Members everlight44 Posted July 23, 2012 Author Members Share Posted July 23, 2012 Unless you have a few million to contract a custom super duper mega synth there's no price range that won't have some drawbacks (and someone else will hate your perfect synth anyway ) Would a venom make a decent choice for a novice synth enthusiast like me? They're available and about $300-350 new on Ebay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AlanCornerMyth Posted July 23, 2012 Members Share Posted July 23, 2012 I can't really say as I'm in the same place! As far as the blofeld I've read their Largo softsyth is very, very similar. Hard to say if a VST can be beat by a VA. Certainly for messing around away from a PC, but the final result? hmm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members liliththekitten Posted July 24, 2012 Members Share Posted July 24, 2012 The Gaia is nearly the perfect package with that interface but it just sounds boring to me. Even after messing with it a lot, perhaps I should more. Which is odd because I really liked Roland's past VAs, even the SH-32 which has a simialr sample-based engine. It is kinda expensive and used ones aren't too common. Our GC did have one for $500 and once in a while craigslist (but its very good in my area). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Re-Member Posted July 24, 2012 Members Share Posted July 24, 2012 Which is odd because I really liked Roland's past VAs, even the SH-32 which has a simialr sample-based engine. The Gaia actually wouldn't have been too bad if it operated like the SH-32. The SH-32 had three layers, but they were on different MIDI channels so you could sequence them separately. The SH-32 also had a sub-osc option for each layer, more effects, plus samples of Roland's vintage drum machines instead of the useless MIDI sound bank the Gaia has. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ChristianRock Posted July 24, 2012 Members Share Posted July 24, 2012 Well, it seems the filter on the SH-01 is an improvement over the SH-32, at least Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Re-Member Posted July 25, 2012 Members Share Posted July 25, 2012 To be fair, the Gaia doesn't sound bad. Yes, it has sampled waveforms, but so does my MC-505 and I can mangle some great sounds out of it. I just think that for its price, the Gaia has a severely limited synth engine. The interface is great, but so is the interface on the SH-201, JP-8000, Ion and MS-2000. All of these are in the same price range if you look on eBay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members liliththekitten Posted July 25, 2012 Members Share Posted July 25, 2012 I didn't think there was anything special about the Gaia's filter while the SH-32 was more than OK. For the price an Ion (or even MS2000, etc) kills the Gaia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ChristianRock Posted July 25, 2012 Members Share Posted July 25, 2012 As far as I can tell, the Gaia's filter is actually pretty good, but the waves are compressed to all hell so it's a bit hard to do much with them (similar problem to the MC505). The SH-32 filter has so much stepping you'd think you're going to Machu Picchu. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members theroan Posted July 25, 2012 Members Share Posted July 25, 2012 I did a similar search recently, I think I'm going to with a Novation Ultranova. Also the blofeld is available as a soft synth called Largo. Might save you some coin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members liliththekitten Posted July 26, 2012 Members Share Posted July 26, 2012 For filers, if the SH-32 is a Juno 60, the Gaia is an Alpha or JX-8p, much more polite. Except the new Rolands are not nearly as good as those old ones. The stepping on the 32 didn't bother me, I think there is zero stepping with LFO, idk don't have one anymore to confirm. The 32 also lets you put an auto-filter on in FX which is a not perfect way of getting around the sync bug. The SH-201 sounded very good to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members liliththekitten Posted July 26, 2012 Members Share Posted July 26, 2012 If you have the money, the Ultranova is a great choice! If I was getting a new VA, it'd be that one. I think its an order of magnitude better than the others (apart from a Virus) It sounds great, looks cool, doesn't feel cheap to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Darkstorm Posted July 30, 2012 Members Share Posted July 30, 2012 Of those Id say the Venom was the best one. Its excellent for ambient, including dark ambient And anything wanting edgey synth voice including leads. Its one downfall is some parts of main programmig like osc change can only be done with your computer connected to it. Onboard editing is limited. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members everlight44 Posted August 1, 2012 Author Members Share Posted August 1, 2012 If you have the money, the Ultranova is a great choice! If I was getting a new VA, it'd be that one.I think its an order of magnitude better than the others (apart from a Virus) It sounds great, looks cool, doesn't feel cheap to me. I might spring for the Ultranova. After watching a lot of videos on Ebay it just seems like a nice instrument with a good VST and is $540 on Ebay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mildbill Posted August 1, 2012 Members Share Posted August 1, 2012 Of the ones being discussed here, for programming options, I like Micron/MiniAK, and Blofeld.For basic sound quality, Ultranova. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Suilebhain Posted August 2, 2012 Members Share Posted August 2, 2012 While the UltraNova has a lot of really cool features, it is not multitimbral (though you can get some really nice sounds that sound like multis). If you need the keyboard and you can get a Blofeld keyboard for under $500, that would probably be your best bet, but you couldn't go wrong with the UltraNova. In fact, my most recent band rig had a Micron, X-Station25, UltraNova, Blofeld and Virus and if I had to knock it down to two it would be the X-Station and the UltraNova. Wish I had an X-Station 48 or 61, though. The 25 was all I could get when I wanted one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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