»

[RockAustin]

What you going to be using it for?

[Steven Milne]

i have a microkorg and a juno synth (cant remeber but i think its a 60)

next time we are soundchecking you are welcome to come down and have a play on either as theyll both set up

i havent investigated the micro korg fully yet bar a few home recordings becasue ive been busy but it seems very full of potential for the sounds i need.

anytime you want a go, just PM me

i always feel trying stuff before helps a decision

[HairyScaryMark]

I am not an expert but I really suspect there are better analogue synth emulations than the micro korg, even for the money. Download all the demos of software VA's (virtual analgoues) first. The microkorg is marketed as a 'consumer' product. Some consumer products can create nice sounds but rarely are as good as those aimed at professional musicians. Usually also lack practicality of use.

I really wouldn't recommend an analogue synth as your first synth. Something to concider adding at a later date.

It is unlikely to cover all your synth needs.

Even in the 1970s i.e before digital synths, a lot of professional keyboard players had a hammond organ and/or mellatron, piano (electric and/or acoustic) and multiple analgoue mono synths. One synth usually didn't cover all the sounds they wanted on it's own. Hammond organ was really the only keyboard that people seemed to use

Also, analgoue mono synths by definition can only play one note at a time. Assuming you wish to play this in a rock band, the chances are you will wish to play chord pads throughout much of the song.
You need to get used to playing keyboard first. Analgoue synths come with many many dials which are likely to distract you from practicing.

Best to get something general purpose in the format of a workstation/pro keyboard. If you would like to expand on your sonic posibilties at a later date, concider a virtual analgoue or real analogue synth.

Also, ALL analogue synths go out of tune. You may find it wondering out of tune in the middle of a song, you can do so much of the tuning yourself but ideally they should be serviced every so often. Few people have the expertise to do that these days.

[Al Coholic]

Originally Posted by RockAustin

What you going to be using it for?

Not really for any live playing, more to practise basic keys, get an idea of sound design, use as midi keyboard and perhaps for some recording.
I realise you can do all this with a basic midi keyboard and a soft synth but this would not be much cheaper (if you actually buy the software) and somehow it does not feel real. Also, would the sound from a hardware synth not be better than from a software synth?

[Stripey]

Originally Posted by HairyScaryMark

One synth usually didn't cover all the sounds they wanted on it's own.

Also, analgoue mono synths by definition can only play one note at a time.

Analgoue synths come with many many dials which are likely to distract you from practicing.

Also, ALL analogue synths go out of tune.

Not all analogue synths are mono. Modern "analogue" synths are actually digital modelling synths, handle polyphony and don't go out of tune. Some of them even model that behaviour too though if you want it. With a bit of skill and use of effects you would be surprised at the range of sounds it's possible to get out of even a 2 oscillator analogue synth.
Don't fear the controls, the more controls the better, what's especially important is the flexibility of the internal routing system which lets you make proper use of LFO's and other modulation techniques.

[Stripey]

Originally Posted by Al Coholic

would the sound from a hardware synth not be better than from a software synth?

Not necessarily, these days. The sound recorded from a hardware synth is only as good as the A/D converters in your soundcard. Anything generated in software doesn't have to go through that kind of potentially degrading process.
Things have come a long way in the world of softsynths and a lot of them can create really great sounds. If you are interested in getting into sound design I'd definately go down the midi controller / vstI route since generally softsynths offer more complex routing options, easier preset management and so on. If you're really interested in sound design you can go down the route of modular synthesis with stuff like Reaktor or Plogue Bidule (which is a favourite of mine).

i'm going to add at this point that the micron has a lot of internal routing options. As i said before though, it can get frustrating navigating through layers and layers of menus using one nob.

the plus side of the micron is the full size keys, instead of the baby keys on the microkorg.

you should look at the novation k station though.

Novation K-Station | Studioground - Novation

it seems similar spec to the micron but has lots of controller nobs.

[Stripey]

Originally Posted by lime ruined my life

Also, since when did digital synths have a to d convertors?

Well unless you've got a synth with an S/PDIF output, you're going to have to record the audio back into your machine through some kind of A/D convertor, obviously...

Originally Posted by Stripey

Well unless you've got a synth with an S/PDIF output, you're going to have to record the audio back into your machine through some kind of A/D convertor, obviously...

i thought you meant inside the synth, not recording it, i've removed the comment.

software has to go through d/a convertors to be played out the speakers mind you.

[HairyScaryMark]

Originally Posted by Stripey

Not all analogue synths are mono. Modern "analogue" synths are actually digital modelling synths, handle polyphony and don't go out of tune. Some of them even model that behaviour too though if you want it. With a bit of skill and use of effects you would be surprised at the range of sounds it's possible to get out of even a 2 oscillator analogue synth.
Don't fear the controls, the more controls the better, what's especially important is the flexibility of the internal routing system which lets you make proper use of LFO's and other modulation techniques.

Modern digital modelling synths are obviously not analgoue, so that is hardly relevant. I use software emulations of a prophet 5, mini moog, oscar, arp odyssy, mellatron amongst other things.

There have been some true analogue synths which could play more than one note at a time but most never really took off. The only ones I can think of were the prophet 5 (with 5 note poliphony) and the arp oddysy which was duophonic (2 note poliphony)

My point remains, a workstation style keyboard will get you a reasonably sized keyboard, probably also with reasonaby nice keys, wide range of sounds and relatively quick learning curve. Probably a good idea to base your synths around a workstation which is relatively central to it. 64 note poliphony is also standard, even in some lower models.

........................................

I own (and currently use) the following
Korg Triton Extreme - 61 key workstaion keyboard
NATIVE INSTRUMENTS: Komplete 4 - bundle of software synths
M-Audio GForce Future Retro Pack - bundle of 4 software emulations of analgogue synths
NATIVE INSTRUMENTS: KORE - host programme for running software synths

NI Komplete 4 has as wide a range of sounds as any workstation synth and is priced accordingly.
The M-Audio emulations are cheaper than a nord lead and model specific synths rather well. Made use of mellatron more than anything, so far but I can see this widening as songs get finalised.

About 2/3 of my keyboard sounds are from software. I can see this decreasing to 3/4 or less in the next couple of months.

Software vs Hardware?

My advice would be, start off with hardware and build up software when you get a clearer idea of what sort of sounds you wish to create.

Software will not really be cheaper than hardware in the end.
You need a laptop and a host programme such as abbelton live, Native Instruments Kore or a sequencer to run the software in a live situation.

Also, software is less reliable than workstations and such. I have had my software crash in the middle of band practices and do really weird things like only play samples once and not again. Most of these things get fixed as software updates get released but it is a concideration. Some Native Instruments products are (or have been before software udpates were released) particularly unreliable.

The real advantages of software is the fact it can consist of immensely large programmes or sample libraries, which simply couldn't happen on a workstation synth which loads everything from ROM. The most realistic emulations of real instruments are from software.

I.e I have something like 2.5GB of mellatron samples on my computer and f'knows how much for Kontakt and Kompakt. Triton Extreme consists of 160MB of ROM for everything. The overall sound quality of software is usually (but not always) better but this is not reflected proportionally by the size of the sound files.
........
Seriously: concider an Alesis Fusion, it comes with a supposedly strong VA section. Alesis

The samples are regularly updated via the internet. It is conciderably cheaper than any other workstation synths and is possibly even better at many things.

If that breaks your budget. Korg X5 is possibly the way to go (at least to get you started).