/kind/ - Random Acts of Kindness

I'll start off by saying that I have a pretty substantial collection, but I'm really fond of the Yamaha FB-01. It's not the crown jewel of my collection or anything, but I think I only paid somewhere around $60 for it and it was well worth the price. The synth features a Yamaha YM2164 chip that gives you that late-'80s-arcade-game sound. There's no editing it from the front panel, but I have Patch Base on an iPad I use exclusively for editing old synths. It also distorts really easily, so you have to take that into account when you're making sounds. But with that in mind, it was a steal considering what I paid for it. I made some DX7 sounds trying to get close to the FM sounds you heard in video games from that time period, but the FB-01 gives you that sound right off the bat. Although it lacks the versatility of the DX7, I find the sound much less harsh in comparison.

I just got some vintage digital effects units and am going to put them in a rack. One is in a weird format, so I don't know if it's even going to fit.

I have one of these guys. I don't know what I want to get next other then something more ethereal and less harsh.

>>1486
I kind of have that problem with my analog synths. I have a Prophet-10 and a Behringer Model D. I wanted the Prophet and Minimoog sounds to get a '70s type of feeling, but at the same time I really want something less brash.

I'm currently waiting to see what happens with the ISLA Instruments Caladan. It's going to be based around using different types of voice cards to effectively become a musical chameleon. They're taking feedback for potential cards on their forum, and a Jupiter 8 card is one of the most-requested ones. If it manages to nail the sound authentically, I'll probably end up buying one. Roland synths seem to do softer sounds better than their American counterparts, and for me having both a Prophet-10 and a modern Jupiter 8 could possibly end my GAS for analog polysynths. I don't even find the classic Oberheims all that appealing, but it would still be nice to have something that could cover that ground for the few sounds I'd want it for (like the "99 Luftballons" pad sound).


I definitely don't plan on parting with my Prophet though. It's versatile for being such a simple polysynth, and with the polymod feature you can easily get some pretty exotic sounds.

I have a few, mainly small inexpensive things like the Minibrute and behringer model D, and the obligatory MicroKorg. Also have a Korg Triton (the dark blue K-On!-spec one that weighs an absolute ton) but I mainly use that just for its built in presets like a keyboard because actually modifying the sounds on it looks like pure menu dive hell.

>>1488
>Microkorg
I really considered getting one of those when of those when I first started getting into synthesizers and wasn't sure what I wanted. I ended up wasting money on a Casio XW-P1 that I soon realized wasn't up my alley. I'm sure I would have felt the same about a Microkorg though. I bet you could make some good sounds with either, but I need something that personally inspired me. Unfortunately, a lot of the synths I'm interested in are ticking time bombs as far as maintenance is concerned.
>Korg Triton
That seems like it would be nice for making pad sounds with a decent editor. People rip on '90s ROMplers, but there's something special about those digital pad sounds they were capable of. A big problem is how overused a lot of presets were back then, at least with Roland's stuff. I have a JV-1080 and feel afraid to use it for recording for exactly that reason. For me the problem with making sounds by combining relatively complex samples is that it's hard to make anything that doesn't draw attention to itself. Maybe Korg's stuff is better about that though.

I ended up getting an old Kurzweil rack synth a while ago that I still need to dive into. The V.A.S.T. engine seems like it offers a ton of possibilities, but I also find it imposing. If I remember right, the one I bought has sampling capabilities too. That in itself would give it a leg up over similar synths. I plan on using it as an atmospheric pad machine further on down the line when I work up the motivation to learn it.

Here's a nice little atmospheric K2500 piece I keep coming back to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_t4-2VqXtU

I have over 30 synthesizer... plugins
I really only use Pigments and sometimes Vital myself and the others exist just for factory presets haha

>>1490
I'm too autistic for plugin instruments nowadays. I find Dexed really useful as a patch editor and librarian though. Creating sounds on a real DX7 would be a nightmare.