Members rlm297 Posted August 23, 2009 Members Share Posted August 23, 2009 What is the greatest and most affordable, all-around general 80's synth? I'm bored with double-tracking guitars and panning one Left and the other Right, and then doing overdubs to completion. Just looking for something that will add a different "spice" to my mixes. A different palette to work with, so to speak. Something that can do "leads" and backing "atmospherics." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TropicThink Posted August 23, 2009 Members Share Posted August 23, 2009 Get an Ensoniq ESQ-1 and a Yamaha TX-802 rack. Superb combo for eighties stuff (both units are even multitimbral). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TropicThink Posted August 23, 2009 Members Share Posted August 23, 2009 That was the best recommendation ever, if I may be so blunt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members flowthrough Posted August 24, 2009 Members Share Posted August 24, 2009 Roland D-50 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members zzzxtreme Posted August 24, 2009 Members Share Posted August 24, 2009 early 90s, Yamaha SY77. cheap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SpaceNorman Posted August 24, 2009 Members Share Posted August 24, 2009 Hard to talk about the '80s without running into some flavor the of the venerable DX7. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members McHale Posted August 24, 2009 Members Share Posted August 24, 2009 DX7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bruto Posted August 24, 2009 Members Share Posted August 24, 2009 Leads and atmospheres from an 80s synth? Hmmmmm Almost certainly, the best 80s synth for both would be an Oberheim OB-X, OB-Xa, or OB-8. The OB-X is somewhat rare, but sounds excellent. It was used throughout the 80s on many recordings. The OB-Xa and OB-8 are very similar to each other and not too different from the OB-X. None of these OBs are cheap however. A good used OB-8 will get $2000 and upwards. The OB-Xa is a little higher, and the OB-X can easily top $4000 (if you can even find one.) Another good all around 80s synth is the Roland JX-8P. Not as punchy and an Oberheim, but very rich sounding. They are quite a bit cheaper too - there's one on eBay right now with a BIN of $350. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Karma1 Posted August 24, 2009 Members Share Posted August 24, 2009 I thought the Kawai K1 that came out in 1988 was an overlooked and under-rated synth. It had some great pads and atmospheric sounds, as well as a good variety of everything else. The K4 that came out after that was even better. You can find them pretty cheap in the used market. I also liked the Roland D-50 a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EerieDreamZ Posted August 24, 2009 Members Share Posted August 24, 2009 The Korg M1 or the Yamaha DX-7 either has what you are looking for and have a really good track record. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members The Pro Posted August 24, 2009 Members Share Posted August 24, 2009 And the winner is... Yamaha TX-816 (eight DX-7's in a rack unit!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members st.bede Posted August 24, 2009 Members Share Posted August 24, 2009 Leads and atmospheres from an 80s synth? HmmmmmAnother good all around 80s synth is the Roland JX-8P. Not as punchy and an Oberheim, but very rich sounding. They are quite a bit cheaper too - there's one on eBay right now with a BIN of $350. I have one of those (JX-8P)and it not one of my go to synth. It does has a good charter and I use it often..... now I really like the tx7 (12 bit)...gritty and dirty crystal sounds...good for pads/atmospher and pretty cheap but you have to hook them up to a computer with a librian to be able to really use....and it is very hard to really be able to program FM synth stuff..... for around $500 you could get an Alesis ION...not as punchy or thick as some analoge synths but, it is very nice (for the price) a lot of great programing options....sometimes I run my ION through a EH LBTube to give it a bit more wramth.....for a VA the higher notes sound pretty smooth.... also, a used roland JP8000 would be nice...that is one on my go to synths for textural type sounds...evolving leads and more...Ozric Tentacles use one a lot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chando Posted August 24, 2009 Members Share Posted August 24, 2009 Korg DW-8000 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ChristianRock Posted August 24, 2009 Members Share Posted August 24, 2009 Korg DW-8000 +1 I was just going to type that... It's capable of FM-type sounds thanks to its sampled DWGS bits, and it's quite capable for teh analog sounds, too. Triangle and Square sound pretty good, I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chando Posted August 24, 2009 Members Share Posted August 24, 2009 The unison blew me away when I first tried it ... much nicer than my Kawai K3's unison. That little touch of delay is all you really need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ChristianRock Posted August 24, 2009 Members Share Posted August 24, 2009 Yup... Unison's pretty most of what I use it for... best lead synth evah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members yorgatron Posted August 24, 2009 Members Share Posted August 24, 2009 Korg DW-8000 I have to agree. I joined a synth meet-up group to explore different types of music (experimental in the style of Kraftwerk/Tangerine Dream) outside the context of the band I was then currently playing with. I brought my DW-8000 and hooked it up to an old laptop for real-time tweaking,and received many compliments on the sounds I was getting,from guys playing some really nice gear,Moog Voyager,Nord Lead 2,Waldorf Q,etc.,etc. paid $140 for the Korg,laptop was free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EerieDreamZ Posted August 24, 2009 Members Share Posted August 24, 2009 Korg DW-8000 Yes another awesome entry from those days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members flat earth Posted August 24, 2009 Members Share Posted August 24, 2009 Korg DW-8000 +1..ops +2 As said 1 ca-zillian times before a much under-rated bag of noises. Im often astounded by what people can program on them sometimes. Back in the day, I saw them as Poly800s slightly bigger brother. Very bad approximation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members augerinn Posted August 24, 2009 Members Share Posted August 24, 2009 A few of my Favs from that era: Juno-60 ESQ-1 Alpha Juno-2 DW-8000 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Awake77 Posted August 24, 2009 Members Share Posted August 24, 2009 DW8K for sure... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Awake77 Posted August 24, 2009 Members Share Posted August 24, 2009 ...or the DSS-1, generally they're even cheaper. Like a DW8000 on steroids (in terms of capability and physical size:)) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bloopbleep Posted August 24, 2009 Members Share Posted August 24, 2009 There are about 3 X DW8000 up on craigslist in southern california areas... DX7, D50, DW8000, JX8P/JX10, Juno 60/106, ESQ/SQ80 are good choices for the 80's era on the budget:thu: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members depulse Posted August 25, 2009 Members Share Posted August 25, 2009 SY-77 or ESQ1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members zzzxtreme Posted August 25, 2009 Members Share Posted August 25, 2009 how much should one pay (max) for dw8000? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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