-=[THE SYNTH ZONE]=-

Not a lot of great synth deals this year but i picked up a 4MS Ensemble Oscillator anyway as it looks really fun.

https://plogue.com/store.html

Plogue's various retro VSTs are 50% off; I'm probably going to pull the trigger on the chipsynth MD

I used to use that one a lot around 2012, it sounds great. I should fire it up again.

Oops I used to use Chipsounds, not Chipsynth my bad

Also 2gether Audio is doing a 'pay what you want' (minimum $10) for everything

Yeah, Chipsynth MD is an emulation of the Sega Megadrive/Genesis FM chip. So far I'm loving it. It sounds great, the UI is very clean, and there's tons of nice presets to start with.

Grabbed cherry audios realistic radio shack moog plugin for free. It’s great.

Nice, I grabbed that too, haven't tried it yet.

Gotta say I'm loving the Monologue so far, more than I ever liked the Microbrute. It seems deep but also very intuitive -- haven't even cracked some of the features yet, but I was able to create some very nice patches in pretty short order. Loooove that there's a noise generator, that makes any sound 1000% better to my ears and I'm sure I will abuse it.

Also I'm very curious what my Reface CP will sound like if I put it through the Monologue's analog filter *devil emoji*

This looks so pretty!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gptuycTPIE

https://cdn.korg.com/uk/products/upload/471e56e78b461340842283a4f79941e9_pc.jpg
https://cdn.korg.com/uk/products/upload/ad45b27465992081d0614f2fe85c91d1_pc.jpg

dang

I got this little box for Christmas, and it's pretty sweet.

I can sync Endlesss (or any other Link-compatible software or plugins) on my iPhone/iPad to all my gear without having to run Live on my computer. I can sync my gear to Serato. And of course I can I can use it as a master clock for all my gear. It has a nice offset feature that lets you dial in the beat in case there are any latency or other timing issues.

What is it? The link takes me to Twitch.

Sorry! Stupid me. Here you go: http://circuithappy.com/products/themissinglink/

Although Space Cowboys have been killing it lately :)

Korg continues to kill it. Looking forward to their new drum machine.

I've been making payments on a preorder of the Isla S2400 (reimagined/updated SP1200) and just paid it off today.

Looking forward to making very bad house when my number is finally up -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDPvmgNTZhU

Love to hear a review when you get it!

ding dumb stressful long hours on COVID comms leaves me exhausted all the time, but they drop the bag on me for it and it's gotten me a polyend tracker, and a syntrx to live out those EMS fantasies.

the tracker is like a super deluxe volca sample - does pitched sample playback, does sample recording, can drag samples direct onto its SD card, can chop loops, etc. I never used tracker software back in the old daze but the whole organising by columns thing makes sense to me. much fun to be had with the fill functions and the randomisation and probability stuff therein. I recorded eight bars of volca modular directly in (looping sequence with some random LFO weirdness), trimmed it, auto chopped it to the transients like a drum loop, added the sample to every step in track 1, then randomised the playback point on the sample for each step. instant weird groove! it is great for on-couch noodling away at ideas.

the syntrx is really beautifully built, it's not an exact synthi A clone but you can do the feedback loop tricks and the weird FM and the battle patch and 'on the run' and all that. I find the digital take on the pin matrix quite good - pushing in those pins on the old ones can feel a bit nerve-wracking when it's not yours!

two more weeks of this godforsaken job until I go back to 9-5 work and maybe have some brainspace to use them properly.

Forgot that I pre-ordered Ableton Live 11, that was a surprise $183 that I hadn't accounted for. Haven't gotten to try most of the new stuff but the new sample libraries from Spitfire Labs are pretty nice

I loaded it all today, but haven't had a chance to try it out. Lots of interesting looking stuff.

I downloaded 11, and quickly went to check out the tempo following. I found a couple of disappointing things:

1) When you tempo follow, you cannot use Ableton Link. I would love to be able to use the tempo follower as a Link "master."

2) Still doesn't work well for breakbeats. I would love a DJ mode that would let you bound the tempo ranges to make it easier on the algorithm to find the tempo, even on tougher-to-follow beats.

I just ordered one of these: https://conductivelabs.com/mrcc/

I'm looking forward to rerouting MIDI without pulling cables, etc. Not sure if I have enough gear to actually make use of all of it, though.

Milo - did you get your Isla yet?

I did not. The next batch of 500 just arrived at their workshop in Florida so fingers crossed sometime in the next six weeks.

That MIDI thing looks good. I struggled for years and in some way still do. A very overcomplicated set-up w lots of MIDI and weird routing needs. I had tried a JL Cooper switcher once and just kept getting weird feedback issues. Then I had an iConnectivity box but the software seemed buggy and a pain. They have newer units that seem better. Finally got a used MOTU Midi Express XT which does everything, though the software is also annoying.

I bought their NDLR when they ran it on Indiegogo because it looked interesting. I'm sure it's very clever, but I'm not sure it's for me.

god i want one
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVHhcxdmEqw

It took me a while to work up the courage but I built my Music Things Radio Music kit last weekend - finding it weirdly satisfying to have it running in another room with a couple of LFOs randomizing the files into delay and reverb.

which is the point of the module in a way but I'm not recording it or using it with anything else yet, just having it in the periphery while I mop or w/e

There's an E-Mu Emax SE in great shape with a USB reader installed on Reverb that I'm tempted to make an offer on with my stimmy bucks.

Sounds tempting! Completely unnecessary, but still tempting.

Hey synth people. What are some decent polyphonic synths that can be had for cheap? I've been eyeing a few in the Yamaha DX family. Basically just looking for something to learn piano on as well as to fuck around and get weird with.

I had been learning on this cheap-ass Casio thing that I inherited from my niece, but it's dead now and I thought I'd try to step things up a notch. Also tried a Korg Monologue for a while, which was a lot of fun, but I think I'm definitely better suited to something with a full-sized keyboard.

I dunno, just like "Oh, you're looking into the DX7? Well, be sure to check out a Bleepblorp 4000. You can get them for $200 less and it is whispered that they have the most exquisite bass sounds of the 1990s." or something like that.

I wonder if the best solution would be getting a Volca FM (or another small synth like a Yamaha Reface CS, or one of the other Refaces, or the Roland boutique series, a Minilogue or another Volca, etc) and controlling it with a cheap full-size midi keyboard? I think anything with a full-size keyboard (Nord, Sequential Circuits, etc) and serious onboard synthesis starts to cost $$$$$.

Although back a few generations I used to have an Alesis Ion digital synth that was full-size, it was ok, wish I still had it.

well what's important? If you want to learn piano you need something polyphonic, so that rules out a ton of things, like the Monologue. Also you want full-size keys.

It's not easy to find a nice cheap synth with a nice keyboard, you may be best off getting a good controller that feels good, keyboard wise, then use it to control your computer or any synths/synth modules you get down the line.

Are DXs even velocity sensitive? I don't remember.

thinking the same. There are great cheapish synths, I own and love the Minilogue and the Reface DX, though neither will win keyboard awards. The minilogue is only 4 voices so again, ok to play melodies and basslines and some chords, but not suitable for learning piano.

Reface DX is small but is more fun to use than a vintage FM synth.

Good thoughts - thanks! Any advice on choosing midi controllers?

This might not be the answer you're looking for, but I find the Novation Peak super cheap for what it does. It's about $1k used, and it's got plenty of voices, subtractive and wavetable capabilities, a really gorgeous analog sound despite the digitally controlled oscillators, and very nice on board FX.

The Peak/Summit are really great-sounding synths.

xp Oh def get a midi controller for the key action. I actually wish all synth models had module versions. Decouple that keyboard action from the sound generation.

I would look at this, coupled with software:

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/LaunchK3-49--novation-launchkey-49-mk3-49-key-keyboard-controller

Then when you're ready for synthesis, get this:

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MinilogueXDm--korg-minilogue-xd-4-voice-analog-synthesizer-module

I'm getting a Mk3 controller too. Great for controlling software but also a sweet sequencer for MIDI/CV gear once you start down that path.

Oh wait I'm thinking of the SL Mk3. The Launchkey looks good too, but I don't think it has the sequencer.

The M-Audio Oxygen ones also work for (even cheaper) midi controllers.

Another option is a low-to-medium end Roland digital piano (for learning piano) and then using it as a MIDI controller for VST synths. Lots of free and cheap VSTs that are incredible these days. All of the Rolands work over USB as MIDI controllers IIRC.

Cherry Audio has a few cheap synths that are great, Full Bucket in germany has a ton of wacky free ancient Korg emulations that are cool.

Yeah, the VST thing is definitely appealing, but it would mean investing in a computer that could handle that kind of thing. None of the computers I own are suitable.

MIDI controller plus small synth module (Volca, Roland Boutique, etc) makes sense but it’s worth seeing what you can get used on Ebay/ Reverb.

I paid about £200 for a Roland Gaia, which is widely hated as the presets are all terrible, but it has a nice keyboard and is good enough for Grimes and Sadie Dupuis.

What's yr budget?

They've probably climbed a bit but I saw Deepmind 12s sold locally for $500-550 last summer, that's plenty of polyphony for chords+built in effects.