Best synth(s) for Electronica?

[crs7string]

Mazz,I've got an original Mini Moog (one owner-me) and a DX7II with the E! upgrade.Chuck

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Quote:Anybody still have some vintage hardware synths laying around?DX7s, Akai AX73, Roland HS 60, Korg DW 8000, Rhodes and a Wurli.I wish I had a nice Moog or comparable synth... someday

[mazz]

Chuck, I remember seeing a Mini Moog when they first came out. As much as I begged my parents to get me one, I knew it wasn't going to happen! I think they were 750 back then but I could be wrong!Zink, What kind of Rhodes do you have? My old Stage 73 was well roaded by the time I sold it in the early 80s. I have a Wurli in my basement but it needs some loving care to get it going again. Probably not gonna happen soon My collection: OB8 (original owner), Wavestation EX, Yamaha RX5 drum machine, Roland 350 Vocoder, Yamaha TX7. I got rid of some things a few years ago but I wish I hadn't: Roland System, Sequential Pro One.Anyone else holding on to some vintage synths?Mazz

[allends]

Quote:Anyone else holding on to some vintage synths?MazzIt's not vintage in the sense of classic warm analog sound, but my 20 year old Yamaha SY77 FM synth is getting up there in age. -Allen

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Quote:Zink, What kind of Rhodes do you have? My old Stage 73 was well roaded by the time I sold it in the early 80s. I have a Wurli in my basement but it needs some loving care to get it going again. Probably not gonna happen soon My collection: OB8 (original owner), Wavestation EX, Yamaha RX5 drum machine, Roland 350 Vocoder, Yamaha TX7. I got rid of some things a few years ago but I wish I hadn't: Roland System, Sequential Pro One.OB8...sweet. How it it? My rhodes is a mk1 with the amp (it's a 73, not an 88 like in the picture). The amp doesn't work (I think it's just the cable) but the rhodes itself is in great condition. There one high note that's just a little dull. Other than that it's perfect. My wurli's pretty beat up.I had a chance about 10 or 15 years ago to buy a Hohner D6 for 200 (or maybe 250) bucks. Still kicking myself.Hey, didn't I see in another post that you have a Dave Smith Poly Evolver? That board looks great. How do you like it?zink

[mazz]

Zink,You have the suitcase Rhodes. Those are pretty amazing because the amp has the tremelo that actually turns each speaker off and on. I'm sure you can get the cable to work.The OB8 is in it's case and needs calibration and a new memory battery. I had the MIDI update installed in the field. Oberheim was using their proprietary system when the DX7 and MIDI hit the scene so they had to come up with an extra circuit board.I had an E7 clav which was the last model they made, I think. It was black, the D6 had a wood case. The clav is gone too, for a long time now : ( The Nord Electro is a good substitute, though.I actually have a Dave Smith Evolver, the little desktop unit. It is small but mighty. It makes noises that nothing else does, hardware or software. The bass sounds are massive! Right now I can't justify buying a Poly Evolver although I've played one at the local GC. It's a pretty amazing axe! The guy who invented the Prophet 5 still has it going on!!Mazz

[mixopenta]

IMHO I think you could use any synth for electronica productions. I find that the use of filters and fx are almost more important than the actual tone source. As far as I'm concerned using synths that are not so commonly used in the genre might render you some originality as well.I tend to use more of the hardware stuff than software synths, mostly because I'm pretty new to using a DAW.I'm using an old MiniMoog 1971, which seems to work only when it wants to. Using the pitch wheel is a big no-no if you don't want to retune it right afterwards. (And about once a month I have to go through a 2-hour tuning session to get all the oscillators in shape. It's a hefty tuning procedure, but well worth while) It's too risky to use it on stage though, so I'm using a Studio Electronics SE-1 as a substitute in live situations. I'm thinking of replacing it with the Little Fatty perhaps, which has a better price tag than the Voyager. Anybody had a chance to try it?I'm occasionally using the Korg MS-20. I've had it for 26 years now, and still haven't figured out how to set up the patch bay And a "drummer" once stepped on it when it was laying around on the floor, so a key broke I bought a Roland SH-1 in 1978, but a couple of years ago I replaced all IC's, from 1458's to TL072's FET , which only made it go out of tune Someday I'll have to put the 1458's back... I also have a VOX Continental organ, which I find myself using more and more. It's cool when run through a leslie sp and heavy fx processing.Some years ago I had an OBX-a, but was kind of disappointed in how thin it sounded in comparison to all the simulations that exists, so that went off for sale.For most part for my electronica productions, I'm using the Alesis Q8, Roland JV-880 with the vintage keys expander board, an EMU hardware sampler, Yamaha CS1x, and (from a dark corner) Roland Alpha Juno 1 (or whatever the name is), and every now and then throwing in some of the older stuff on top. Most of the softsynths that ships with Cubase, I find more annoying than useful (but then again, I'm not a fan of FM synthesis). Although I've heard that there are hybrid's that can produce some pretty amazing stuff. I tried to download the Toxic 3 Softsynth to try it out, but I couldn't get it without having to download the whole Orion HD rec/seq application.In the end I'm all in all a firm believer in that the secret is how you approach things, rather than what gear you're using.So if anyone sits on that secret, please let me in on it as well...

[zink]

Quote:Zink,You have the suitcase Rhodes. Those are pretty amazing because the amp has the tremelo that actually turns each speaker off and on. I'm sure you can get the cable to work.The OB8 is in it's case and needs calibration and a new memory battery. I had the MIDI update installed in the field. Oberheim was using their proprietary system when the DX7 and MIDI hit the scene so they had to come up with an extra circuit board.I had an E7 clav which was the last model they made, I think. It was black, the D6 had a wood case. The clav is gone too, for a long time now : ( The Nord Electro is a good substitute, though.I actually have a Dave Smith Evolver, the little desktop unit. It is small but mighty. It makes noises that nothing else does, hardware or software. The bass sounds are massive! Right now I can't justify buying a Poly Evolver although I've played one at the local GC. It's a pretty amazing axe! The guy who invented the Prophet 5 still has it going on!!Mazzwell, one of the ends of the cord is completely disconnected, and I'm pretty sure that the wires don't go to the same pins (pin1 goes to pin 3, pin 2 to pin 1...). I'll have to check out the schematics.I looked for a D Smith last time I went to GC, but they didn't have one. I'll have to try a different GC. I had a feeling they were pretty cool.