First Synth Suggestions??

S

SuaveGuy

New member
Im in the market searching for my first hardware synth...Ive been looking for the "All Around" synth, but i suppose that one doesnt exist. Im looking for something analog, and can provide me with those late 70's-80's Lionel Richie, Chaka Khan, Anita Baker type sounds. Im interested in doing R&B/Pop

price cap=about 3500

One ive been looking into was the Dave Smith Poly Evolver...Im interested to know what you guys would suggest tho?
 
get a juno 60. that's the fattest warmest synth, and you'll save a whole bunch of money. or get an oberheim ob-x if you can. those things get some really crazy sounds. but i think i love the juno 60 because its interface is really awesome and straightforward in terms of creating, shaping and modeling sounds. these new synths need to take notes.

---------- Post added at 08:14 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:13 AM ----------

don't forget to check out vintagesynth.com either. that's a great place to learn about old school synths. the korg mono/poly and polysix are comparable synths as well. and of course if you can get your hands on a moog, they're pretty legit too.
 
Isn't Moog Mopho? What do you mean?

There aren't really too many new poly analogs in the market these days - actually, it pretty much comes down to the Poly Evolver & the Prophet'08.
 
Im new to synths so my terms might be off lol...But i meant cant it only play one note at a time?

---------- Post added at 07:39 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:29 AM ----------

And i want a couple of more options so it doesnt have to be analog i suppose..idk...like i said this is going to be my first hardware purchase so i dont really know what i want execpt knowing i want to make crazy pads leads and basses...How is the Roland V-Synth GT and the virus?
 
The name "Mopho" indeed derives from "monophonic", but the Mopho is actually a synth by Dave Smith. But yeah, all the current Moogs (and almost all of the vintage ones as well, with some exceptions) are monophonic (usually just called "monosynths"), so yes, one note at a time.

The V-Synth is a somewhat unique beast...but probably not the best first synth. The Virus is a good choice. Pretty deep & complex if you need it to be, but not head-spinningly hard to grasp. The tradeoff of the complexity is that there's quite a bit of menu-diving, but at least the basic functions have their dedicated (if occasionally multi-function) controls.
 
Would you say the poly evolver is a great first buy? And whats the main differences between the Poly and the Prophet'08?
 
I'd probably go for the Prophet out of those two - the Evolver is a great synth, but also a fairly unique one; it can be pretty confusing, and the Poly Evolver is basically four times the Mono Evolver in a single package, so it might be pretty hard to get your head around at first. I haven't actually played with the Poly model, but even the regular Evolver takes quite a while to get into (and I've been into synths for a long time). The Prophet, on the other hand, is fairly normal in its architecture.
 
What about something a little less expensive and complex to start? Like an M-Audio Venom or maybe a Novation Ultranova. While these synths are timid compared to some of the ones listed above, I think you might get more use out of them to start due to the steep learning curve of more complex analog based synths like the prophet. However, if you do understand the principles behind sound design and wave shaping than the analog beasts can create some of the most pleasing and unique sounds.

I personally have an M-Audio Venom which I really enjoy. I am new to sound synthesis, and while the presets are great, the synth has a software companion that allows you to do a lot visually. For instance I can pick different patches and generate random new patches based off the characteristics of the patches I chose. The Venom only has 4 tweaking knobs, but each knob has 6 parameters, so 24 adjustable parameters in all. I found it to be fairly easy to use, enough tweaking to get my hands dirt with sound synthesis, cheap (I only paid 399$), and I enjoy the build quality and look of it.
 
Korg M3
Roland Fantom G
Yamaha Motif

Those a some very general keyboard in that range. The Poly and Virus are very nice beasts, not sure if they do much as far as basic piano sounds and stuff like that though.
 
avoid the workstations. those aren't dedicated synths. a synth should be easy to program, and tweak, but have depth. if you can get your hands on an access virus ti polar, those are some of the best synths from today out. those things are DEEP!
 
Yea im not really looking for a workstation at the moment....I have a question for Virus owners...Ive been doing a little research and i see that alot of people say the Virus is good for Electronic music, but alot of people also say that it can be a very deep synth..Is the virus a synth that can help me create any type of sound im looking for? BTW Im not anywhere close to a music store, other wise i would have just gone and tested it out by now.
 
No single synth is going to be able to create "any type of sound". Even though you might be able to conjure some passable emulations of real instruments (but that's never easy) out of the Virus, it's still, well, a synthesizer and will sound like such.
 
This is a neat thread, except my price range is up to 300 lol, I'm using Logic and the synth plug-ins are seriously the most confusing things in the world, what's a good beginner synth that can produce noises like.... this... Drake - Trust Issues - YouTube

something like that....
 
Man at first i had trouble with logic's synths also...those things can be really confusing...but if you take the time out to learn them and figure them out they are REALLY good... I went here ( Logic Studio Instruments ) which is a breakdown about synths and it breaks down all the basics and what not about all the stock logic synths...its REALLY helpful. i would say read up on that before just buying something else. But if your convinced you want something else in that price range there korg has something out pretty expensive...Check out GuitarCenter.com and type in Synths....search around for something good in your price range and do a little research on it before buying. ( i would also say save up 200 more and jut buy Komplete 8...that bundle is AWSOME!)
 
SuaveGuy said:
Man at first i had trouble with logic's synths also...those things can be really confusing...but if you take the time out to learn them and figure them out they are REALLY good... I went here ( Logic Studio Instruments ) which is a breakdown about synths and it breaks down all the basics and what not about all the stock logic synths...its REALLY helpful. i would say read up on that before just buying something else. But if your convinced you want something else in that price range there korg has something out pretty expensive...Check out GuitarCenter.com and type in Synths....search around for something good in your price range and do a little research on it before buying. ( i would also say save up 200 more and jut buy Komplete 8...that bundle is AWSOME!)
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Thanks man! I tabbed the page and am gonna read up on it tonight / tomorrow, what synth do you mainly use? Anyway this is really awesome I appreciate the help man this might just save me a shit load of money, do you have any hardware btw just curious
 
Yea man...no problem! And i like to switch things up a lot, so i try to use all the synths i have from time to time. Komplete comes with sooo much stuff that i couldnt name everything i try to work with lol. You should really save up about 200 more and buy komplete 8 tho. It will save you alooot of money and it gets you off the ground. It really gives you almost everything you need as far as Virtual sounds go... from acoustic to synth. And currently i have no hardware. I dont think its NECESSARY anymore in these days.. Most well known producers hardly ever use hardware these days either (That i study atleast). After i buy atleast one piece of hardware, i plan on covering the voids with soft synths.
 
SuaveGuy said:
Yea man...no problem! And i like to switch things up a lot, so i try to use all the synths i have from time to time. Komplete comes with sooo much stuff that i couldnt name everything i try to work with lol. You should really save up about 200 more and buy komplete 8 tho. It will save you alooot of money and it gets you off the ground. It really gives you almost everything you need as far as Virtual sounds go... from acoustic to synth. And currently i have no hardware. I dont think its NECESSARY anymore in these days.. Most well known producers hardly ever use hardware these days either (That i study atleast). After i buy atleast one piece of hardware, i plan on covering the voids with soft synths.
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Yeah i checked it out, it seriously has so much stuff like overwhelming... lol for now i'm using a macbook, akai mpk mini, and that's it i don't even have good headphones but I mostly sample and flip songs, I'm still really new at production so I'm learning as I go along, here's my soundcloud: JuliusR's sounds on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free do you have anything up?
 
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