I have a micromodular.... even with its low polyphony, it's a programmer's dream. They're quite cheap, too. Going around $250-$300.

It took me a few years, but these days I believe I have gear lust pretty much in check. I used to want every synth out there, but eventually realized they're all mostly the same thing. For example, I demo-ed Rapture, and while I agree it's a fabulous synth, there's nothing it can do that I can't do with my current gear. I'd rather buy something with a different character like impOscar (note: I'm not in any way suggesting that impOscar is better than Rapture - they're both very un-alike).

To be really honest, René. While I consider Dimension Pro to be quite a deal ($250 for a great-sounding rompler with a 7 Gb library), but Rapture doesn't look so attractive to me. It is a great synth and it really impressed me, but I would buy first another micro than Rapture :)

Maybe it has to do with the presets. The presets are a good added value in Rapture, for those who use them (and Rapture has some killer presets).

I might get Kinetic 2, though.

[To be really honest, René. While I consider Dimension Pro to be quite a deal ($250 for a great-sounding rompler with a 7 Gb library), but Rapture doesn't look so attractive to me. It is a great synth and it really impressed me, but I would buy first another micro than Rapture :)

]

Well it's really true that beauty is in the heart of the beholder !..While some people prefer performance vehicles,there are still people in this world who like riding donkeys..While a great deal of my world is green-embracing solar power technology,biodiesel in my main vehicle and other little efforts to help the world along-there's nothing quite like the thrill of a well engineered sports car...They don't necessarily have to be that new to work well-but the advances in modern technologies,have seen the introduction of materials that have increased the performance and safety aspects of these vehicles..I have some Ti mountain bikes that are my escape hatch from the studio-so refreshing too-but they are different from taking a nice car for a spin...The same can be said for the soft/hard synth debate. There's no way that the hardware synths of last century are going have anywhere near the sonic whack that the soft synths have-purely because of the lack of CPU power and it's associated number crunching ability..Add to that the lack of a GUI and the ability to add internal influences such as FX and other processing directly into the signal path...It's great that people are so passionate about their hardware synths-but it's a no brainer for me..I have changed a few CEM chips in OB8s and other Oberheims before-and there really are chips inside all of those machines..Yes-old VCO and TTL technology that takes a lot of high voltages to keep them all running..(Does anyone remember their power bill when they had a K250 with all of those massively expensive sound blocks? -we used to use a fully loaded K250 RMX as a footstool in an apartment in Los Angeles ! Admittedly,I can't put my feet up so easily on a soft synth)..Anyway-things do change..Let me finish by giving you a very good example of that..Last night I was talking with Dr Patrick Moore- one of the Co-Founders of Greenpeace..He's a music fan but he is also now an advocate for the pro-lobby in the nuclear power debate..He is a serious dude and he has seen the light with regards to the real benefits of nuclear power as opposed to fossil fuels. So there is hope yet,that people hanging on so valiantly to their hardware synths will also see the light and put them all in a darkened room somewhere and move along into the brave new world without them..Well- that's my 10 cents worth.. vroooooooooooom :) ajw

That's another thing with soft-synths. They're so attractive price-wise that one can easily get suckered into buying lots of them. There goes $100 here, another $100 there, and then another $100 for upgrades. After $500 or $600, I realize I could have bought instead a nice hardware device.

Yes so you end up with Rapture, Manytone, Sytrus... Well all those were excellent additions to vsti collection

I see, thanks for the sincere feedback fac. Would you bet $50 that you'll make up your mind though?

Dont bet Rene, he always wins ;)

ORIGINAL: whitefalcon

So what is the latest hardware synth trend.

Modulars.

There are fully-working modulars which are 20-25 years old. How many softsynths have that property?

To each his own, but me, I like having hardware synths in my setup. I use them very frequently, as much as my sofsynths, and I plan to buy some more when I get the chance. It's not about being nostalgic, because I'm not that old and I started making music with computers (e.g. trackers). But besides a hobby musician, I'm also a synth fan... not as much as a collector, but I like having a few good pieces.

Maybe, if you only focus on the music, softsynths may be enough. But to me, the music is just a byproduct. The real fun is programming and playing the synths.

ORIGINAL: René

I just wanted to share that I, personally, can get out of Max/MSP, CSound, Reaktor and the immensity of free stuff in the web much more fun than turning on my old, heavy, noisy, prone-to-distortion, requiring-mixer-channels-and-midi, which-needs-battery-replacements, and-has-tiny-LCD-displays gear.

Not to mention the fact that making use of softsynths leaves more room on your desk for Argentinean beer...

WC

(René -- B Rock put me up to that comment. I swear he did!! He's so afraid of the beer tab he's piled up with you that he needs someone to run interference. I'm just doing my job...)

'Argentine beer' Is this like beer in Europe brewed to be served at room temp/chilled slightly as opposed to American beer brewed to be served cold/really cold?

Could you really see someone in Europe brinking Bud at the world cup futbol match?

Speaking of Kinetic, just got the v2 last week . good work on that cakewalk.

Fac , you will love the new version (v2).

OK

It depends. Do DX7s, Kawai K1/3/5, D50, Wave, Mirage, CZs etc. count as software or hardware?
I mean, you do know that those are just a CPU loading stuff from the memory, running a program with those data and then routing those to a DAC right?

I'm not on music only. For me, music is just another form of sound. I think it's all about a matter of preferences and tastes, and in this field to each one his own. I just wanted to share that I, personally, can get out of Max/MSP, CSound, Reaktor and the immensity of free stuff in the web much more fun than turning on my old, heavy, noisy, prone-to-distortion, requiring-mixer-channels-and-midi, which-needs-battery-replacements, and-has-tiny-LCD-displays gear.



-René

OK-it's time for a gig..Now what will I take?..OK..The Kurweil K250..That's got 12 voices.. No worries if the power suck dims the lights in the club..That's OK..It only weighs about 100 lbs..I have a good chiropracter..Now what about a synth?..OK..An OB8..That's a great sounding piece of kit-even if it is quite a basic form of synthesis...That's got 8 voices... Ohh don't worry about the size..That'll look great on stage..I better bring along a couple of CEM chips for it,the manual and a multimeter-just in case the drift does kick in during the set..Plus a screwdriver and a few MIDI leads for that really expensive Kenton OB8 MIDI retofit kit that I had installed..Damn-no FX..OK we'll throw in a Lexicon PCM 70 with that..A few extra lbs and some more cables...Ohh what the heck... Now I need a DX piano..OK..Throw in a DX7 and a pair of really powerful glasses so that I can read that crappy little LCD display..Ohh..and I also need a few more audio cables and a couple of MIDI leads for it..Now on that one tune,we need a Hammond with a Leslie..Ohh what the heck ! OK -throw in that incredibly heavy old,noisey piece of xxit that they call a B3 (sounds like a bomber) and chuck in the Leslie and the footswitch.. Yeah I know that the B3 and Leslie are really heavy and take up lots of room-but look at the bright side-we don't need any MIDI cables for it and they'll look great on stage !... OK..almost done..Now I need a Clav..It's gotta be the D6-but I'd better toss in a couple of extra strings 'cos I always snap them and it's always in the middle of the set...OK-finally-let's throw in a Rhodes.. Don't worry about the Scarbee stuff...That's way too cool for me..I want the real thing...Yeah-the one takes a few people to lift and always needs to be tuned... Better put in a few extra tines,cos they get snapped too...Now,I also need the MXR Phase 90 for that-'cos I want be be just like Donald Fagan,so that's a few more leads and some batteries-'cos that chews them up real quick.. OK..Almost finished..Now I need a mixer for all of those synths and some more outboard FX with a 19" rack,a few sturdy keyboard stands,some sustain and volume pedals,power boards and heaps of power cables,even more audio cables and some gaffa tape to tape it all down,'cos you always trip over that maze of cables..OK-I'm ready to roll...Rene-can I borrow your truck and a few roadies?.. vrrrrrrrrroooooom :) ajw PS..On second thoughts,I might just take the laptop, a USB cable and a controller keyboard :)

ORIGINAL: lawapa

Nothin lets the air out of retro like a good road trip.

Yeah-and nothing lets the air out of a good road trip more than an unstable retro ! I forgot to add the Linn 9000 to my list of stage gear-and I had 2 of those 'cos you'd never know which one would work on which day ! The guys at Forat were making a fortune servicing those things and they still knew that they wouldn't work properly...But if anyone wants to really "invest" in hardware, they should subscribe to a Pro Tools setup..That's a great way to blow your bucks and it makes even the hardest man go completely soft :) ajw

ORIGINAL: ajwmusic
Yeah-and nothing lets the air out of a good road trip more than an unstable retro ! I forgot to add the Linn 9000 to my list of stage gear-and I had 2 of those 'cos you'd never know which one would work on which day ! The guys at Forat were making a fortune servicing those things and they still knew that they wouldn't work properly...But if anyone wants to really "invest" in hardware, they should subscribe to a Pro Tools setup..That's a great way to blow your bucks and it makes even the hardest man go completely soft :) ajw

Yeah, but that's the opposite extreme. I've seen dozens of gigging keyboardists who carry only one or two *modern* keyboards (e.g. Triton, XP30, Nord Lead, etc.). In many cases, that's all they need. They're not breaking their backs carrying them and require practically the same number of cables as those needed to plug your laptop to the PA. Many of those keyboards are 10 years old and still working in perfect condition, without need of repair. Tell me, how old is your laptop and how long it will be before you replace it ?

Just watch all those guys who play at bars, weddings, parties, small venues, etc. All of them bring their keyboards. I've seem some of them using a laptop, probably just to run sequences via MIDI, but I've never seen a single one using just a laptop and a keyboard controller.

ORIGINAL: Trusty
If Rene makes something that looks/functons like the Moog Modular V, (a synth I can spend HOURS on programming stuff), I bet everyone on here wouldn't think about getting a hardware modular (who want to carry that+cables everywhere anyway).

Don't bet so quick.

Rene hasn't made one but there are a few good modular softsynths: Arturia's Moog Modular V, NI Reaktor, VAZ Modular, AAS Tassman.

I still think every once in a while to purchase VAZ Modular, which IMO is one of the best sounding and most flexible synths out there. Maybe I will, someday.

But I spent last year raising money for a real modular, and I was able to build a small synthesizers.com system. Quite basic: 3 oscillators, 2 envs, 2 amps, noise source, multimode filter, moog ladder filter, sample & hold, midi interface and slew limiter (portamento). Even for such a small system, the possibilities are huge. Yes, there is a spaghetti of cables hanging around, I love them. Makes me feel like a mad scientist. But there's also one knob for each function - not those tiny little things, but big round knobs. Tweaking this monster is pure joy.

I don't know. Maybe it's because I work with computers all day and my wrists hurt from so much typing and mouse dragging, but to me, a mouse and a MIDI knob box can't completely replace a dedicated hardware interface designed for each particular synth.