Aja on 18/4/2023 at 16:49
Daaaang, man. Be sure to post some noodlings.
I haven't bought or really felt the urge to buy any gear since (checks gmail receipts) January of last year, when I got a spring reverb module. I feel like I'm on a bit of a sabbatical. I have way more than enough to make the kind of music I want to, so it's all on me if I'm unproductive. Now that it's getting warm out I want to spend my time in the shop building furniture.
Jason Moyer on 20/4/2023 at 05:09
Yeah, there's not much giving me GAS anymore, although that's probably a function of having so many bases covered now. I'd really like a Minimoog reissue, but the Grandmother can do 99% of the sounds plus tons more and doesn't cost $5000. I'm interested in seeing what the next PGH synth is like, assuming it's a new Voltage Lab; the Taiga looks nice, but I think between the Moog Stuff and the 2600M and the Voltage Lab I have my basic modular stuff covered. I need to spend more time with what I have, which is next to impossible with space/time being what they are. Maybe I'll set a goal of learning the Digitakt this summer.
Jason Moyer on 26/4/2023 at 03:37
Nice!
demagogue on 26/4/2023 at 04:11
Pretty fun already. I'll have to get used to the mini-keys, but it's pretty groovy on the performance side with the poly after touch, the two touch pads, the arp, and filter/res knobs all right on hand. The onboard patches are fine, especially good at learning how to put patches together. But the star of the show has to be the mod matrix. It makes it dog simple to put a good sounding patch together and keep adding layers to it.
It's all really intuitive. There are so many things where you just push what you think you're supposed to push and look at the text window, and you can see right away what's happening and how to mod things with the control knobs. It's in a good sweet spot between depth and accessibility. I really like this design in terms of pulling you into playing with it.
Komag on 27/4/2023 at 00:43
All that sounds really appealing, but I really don't think I would want mini keys (or that few keys) - is there a bigger version of the same thing?
demagogue on 27/4/2023 at 04:00
In fact there are two bigger versions of it, the regular 49 key one and the Deluxe 74 key one, which actually has 2 engines, so it can do 16 voices, and you can do two voices at the same time, i.e., bi-timbral, either overlapped or split-keyboard, whereas the others just have 8 voices mono-timbral. There's also a desktop version with no keys but 24 pads.
The reason I'm getting the little Explorer version is that I'll use another full 88 key keyboard workstation for my main synth, and this is something for me to use on the side just to make new voices, that I can play like a special lead or pad voice over the other keyboard (where the polyaftertouch will work really well), and that I can just play on the sofa or in the garden or literally throw in my backpack and take with me when I travel or to play in a park or with a friend, etc. (and on top of everything else it can run on batteries so you can do that), which is amazing. And I'll probably record one track at a time with this, so not having many keys isn't that big of a problem for how I'll use it.
Also it's on a special sale right now for only $500, whereas the others are normally $1,300 and $1,800 respectively. They all use the same engine, so getting it for $500 is actually kind of crazy cheap. Note that I can use the voices I make on it on my other keyboard as well via midi. So all in all, it fits a good niche for me.
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Edit: The way to think about synths is really think about what you want to do with one or a few, the way you want to use one that's making you happy, even make a list of the things you want, and then research up on which one(s) will best fit that niche or couple of niches, and which ones will work well together, all given the price and sizes. This has been on my list for a long time, but what was special here was this outrageous sale they're suddenly having that made it worth pulling the trigger now.
Edit2: I probably don't have to spell it out, but this little Explorer fits very cleanly into the niche left open by my big Yamaha workstation (in terms of things I want to do), since my Yamaha didn't give me direct access to the basic synth elements (oscillator, LFO, envelope, etc.) that I want to play with, and it's way too heavy to move around much less travel with, etc. It's not that the Explorer does or has everything exactly as I want, it's that the combination of the big workstation and little explorer complement each other and fill each other's missing elements really well.
Komag on 27/4/2023 at 10:12
Slipped my mind about using a full size keyboard as midi controller for it! Sounds like a win win overall.
Aja on 27/4/2023 at 14:45
Dema that's awesome. I love battery-powered synths and probably would've kept my Reface DX if I'd gotten on with the actual tones better.
Everything in Canada has become so expensive. The Explorer is $900; the Take 5 is over 2 grand now. That said, if Make Noise announces another semimodular at Superbooth next month, I may have to pull some money out of the mattress.
faetal on 6/5/2023 at 01:00
I've been debating getting a HS since they first landed, but there is something which I can't put my finger on which is stopping me.