-=[THE SYNTH ZONE]=-

xxp

it should also be noted that the TR-8S recently added probability and a set of very customizable FM drums

I've been curious about the Model: Cycles, it seems like a good place to start with Elektron stuff because it isn't quite as crazy expensive as some of their other gear.

I have the Model:Samples! I love it. It doesn't really do anything I can't do in Bitwig, but it's just more fun to use.

I agree that $600 seems steep for the Drumlogue, but I feel like it's mostly cuz of inflation. If it had been released a few years ago it might have been priced more like an Electribe. Even the Volcas are creeping closer to $200

When I first plugged the RD9 in last week I felt a little bit of regret for the purchase..."This is nice but doesn't do anything I can't already do with my current gear...kind of a waste of $$$". After a weekend of playing around with it I now feel like it's the only thing I've ever needed and that I'm the next Jeff Mills. It's so much fun to play hands-on and pushed through a little FX it sounds great. The thing I get with the hands-on version that I don't with software versions or with just running samples of the 909 drum sounds is that it's combination of knobs and the different accent levels allow you to be very expressive and wring a lot of 'movement' and drama out of simple patterns that just programming stuff and letting it run does not.

Honestly I should have saved up another 300 bux and gotten a TR-8S but....

What do we think of the Roland SH-4D? A new groovebox doesn't rank high on my list of gear I'd like to add, but up to now the top contender for me would have been the Syntakt. My first impression of the SH-4D is that it sounds better than the Syntakt but is not as powerful with sequencing and parameter locks.

It looks pretty sweet, wish it was a tiny bit cheaper.

I'm selling some of my synths that I haven't used for awhile (Korg Monologue and Critter & Guitari Pocket Piano) and want to use the proceeds for something new. I've been looking at the Hydrasynth Explorer, but it doesn't seem like anything I can't do with Vital, and maybe I just need to admit I'm a software boy.

Love the Minifreak VST I got for $29, have been tempted by the hardware w/ REAL ANALOG FILTERS but from what I can hear in videos I'm not sure the real filters are adding much character over the plugin

Yeah I didn't end up getting along with the minifreak, vst version is probably all you need unless you like the cool touch keyboard and want to use it as a controller.

Someone get the Buchla easel plugin and let me know how it is

I may have to get the behringer easel

Not sure if this will ever see the light of day.

i have the arturia easel VST, it's fun enough. though madrona labs' aalto is very similar in terms of patching and general philosophy and is better in every respect imo

Ooh, neat. I may have to try this out.

My first encounter with Buchla was stumbling upon YouTube videos of Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith playing the easel some years back. At the time, the only options available were impossibly expensive. Luckily that's been changing rapidly. Lately I've been expanding out my eurorack rig to include a couple of the Tiptop Audio Buchla modules, which are very nice and much more affordable. The dual oscillator has quickly become my favorite sound source.

VCV Rack has all the pieces to put together an Easel (for free) too or even an improved one. The Instruo models on there are sweet - love the Cs-L complex filter and 1047 filter from the ARP 2500. Their envelope generator is an ADSR but the Befaco Rampage module is a good alternative.

complex oscillator

Yeah, vcvrack is hours of fun...

i've been trying to recreate some serge panels in vcvrack using the stock modules, i think there are subtleties in the serge designs that are difficult to capture in a chain of generic function generators but you can build up some pretty fun feedback patches anyway.

great software regardless.

Well, I done horse-traded my Modal Cobalt 5s to help pay for a Digitone; it turns out this was a good choice! I bought the Cobalt last year for a goth-rock project with a friend that never materialized. It's a fantastic-sounding synth but incredibly awkward to work with; patching relies on a lot of shift functions that bounce right off my muscle memory. Also the XYZ pad kinda sucks, which is a shame.

Is this your first experience with Elektron gear? What are your thoughts? Any reason for Digitone vs some of the others?

I was already Elektron-pilled by the Model:Samples, which I've had for around 2 years. I think they're great, you have the flexibility of modulation that you have in a DAW, but with the immediacy of hardware. I love the whole "press a key, turn a knob to change just that step" paradigm. Elektron has this reputation for having a steep learning curve, and that may be true for something like the Octatrack (which I personally can't speak to), but I find the workflow very fast and intuitive once you get the basics down. But that might just be the way my brain works, ymmv.

I've been eyeing the Digitone in particular for a few years. I like the fact that I can use it as an 8-voice multitimbral polysynth *or* as a groovebox/sketchpad. I also like the streamlined approach to FM; you're guided toward the sweet spots by default, but you still have the freedom to step outside of them when you want to. The other boxes don't interest me as much, because they're either too expensive or because their feature set just isn't what I'm looking for. I'll admit the new slicing and time-stretch machines on the Digitakt have piqued my curiosity, but I'll stick with Koala Sampler on my phone for now :)

The Syntakt is the one that attracts me the most, and the ease of parameter locking is a big part of it, but something about the sound of Elektron boxes always puts me off a bit, like they are a bit too clean or something.

If I ever win the lottery I will immediately buy an Intellijel Cascadia and an Erica Synths Perkons, both look amazing, but they are also absurdly over-priced

Got to spend a couple of hours playing an OB-X8 tonight and wow, that's a legitimately inspirational machine. All the different Oberheim filter arrangements, set up an arpeggio of noise and the filter just starting to ping, flip through the SEM and OB-X LP/BP/HP options, play with the adorable paddles and manually shift the arpeggio tempo for rolls.

Same acquaintance has a Prophet 10 and if I was going to dump $4k plus on a keyboard I'd 100% go with the OB over the Prophet.

This video's had me thirsty for a Syntakt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx61uxtPzo0

I haven’t touched a Syntakt but it’s definitely the first Elektron machine that seems kinda half-baked to me. Just cobbled together old parts as opposed to something forward thinking. Can understand the appeal as a seemingly all in one machine though.

Whoever was asking about the Digitone above, that is an actual brilliant synth. Kind of a landmark in FM synthesis imo.

I kinda had a moment of reckoning the other day, looking at slimming down all my shit. Outside of modular, these were the boxes I’d keep for the desert island:

Octatrack
Digitone
DFAM

octatrack would be a great desert island thing as it would force me to finally learn how to use it

The ARP 2600 FS is back! Only, uh... $4500+tax.

I hope Ilhan Omar gets one this time.

I pulled the trigger on the Opsix, it's in the mail. I'm sure I'll make some fun stuff with that magic first blush of inspiration, but I'm hoping this one will provide some long-term utility. :)

Speaking of which I should probably sell that Volca FM, which I did get an EP out of but haven't touched in awhile, and is probably redundant now.

The people who did the Virus DSP emulator now have a Waldorf MicroQ version - https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=596134&hilit=filter

Hmm cool, these big firmware updates almost make me wish I had held on to the Microfreak:

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

I have my Opsix all nicely set up, but I'm waiting for a free afternoon until I turn it on. Don't want to waste that magical 'new gear' energy.

I, too, am wishing I had held on to my Microfreak. I'd love to have some kind of granular hardware. Eager to hear how you get on with the Opsix!

I finally hooked up my Opsix and got a nice lead part recorded using one of the pluck presets (just using the basic operator mixer sliders and knobs), but have yet to get into the real sound design. Youtube tutorials, here I come.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2_hCZew0Eg

so...I have to admit. I hate my Opsix.

it makes me feel dumb and i've yet to find a sound i actually like to use on a song. the presets suck.

i'm sure this is me being not being able to use it, but i find it frustrating.

Ha, understandable. How much do you think is just the FM aesthetic? I'm personally into glassy FM sounds right now, and was also able to grab some good plucks and string pads that fit into a track with mostly piano as the main instrument, but I could see it not blending with other palettes.

Also without getting too deep into the sound design (which I really haven't yet), one of the knobs changes the algorithm, which drastically changes the sound and can easily lead to some cool patches. I think it's one of the knobs (or buttons?) on the right side, I stumbled on it but it's an easily accessible knob on the Volca FM, and was/is my main trick on that synth.

Really need to set aside some time to dive in more though.

I think the glassy FM stuff might not work real well with what I'm doing right now.
though I do like those kinds of sounds.

I'll mess with the algo knob. I don't know. the whole thing feels like a lot of effort and I messed with it forever a couple nights ago then ended up using some preset in the stock synths that come in logic haha

ultimately, i'm just projecting my own stuff onto the opsix, it's just not made for me. i like using synths when i make music but i'm not necessarily *interested* in synths per se if that makes sense.

the opposite experience for me was at a friend's studio and he had a moog grandmother - holy shit i loved that thing, it just felt like literally everything i messed with sounded cool from the jump. it just felt musical in a way the opsix doesn't to me (not saying it can't if you know what you're doing)

It seems like the opsix is maybe too menu divey for what you like and you need something more immediate maybe?

Yamaha Reface DX

xpost yeah I think you're right.

If I were to spend roughly the same amount of money as an Opsix, the synth I'd probably go for right now would be the Pittsburgh Modular Taiga, but that is a much different beast, much more hands on though!

I don't know if they're still available but the MegaFM is 4-operator FM with sliders for everything.

I think the Digitone is a good choice for accessible, stripped-down FM, and I enjoy using it. YMMV, as I am one of those weirdos who enjoys sound design as a pursuit of itself. You can get very nerdy with the DT, but you really don't have to. And I really like the way it sounds. To my ears it's a bit grittier and warmer than your classic DX7-style FM synth.

speaking of opsix
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYisKyhOXlE

always makes me a bit IA that this guy ends up hyping the "bad gear" in every video

haha welp was gonna list the opsix but then my 12 year old was bored and asked if she could play w/a synth and just guess which synth is like the ultimate party for a tween who wants to just twist knobs and make weird sounds?

Reface CS. Korg Minilogue. Nice entry-level synths with knobs per funtion.

Hydrasynth Explorer is knobby and weird