On this thread, we like synthesisers.

[snadge]

Did Behringer just buy it to kill it off? I have to say, I quite like Behringer. I know people hate them but I think that’s a bit misguided tbh.

Yes they killed it off to use the algorithms for their own hardware. Sonic Core is a contrast to the powercore scenario, their creamware DSP PCI cards from mid 90's are still supported today.

I also have a scope PCI based system setup in an old HP DW6000 Twin XEON server, 96kHz 24bit with 1mS latency going into cubase via lightpipe, extremely powerful system.

 

[snadge]

Boom

Ooh, I just had a sex wee.

 

[bmd]

Boom

What made you buy Moog? Don’t tell me, let me guess, it was Emerson, Lake and Palmer, wasn’t it?

 

[bmd]

Yes they killed it off to use the algorithms for their own hardware. Sonic Core is a contrast to the powercore scenario, their creamware DSP PCI cards from mid 90's are still supported today.

I also have a scope PCI based system setup in an old HP DW6000 Twin XEON server, 96kHz 24bit with 1mS latency going into cubase via lightpipe, extremely powerful system.

I was thinking about getting a Xeon setup, so cheap now. Not the twin-core ones, the motherboards are still daft money but I reckon I could put together a decent one for around £300.

 

[bmd]

I was thinking about getting a Xeon setup, so cheap now. Not the twin-core ones, the motherboards are still daft money but I reckon I could put together a decent one for around £300.

It sounds like all your gear is 96Khz with zero latency? Must be a dream to play.

 

[killer b]

Let's hear your modular jams boys.

 

[bmd]

Let's hear your modular jams boys.

God! The money men are here!

 

[klang]

What made you buy Moog? Don’t tell me, let me guess, it was Emerson, Lake and Palmer, wasn’t it?

Not mine tbh....just have it set up in my studio for now. I'm in the middle of recording an album with some German electro guys. We'd be finished by now but Corona put the whole project on hold.

Fwiw - that moog is the first ever official clone of the original Beatles moog, the one George H used to own, which was used on Abbey Road etc. My friend was involved in developing it - for a few months he had the clone and the original Moog side by side to compare / fine tune.

If I go to the studio later I will take pix of my permanent synth set up.

 

[bmd]

Not mine tbh....just have it set up in my studio for now. I'm in the middle of recording an album with some German electro guys. We'd be finished by now but Corona put the whole project on hold.

Fwiw - that moog is the first ever official clone of the original Beatles moog, the one George H used to own, which was used on Abbey Road etc. My friend was involved in developing it - for a few months he had the clone and the original Moog side by side to compare / fine tune.

If I go to the studio later I will take pix of my permanent synth set up.

No one likes a show off Seb. Seriously though, that’s amazing. A genuine piece of musical history, a huge piece of modular history. Thanks for sharing it.

”Loooove, love me do! I know I love you! So pleeeeee-eeee-ease SCNARFGLLLAREFEDSZGFSFGSDGFS BZZZZ PARPPPP KADING granulars off into the distance”

 

[snadge]

I was thinking about getting a Xeon setup, so cheap now. Not the twin-core ones, the motherboards are still daft money but I reckon I could put together a decent one for around £300.

You can buy HP XW Twin xeons on ebay for £70.

 

[snadge]

It sounds like all your gear is 96Khz with zero latency? Must be a dream to play.

For recording purposes about 2-3mS and that's using Powercore effects as inserts.

 

[bmd]

You can buy HP XW Twin xeons on ebay for £70.

Really? The motherboard, you mean? The thing is that the Xeon CPUs I’m thinking of are repurposed to fit in a Socket 775 mb. Aren’t proper Xeon chips quite expensive still or have I got that wrong too?

 

[snadge]

Really? The motherboard, you mean? The thing is that the Xeon CPUs I’m thinking of are repurposed to fit in a Socket 775 mb. Aren’t proper Xeon chips quite expensive still or have I got that wrong too?

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[bmd]

Boom! Well, parp.

 

[bmd]

HP XW6000 WORKSTATION COMPUTER TOWER INTEL XEON 2.80 Ghz 2GB RAM WINDOWS XP HP01 | eBay

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Ahhh! I get you. I was talking about £300 for 16GB of RAM, a fast Xeon processor, a decent sized ssd, say 480 and a good graphics card. £300 for it up and running.

Here’s an example with 8GB.

 

[ska invita]

I've only got VSTis, - im not trying to troll the thread, but is there really any difference between a VSTi and a physical synth? [ducks]
Less space, less dusting, and (cough) free.

One softsynth thing ive got is the Korg Legacy pack - 4x synths which include an ms20... Its cool. lots of fun.
But my friend has a real one and ive got to say, hook up it nice and loud and its amazing what sounds come out of it
The one thing you lose on a softsynth is the immediate button dial touching thing, but a good external controller can bypass that to a degree

anyhow, yeah the ms20 - crazy sounds

Ive also noticed on TV and live gigs the industry standard seem to be a red synth of some description...everyone seems to use these for live shows...in my mind it was a korg, but i think its the Nord Lead . Anyone had a go? I get the impression its got some nice warm Rhodes type sounds and fat leads on it.

 

[klang]

I've only got VSTis, - im not trying to troll the thread, but is there really any difference between a VSTi and a physical synth? [ducks]
Less space, less dusting, and (cough) free.

One softsynth thing ive got is the Korg Legacy pack - 4x synths which include an ms20... Its cool. lots of fun.
But my friend has a real one and ive got to say, hook up it nice and loud and its amazing what sounds come out of it
The one thing you lose on a softsynth is the immediate button dial touching thing, but a good external controller can bypass that to a degree

anyhow, yeah the ms20 - crazy sounds

Ive also noticed on TV and live gigs the industry standard seem to be a red synth of some description...everyone seems to use these for live shows...in my mind it was a korg, but i think its the Nord Lead . Anyone had a go? I get the impression its got some nice warm Rhodes type sounds and fat leads on it.
View attachment 207876

The Nord is pretty much standard nowadays for organ / rhodes / piano sounds for live purposes. My gf uses one all the time. It's not really a synth, more a sample bank.
They are handy for live stuff as they are light to carry and easily personalised. In the studio however they are not cutting it. Too plasticy imo.
Even for live they sound a bit shit when di-ed. My gf uses a music master amp to get a bit of drive / distortion for her organ sounds.


As for the pic above - nice Trident 70! I use an 80B.

My MS20 gets a lot of use. Not only for synth stuff, but the filters come in handy for blasting audio through, eg distorting snare drum or bass. Or even whole drum kits. It's almost become a signature sound in my studio. I'd find it hard to work without.

 

[klang]

As for the soft synth / hardwear debate:

I use mainly physical synth and I got to know them very well over the years, so for me it's pretty easy to dial in sounds.
Often I get projects to mix with lots of soft synth emulations of the real thing I might have at the studio....and yes, I do find them quite different. Not better or worse, but different.
There is no right or wrong, it's about working with whatever is at hand, and finding required sounds.....but when mixing I've noticed that I have to work harder to make soft synth sit in the mix. Might well be that I don't know them that well and my usual methods don't apply.

 

[xenon]

I've only got VSTis, - im not trying to troll the thread, but is there really any difference between a VSTi and a physical synth? [ducks]
Less space, less dusting, and (cough) free.

One softsynth thing ive got is the Korg Legacy pack - 4x synths which include an ms20... Its cool. lots of fun.
But my friend has a real one and ive got to say, hook up it nice and loud and its amazing what sounds come out of it
The one thing you lose on a softsynth is the immediate button dial touching thing, but a good external controller can bypass that to a degree

anyhow, yeah the ms20 - crazy sounds

Ive also noticed on TV and live gigs the industry standard seem to be a red synth of some description...everyone seems to use these for live shows...in my mind it was a korg, but i think its the Nord Lead . Anyone had a go? I get the impression its got some nice warm Rhodes type sounds and fat leads on it.
View attachment 207876

It's just more satisefying. Actual switches and knobs, patch cables if you're into the modular thing. Course, if you have a decent control surface you can use that with softsynths in a lot of cases but might involve various levels of faffing about. Not the fun kind of faffing about with things that go beep and zhebbeibie, wooosh, but teadious set up stuff.

And then there's the fact you don't have to burden your PC with running multiple instances of softsynths.

You can always use a mixture of course.

 

[snadge]

I have one of these

Nord Modular - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

It was my entry into modular, great machine. Computer based editor connected via midi.

 

[Saul Goodman]

Wow. My brother in law is half way through a musical engineering degree where they're teaching him how to make synths. It's all circuit board and components under there then?

And lots of wires.
He's even etching the circuit boards himself. I'll try to get some pictures of the inside.

 

[xenon]

Who else has a Volca? I got the keys. Simple but sounds really nice, fuzzy analogue goodness.

The modular, Euroack thing is a rabit hole I don't want to go down, I've got a guitar habit too...

 

[bmd]

I've only got VSTis, - im not trying to troll the thread, but is there really any difference between a VSTi and a physical synth? [ducks]
Less space, less dusting, and (cough) free.

One softsynth thing ive got is the Korg Legacy pack - 4x synths which include an ms20... Its cool. lots of fun.
But my friend has a real one and ive got to say, hook up it nice and loud and its amazing what sounds come out of it
The one thing you lose on a softsynth is the immediate button dial touching thing, but a good external controller can bypass that to a degree

anyhow, yeah the ms20 - crazy sounds

Ive also noticed on TV and live gigs the industry standard seem to be a red synth of some description...everyone seems to use these for live shows...in my mind it was a korg, but i think its the Nord Lead . Anyone had a go? I get the impression its got some nice warm Rhodes type sounds and fat leads on it.
View attachment 207876

I think the difference between soft synths and hardware is like any other software/hardware thing. You get to see all the options, right there in front of you. Plus it’s tactile and you can hug it. Sound-wise? I’m not sure. I don’t have enough experience to say, one way or the other.

 

[ViolentPanda]

Are you kidding? It's all wires a knobs

The wires and knobs are more than half the fun!! It's also tiny, for a modular synth set-up!

 

[ViolentPanda]

Wow. My brother in law is half way through a musical engineering degree where they're teaching him how to make synths. It's all circuit board and components under there then?

Oh yeah!
Many module suppliers sell kits for self-build too. There's also a growing industry in some companies doing kits-only modules.

 

[killer b]

POST YOUR MODULAR JAMZ!

 

[Shirl]

The wires and knobs are more than half the fun!! It's also tiny, for a modular synth set-up!

It's not finished yet but it is designed to be portable so hopefully won't get much bigger. I'd like my studio space back

 

[bmd]

Oh yeah!
Many module suppliers sell kits for self-build too. There's also a growing industry in some companies doing kits-only modules.

Mate! How's it hanging?!

I am pure shite at soldering. I might as well try welding it. Cut out the middle bit called Hope.

 

[ViolentPanda]

It's not finished yet but it is designed to be portable so hopefully won't get much bigger. I'd like my studio space back

I'll say a prayer for you!

 

[ViolentPanda]

Mate! How's it hanging?!

Not so bad, thanks. Yourself?

I am pure shite at soldering. I might as well try welding it. Cut out the middle bit called Hope.

I'm not brilliant at soldering, myself. I just take it steady and slow, and check everything with a multimeter, before putting any power through it. I've also decided to take a class, to see where I'm going wrong. Probably my shaky hands don't help!