Hardware instrument appreciation thread

[whyterabbyt]

no, it's not universal consensus

Indeed not.

but 50% are waiting for better sofware and "only" 6% consider software better than hardware.

Does that include software running on hardware boxes, or not?

[mao]

Zaphod, do you want THE moog sound? really ?

sicuro sicuro sicuro ?

Save your money and buy a Moog Little Phatty.

-----------------------------------------------

About "If I have the money I'll buy hw..." well I'm not rich at all, but I see a lot off ppl claiming they can't afford a little phatty BUT having a 1000$ mountain bike just to go to buy milk and bread or a 2000$ PC to play halflife 2. My bike is poor but it works. My car is ugly but it works, my dresses are not fashion clothes but "works", My pc is old but thanks to fact I use HW it keeps running well... so I think If you have a passion you'll find some money for things you really desire.

[whyterabbyt]

no, it's not universal consensus, but 50% are waiting for better sofware and "only" 6% consider software better than hardware.

Oh, and by the way, its a very poorly constructed poll, which is subtly leading. Given that only 50 people have bothered answering, I really dont think you can draw any real conclusions whatsoever; In fact I'd suggest a lot of people who dont care either way cant be bothered with the continuous re-occurence of threads like this and avoid them.

[kilon]

Probably it's already stated before:
Modern hardware (Motif, Fantom, etc) is just software in a box.
So I voted "all the same".

Motif ES6 was release in 2003, I bought it in April 2007 and costed 1700 euros, I have used Abelton Live for 2 years along with pretty much most famous DAWs. Compared to Ableton 6 the 4 year old MOTIF ES is still ahead of it. Simply putting it it has more features. Especially in the interface area and resampling. Of course it costs more , but offer alot for its price. And in the end you left with an end product that wont lose its value so rapidly as a soft or pc. You can always sell it as second hand get back 1/3 of its price after 5 or more years.

I wont even talk about support and community , just take a look at http://www.motifator.com/ , especially the forums will blow you away.

"Software or not software in the box" MOTIF is a true musical instrument , something that modern soft fails to be. I just don't see myself going back to soft after alomst 9 years of computer music porduction, although I will of course continue to use some soft to get the job done.

Still soft is good for musicians on a budget .

[nuffink]

no, it's not universal consensus, but 50% are waiting for better sofware and "only" 6% consider software better than hardware. Since this forum is dedicated to software, probably numbers could be even different on (for example) gearslutz. Interesting I should add, because not everyone has a decent experience with hardware (you need to try in your music for getting it)

That's cos it's a rigged poll. None of those comes close to what most sane musos believe. The hardware is "worse than software" option is as risible as the opposite.

That's the crux of the argument, only wankers could look at a Casio vltone and say "that's better than any software". Only wankers could look at one ping only and say "that's better than any hardware".

Seems to be more than a few wankers around.

[kilon]

Talking about hard synths what to you think about this http://www.sonicstate.com/synth_reviews/yamaha_sy77.cfm

It is a DX7 clone but I can promise you FM7 and FM8 cannot emulate its sound.

[jupiter8]

Talking about hard synths what to you think about this http://www.sonicstate.com/synth_reviews/yamaha_sy77.cfm

It is a DX7 clone but I can promise you FM7 and FM8 cannot emulate its sound.

Could be 'cause the SY77 is not a DX7 clone and the FM7/8 never even tried to clone the SY77,perhaps ? I dunno.

[mkdr]

Talking about hard synths what to you think about this http://www.sonicstate.com/synth_reviews/yamaha_sy77.cfm

It is a DX7 clone but I can promise you FM7 and FM8 cannot emulate its sound.

Love it. I have the rack model
It's got one of the coolest sound of the 90's digital synths. Was cheaper than the FM7 too...

[mkdr]

Talking about hard synths what to you think about this http://www.sonicstate.com/synth_reviews/yamaha_sy77.cfm

It is a DX7 clone but I can promise you FM7 and FM8 cannot emulate its sound.

Could be 'cause the SY77 is not a DX7 clone and the FM7/8 never even tried to clone the SY77,perhaps ? I dunno.

What did FM7 try to clone then? Feature list is alot closer to the SY line than DX's. I believe FM7 can load SY sysex too? But ofcourse it hasn't got all the waveforms the SY has..

If NI would've decided to "clone" the SY it would sound just like it? That would've been a killer sw synth.

[whyterabbyt]

What did FM7 try to clone then?

Nothing. Its not a clone.

I believe FM7 can load SY sysex too?

from the original PR blurb.
"The FM7 can read all programs from the original DX7, DX7-II, DX11, TX81Z, DX21, DX27, DX100, TX802 "

So, no, no SY sysex.

[kilon]

Talking about hard synths what to you think about this http://www.sonicstate.com/synth_reviews/yamaha_sy77.cfm

It is a DX7 clone but I can promise you FM7 and FM8 cannot emulate its sound.

Could be 'cause the SY77 is not a DX7 clone and the FM7/8 never even tried to clone the SY77,perhaps ? I dunno.

Well this almost unknown site may disagree with you http://www.vintagesynth.com/index2.html


" For its synthesizer section it employs a 6 operator FM synth engine similar to, if not better than, the original DX's. The FM section offers 45 algorithms, 3 feedback loops and 16 waveforms for creating some of those unique FM sounds."

SY 77 clones DX7 and adds sampling as well.

"Sampled sounds (AWM) which are in memory (or on external ROM cards) can then be mixed with the FM sounds to create entirely wild new sounds! And these sounds are quite shapeable thanks to the resonant multi stage Time Variant Filters which offer the chance to recreate the warm analog sounds of classic synths, or create something entirely new."

Ok for the sake of argument you can say FM7/8 plus soft sampler. Does this makes you feel any
better?

[Muzik 4 Machines]

Probably it's already stated before:
Modern hardware (Motif, Fantom, etc) is just software in a box.
So I voted "all the same".

Motif ES6 was release in 2003, I bought it in April 2007 and costed 1700 euros, I have used Abelton Live for 2 years along with pretty much most famous DAWs. Compared to Ableton 6 the 4 year old MOTIF ES is still ahead of it. Simply putting it it has more features. Especially in the interface area and resampling. Of course it costs more , but offer alot for its price. And in the end you left with an end product that wont lose its value so rapidly as a soft or pc. You can always sell it as second hand get back 1/3 of its price after 5 or more years.

I wont even talk about support and community , just take a look at http://www.motifator.com/ , especially the forums will blow you away.

"Software or not software in the box" MOTIF is a true musical instrument , something that modern soft fails to be. I just don't see myself going back to soft after alomst 9 years of computer music porduction, although I will of course continue to use some soft to get the job done.

Still soft is good for musicians on a budget .

you are out of your mind, motif ES(or triton or fantom or any wannabe studio in a keyboard) is so behind a good DAW+vsti's (and I know forst hand I sel them)

[thecontrolcentre]

this is a weird thread for someone who sells software to start

Atleast I'm not a backstabbing con artist telling you my plugins are better than anything else.. Positive thing, yes? Admitting there are better things in the world will also lead me to try harder and not settle for mediocre results.. Positive thing, yes?


Anyhow, this thread was created for people to discuss the issue and express their thoughts(and love) on hardware synths. I got called an idiot and alot of other things when giving an advice to use hw synths because of their better sound in music production on another thread here on kvr. It's good to see that i'm not the only one with these thoughts...

I wasn't having a go at you mkdr ... just sharing my thoughts. I really don't see how you can say hardware sounds better than software, as it's all a question of taste, and what gets the job done for each individual ... not which is/sounds better.

[whyterabbyt]

Well this almost unknown site may disagree with you http://www.vintagesynth.com/index2.html

" For its synthesizer section it employs a 6 operator FM synth engine similar to, if not better than, the original DX's. The FM section offers 45 algorithms, 3 feedback loops and 16 waveforms for creating some of those unique FM sounds."

SY 77 clones DX7 and adds sampling as well.

"Sampled sounds (AWM) which are in memory (or on external ROM cards) can then be mixed with the FM sounds to create entirely wild new sounds! And these sounds are quite shapeable thanks to the resonant multi stage Time Variant Filters which offer the chance to recreate the warm analog sounds of classic synths, or create something entirely new."

Ok for the sake of argument you can say FM7/8 plus soft sampler. Does this makes you feel any better?

It doesnt disagree with him, nor does it agree with you. Perhaps you dont understand what a 'clone' of something is; its not 'has some features in common'.

[kilon]

you are out of your mind, motif ES(or triton or fantom or any wannabe studio in a keyboard) is so behind a good DAW+vsti's (and I know forst hand I sel them)

Am I now? What features are we talking about exactly , resampling ( that is almost nonexistent in DAWS and you have to use external soft to do that properly ), effects( do not get me started how inadaquate Ableton Live effects are) , layering ( which appeared only recently in DAWs)... what exactly ? The whole history of soft has been nothing more than copying hard synths and hardware features.

You say it yourself DAW+VSTs+a thousand more things+ the time it takes to find the thing that get the job done properly+ money + get used to 100 diffirent interfaces + choosing a proper midi controler + tuning your sythem to behave properly+ ... + ... + ... With hard you purchase the damn thing and that is it , the end of story.