Which synth choose ?

can't buy much with 300€ well, nothing modern. you can get some 'vintage' synth for that price, popular synth from 20years ago ... things like Roland Alpha Juno, etc...

Better add 100€ to that 300€ and get the RM1X sold in the bargains ... great box that is. Churchill has one.

hmm maybe you should skip all the hardware and get yourself a good midi keyboard and a low latency soundcard and since you already have a fast pc you can mess arround with different software packets till you find what suits you the best. hardware isn't everything. but if you really want to buy hardare first save up some money and then go into the shops and mess around with some and see what synths you like.

greets isnieZot

I was thinking about something, does the power of the synth really counts as long as you have a great piece of software for using it with your computer ?

This may (I am pretty sure it is) be a silly question, but as I am a total newbie in these matters I have no knowledge. I need something to play some melodies, then they can be edited and transformed with the computer ? right ? I may add samples to the sound the synth makes and so on... huh ?

Well, anyway, that would make 400, more expensive than I thought. and not a new one, wich would cost probably double the price I suppose...arg. guess I'll wait a bit and keep saving. Thx for the reply.

Oups, just saw your note isnieZot. Thx too.

i would use software like reason or logic (with vst plugins). The software is quite expensive, but it will do the trick. If you want the same possibilities in hardware, you will have to spend about 3000€ minimum (you will have a bit better quality, but still). + the software usually is very simple to use compared to some complex synths. What i would suggest is that u buy a cheap keyboard or synth so you can use it to play your tunes on, using the sounds of for example reason.

You can find old synths as yamaha Cs1x 2nd hand for about 250€. that way you have yourself a cheap synth too. (the yamaha is not that bad)

But if you are not planning to spend a lot of money on equipment (like me), the i think software (togheter with a simple keyboard/synth) is the best solution.

I will more than probably opt for a reasonably low priced synth and PC software. I looked for logic, but I see it's available for macintosh, thus I will surely have Reason shipped to my home from the net since no shops sells this software.

Thx very much for the infos.

Grrrratefully yours,

Dizzy

With a budget of 250-300 euros, you better stay with softsynths.

And Reason is definitely the way to go. It really is a virtual studio. It provides you with samplers, synths, sequencers, a mixer and FX. Everything you need to get started. (Have you already hit the 'TAB' key in Reason?)

If you would ever feel the need to expand your softsynts, have a look at Reaktor (modular synth) or Kontakt (sampler) from Native Instruments (www.nativeinstruments.com). While your at it, have a go at Traktor, their DJ software...

One of the biggest drawbacks of softsynths is that you can only change one parameter in realtime (because you only have one mousepointer) unless...

...you use a MIDI controller. The Oxygen 8 from Midiman (www.midiman.com) will give you 25 keys, 8 knobs and 2 wheels to play with and will cost you about 129 euros (www.musicstore.com).

Also have a look at the MIDI controllers from Kenton (www.kenton.co.uk), Doepfer (www.doepfer.de) and Evolution (www.evolution.co.uk).

This will allow you to tweak the cutoff and resonance of a filter in realtime and will make your neighbours nuts ;-)

If you would still have some money left by now, I would recommend a low latency soundcard. (Mia from Echo (www.echoaudio.com) or Audiophile 2496 from Midiman will cost you about 250 euros) and some decent nearfield monitors, so you know that what you're hearing is what you're recording.

Anyhow, don't forget to post your recordings...

I suggest you save some more money until you can buy a cheap 2nd hand sampler like an Akai S-2000 or maybe even an Yamaha A-3000. If you still have some moneyz left, buy a good 2nd hand vintage like a juno-106, a minimal Behringer mixer and a simple multieffect (Behringer Virtualizer). I think you can get this for a little over 1000 € ...

For now, just practice with VST-plugins or other soft-synths/samplers...

i have a akai S-2000 sampler. But is i can do anything and much more with the samplers in reason 2.0. I'm pro software these days ;-)

Originally posted by : DarkQ

I suggest you save some more money until you can buy a cheap 2nd hand sampler like an Akai S-2000 or maybe even an Yamaha A-3000. If you still have some moneyz left, buy a good 2nd hand vintage like a juno-106, a minimal Behringer mixer and a simple multieffect (Behringer Virtualizer). I think you can get this for a little over 1000 € ...

For now, just practice with VST-plugins or other soft-synths/samplers... I'dont see any Reason (pun intended :)) why he would buy a sampler if he's not performing live. IMO softsamplers are much more flexible in a studio environment than hardware samplers.

You're right about Juno-106. Everybody should have one! :P

Originally posted by : ZARk

can't buy much with 300€ well, nothing modern. you can get some 'vintage' synth for that price, popular synth from 20years ago ... things like Roland Alpha Juno, etc...

Better add 100€ to that 300€ and get the RM1X sold in the bargains ... great box that is. Churchill has one.

Oh but you can already find one for that prize. For a hardware-tool, I can only advice you to buy a RM1X. Very powerful tool! The choice you have to make now is to choose between softsynths or hardware-synths. My opinion is: if you only plan to make some tunes on your pc for yourself: go into software... if, like myself, you want to play live, record in studio,... go for hardware... and maybe the best thing to do: mix the both. I like my software-tools but I will, in NO CASE sell my hardware... I'm too much musician to only program music. But that's your choice of course. If you want to have some advice about hardware: feel free to send me a mail with your question: johanvanderhoeven@hotmail.com

Cheers mate,

      Churchill