Hey guys, figured I'd take this post to talk a little about synths.
I know some of you are big into making music and I was hoping to hear some opinions on this.
I am looking to purchase a new synth soon and I want to go with something hardware for a change. The only hardware I have is a microKORG which is tons of fun but I don't really get the use out of it I'd like, partly because I don't know very well how to use it past presets and partly because the tempo sync is a major pain in the ass, I think I need to buy something else to make it sync correctly. I am fully willing to learn any synth I purchase and my use of VSTs has been greatly beneficial in learning my way around a synth but I want a real nice one that I can get some fantastic psy sounds out of and really get the hands on feel from. I was bidding on a Roland SH-101 which I REALLY WANT but it ended up selling for more than I can afford currently and most of them are a bit out of my price range. I would also fucking love an MS-20 but again, that's even more out of the price range. I also almost bid on a Juno-60 but I feel I would use it way less than the others. It seems more suited to pads or textures. I want really squelchy, wet stuff or some nice screaming leads or just a generally nice warm analog-ish sound. So I've narrowed it down to a few synths that are fairly inexpensive but that I've heard a lot of good things about in relation to psy music. I'm looking for something very psy/goa sounding and some nice analog warmth would be great but most of the purely analog synths are much too expensive so a nice virtual analog would do me well also.
Anyway, I wanted to hear some opinions from those of you who know your shit more than I do.
My choices at the moment are these but if anybody has a recommendation I would LOVE to add it to my synth list which I plan on eventually owning every synth on that list.
-Kurzweil K2000 I've heard Simon gets a lot of Hallucinogen sounds out of this one and the MS-20 and the rack modules aren't as expensive. In fact if I act fast, there's a full sized K2000 on craigslist in my area that is pretty cheap, I am in contact with that person currently.
-Waldorf Micro Q I would love a full Q but that's out of my price range and the Micro Q is surprisingly cheap and sounds great from what I've heard of it. The downside is there's only 6 knobs but I've heard you still can have great control over the sound. I think Filteria uses either a Q or a Micro Q, probably a Q though.
-Waldorf Blofeld I've heard this is more on the side of electro but I've also really good things about it's sound and versatility. Don't know too much past that but I've heard a lot of really good things about this little desktop synth.
-Nord Lead 1/2/2X/3 Not sure the major differences between all of these but I've been hearing the 1 is fatter but the 2 is more versatile. I haven't read too much about the 3 but I could grab a rack module 2 for a decent price. Infected Mushroom uses Nords and I think they are a pretty big trademark of psy these days. Also less original sounding I would bet seeing as it's a pretty common synth.
I've also lightly considered a Nord Modular G2 because I've heard it's also great for psy but I haven't done too much research on this one yet.
Anyway, I remember there was a bit of discussion about some Waldorf synths a while back in this thread and I think the main 2 that have me interested at the moment are the Kurzweil and the Micro Q but I really want to hear some opinions from other psy lovers. I've read a lot of stuff on some psy forums and I'm starting to develop an idea of what I want but yeah, I just wanna hear what you guys think!
Thanks!
Edit: Oh, was also kinda looking at a Korg Prophecy also. I've heard good things about them too, if anybody has any experience I'd love to hear.
This post was edited by HERETICtheory on Nov 20 2011 05:22pm