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I was going to hold this question off till I had a little extra cash, but since outboard gear just came up in another post, guess I'll ask now.
True analog synths. I've been contemplating getting one for a while now. I've been looking at the Oberheim Matrix 6R as a vintage solution (ok, has digital control, so not exactly 100% analog) and the Dave Smith Mopho, as a modern solution. Main point: Both are quite affordable. One thing though, I know little about synths. Are there any better options out there? Is it even worth buying into? As many plugins you see out there that claim "just as good as analog" or some such thing, and with all the tools to make your mixes sound more analog, I figure getting an actual analog synth would be a good move.
What do you think?
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04-23-2009, 03:36 PM
(This post was last modified: 04-23-2009, 03:47 PM by przechuy.)
I think that instead of analog synth you should check some Arturia soiftsynths .Arp And minimooog V are killing me,in positive meaning.For me it is a true meaning of a "reacreating the sound of analog synth".
And you say that you dont know so much about synths ,buying some VST will be cheaper than buying analog synth.I think now each of those Arturia plugins costs 199 Eur,for sure cheaper then analog synths.And there is also moog modular to check.Factory presets sound great,everything is easilly tweakable (and loooks 100% like analog old stuff) and if you are too lazy you can just check presets that people post allover internet for those VST's
I dont know if there are any demo downloads of those synths,but checked them.I was "playing " with them with on my buddy's laptop and i never heard such synth sounds coming out of computer.So juicy,warm,fat ....
sounds like advertising actually,but i tihn i fell in love with them,and peoiple say that they are one of the best recreations of analog stuff.
Going for analog or not for me is a issue "if i want to feel this music with my hand or not" you know,tweaking knobs etc,it must be SUPERB feeling ,but realistically looking on it,it is too expensive for me to get 2-3 ,or even one analog synth that would interest me,when it can buy me at least few softsynths.I would also try it someday for sure,but rhather for this pleasure of "touching" music.
And best proof for me that you can sound "analog" nowadays are some artists that work totally on computer and their music is "plugins based" and they make great sounds that can fool anyone that were made on super secret mega analog synths.It is just a matter of their good skills .
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I agree that the arturia stuff is top notch. I had a moog voyager and ended up selling it because I was getting easier results with the Arturia version.
That being said, I would never sell my Juno 106. That thing is amazing, so warm, so intuitive, so fun. and cheap! Check out the Junos if you can. I think I paid $250 or $300 for mine.
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Yeah, I should have mentioned that I would like to 'feel' what I'm doing. Pushing buttons, twisting knobs and moving faders....to create sounds. I've got a Roland MC-505, which has a great stock set of sounds, albeit digital....and I love playing around with it. But if paying the extra cash isn't really worth it (getting that talked about analog sound) then I'd just stick to softsynths.
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then maybe instead of investing in analog synth invest in some good midi controller to control your vst synths.you will have universal knobs faders etc taht you can touch,and still it will coope with any soft synth in computer actually.Seems to be reasonable option
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I did a shoot out between my MKS80, Arturia Jup 8 and Creamware Prophet 5 (I know not quite the same but closest I had).
There are differences in some sounds and not as much in others. I would recommend having one real analog. It does add a nice element. The Arturia stuff can sound really cool but there are times it can be a bit plasticy compared to the real thing. Especially unison modes which are a joke compared to the hardware. But Arturia has managed to program their synths to sound 'warm' I do agree. But in other areas of the emulation it's still not up there and sometimes I feel like that warm sound is fake.
The Matrix 6R was my first ever synth (well Matrix 1000 actually but its just that in a rack). It has a very distinct sound and there's nothing like it in both hardware and softsynth world. Not the best for basses but the matrix modualtion lets you do lots of cool stuff.
The Juno was my second synth ;-) I had about 4-5 over the years from 106 to 6 to 60. They are great especially the chorus. I'd take one of them any day or the Aturia. But just be prepared to get your hands dirty with making patches and recording in audio. One of the things I like doing with my MKS is just record in live audio, no midi and then cut it up if needed. Feels more fun than just having sample accutate VST's going all the time.
As far as the Voyager I agree. From the limited time I had on it didn't feel like a real Moog as I had a Minimoog D at the time. I and a few other people have stated that the Creamware Minimax actually sounds closer to a real Minimoog D than the hardware Voyager does.
So I'd say if you actually spend the time to really get to know your analog synth then it's worth it. It's one of those things where you seem to get attached more to a piece of hardware and know it inside out. Then you can get that extra bit of quality out of it. This is compared to the VST's which are cool but I just never find myself getting lost in programming them (exception is the Creamware stuff, I can program those just for fun for hours).
