Have you sold your Hardware synths and regretted it

[Gonga]

What? What does it do that FM8 doesn't do? Be specific because I have one and I want to compare them side by side. I would say that the TX-802 is a synth that I regret NOT selling when it still had some value.

The FM8 is based on the FM synthesis of the DX7/802/81Z modules but I'm sure you knew that anyway . In fact I think it can even load the hardware patches although I've never tried it. For flexibility FM8 is probably a better option than the 802 with the added advantage you can have as many instances as you want. So I suggest you sell it to me the 802 for £100

FM8 is great and can do a lot of stuff the Yamahas can't, but it cannot replace a quality Yamaha FM with regard to many specific sounds, at least partly because it's sound engine doesn't have the dynamics of the originals.

Here's a linky to me playing my custom soundfont.

http://danling.com/studio/sounds/DX7Jaz ... ndfont.mp3

And here's another soundfont I created from an obscure patch called "Activate." The same patch is used for both bass and lead. Again, opening the patch in FM8 gives an anemic sound by comparison. The activate patch has an amazing transient bite. Jan Hammer used this patch on "Rum Cay."

http://danling.com/studio/sounds/Activate.mp3

And here's a short-envelope version of Jazz Guitar (soundfont). Try this with FM8

http://danling.com/studio/sounds/Short- ... opZone.mp3

[mztk]

My wife wise one she is kept saying no don't sell it put it in storage but I didn't listen.

cor you're lucky, wife telling you to keep it. keep her!
@OP
yeah, you have to find some decent secure, free, dry storage for a bit.
you probably put a fair bit of effort into getting it, obviously appreciate
it, and you'll have to pay more to replace them. for the money you'd get
from resale, it's only money, and we all know the gear is worth more than
the money. some things you may let go and never miss, come back to
replace with the better version, but others, you'd only get the same
thing again, without that sneaky satisfied feeling that you got it for
much less than the current market rate. prices on the old gear keep
going up - that said, some great new stuff has appeared too.

if you're on the move, you won't miss hardware, but you'll still cart
around more than just a laptop: MIDI k/b, external soundcard, external
drive, etc. - you can be much more productive that way, but it's good
to have realworld reference, and keep some gear as a kind of 'heartland'
to what you're doing - i dumped keyboards, but i made sure i kept rack
units. and i'm glad i did, 12 years on.

oh, oops, 2005 thread...

[PatchAdamz]

I bought into the idea of software in the 90's. It almost drove me crazy. The idea was so great and the computers were so lacking that all it ever became was a waste of time, money, and energy trying to make them work as the software companies promised. I had become convinced that I was just a fool to believe any of that hype. It seemed that the computer was best at sequencing and nothing else. In the last couple of years though, computers have finally reached a place where they can deliver the power needed to fulfill the software promise. Still not perfect, but getting closer all the time.

I'm a firm believer in being hybrid on this though. However, what I look for in hardawre is completely different now. It's really about the triggering response in the boards more than simple triggering (which anysoftware can do via controller). The question really comes down to whether or not it plays like an instrument or just a keyboard. And after much buying and selling of hardware keyboards and racks, I've come down to two keyboards that fit that bill for me. The rest, I prefer more to be ITB now. But now, the insanity of having more than one box to do it in is beginning to take hold...

Yea, you know, when I think about all the hardware I purchased I remember the initial cost, then what I was able to sell them for.

In almost all cases the value had dropped considerably.

Everyone wanted the newest thing, "vintage" had not been a term used for hardware synths much yet.

Between the cost to maintain them and what you could sell them for a few years later was a burden.

There are several softsynths that do sound great, free updates, and you can spill a cup of coffee on it, no problem.

[zerocrossing]

The only synths I've kept are two rack-mount units that cannot (yet) be found in a quality vst: Roland JV-2080...

You're kidding right?

I do custom Tomb Raider level music, which means I need the Roland JV sounds, since all the original TR games used those sounds almost exclusively. The 2080 has 7 extension cards, including both orchestral. Not available in vst and probably never will be. Along with Omnisphere, Stylus and Trillian, I have an awesome Eric Persing library.

The late-model Yamaha FM synths cannot be duplicated with FM7 or FM8 - not even close. These are great softsynths, but they sound very, very different. The jazz guitar patch is a staple for some players and the closest I've come to it in a vst is a soundfont I created myself from the DX7 patch using DXulator. It's much better thn FM7 or FM8, but still doesn't have the dynamics and transients of my TX-802. It's not opinion, it's based on a long history of trying everything and a lot of people agree with me. So there you go!

Well I kind of agree with you on the 802, which is why I cut out that part of your quote and just left the 2080. Don't get me wrong, I'm a Roland ROMpler fan... but even though you do music that relies on those sounds... you should have mentioned why because you're an anomaly. I think for most people a copy of Dimension Pro and and Omnisphere would replace them nicely. Possibly though in Ethno Instrument for good measure. They did for me at least.

[zerocrossing]

The only hardware I ever sold that I truly regretted was my G&L Skyhawk guitar (Strat). I regretted it so much I went back to the shop and bought it back! I still have it. (originally purchased in 1980)

Everything else... comes and goes... like clouds. I appreciate them for what they are and their possibilities, but if I get board of have a whim, they're gone. There are always cool synths to be had. Hardware and software. Part of my process is discovering their quirks and possibilities and getting inspired by them. I consider that buying/selling/trading a separate hobby from music and often it's just as fun. I really love researching synths.

[BBFG#]

The only hardware I ever sold that I truly regretted was my G&L Skyhawk guitar (Strat). I regretted it so much I went back to the shop and bought it back! I still have it. (originally purchased in 1980)

Everything else... comes and goes... like clouds. I appreciate them for what they are and their possibilities, but if I get board of have a whim, they're gone. There are always cool synths to be had. Hardware and software. Part of my process is discovering their quirks and possibilities and getting inspired by them. I consider that buying/selling/trading a separate hobby from music and often it's just as fun. I really love researching synths.

Yes, for me it was my Susanna Hoffs Rickenbacker. The only thing that makes me glad I sold it was knowing I would have lost it during the robbery of 1998 anyway.
(And I realized with that guitar, I don't play well with center pickup guitars.)
I still look fondly at certain gear when someone posts a picture though, even if I never would want it again. And guitars are more about the parts than the brand to me now.

[xamido]

I've always regret selling my virus ti polar. Back at the time i sell it because i get it very cheap in a store closure sale, 900$ and one of my friend offer to buy for 1800$. I like sound design with it, the abundance of knob was very fun for me.

[ghettosynth]

The only synths I've kept are two rack-mount units that cannot (yet) be found in a quality vst: Roland JV-2080...

You're kidding right?

In some way I can see his point, plugins don't do the bread and butter rompler thing all that well and certainly if you're trying to replace a specific rompler with a software version of it such that it is compatible with all the sounds.

But this:

Yamaha TX-802 FM synth

What? What does it do that FM8 doesn't do? Be specific because I have one and I want to compare them side by side. I would say that the TX-802 is a synth that I regret NOT selling when it still had some value.

Exactly right on the JV.

The TX-802 has dynamic balls that FM8 does not have. It also can do an awesome high-frequency transient that FM8 cannot. The Jazz Guitar patch (one of Jan Hammer's staples) cannot be done well in any current vst.

Ok, thanks for the response. The high frequency transient I can potentially see, but I'm trying to understand what would hamper the dynamics of software, per se. But, I'll put them side by side. I really like FM synths, but, I've never really used them for more classic sounds, other than to noodle about.

If you can think of any other bog standard patches that really highlight the difference that would be great. I'll side by side, at least, the TX802, the SY77, FM8, and the Nord G1. BTW: If you don't know, the G1 and G2 both have a six voice sine wave oscillator bank specifically built for doing FM sounds. I believe that internally they had written a patch converter but I'm not sure that they ever released it.

Several have been written by others, including this one:

https://github.com/msg/g2ools

There are quite a few discussions about this, not everyone agrees that you can't replace a DX with either FM8 or the Nord G1, but, then again, there's often a lot of misinformation in these threads, both at the other site and here. A gem in this thread is that both the M12 and P5 have CEM chips but they don't sound the same, indeed! Don't get me wrong, the antecedent is true, but it's a bit like saying both corvettes and chevettes have chevy engines, but they don't drive the same. At any rate, on to the links:

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/electron ... -fm-2.html

I wish that the TX802 vs FM8 audio comparisons were still up, people were surprised that they thought that the hardware sounded better but it turned out to be the software.

Some more discussions, zerocrossing is all over these

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/electron ... tions.html

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/electron ... dware.html

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/electron ... ality.html

I'm not sure whether I regret not selling the SY77. I picked it up super cheap so that I could use micro tuning to pretend to be Richard D. James, but I haven't been able to cure some sticky keyboard issues and so it's been in the closet forever. I even purchased a new display for it. I guess it's coming out of the closet today, heh!

[Maomoondog]

I sold an Oberheim Matrix 12 and a Fairlight Series II in 1991, fair enough the fairlight is not as worthy as it was back when I had one, but I sure do miss the Matrix 12, prices for them now are crazy. I did keep hold of my Jupiter-8, PPG Wave 2.3 and a Linn-9000, all of them still fully working too.
The Jupiter-8 was actually used on our debut album in 1984 and subsequent releases after that.

[o_p_a_l]

I sold my Virus Ti and regretting it now especially now that i have seen this post

[Shy]

I have never sold a hardware synth and regretted it, but I bought some from people who have. Selling a couple of synths enabled me to stop wasting my time with stuff that doesn't suit me, and get the ultimate sound and features that are right for me. I'll never buy another hardware synth except if I have to for reasons unrelated to the synth's features or sound.

[Maomoondog]

I have never sold a hardware synth and regretted it, but I bought some from people who have. Selling a couple of synths enabled me to stop wasting my time with stuff that doesn't suit me, and get the ultimate sound and features that are right for me. I'll never buy another hardware synth except if I have to for reasons unrelated to the synth's features or sound.

I do agree with what your saying here, I sold the Matrix 12 because I didn't think I would need it again (I did sample a lot of things from it into an Akai sampler though) The fairlight, I do have a sample library that I never use from it. At that time I thought the Matrix 12 had served it's purpose, but mostly for sentimental reasons I kept my Jupiter-8. But every now and then I wish I had the Matrix 12. (A vst emulation would be ok)

I even sold the Akai and the sample library I built up

[Spiritos]

Sold my Korg M1 years ago since the combo with Cubase just didn't sit in with me at that time.
Also I was mostly singing and playing guitar in rockbands and felt keys didn't have a place in there.
Been such an analogue musician for years...

[Gonga]

The only synths I've kept are two rack-mount units that cannot (yet) be found in a quality vst: Roland JV-2080...

You're kidding right?

I do custom Tomb Raider level music, which means I need the Roland JV sounds, since all the original TR games used those sounds almost exclusively. The 2080 has 7 extension cards, including both orchestral. Not available in vst and probably never will be. Along with Omnisphere, Stylus and Trillian, I have an awesome Eric Persing library.

The late-model Yamaha FM synths cannot be duplicated with FM7 or FM8 - not even close. These are great softsynths, but they sound very, very different. The jazz guitar patch is a staple for some players and the closest I've come to it in a vst is a soundfont I created myself from the DX7 patch using DXulator. It's much better thn FM7 or FM8, but still doesn't have the dynamics and transients of my TX-802. It's not opinion, it's based on a long history of trying everything and a lot of people agree with me. So there you go!

Well I kind of agree with you on the 802, which is why I cut out that part of your quote and just left the 2080. Don't get me wrong, I'm a Roland ROMpler fan... but even though you do music that relies on those sounds... you should have mentioned why because you're an anomaly. I think for most people a copy of Dimension Pro and and Omnisphere would replace them nicely. Possibly though in Ethno Instrument for good measure. They did for me at least.

Yup. Omni and Kontakt are better all around. But the 2080 has 8 frikkin expansion slots! It's the Eric Persing JV library in a rack mount.

[Gonga]

The only synths I've kept are two rack-mount units that cannot (yet) be found in a quality vst: Roland JV-2080...

You're kidding right?

In some way I can see his point, plugins don't do the bread and butter rompler thing all that well and certainly if you're trying to replace a specific rompler with a software version of it such that it is compatible with all the sounds.

But this:

Yamaha TX-802 FM synth

What? What does it do that FM8 doesn't do? Be specific because I have one and I want to compare them side by side. I would say that the TX-802 is a synth that I regret NOT selling when it still had some value.

Exactly right on the JV.

The TX-802 has dynamic balls that FM8 does not have. It also can do an awesome high-frequency transient that FM8 cannot. The Jazz Guitar patch (one of Jan Hammer's staples) cannot be done well in any current vst.

Ok, thanks for the response. The high frequency transient I can potentially see, but I'm trying to understand what would hamper the dynamics of software, per se. But, I'll put them side by side. I really like FM synths, but, I've never really used them for more classic sounds, other than to noodle about.

If you can think of any other bog standard patches that really highlight the difference that would be great. I'll side by side, at least, the TX802, the SY77, FM8, and the Nord G1. BTW: If you don't know, the G1 and G2 both have a six voice sine wave oscillator bank specifically built for doing FM sounds. I believe that internally they had written a patch converter but I'm not sure that they ever released it.

Several have been written by others, including this one:

https://github.com/msg/g2ools

There are quite a few discussions about this, not everyone agrees that you can't replace a DX with either FM8 or the Nord G1, but, then again, there's often a lot of misinformation in these threads, both at the other site and here. A gem in this thread is that both the M12 and P5 have CEM chips but they don't sound the same, indeed! Don't get me wrong, the antecedent is true, but it's a bit like saying both corvettes and chevettes have chevy engines, but they don't drive the same. At any rate, on to the links:

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/electron ... -fm-2.html

I wish that the TX802 vs FM8 audio comparisons were still up, people were surprised that they thought that the hardware sounded better but it turned out to be the software.

Some more discussions, zerocrossing is all over these

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/electron ... tions.html

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/electron ... dware.html

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/electron ... ality.html

I'm not sure whether I regret not selling the SY77. I picked it up super cheap so that I could use micro tuning to pretend to be Richard D. James, but I haven't been able to cure some sticky keyboard issues and so it's been in the closet forever. I even purchased a new display for it. I guess it's coming out of the closet today, heh!

Cool. The links I posted above are of custom soundfonts I created from DX patches, using the freeware DXulator, and they sound a lot closer to the Yamahas than FM8 - a lot closer, as you can hear. But still not good enough. The later Yamaha FMs are sweet man! I can't locate the stems from my last TX-802 project (I switched from SONAR to Cubase), but here's the tune by Jason Glidden (a newer version available on Amazon). The TX is the middle solo. Though it's not a great example of the difference, it's enough because this sound cannot be produced by FM8, period. There ya go. It's not that I haven't tried.

http://soundcloud.com/dan-ling/time-out