synths,what do i need to know?

racefaceec90

i am planning on saving up towards a synth to mess about on at home (and try and make weird noises/soundscapes/bad vangelis covers with).

i have a couple on shortlist that i am interested in

would like to be able to do a bit of everything i suppose (would like to try and do some ambient/d n b/trance/soundscape type stuff if i can).

i do like the mininova i have to admit (from watching youtube vids) both sound wise and control layout (also seen it online for £230),but i know that it doesn't have a sequencer/drum machine. (the roland does but it's an extra £100+ to buy).

also don't know much about programming sounds e.t.c so something that was easy to understand would be great also (i think both novation and roland have software for the synths).

just wondering what you might recommend? ta 

ps excuse the cut/paste,i have asked this on another forum.

Fretwired

I use soft synths .. MIDI keyboard and VST plugins .. very flexible. Never owned a hardware synth but they can be a one trick pony.

littlegreenman

VST's and a USB midi keyboard are the easiest and most affordable option. MIDI keyboards are available on the cheap and there's 1000's of free VST's out there.

Nomad

[Suggest moving this thread to the Other Instruments section.]

Don't know about those particular synths, but I'd have thought something polyphonic would be needed for soundscapes. Monophonic synths tend to be good for lead, basslines and general special effect noises. If they're mini keyboards, make sure there's a way to feed it MIDI note data so that you can use an external board with full size keys (mini keys can be rather cramped). If it can send and accept MIDI controller data, then talking to it with a DAW that does MIDI will open up the possibilities massively in the longer term, but this isn't necessarily important.

I see more twiddly knobs on the Roland, and that would attract me. A lot of synthy stuff isn't really about programming a sound and calling it up, more about twiddling knobs to change the sound as you go. Doing the evolving sound thing with up/down buttons isn't as intuitive or as well controlled as it can be with knobs.

ToneControl

how about an arturia set?

or omnisphere?

or the Native instruments sets?

a cheap USB keybard costs little

Luminous

Would you consider 2nd hand?

racefaceec90

thanks for the replies.

i was really looking for a physical synth tbh (my laptop isn't the most powerful).

i don't mind 2nd hand,but am planning on saving up to the roland jd-xi price range max £360 (as it will take me a while).

 

Nomad

Found a couple demos of the above synths, and the Mininova strikes me as something that makes noises, but you have to pick what it does by pressing buttons once you've got a sound going. The Roland was also a bit buttony, but does have more knob tweaking going for it. Hard to tell from one demo each, but I thought the Mininova sounded better.

If you've got time before you buy something, I'd say do some shopping around to see what else there is.

Moss

Have you seen the Yamaha Reface CS?

littlegreenman

racefaceec90 said:

thanks for the replies.

i was really looking for a physical synth tbh (my laptop isn't the most powerful).

i don't mind 2nd hand,but am planning on saving up to the roland jd-xi price range max £360 (as it will take me a while).

 

One of these (pretty cheap)

http://www.m-audio.com/products/view/oxygen-iv-25#.Vm3uP7-BrZg

and this (free)

http://www.creative.com/emu/proteusvx/

Would be more than adequate even on a basic laptop. I managed to cobble together this using just that VST, and a guitar track in my ancient DAW.

xmrchi

I have a mini nova and bass station2, their fantastic, you can't go wrong with em and easy to use, plus the apeggiator is great.

Get one and start having extreme fun.