faetal on 10/11/2020 at 12:13
Just checking in case I was using it wrong :)
demagogue on 16/12/2020 at 10:44
Since I was nearby, I went to the famous synth shop Five-G today for the first time since the pandemic broke out, or maybe the second time, but anyway it's been a while. I played with a lot of different systems, but I'll just report the ones that stood out for me on this trip.
I finally got to play the Hydrasynth. It didn't blow me away as much as I was hoping it would. The big screen with 8 big knobs that collects major parameters for each voice is admittedly a great design idea, and it is easy to modulate voices. But the thing is they had a Prophet 6 right nearby, and playing with those, really great sounding stuff came out for me with a little playing, and that didn't happen with the Hydrasynth. The strip was pretty cool, but it's basically like a 2nd glorified mod wheel. And the polyphonic aftertouch was cool but... I don't know if it's as useful as I was thinking. For a lot of parameters you might want to modify, having different notes take that parameter out of sync with each other doesn't always work as well as you'd think. Anyway, you'd have to practice it to have it sound good, and I wonder how many parameters it'd actually be good for. The other thing is it's really heavy! And still only the 4 octaves, for all the unweildiness.
I still liked it, but I think this bumped up the Summit to my most wanted now, which unfortunately they didn't have at the shop, so I still haven't played with it yet. I was having more fun playing with the Prophet and the Korg Minilogue was right next to it too, which even though it's practically a toy, it's hard to keep my hands off of it ... maybe because of that.
On the patchbay side of the aisle, you can believe the hype about the Moogs. They had the triple set up of the DFAM, Mother32, & Subharmonicon together, and they're really, really nice to play with. It makes me appreciate a system that's really designed with a solid philosophy in mind. Channeling how things work in a really specific way opens up the imagination.
I also played with the Erika modules. Over on the VCV FB page, they have kind of DIY challenges (not exactly contests), like 3-module challenges. But one of them is a one-company challenge, and I did one recently with only Erika modules, so I've grown to really like their style. But you know, I have them on VCV now, so not sure I'll buy the hardware versions.
The Soma was cool as always. Drone core isn't so much my thing enough to consider getting it, but I always love spending a little time with it.
The big suprise for the trip was the (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZ-XqfejQsI) Quadrantid Swarm. Man, once I started playing with it, I just kept at it. It's probably the thing I played with the most, setting up different sequences, beats, and overlapping drones. It was intuitive and really, really fun to play with. It was set alongside all the Make Noise units, and it has that style (aside: once again I really tried to like the 0-Coast & 0-cntl, they always draw me in, but something just doesn't click with them, or hasn't yet, I guess), but the Swarm is from a different company, Eowave, which I hadn't heard of before. So it was cool to find something new that really clicked with me, was really fun to play with, and sounded really good.
Edit: I'm not even all that into the rave scene, but oh man... :o
[video=youtube;nwLpLXpfnBU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwLpLXpfnBU[/video]
Edit2: And speaking of Erica Synths, this would pair very nicely with the ES Sample Drum to get some natural sounding drums you can modulate in the mix. And you can sample anything, so you could use it as a looper to overlay and cut up the stuff coming out of the Swarm, and it has a delay on it to give the Swarm voices some body. I've been thinking about the most minimal set up that works, and just these two alone are looking pretty great together.
faetal on 16/12/2020 at 15:49
I feel the same about the Hydrasynth. I was pretty much poised to buy it around this time last year, but something kept holding me back.
On further reflection, that thing was that I wasn't hearing anything in the demos which blew me away. I was in love with the feature set and the workflow design, but couldn't find anything like a killer sound in the demos to make me pull the trigger. My Access Virus TI already has plenty of modulation options, and there are so many good VSTs (notably Arturia Pigments / Massive X) with decent routing besides.
Agree on the Prophet 6 though. I think having knob per function and restricted modulation options keeps you grounded to the sound a bit more. Not that the P6 isn't capable for some very diverse sounds.
Jason Moyer on 16/12/2020 at 15:54
I have one and TBH I probably wouldn't have bought it had I been able to play it in a store first. It's a nice synth but I find it sounds better as a VA type synth than some weird digital modulation monster. The wavetables give me massive ear fatigue for some reason (unlike the wavetables on the Pro 3 or what I've heard of the classic PPG ones) which makes it difficult to program for more than an hour or two. The basic VA waves and filter models sound great but I'm not really digging the parts that should be interesting from a synthesis POV. I might just need to give it some time though.
While I'm posting in this thread, I've decided to dump most of my Behringer synths to free up space. Part of it is a general distaste for their ethics (or lack thereof), but I mostly realized I have synths that aren't cheap Chinese knockoffs and cover similar ground. I'm going to keep their Vocoder/Stringer though since no one is making a competitive product in that space. As a reward for dumping a bunch of crap I think I'm going to let myself consider getting a Prophet 5 next summer.
faetal on 17/12/2020 at 00:34
Quote Posted by Jason Moyer
I'm going to keep their Vocoder/Stringer though since no one is making a competitive product in that space.
(
https://waldorfmusic.com/en/stvc) Yo
demagogue on 17/12/2020 at 03:39
It's interesting how Behringer's core crowd (seems to have) turned against them when they made a keystep clone (the Swing), at least they got a lot more hate than I remember ever seeing. They could take the mantle of being the champion of the little guy when they were cloning impossibly expensive and/or unavailable vintage gear, allowing even people without a lot of savings to get into the scene. But the Keystep was already cheap as bones and a new product, and they lifted it pretty much wholesale.
They were never really for me because if I'm getting a full keyboard or workstation kind of gear, I'm willing to save up for the good stuff. And if it's something budget, I'll just get an app. That said, thinking more about that Swarm + Sample Drum combination has got me at least plotting out a combo on (
https://www.modulargrid.net/e/racks/view/1410149) ModularGrid to see what different combinations look & feel like. Feel free to give some advice about essential modules. (Can we call them mods? I feel like I want to call them mods.)
Edit: Here's a (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5RSIWbZ6Vc) video going into more detail on Behringer's sordid history. As one comment summarized it, it's maybe the only instrument maker with an entire section on their wiki page on lawsuits, and they go back to the 1990s. Also, if you go to Sweetwater's page & search for Behringer Swing, well, you can do it yourself and see what happens.
Jason Moyer on 17/12/2020 at 11:44
I had a Streichfett. It's not terrible and I love the cheesy marketing (not sure why they dropped that with the STVC) but it really doesn't sound great to me. The VC340 is the only analog stringer that's been made since the pre-DX7 days as far as I know.
Re: Behringer, this video probably sums things up better than I can. I was onboard with them recreating classic synths, and I still think their actual products are mostly good and surprisingly well made for their price (especially if you compare them to DSI/Sequential or Moog who charge a premium and have as many problems with their hardware). The problem is...well it's not one thing, it's a bunch of things. And ultimately while I would love to keep the clones I have (808 clone, Juno 106 clone, SH-101 clone, Minimoog clone) I can replace them easily with other hardware (which I have already anyway) made by less shitty companies.
[video=youtube;p5RSIWbZ6Vc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5RSIWbZ6Vc[/video]
faetal on 17/12/2020 at 12:24
Yes I saw the Benn Jordan video (and the follow up responding to their blog post).
I agree that they have crossed a line. It's one thing to be democratising analog synths by reviving out of patent vintage stuff, but their blatant ripoffs of contemporary stuff just feels like malicious wielding of their production model (they'll always be cheaper due to the scale they can produce and their extensive production automation) to undercut other companies on their own products. The cork sniffer thing was just 100% cringe. I can't believe they went to that much effort for something which at best is just tragically unfunny and at worst dog whistle anti-semitism.
Jason Moyer on 17/12/2020 at 17:10
[video=youtube;61fsW4xxkZE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61fsW4xxkZE[/video]
Aja on 17/12/2020 at 17:42
Dammit, I own that cable tester.
Lately I've been feeling like I want to buy something new although it's not like I've exhausted the uses for the things I already have by any means. If money was no object I'd take one of every Make Noise modules. I love their aesthetic and ethos -- maybe it's just that they have a great YouTube channel, but everything they produce seems designed to be played and experimented with. It makes me want to buy it even if I don't have a specific use in mind. On the other hand I've also wanted a Moog for a while, and a DFAM or Grandmother would be great, but again, not needed. If anything I should sell some stuff, maybe my Reface DX, and do more with less.