£500 VST Instrument Or £500 Keyboard Synthesizer / Controller ?

[pekbro]

Oh another thing to consider, knowing the ops interests would be Zbrush 2019, for just a bit more. I was looking at that last night. You can sub it now as well, which I found interesting. Although, personally I would buy it outright. Mildly, considering it myself actually.

[BONES]

The tricky thing for me is that I can't think of anything I'd buy with that kind of money right now. I am extremely happy with all the stuff I have and I'd probably prefer to spend the money on a week away or something.

But if I look at what I have now and think about what is more important to me, say because someone has hijacked my iLok account and stolen all my hardware and I can only get one thing back, that thing would definitely be a hardware thing, probably my Analog Keys (it's about what I paid for it used).

Why? Because I can always get by in software with just the basics, which I can fill out with freeware if I have to (CM freebies especially), but I'll always need a decent keyboard and interface to use with it all, and the AK provides all that and much more. It's interesting to think about, because you tend to believe that soft synths provide much better value for money, but the reality is that the existence of so much great freeware these days undermines the value of those $150+ VSTi to the point where a modern hardware synth seems like a wiser way to blow a load of cash.

[BONES]

Hardware isn't comparative since wavetable vsti rule the game.

Rule what game? I can't think of a single reason to bother with a wavetable synth. Surer, I have a couple but I didn't buy 'em because they're wavetable synths, it's just what they happen to be.

Tough decision nonetheless... for the price of a 500 pound hardware synth, you get at least 3 or 4 very good soft synths.

500 quid is close enough to a grand in my money and for that I could buy a Waldorf Rocket, an IK Uno and an Audiothingies Micromonsta, which is a pretty compelling trio of hardware goodies if you ask me.

[THE INTRANCER]

Oh another thing to consider, knowing the ops interests would be Zbrush 2019, for just a bit more. I was looking at that last night. You can sub it now as well, which I found interesting. Although, personally I would buy it outright. Mildly, considering it myself actually.

(Off topic here)...but it's..
pretty weird to be sitting in the dark after 3am to read that, having just glanced back to this thread, as I was just watching a few video's on youtube about ZBrush 2019. I actually own a license for Pixologic's ZBrush. I did the upgrade to 2019 a couple of days ago, trying to get my head around the new features and those I'd not touched in years like spotlight. I've been busy in Photoshop and C4D working on texture mapping, for some models... so not spent a lot of time getting round all the cool things in ZBrush 2019, and yeah... they opened the door to rent it for the first time, but thankfully perpetual remains...those free upgrades look to be ending when 2020 is announced however...next year though.

[Elektronisch]

Given the choice of software and hardware we have, if you were given £500 ( or what ever your equivalent currency is ) and you only had the choice to choose between a keyboard (hardware based) or a VST Instrument (obviously software based), what would you choose, assuming the cost's were the same ?

Whilst the reality is that you could buy a set of VST's to make up the cost of £500, what I'm asking you is really about what you place the most value in, when it comes to the software v hardware dilemma.

I added my first ever poll here, just to make things interesting.

Why just a keyboard and not in general synth wheather it would be a synth module or not

[THE INTRANCER]

Why just a keyboard and not in general synth whether it would be a synth module or not

Simply for clarity of choice for one to choose one or the other. A hardware synth module would simply fall into the same category as keyboard synthesizer / controller really, even though they are strictly not the same. Fundamentally though, the choice is purely one of being software based whilst the other is hardware electronic based.

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

I’d get an iPad, a litle midi keyboard, and a few apps

[Elektronisch]

Komplete A25 + upgrade to komplete 12

[AdvancedFollower]

I feel there are very few plugins that are worth $500 (really only Omnisphere, maybe Komplete, though that's a bundle of many plugins), while $500 in a synthesizer is better value.
I certainly wouldn't pay $500 for a controller, either. I don't have the keyboard skills to justify that.

[whyterabbyt]

£500 worth of decent beer.

[EnGee]

I don't need anything, but ...

If I'm starting now, I would buy Bitwig + Nektar LX 49+ (I'm already using such setup, Bitwig 2.3.5 + LX25+ and sometimes nektar P4)

[jacqueslacouth]

Unimportant

[BONES]

I feel there are very few plugins that are worth $500 (really only Omnisphere, maybe Komplete, though that's a bundle of many plugins), while $500 in a synthesizer is better value.
I certainly wouldn't pay $500 for a controller, either. I don't have the keyboard skills to justify that.

How about paying 500 quid for a Komplete Kontrol S49? That's a controller with a huge bundle of software to power it. Realistically, if I was just starting out today, I don't think I could spend 500 pounds more wisely than that.

[vurt]

well i never

i agree with bones.

[AnX]

does that require the painfully useless ni service center (or whatever its called)?

if so, thats a big no here.