Beginner Synthesizer

Hey Sup Forums I'm pretty new to synthesizers and I don't much about them, I am finally in a situation where I can afford one so I was thinking of buying pic related (Aturia microbrute). What do you guys think? Also synthesizer general just discuss and maybe I'll pick up some of your knowledge.

Other urls found in this thread:

youtube.com/watch?v=atvtBE6t48M
youtube.com/watch?v=UMPvdA-01tM
twitter.com/NSFWRedditVideo

I don't have any money to be buying synths right now but if I did it would definitely be pic related

the microbrutes are pretty cool, though in my experience the keys are a bit prone to breaking.

If you're just getting into synths for the first time, you may want to spend a few months on a soft synth first.

get one that has all the common elements so that way you can learn how to use any synth with just this one
youtube.com/watch?v=atvtBE6t48M

any subtractive synth has all the common elements. He says as much in that video.

I'm looking to get a synth but I don't really like using a computer when I'm working, will that be a problem?

Not unless you get one of those synths that only lets you access some of the controls on your computer via usb. Either of the two posted in the thread so far would be fine for instance.

Nah, synths have been around since long before anyone outside the government or big corporations had access to computers. That said, they sync up really well with computers, so don't close yourself off to it.

Microbrutes are pretty okay synths. Better than Alesis trash, that's for sure.

Are you a keys player? If so, you may want something without mini keys and more than a couple octaves.

The microbrute is ok on it's own, but not really to great. I find it hard to slot into mixes.

You think it's the filter?

if you're just starting off you should probably start with a software synth before you invest money in something you're not sure about. you can learn a lot about additive and subtractive synths from just fucking around with the FL Studio synths. so maybe go find a cracked version and go explore

what do you want your synth to do? microbrutes are ok. monophonic, which might be a bummer if youre new.

>alesis trash
that opinion could use some work

If you have no idea how synths work but want an introduction, get the Monotribe

If you understand the basic principles but want a hands-on unit, get the Microbrute

If you're ready to get to the meat of it but don't want to go as far as building a modular synth (or don't have the money) get the MS-20 mini

Best value? MS-20 by far. If you want a synth to carry you from 'I sorta know what this is' to 'I know how everything works' then that's the synth for you.

I was actually thinking about this the other day. The filter and the oscillator both sound great on the microbrute, but I don't think they sound great together. I think it would have sounded much better if the used a 24db filter.

What do I buy if I'm a poorfag who just wants to screw around

i own both the minilogue and the mini ms-20, prefer the ms-20 tons. i dont give a shit that the minilogue is analog it's basically just microkorg 2.0

whatevers cheap on your local craigslist

don't, unless you like metallic sounding analog.

sorry re. your lack of synth programming skills

it does not sound good, even the microkorg sounds better

>I find it hard to slot into mixes.
use overdrive

lmao ok

nevermind that a synth is 90% the person programming it/playing it

youre an idiot

all demos i found have the same cheap sound. show me one good one.

>nevermind that a synth is 90% the person programming it/playing it
also, once you will own a few synths and have some proper experience you will learn that this is wrong

no, you are wrong. there are examples all over the entire music world of people doing incredible things with "shit sounding" synths. they just dont obsess over it on a chinese loose leaf tea anime forum. they actually use them to make good songs.

>andromeda
probably can never be repaired. good luck finding one that works for less than several grand
>ion
sounds like dog shit
>micron
sounds like smaller dog shits

Korg's Minilogue is pretty okay if the 'brute series doesn't strike your fancy. Fair warning though, Arturia's quality control is not great.

you are right, it sounds like shit, it could only be used as a gimmick

ions are gr8 synths m8
>deciding a synth sounds bad because of demo video dorks
im done

it is okay if you have a collection of shitty sounding cheap synths. don't et the members of a korean agriculture board startle you

If you don't play keyboard instruments, don't waste your money on something that takes years of training.

interesting. people have been fitting oberheims into mixes for a long time - they have strong oscillators and sometimes 12dB filters. maybe it's Arturia's specific doodads?

the minibrute sounds too thin, it does not have a nice overtone structure because of cheap parts and a simple structure, that makes it stand out in mixes. you can avoid that if you add subtle overdrive. try it!

Yeah, OP. Never bother to learn anything that takes any time at all.

Keep your comments to yourself. Everyone knows that you need a degree in piano sports when you want to use a monophonic synth that can be controlled my midi.

>synthesizer
>keyboard instrument
Fuck off and go play some shitty rompler east coast fag

>piano sports

What do you guys think of the MS-20 Mini? I wanna get my first synth and this one caught my eye, but I'm still not sure if i should get it yet

i think ms20s are a lot of fun. like another user said, its a lot of synth to grow into.

it's great! unique sound and lots to explore

Thanks, I'll check it out some more

It's not really that's it's 12db, it's more of the fact it just has a weird character to it.

been thinking about buying the system1
youtube.com/watch?v=UMPvdA-01tM

Seems to be really versatile and interesting to mess with

Great synth. I have a Minibrute and it's a great work flow and easy to use. Another good option would be a KORG MS-20 if you're not afraid of the patching system.

I find a bit of delay or overdrive and some light chorus helps a lot.

Didn't that new Arturia synth get a 24db filter?

Fantastic.

It's got 2, one is a microbrute filter with a 24 mode and the other is a switchable 12/24 moog clone. I haven't really been interested in it since $2000 is way to much considering Arturias reliability issues.

Probably a micro korg they are easy to find on craigslist or at pawn shops

interesting yes, but the sound is meh from my experience

It's great, easy to do simple stuff but it has a high ceiling so you can go into really complex stuff with it.
My only gripe is that if you have sausage fingers you may find playing at speed a little difficult.

MS20mini user here: To be honest you have to add that it indeed has a high noise floor, it is not possible to use it for very smooth soft sounds because of this.

underrated

there must be something between romplers and bleepscratchy westcoast sounds

>buy an MS-20 Mini
>"this is neat"
>years go by
>buy a Moog Mother 32
>it can't talk with the MS-20 Mini
>find a workaround
>fuck around with patching
>"wow, this is really fun"
>6 months later
>"I've now spent $24k on a eurorack setup and I don't regret it one bit"
It's a slippery slopes.
Having a disposable income is both great and scary.

52 and no one has mentioned the Novation Bass Station 2

It's a great synth, it has tons of features, two filters, patching, a sequencer (which is kinda hard to program). It's better than the Microbrute or Minibrute.

52 replies*

this. i started with volca bass, then ms 20, then "just one lfo, because i need it" and so on (now at 4 rows of modular). Last addition was Elektron Analog Rytm because you really need good beats, don't you?

Have you really spent 24k on Eurorack stuff?

I'd love to see a pic

>you really need good beats, don't you?
I'm not a big fan of making beats with modular.
Oops, meant to say $3000 (24k Swedish kronor).
Just woke up.
And my eurorack is in my studio and I'm at home, so sorry.

>I'm not a big fan of making beats with modular.
that's why i bought the analog rytm. from your country!

daily reminder

there's no point in getting into synths if you aren't already rich

aka you can't download a hardware synth

>mfw "you wouldn't download a synthesizer"

Korg M1s are pretty good if you look past their cheesy preset bank, also if you want something modular I'd recommend an MS-20

I'd get the rack version because it makes a great base for a eurorack system

no, it's in the harmonics of the oscillators. go on to some of the synth forums to see the readings some of the synth repairs guys have gone on the logue.

and i have no programming deficiencies, i learned deep synthesis on my prophet 5 rev 3.0

this. the minilogue is a volca keys with more (digital) features.

Wait for the new behringer deepmind 12. Its coming out in a month or two I believe.

8 voice true analogue polyphony. 1000 USD.

Behringer have put out some pretty bad quality stuff but over the last few years they've been steadily improving.

>true analogue polyphony
it has DCOs, digital envelopes and LFOs. Not much analogue about it.

Oh yeah, except the oscillators and filters, ie the bits you hear.

I'm very skeptical of this piece of kit. $1000 seems unreasonably low for the claims Behringer are making.
DCOs are analog

This or get a micro korg if you don't want to spend much.

Recommend synths that I can play like a piano, i.e with both hands and a solid amount of octaves, but can also save various sounds on it

Im not rich.
But I make enough money to buy food, pay bills and nurture my hobby.

the DOC are digitally controlled Oscillators, meaning that the pitch is absolutely stable all the time, which means they don't sound "analogue", same goes for LFOs and envelopes. It is nice to have a 12 voice synth for 1000 bucks, it won't sound very good though.

The build quality is going to be shit.

You want to save sounds too, so you'll probably want to look for digital synths. Not that there's any major difference, people just get picky between the two. In order of price from lowest to highest, I would recommend a microkorg, teenage engineering op1, the deepmind or a prophet.

Access Virus.

You could look into some of Roland's 80s models.

Sounds pretty analogue to me. There's more to the analogue sound than pitch instability. Throw some vibrato on there if that's what you want.

> can't even into DIY modulars

Synths for the people.

>Throw some vibrato on there
you mean some boring sounding digital pitch modulation?

I guess he meant modulators all the way down until you've approximated the operational stability of old op-amps and OTA's.

god I love it

>hardware as a total beginner
*slaps you. hard.*

>WUB WUB WUB WUB WUB

How does the push 2 compare to the first? I'm thinking of upgrading but I can't justify it right now..

You're asking in the wrong place my man. Seriously, places like Gearslutz and 3rd party vendor comment sections will yield a better consensus than a place like this where only very few people play music, even less play it well, and even less still have the finances to trial a myriad of quality gear and give you a worthwhile opinion. Sup Forums is teenagers to twenty-something neets with no money and a gear hivemind.

You need look no further /gg/, where they --without fail-- typically only recommend Fenders and Rickenbackers and shit on a myriad of quality guitars. Seriously, the most recommended guitars are nickel fretted jumbos with lacquer finished necks, it's crazy how biased people are here.

t. tech and home studio guy.

>Gearslutz
What converters do you use?

>using "myriad" twice in one post

Burl B2.

Okay. How many SM7 do you own?

The MJ mic? Zero. Although I'm interested in getting one because I've heard good things (good for male vocals mainly and has a decent cabbed tone). I have plenty of 57s that I use for cabs, and one welfare AT condenser for vocals. My current signal chain is something like this:

57/AT > API/Burl/BAE 500 pre or Roland Studio Cap > Lindell comp > B2 > Ableton.

I record out of a Frommel-modded HR Deluxe for guitar (my board is simple; tuner, DSX-1, Keeley comp, Superego, Ring Thing, DD-7, and one of those Waza DM-2 replicas) and DI bass and a Steinberger CR4 cello, etc.

I'm in the process of upgrading my cymbals to Meinl Byzance dark, and making a kit stand. For the time being I'm recording drums with a Roland SPD-30 pad (which is fine for demos).

I think my next upgrade will be a proper acoustic cello. There is a USA builder that makes Montagnana replicas for like 5-10 grand. Either that or work on a solution to get a tight bottom on the Steinberger (instead of DIing it, I may try cabbing it to an old bass tube amp to give it the recorded punch it needs and then just try random preamp and comp settings).

Dunno it sounds lovely to me in the demo's I've seen.

Except all the people on /gg/ with Gibson, Ibanez, .strandberg*, etc. The most recommended guitar on that general is an RG550.

>>ion
>sounds like dog shit

I really enjoy playing with my Arturia Microbrute and Microkorg which i connect with a midi cable and a Boss Dr-550 Drum machine

Yamaha AN1X has excellent keys and is good

Almost no one on there has a Gibson, and everyone posts Ricks/offsets to thunderous applause. Most superstrats get made fun of for being tryhard fag guitars, and Strandbergs/Steinbergers often go through many generals unmentioned.

The only opinion I agree with about /gg/ is that Gibsons are overpriced trash.

For the same price as a Minilogue/Microbrute you can get a used Roland JX series or Alpha Juno. Both polyphonic, full-sized keys, more modulation options.

stereo midi?