Is it worth it to get a bunch of hardware? (coming from software only)

[kanoharuayu]

Hello, I started music in 2012 and I've been software only and I generally idolize old hardware stuff, I usually find kontakt banks of old samples, or use synths that emulate analogue / digital hardware like Novation V Station. But lately I've been feeling like if I bought some old hardware my sound would be more "hardware esque" sounding... Many of my favorite artists are from late 90's to 2008... If I understand correctly most people were still on romplers / digital hardware / analogue hardware from up till then right? Or was most commericial producers using software synths by then?

I looked up some of my favourite artists, and found some gear used a lot from the songs I love. It seems to be a mixture of these
Alesis QSR
Novation Station's
Access TI
E-mu Librarys
Roland XV5080
Yamaha TG / TX
Korg's stuff
More roland stuffs
and throw in some digital hardware FX
Boss FX Units / Roland SDE2000a delay/reverb

I thought a lot about buying a few of these, the cheap ones atleast at (200$ a synth/fx unit) but I wonder if I'd really apperciate them or notice the differense from my VST's?

As of now, so many VST emulate these hardware.
There's,
Roland Cloud, Artuia(heard their emu's sux), Lush101, JP6k for roland

Halion VST for Yamaha

Korg has some VST's as well. Novation has the V Station VST which is just as good as their others.

for Acess TI there's VIPER now which imitates it.

The old FX units, I researhed alot and ppl said they haven't found stuff that sounds as good. Some units had special FX to make good sounds. SPX990 has a patch supposedly where it's LFOing 4 different pitchshifters with a delay and detune or w/e that is really unique I'VE HEARD, and ppl couldn't replicate it.

But then there's stuff like Eventide for VST now with their H3000. and UAD with rolands delay and stuff...

I was interested in the Akai 3000 sampler with abunch of sampler DVDs, that seems really like it'd have abunch of gold, samples ppl literally don't even have nowadays, of course kontakt is more realistic, but I try to look for musicality of the patches, that's why I like some of the roland kontakt librarys.



Anyway, basically there's all these old HW I'm KIND OF interested in, almost solely cause my favorite artists made my favorite sounds with them, but it seems almost redundant to get them, since there's so many VST emulating them nowadays, I haven't tried to dial in my favorite bands sounds yet, or test the VST against hardware, but I also feel if I want to sound as good as they did, I should get the same hardware units. lol...
I wonder if it all comes down to mixing with analogue emulating plugins like Slate Digital... Cause alot of hardware back then, ppl who had it, mostly had hardware ompressors and EQ's right?

Sorry if I rambled a bit, I've been on n off of buying some of the units and FX for a while but always go back to just using softsynths lol

[Daags]

if you buy your hardware 2nd-hand, and pay no more than current market prices ... then yes, it's worth it in as much as you can almost certainly get your money back if the hardware in question isn't something you feel like keeping.

it's that simple really.

[Russell Grand]

I also feel if I want to sound as good as they did, I should get the same hardware units. lol...

If you don't sound as good as they do with software, you most likely won't sound as good as they do with hardware.

Don't get me wrong, I love hardware stuff. (I wish I had more than I do, unfortunately I can't afford it) But I'm not trying to emulate anyone else, just trying to do my own thing.

If you want hardware because you love it, both the sound and the hands-on feel, then I say go for it. If you only want hardware to try to sound like your idols, I suggest you think long and hard about that one before you plunk down a wad of cash.

Just my 2 cents.

[chk071]

Is it worth it to get a bunch of hardware? (coming from software only)

That's the question i've been asking myself for years now... for me, the answer is rather "No" though, as a hobby i do rarely, it's not really worth shelling out hundreds for a single device. I'd love to have a Virus or a Waldorf Q, but, there's no way i spend the money those devices cost.

[deastman]

There is a lot to the original question. More than I feel like typing up on my phone at the moment. But the short answer is no, it is never worth it to go hardware, because you can get similar results from software for a fraction of the cost and no physical space taken up. That said, I love hardware and have tons of it. If you feel the need to justify it, it isn’t for you. If you’re fine switching off the logical part of your brain and filling up your home with outdated junk, go for it!

Also, it seems like a lot of the stuff you’re listing is from the dark days of early digital. Those of us who lived through that time period never wish to return... the days of the Proteus, Sound Canvas, all that awful crap! But sure, if you want to make Vaporwave that sounds like some awful Wavestation hold music track, you’ve come to the right place.

[rod_zero]

Electronic music is much more about the journey of discovering and exploring the tools on your own, going deep with them and developing your own sound.

They used that HW because nothing more was avaible back then, if you like to work with software and are good with it keep at that, hardware could slow you down, specially most of the units on that list are from the era when HW user interfaces werent so great, lots of menu diving, few knobs.

If anything I would recommend you to look for new synths and check their sounds, something with lots of knobs which can be much more fun to use.

[jacqueslacouth]

Over the years I have had an insane amount of hardware (starting with a Roland SH101 way back which I bought brand new for $125). In the past 12 months I finally came to the conclusion, that it was indeed time to let it go. I eventually sold around $12000 worth of gear including some very tasty modular gear. You would be hard pressed to recognise my studio these days, no racks of synths, stacks of drum machines, no mixers etc. I have a MIDI controller (Nektar), my computer, audio interface, studio monitors a bass, a guitar and a Korg Wavedrum. The room looks very spartan now.

To be honest though, while the hard core muso looking aesthetic of the room has gone, I am now spending more time learning the ins and outs of the ITB gear I have and honing my craft as a songwriter/musician. I look back now and see all the hardware as a big distraction for me.

What I would suggest considering (because I really doubt the $200 area of hardware synths is going to bring you THAT much joy) is the functionality and sound of a $200 soft synth vs the same for a piece of hardware in the same price bracket.

[kanoharuayu]

Also, it seems like a lot of the stuff you’re listing is from the dark days of early digital. Those of us who lived through that time period never wish to return... the days of the Proteus, Sound Canvas, all that awful crap! But sure, if you want to make Vaporwave that sounds like some awful Wavestation hold music track, you’ve come to the right place.

I'm actually more into the Japanese era of music at that time, I don't think they have a genre, but I love the "atmosphere" and "silky feeling" or "buttery smoothness" of these songs, and the vocals on some of them have such a nice harmonizing pitchshifting effect going on, they must of been using some hardware FX. I tried recreating the vocal FX before, but never actually sat down and tried copying the synthesis in these, but I bet with the Novation V Station, a Juno bass and that new VIPER for supersaws I could probably do it. This is just one style that I like from that era lol

Code: Select all

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VkdtVPVuTM

(buttery smoothness, everything has like compressed but character not harsh smooth thing going on and the vocal FX at chorus)

Code: Select all

https://soundcloud.com/roella_nica0012/birds-poem-tori-no-uta-by-lia

(the buttery smoothness...)

Code: Select all

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcfBNO01fuE 

(I think this is korg?, I love this too.)

Code: Select all

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrBB_xIjo4Q

He uses TI, all his songs have similar sounds since 2003, hard to find a good synth demonstration lol
And here's something different from 1996...

Code: Select all

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeJR-AJWZWM

(I just love the mixing and stuff then as well lol)

[Distorted Horizon]

My opinion.. Get a bit of both. You can find some 90's hardware fx units quite cheap second hand and those will give you immediate 90's touch to the sound, just record your vst synth track trough it. Bass Station II is cheap as heck and IMO gives some of the magic that original Bass Station gave in the 90's.. Same goes for Pulse 2. Arturia microbrute is cheap and gives immediately some dirty analog sound. Haven't tested Trueno but I'll buy that soonish, so I can't give an opinion of it yet but it seems promising. And it costs less that Serum.

Good (and bad) thing in hardware is workflow. Samplers for example have limited memory, you need to do a thing or two to stretch that time ( ) So basically you need a hardware sampler to get the same sound than your hero, but you can use same methods right in your DAW to get similar sound. Though you need some bit reduction etc etc to emulate that DAC etc etc.. Will get you close but won't be the same.

And of course with hardware you record that sound and work with audio instead of midi. So if something goes wrong, you record that again instead of dragging notes around.

[Distorted Horizon]

Personally I have piles of vsti's, much more than I'd need. Regret buying those all since that money could've been spent more wisely (like on some hardware that doesn't immediately lose 50% of the resell value).
And I have Waldorf Rocket and Blofeld

[D-Fusion]

I would take korg Wavestation vst and M1 vst over the hardware versions these days
You get all the expansion cards built in too.

[D-Fusion]

Double

[D-Fusion]

And again Damn net farts.

[Michael L]

I would take it really slooow so you don't waste a LOT of money.
Try a zen-artist approach of deliberately limiting your choices.
I would buy only the Korg Collection to re-create those timbres and chord progressions.
Those synths have the sounds you want. Some of the "buttery smoothness" is the absence of distortion FX.

[lfm]

Anyway, basically there's all these old HW I'm KIND OF interested in, almost solely cause my favorite artists made my favorite sounds with them, but it seems almost redundant to get them, since there's so many VST emulating them nowadays, I haven't tried to dial in my favorite bands sounds yet, or test the VST against hardware, but I also feel if I want to sound as good as they did, I should get the same hardware units. lol...
I wonder if it all comes down to mixing with analogue emulating plugins like Slate Digital... Cause alot of hardware back then, ppl who had it, mostly had hardware ompressors and EQ's right?

A couple of things with hardware IMO:
a) physical knobs to higher degree encourage making your own twist of presets, either factory or through sysex you find on internet. In short - fun to work with.

b) good potential to sound better due to that hardware is such a high production cost in comparison to release a piece of software - and you really work through the product that you release.

There is a good bunch of threads here on KVR over how many feel hardware sound better.

c) if true analog the potential is there for higher dynamic range - like output stages with more than 5V range inside. To get good resonance filter - for digital you have to lower digital levels not to make overs - that overall volume have to go down seriously to capture that peak. You often notice on digital gear that doing one note can be alright, but make a chord and you have serious limiting going on - there isn't that much dynamic to play with.

Extreme example could be tonewheel Hammond compared to digital ones. If all tube stuff inside, there is a lot of headroom.

Just a couple of reasons to go hardware, I think....