Hardware synths that blew away your expectations

[whyterabbyt]

Why companies like Behringer insist on issuing these things without patch memory beggars belief.

tl;dr: It's a price thing.

should have r'd then. its actually a technical thing that would result in a device that cost more and sounded different.

[vurt]

pretty sure uli said it was just to annoy bones?

[vurt]

i can't help but be amused by the most (small c) conservative punk ever!
"there's only one way!!! "

[tha_man]

But you can check out live performance I did on just MC-707. Recorded direct to video, so not really properly mixed or mastered, but for a jam I think it sounds ok: https://www.facebook.com/bojanpas/video ... 287088815/

Those synth sounds are great! Pretty surprising, actually.

Thanks! MC-707 is indeed a very nice sounding and quite capable machine. But most of all it's fun to play with and doesn't feel as work, compared to doing the same thing in software.

[donkey tugger]

I believe the Behringer Solipsist will be out soon - production run of one.

[BONES]

OK, smartarse, what's the difference? You detune Osc2 against Osc1 to fatten the sound and create movement as the phase relationship changes between them. Unison does EXACTLY the same thing, one level up, possibly also adding some stereo separation to enhance the thickening effect. So why would you like the way one thing sounds but not the other?

Jesus Mr. Grrrrrrr can you stop crapping In the punch bowl? This particular thread is a hardware party and you’ve come dressed as a plugin. We are here to discuss hardware not to entertain your insatiable appetite for insult.

I'm not allowed to insult anyone here. I own plenty of hardware, I've owned plenty more in the past and I guarantee I am more qualified than you to comment.

Some of us use hardware and software and don’t need a tired and endlessly repetitive dialog on how stupid we all are for enjoying our instruments of choice.

The stupidity is not in the fact you use and enjoy hardware but in your pathetic efforts to try and justify it. I feel no need at all to justify my use of hardware. I know that none of it sounds as good as my software, that it's expensive for no real benefit and that it's a massive PITA by comparison but I'm OK with that. I like having it around. Why isn't that enough? Why do people need to make shit up to justify it?

Let us enjoy this little corner of the KVR universe. Can you live with that?

I see no reason why I should want to. You make up bullshit and people who don't know any better take it at face value and waste potentially thousands of dollars. So no, I think balance in every discussion is important. The fact that you don't want to hear it tends to make me think it's even more important.

Blah, blah, blah...

Yeah, the MIDI thing was not well thought-out, I suppose, but Oberheim managed to create patch memory for analogue synths in the 1970s, I don't see why Behringer can't do it today.

[Aiynzahev]

Electron Analog 4. Virus TI. But that was a long time ago, I've had quite a few synths since.

More recently I was very impressed with the new Prophet 5. It's exactly what I expected, but the reality for me is often HW synths do not completely meet my expectations, this one did. Build quality is awesome too.

The other synth that really impressed me is the Vermona Perfourmer. Proper old school synth, sounds unique and is super simple, also super good build quality.

The UDO Super 6 is great too but I expected it to be, on the other hand it has some quirks I don't like that I did not expect.

The Nord Wave 2 impressed me with how versatile, how much variety is in the OSC section and how good the effects were too. It didn't blow me away though overall as although I love the sound, to me it's filters are not really competing with analog filters, and I'm spoiled with the analog synths I have.

Not a synth, but the AKAI MPC series, say the 2000xl, 2500 and 5000. I was so impressed by how incredibly fast and easy they were to use, such a pleasure. MPC live has the same fast workflow but I kind of expected more from it than it delivered in terms of modulation and sample mangling ability, and I have a soft spot for the old ones.

[Scotty]

The thread is about synths that exceeded our expectations. Have you got one to share? So you like to keep some hardware around. Great, tell us what and why. Build something instead of ripping the thread apart. So we know you wouldn't touch a Monopoly and any synth without presets is a no go for you. Cool. What hardware synth puts a smile on your face?

OK, smartarse, what's the difference? You detune Osc2 against Osc1 to fatten the sound and create movement as the phase relationship changes between them. Unison does EXACTLY the same thing, one level up, possibly also adding some stereo separation to enhance the thickening effect. So why would you like the way one thing sounds but not the other?

Jesus Mr. Grrrrrrr can you stop crapping In the punch bowl? This particular thread is a hardware party and you’ve come dressed as a plugin. We are here to discuss hardware not to entertain your insatiable appetite for insult.

I'm not allowed to insult anyone here. I own plenty of hardware, I've owned plenty more in the past and I guarantee I am more qualified than you to comment.

Some of us use hardware and software and don’t need a tired and endlessly repetitive dialog on how stupid we all are for enjoying our instruments of choice.

The stupidity is not in the fact you use and enjoy hardware but in your pathetic efforts to try and justify it. I feel no need at all to justify my use of hardware. I know that none of it sounds as good as my software, that it's expensive for no real benefit and that it's a massive PITA by comparison but I'm OK with that. I like having it around. Why isn't that enough? Why do people need to make shit up to justify it?

Let us enjoy this little corner of the KVR universe. Can you live with that?

I see no reason why I should want to. You make up bullshit and people who don't know any better take it at face value and waste potentially thousands of dollars. So no, I think balance in every discussion is important. The fact that you don't want to hear it tends to make me think it's even more important.

Blah, blah, blah...

Yeah, the MIDI thing was not well thought-out, I suppose, but Oberheim managed to create patch memory for analogue synths in the 1970s, I don't see why Behringer can't do it today.

[Freaqpeak]

1. Clavia Nord Lead in 1997'ish.

2. Eurorack/Modular (yea, not a synth but totally got into sound designing from scratch and had so much fun building my own racks...), started in 2012'ish for me.

3. Arturia Polybrute in 2021. Sounds incredibly good and it is easy to program. Digitally controlled, also via VST, but with all the goodyness of analog/hardware circuits. And live/jam workflow is really good. I even sold my latest Nord Lead to buy it. That's how good it is even though it's only a limited poly.

Honorable mentions:
1. Clavia (Micro) Modular in 2001'ish. Still sounds amazing. Was too hard to program for me back then. Clavia really screwed themselfs over by not doing a software version of it.
2. Virus TI sucked at live/jam workflow (you couldn't really use its multitimbral channels in a live situation, like triggering an ARP for one channel and keep playing other channels... this you CAN do with Clavia's synths). But was really nice to work with in the studio, way ahead of it's competition back when it was released, and continued to be ahead for like 10 years.

For me, there's really no reason to get hardware other for fun/jam/live nowadays. Software synths can often sound better.
My impression of the Waldorf Quantum was "Why!?". I played it for 1-2 hours in the store, I had the money.... but.. I was so sad that I didn't like the sound. Software synths like Zebra, Hive and Serum just sounds better to me.

[Constructed Identity]

Jesus Mr. Grrrrrrr can you stop crapping In the punch bowl? This particular thread is a hardware party and you’ve come dressed as a plugin. We are here to discuss hardware not to entertain your insatiable appetite for insult. Some of us use hardware and software and don’t need a tired and endlessly repetitive dialog on how stupid we all are for enjoying our instruments of choice. You’ve made your point countless times. We don’t need another replay. Let us enjoy this little corner of the KVR universe. Can you live with that?

True, but I think this forum is where all the trolls come to sing their mating songs...
That must be it and the reason I have so few posts over all these years.

[BONES]

Or perhaps it's that you have nothing of value to contribute and are smart enough to realise it?

The thread is about synths that exceeded our expectations. Have you got one to share?

If you'd bothered to read the thread, you'd know. I even included a picture.

So you like to keep some hardware around. Great, tell us what and why.

Done, done and done, many times in the past. But if you're interested, my hardware is really nothing more than a stage prop, something to (hopefully) impress an audience. That said, now that I have an Erae Touch, I'm thinking that it will be way more impressive on stage and I might not bother with hardware instruments moving forward, because they are far more effort and expense than they are worth. It's something we are working through at band practice at the moment.

So we know you wouldn't touch a Monopoly and any synth without presets is a no go for you. Cool. What hardware synth puts a smile on your face?

None. They are just tools, a means to an end. I get as much pleasure using them as I do using my collection of "stubby" tools. If I'm honest, all the hardware I've bought in the last 20 years has been a complete waste of money, but I've always had hardware and it seems that it's a tough habit to break. I mean, I still have my Ultranova and I can guarantee you that I have not taken it out of its bag for at least 7 years. I should sell it but I won't, because I'm a f**king idiot.

[Uncle E]

You make up bullshit and people who don't know any better take it at face value and waste potentially thousands of dollars.

Potentially thousands of dollars, yes, but there's also never been as many budget offerings in all history. Volca Kicks and TD-3's are $100 right now. JD-08 has 3x as many voices as the original, yet costs $399 (the JD-800 was $2,895 when it was released, which was equivalent to $6,334.26 today). Even the high dollar stuff is cheap compared to 40 years ago. The OB-X was $6,000 in 1979, that's $24,600 in 2022 money.

Look, I get what you're saying, I'll be the first person to admit I don't hear a $3,300 difference between the OB-6 and DIVA. And obviously DIVA is a much better workflow and possesses numerous important features and capabilities that aren't in the OB-6. Yet despite all this, the OB-6 just grabs my ears more.

My impression of the Waldorf Quantum was "Why!?". I played it for 1-2 hours in the store, I had the money.... but.. I was so sad that I didn't like the sound.

I agreed with everything you said up to here (Nord Lead 1 and Micro Modular rule!). How could you not love the Quantum pads and spacey sounds?

[BONES]

Potentially thousands of dollars, yes, but there's also never been as many budget offerings in all history. Volca Kicks and TD-3's are $100 right now. JD-08 has 3x as many voices as the original, yet costs $399 (the JD-800 was $2,895 when it was released, which was equivalent to $6,334.26 today). Even the high dollar stuff is cheap compared to 40 years ago. The OB-X was $6,000 in 1979, that's $24,600 in 2022 money.

Oh, absolutely. That's why I currently have so many. I paid less than $300 for my Rocket and Uno Pro Desktop is a ridiculously good synth for the money but none of it can keep up with Proclethya, which I paid $12 for.
The Sequential Take 5 seems to be more realistically priced but most of their stuff, and Moog's, just sells on the brand recognition. They're taking the piss.

Yet despite all this, the OB-6 just grabs my ears more.

In a blind test, do you really think you'd be able to tell one from the other. In a mix?

[jamcat]

At $3500 it's grabbing you by the ears, alright.

[whyterabbyt]

Blah, blah, blah...

Yeah, the MIDI thing was not well thought-out, I suppose, but Oberheim managed to create patch memory for analogue synths in the 1970s, I don't see why Behringer can't do it today.

I know you dont; because you ignore the information you're given. Its not like this is the first time its been explained to you.

The post tells you exactly why.