how is it?? good, bad, any comment at all?

can anyone reccomend anything better for the same pricerange (about 150 us)for making bass lines.

thanks in advance.

Don't know if this helps, but Arcane Devices has a synthedit synth called Mainliner, it's loosely based on Novation's synth and it's free :

http://antisound.semperstudio.com/device/?section=sig_gen

By the way, I think the Bass Station sucks. Synapse Hydra is really good for basses. And RGC Triangle is free.

Neil,

The bass station in hardware form wasn't exactly a great synth. Now, I'm more than willing to believe that the software version is superior but as [silent] says triangle is free and, imho, is a far superior instrument to a (hardware) bass station.

cool, thanks guys.

then whats the best synth for bass at around 150 dollars..

i make mostly deep house and the moment im using Reasons Subtractor rewired through my host but im not happy with the sounds im getting.

Neil,

You seem to be missing the point somewhat. Triangle isn't just some piece of freeware junk that [silent] and I have dragged up for the sake of argument. It's from RGC, makers of z3ta, arguably the first great synth of the 21st century. Give it a go, save the dosh for a big bag of blow.

Best bass machine by far is Trilogy, but it's $329. Nothing beats it from what I've heard.

Devon

Yup, I think Trilogy is the best but it is expensive.

I want to check out Quantum Leap Hardcore Bass. If it does electric basses good, then that will be an excellent compliant to synth basses from software such as Triangle, PlastiCZ, etc.

nuffink wrote:

Neil, You seem to be missing the point somewhat. Triangle isn't just some piece of freeware junk that [silent] and I have dragged up for the sake of argument. It's from RGC, makers of z3ta, arguably the first great synth of the 21st century. Give it a go, save the dosh for a big bag of blow.

soryy, i didnt mean to come off that way, but i have Triangle already. its great i know but im looking for a bit more polished sound. thanks for the recomendation though

i think im gonna buy Z3ta though as i see its one of the most highly regarded vst's of all time..is it also good for bass. my patience is to low to try out the sound cutting demo.

Neil G wrote:

i think im gonna buy Z3ta though as i see its one of the most highly regarded vst's of all time..is it also good for bass. my patience is to low to try out the sound cutting demo.

Well, not EVERYONE worships it. I don't. Little CPU heavy. Sounds better with the presets it now comes with than what it initially came with.

Devon

Neil G wrote:

i think im gonna buy Z3ta though as i see its one of the most highly regarded vst's of all time..is it also good for bass. my patience is to low to try out the sound cutting demo.

Given you already have Triangle 2 (and probably Synth1), I'd say z3ta+ and/or Albino would be my choices for VA. Great for lead and bass, lots of presets or roll your own.

Doug

I would have to chime in here, and second the motion for Albino - although what I have is the Delta3, but they are essentially the same engine as far as I can tell. AMAZING synth.
Also: Check out BUZZROOM and download Lallapalooza 2.1
http://www5c.biglobe.ne.jp/~buzzroom/LPLlite.html

Trilogy is the one. As good as z3ta+ & albino may be, they don't sound nearly as solid. An interesting alternative might be DiscoDSP's new Phantom, it's a 4 operator FM synth that loads all the classic DX100 bass patches (the sound of Detroit which I've heard making a come back in a lot of Ralph Lawson-style tracks).

I make house music & use either Creamware's Minimax, a real Minimoog, or a Fender J-Bass for all my basses.

I have a real live hardware BassStation Rack. I think it sucks ass. I only keep it because it has no resale value and doesn't take up any room in my studio. I think the new VST software version is a highly accurate emulation of the original.

deastman wrote:

I have a real live hardware BassStation Rack. I think it sucks ass. I only keep it because it has no resale value and doesn't take up any room in my studio. I think the new VST software version is a highly accurate emulation of the original.

thanks again for the help.

i went ahead and ordered Z3ta.. now i just have to wait for them to send it to me.

Trilogy sounded cool, but it was a little out of my price range..maybe next time although after this, i think im done for buying stuff for a while.

deastman wrote:

I have a real live hardware BassStation Rack. I think it sucks ass. I only keep it because it has no resale value and doesn't take up any room in my studio. I think the new VST software version is a highly accurate emulation of the original.

You know it's good when you can hear the actual sucking sound from the next room. Have you a/b'ed them though? Was curious at least.

Devon

if bass sound was the motivation, I don't understand the decision to buy z3ta, when triangle was already known and in house.

all the rgc:audio synths have basically the same sound, just different capabilities of manipulating that sound, and to me that would be esp. true for bass sounds.

there are probably lots of good reasons to buy z3ta, but if the prime goal was better bass or even a differnt bass sound, I don't get it.

IMHO Hydra has just about the nicest FM style bass. I don't own it but was seriously considering it. Then I bought albino. I bought it for the pads, but was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the basses. There's a bank on patcharena by trancegoblin (?) that has some nice bass presets. I used one last night to replace a Carbon deep growl bass that had an unfortunate fm-like snap on the attack -- supposed to be a pluck, but went into a snap on a certain note range

If you have Pro-53, there is probably one of the sweetest bass presets ever on that. Check out polysynth(I think thats the name of it) one of the best growling bass sounds I have heard...

Neil G wrote:

i went ahead and ordered Z3ta..

Very good choice! Don't forget to check out the soundbanks here and on PatchArena! (Especially Kire 's "Trancemania" ).

Peter.

The curious thing about the Bass Station is that despite the name, bass is the weakest thing about it. It has no punch, no depth, and no "oomph". However, it is quite useful for leads and bleeps and such. Surprising for something that was originally designed as a 303 clone with a few extras.

Just to give a different perspective I have just started using Hydra and I think it gives some of the best bass sounds along with triangle ...you can get smooth clean hits and deep growlin basslines...Having said that I'm still saving the money for Trilogy though as it's meant to rock.

man - i had a Basstation keyboard and the vsti sounds just as sucky as that did.

my favorite sources for All Things Bass are Albino & V-Station. gotta look into Hydra, tho, from all the good things y'all have to say about it.

I've been struggling to nail down a bass sound myself. I general I don't seem to like VST's for bass IMO so far. (my small BX5 monitors play a part too though to be fair) I think it has something to do with the "response" than anything. I have a guitar background and if It's not punchy and responsive, somewhat like a real bass then it doesn't cut it for me.

That being said I like Tera's Juno basses alot, great synth, just a little to programmer oriented for me to buy. I will probably try hydra after reading this thread. I just downloaded the CS-80 demo and it seemed to have a few decent basses too. Oh well I'll find something eventually!

Neil G: Zeta is a fun synth, not the first thing I use for basses though. Load up Kire's bank from Patcharena. There a a few very good bass sounds in this bank, very usable.

-Rick

Rick1114 wrote:

I've been struggling to nail down a bass sound myself. I general I don't seem to like VST's for bass IMO so far. (my small BX5 monitors play a part too though to be fair) I think it has something to do with the "response" than anything. I have a guitar background and if It's not punchy and responsive, somewhat like a real bass then it doesn't cut it for me.

Other things to look into - MaxxBass from my understanding is a great plug for pulling up bass freqs that make it punchy even on speakers that don't have that low of a freq response. Of course, if the montiors can't take it, how do you even know too? this very reason has me still debating about buying a subwolfer for my system... probably at the displeasure of my neighbors AND my wife.

Also, it could be your mixing style and technique. EQ, compression, and layering can do a lot to bring a limp bass sound to a pound a nail through your head bass sound. How much have you looked into the mix to bring it up? How much have you eq'ed the harmonics of the bass sound to give it that 'snap', instead of trying to bring up the fundamental tone?


Devon