. The Mopho looks nice but if I was going to buy an analog synth, I'd want it to be more hands on (i.e Andromeda).

hey guys thanks for all your input...i guess what i'm lacking here is some analog stuff!the kraftzwerg is sick, altough patch cables make me tremble a bit as i'm not properly soft when tweaking so i would probably plug them off for too much movement the synth2 seems a good alternative too (and it has program memory without which i think i would be lost). as for the mopho, it looks cool but, still, little live tweaking on it so less fun! the filterbank has been on the wishlist, until when i discovered the t-resonator which look cheaper but equally funny..another one i would die for is the 777, but that is a bit difficult to find (and i guess it would be much dearer..).as for the andromeda, i think stuff like this (or a voyager or prophet)are to be delayed or having the best would make everything else look plasticky and cheapo..
after all, what makes me a bit reluctant to analog stuff is the analog issues i've read everywhere as noises&similars..and the fact that going analog i could afford just monophonic ones..(obviously a poly evolver looks cool but then my car is old and i'd better keep some grands to buy another one!)
but you're slowly convincing me, i started the day with a blofeld in my mind and will probably end it up with a sunsyn at its place..
still, thanks and go on as you certainly know more than me!