Synths...What to do?

Well, I'm primarily a guitarist and have had years of experience with PC recording and am also pretty much a computer geek.

I'm setting up my home studio and am trying to make decisions on my initial gear. I can't decide whether I should purchase a keyboard/synth like the Korg TR or whether I should just go for software synths with a decent midi controller. I only have a couple thousand tops right now to spend on the keyboard/synth/software. This is for recording only so gigging with the gear is not an issue.

Any thoughts?

I'm a recent convert to soft synths versus hardware synths. I love the reliability and immediacy of hardware synths, but after using soft synths in Sonar, I would have a hard time going back to hardware synths for recording. The soft synths sound great and when I pull up a song, all the synths are up and properly set up and ready to go.

Here's a question from a synth newbie - do you NEED an external controller of some sort (MIDI controller or keyboard) to use softhsynths to create sounds in SPE 7? I haven't been able to figure out how to create a simple synth track with any soft synth (granted I haven't spent all that much time trying) and is that b/c I don't have some sort of external hardware telling the soft synth what to do?

Thanks much.

Perfect, thanks CJay.

I would add that it depends on the lowest latency you can achieve on your system. If it's very high you won't be able to stand the delay while monitoring them as you play a MIDI part, it will throw you off. In that case it's handy to have some built in sounds to monitor while tracking MIDI. You can always go back and point that MIDI track to a software synth later. If you have a fast system and can get your latency tuned down to near instant you may be able to get away with just a controler. The only down side with that is you can't enjoy the keyboard without the computer being hooked up and on.

+1 for this statement. I think having one decent keyboard synth is indispensible. If dollars are tight, I'd recommend buying used. If it's going to stay in your studio, look for a full-size, 88-key, weighted-action synth keyboard with pitch and mod wheels, and maybe a few assignable MIDI data sliders.

ORIGINAL: aaronk

Also keep in mind that many hardware synths are just collections of digital sounds. In effect, the soft synth is packaged with the keyboard, rather than being software that resides on your PC. If you really like the sounds that come with a specific hardware synth, that would make it a good choice, but otherwise it seems like you just end up paying more for something that is less versatile.

Speaking of collections of digital sounds, you know what would be a great idea... hardware synth makers should offer a software version of their keyboads or just include it when you buy the synth. That way if you need to monitor the hardware in real time because of latency you can get the EXACTY same result when you mix the project later without the hardware and without having to record the audio from it. As computers get more powerful with multi core and all that it should be doable and it would also double their market because they could sell the software version to folks who are not going to buy more hardware.

you know what would be a great idea... hardware synth makers should offer a software version of their keyboads or just include it when you buy the synth.

The EMU packs that CW is now offering are a step in that direction.

Your idea's a great one, I haven't investigated hardware synths enough to know if any do this yet. Another benefit would be the ability to do patch editing on the PC rather than the synth's typically tiny little screen.

I'm an advocate of having at least one hardware based external synth. I have a Roland XP-50 that I bought 12 years ago, and it still rocks as my primary synth for recordings. Of course, soon after buying the XP-50, the XP-80 and XP-60 came out. I would have opted for the XP-60 (same as XP-50 but bigger screen, arpeggiator, and 4 more assignable sliders, as well as direct and mix outputs). Long story short, I think the XP-60 is a good solid synth, upgradeable (takes up to 4 expansion cards) and you can find them used on eBay for $500-600 (try to look for one that is being sold with expansion cards included) - still works for me after 12 years! You can still hear the XP50/60/80 being used on several commercials, CD releases, and some film tracks.

Midi controllers usually have a sub-par keyboard (BIG difference between my XP-50 and my Axiom 49) and lower velocity curve, so your recordings may not be as dynamic (although that can be fixed within Sonar with time and patience; I wouldn't be inclined to record a piano track with a wide range of dynamics on a midi controller though) and I don't imagine they will take much of a beating (certainly not to the level that my XP-50 has taken over 12 years). It may depend on what kind of compositions you are recording though, as to your best choice of synth.

Also, +1 to ohhey on both the zero latency (versus soft synths) and capturing ideas on keyboard & headphones. If you ever move towards gigging or collaborating at a friends house, then it will be a much more portable solution. I may be slightly biased, as I have owned at least 10 hardware synths (mostly Korgs and Rolands) over the years, and i'm much newer to the world of soft synths.

I also believe that midi controllers have their place, especially for real-time parameter tweaking with knobs and sliders (either soft synths or other ACT parameters within Sonar). I still much prefer to record via the XP-50 though.

SIDE NOTE: I have a Korg MS-10 sitting over in England gathering dust at my parents house; cost me (read - my dad) about $80 back in the early 80's. Man, do I wish I had that bad boy stateside right now to mix in with my compositions a-la William Orbit, Basement Jaxx, etc., or even for guitar or vocal processing - take a look on eBay to see what they go for now (if you can find one). I'm visiting England next year, but I don't think i'm up for the challenge of explaining my way through airport security with it though, and I wouldn't look forward to the hassle of swapping it from 240v to 110v either. I'm getting off-topic here, but here's a funny anecdote: our family had a TV with a sonic remote back then, and I found (much to my dad's chagrin) that I could completely mess up the color and contrast settings by doing massive filter sweeps on the MS-10 (even from my bedroom!).

Back on topic: I recommend one used synth (Korgs and Rolands are good) and one mid-level midi controller (M-audio, Edirol, etc). Note: If you ultimately decide to go exclusively with soft synths, make sure your PC can handle the overhead in CPU and RAM terms, otherwise you may want to allocate some of your budget to a processor and/or RAM upgrade to avoid disappointment. You can always freeze tracks and effects to save overhead if you have a recent version of Sonar.