After 10 yrs of s/w, I just bought a h/w synth

[m0j0byrd]

Ain't it strange how the gearheads never have a link to their tunes?

erm.....wheres the link to your tunes dude....

I'm a shit musician. I'm here because I make plugins. How about you?

hehe, tunes are forthcoming, i'm just such a retarded 'perfectionist' my tracks take forever to finish since i like to tweak everything until i'm 'satisfied'. Also i build/record every bit of sound from scratch, as it is no fun for me to work with ready made loops, which means taking even longer to do stuff. Then with all the new freeware stuff being released all the time, and goddamn kvr phun.... nonetheless, stuff is approaching 'completion'.

btw, i doubt you're a shit muso, and once my daw gets midiFX i will checkout your plugins as the chordspace thingy does look useful.

back on topic, i'm of the opinion that both hardware and software are equally lovely, each bringing their unique positives and negatives, altho i'm leaning more toward software as i still find it staggering as to what has already been accomplished, lots of bright minds developing interesting tools....

[nuffink]

btw, i doubt you're a shit muso

You'd be wrong, I really am.

But I don't slag off other forum members music. Ever. And I don't slag off other forum members instruments. Ever.

If you do either of those things, I reckon you should put up or shut up.

[Epiphany]

@ stk

I think the Virus is many people's ideal VA (at least in terms of reputation and following) and I think, if Id had the money, Id probably have gone for it. But for half the price the Nord seems to be a no brainer. However, I expect the lack of onboard of FX will be initially off putting, given that I'm used to the wet-laden goodness of Zebra, Massive and Absynth et al. To get around this I will be running it through my 1212M's FX at first, although overall, I hope it will make me focus more on raw sound design and quality.

Still would like a Virus though... maybe one day...

[aMUSEd]

One thing I have yet to own though is a non emulated synth - i.e. one made up of analog circuitry rather than software run on a dedicated DSP chip in a dedicated hardware shell - maybe one day. I'd love an Andromeda for example but probably will get an Evolver pretty soon.

noticed a used Evolver the other day:

http://www.analoguehaven.com/used/

Thanks but I'm in the UK. I've seen them on eBay for around £200 - if they go as low as £150 I might bite

[aMUSEd]

But I don't slag off other forum members music. Ever. And I don't slag off other forum members instruments. Ever.

If you do either of those things, I reckon you should put up or shut up.

Very true - there have been some mean spirited posts lately. I even had a rant about one yesterday (not like me)

[Chuck E. Jesus]

One thing I have yet to own though is a non emulated synth - i.e. one made up of analog circuitry rather than software run on a dedicated DSP chip in a dedicated hardware shell - maybe one day. I'd love an Andromeda for example but probably will get an Evolver pretty soon.

noticed a used Evolver the other day:

http://www.analoguehaven.com/used/

Thanks but I'm in the UK. I've seen them on eBay for around £200 - if they go as low as £150 I might bite

wasn't sure...i'm sure they will be floating around though...

[stk]

@ stk
I think the Virus is many people's ideal VA (at least in terms of reputation and following) and I think, if Id had the money, Id probably have gone for it. But for half the price the Nord seems to be a no brainer. However, I expect the lack of onboard of FX will be initially off putting, given that I'm used to the wet-laden goodness of Zebra, Massive and Absynth et al. To get around this I will be running it through my 1212M's FX at first, although overall, I hope it will make me focus more on raw sound design and quality.

Still would like a Virus though... maybe one day...

For sure..
I never even tried out the NL, really should one day, see what the buzz is about.

To be honest the ti was something of an impulse buy for me also, price notwithstanding (got a good deal, so figure i can get a good chunk of it back should i change my mind). I had actually been avoiding it for years purely because of it's tarnce kiddie reputation.

I couldn't care less about the whole hw/sw bullshit debate - the bottom line is that it it sounds good, feels good to play - but most importantly inspires you, then it's a great instrument.

I played about with it for an hour or so in a local store and was mighty impressed.
..so promptly ordered it from OS

cheers, sk

[BinaryB]

I like the Nord Modular 1st Generation.

[Tronam]

Nord Lead 2 doesn't need effects to sound great (of course, such a thing is totally subjective). It has a very strong, confident and raw tone. Excellent stereo unison as well, which could almost be considered a chorus. Once you get past the initial shock of no slathered on delays/reverbs/phasers etc... the emphasis on core sound design leads you in interesting directions. The simple and brilliant velocity mapping to any parameter (inverse as well), along with the morphing and layering provide for all kinds of great possibilities. The distinctive pitch stick is brilliantly expressive and allows for live performance vibrato. I like how the interface melts away after a little while and you don't even have to think about it. Pure tactile intuition. A very different feeling than tweaking a virtual knob with my mouse and staring at a computer monitor. Different approaches, which often result in different outcomes for me.

[mkdr]

The Nord Lead 2 is also a real solid synth which has stood the test of time. Good choice there! I don't have one, but I can get the same sounds out of my Nord Modular G2. Yes, its just software in a box, but it sounds great.

Umm. Actually the Nord Lead 2 should sound pretty much like the original Nord Lead(only the fm is a bit different i've heard). G2 is closer to the sound of Nord Lead 3. There is a big difference in G2/NL3 to the older NL1&2. If you get to play NL1 or 2 you'll notice it straight away.

[mkdr]

Ain't it strange how the gearheads never have a link to their tunes?

This gearhead has a few on his sig


Oh yeah and to the original post. There's a lot of people who started back in the 90's with software only(me included) but have changed to having h/w on their setup.

[Epiphany]

OK, Im now a hardware head

First thing - all these leads everywhere! Im not used to it! Second - loving all these leads... and lights and knobs...

Already made some impressive patches, the sounds really seem to design themselves... a few tweaks and you're pressing the "store" button again. Also, just worked out the best way of integrating with my DAW via the Nord's awesome performance setups and using SysEx dumps - gets round the "lack of recall" fear I had. Also worked out all the MIDI stuff - suddenly MIDI channels mean something. Lastly, worked out the audio outputs and sorted some routings to use my EMU card FX. All in all, it's very exciting.

I was initially disappointed with 2 osc only... coming from the background of Massive and FM8 etc. Then I realised it's 4 part multitimbral with 20 voices (I have the NL2X) - so make that 8 osc then!

Thanks

[whyterabbyt]

Think Im gonna pick up a DSI Prophet-8 just to f**k off the Virus/NL owners.

[Epiphany]

Am I right in saying that is a truly analogue recreation of a Prophet 5?

[whyterabbyt]

Am I right in saying that is a truly analogue recreation of a Prophet 5?

Same designer, same CEM chips, nothing digital in the signal path, but I dont think it's a 'recreation' as much as a similar-ish new synth based on a similar philosophy. The matrixsynth blog has some info.

I was only joking though. Much as I expect it to be a superlative synth, I dont actually need one.