Regrets: which synth would you GIVE back?

... heh heh...

Well the synth I decided I didn't like after I got it was a Virus TI Polar. Yes I know how much some people love the thing but to me it was 1000 variations of one flavor and it really had limited use for me. I traded it for a Motif XS6 which I love.

Ironically some years back my "regret-buying" synth wa the Motif ES8. The display killed me - I have poor eyesight - and the overall OS just didn't have a good workflow. So I was hesitant to get the XS6 but it's better than the ES in every way IMHO.

I would not give back anything in the hardware realm. There are some pieces of software that I would give back simply because I don't use them. They are really nice programs but I just piled on too many and have chosen a couple on which to focus.

MC-307: Total pile of junk. More of a toy than a musical instrument. Even the RM1x beats the living daylights out of this one and selling the 307 (even when it was a mint condition unit because I bought it new and never used it much) made me feel like a scammer that belongs in jail.

AbSynth: Lots of people like this one, but I just don't get along with it. I kinda hate it. I'm not a huge fan of Massive either, but at least I find some use for it here and there. I've tried with Absynth, but so far not a single sound has made it onto any of my tracks, not even close. I find less use for this than the 307, and that says quite a bit.

Quasimidi Technox: Sounded like it was made in some basement by a drunk eight year old with ADHD. I'd rather sample my farts than try to make music with that thing again.

Been pretty happy with all my synth purchases, but I'll agree with Tropic and say I didnt get what all the hubub was about with Absynth.

I also didn't like the G-Force Oddity. I remember reading reviews about it and when I initially tried it I just thought "Really?"

Never felt any love at all for my Juno-G.

Absolutely HATED my DX-21 back in the 80s.

JV-1010 had good sounds, but was frustrating live.

I returned/sold two Korg M3s and finally sold my PC3. The M3 just never did anything for me. The PC3 had a few nice sounds, but nothing I didn't already have in software. Unfortunately, I have bought a lot of software that I don't use anymore.

Have you tried using it as an effects plug-in? Really sweet for mangling signals. Also version 5 has a Mutation feature that's lots of fun and I've gotten more impressive sounds randomizing that {censored} than using the presets!

Korg MS2000r, every guitarist's first synth is a microkorg. Traded it off for a D-50 (!).

Alesis Ion, didn't really have space/channels for any more keyboards , sounded dated in a bad way, hideous looking. Flipped it in a month or so.

radias rack: interface mainly.

pretty much every softsynth i've owned / used aside from Largo.

The Scarbee KGB collection.

I bought the Scarbee KGB collection a few years ago in HALion player version. It has never worked properly, and I have been unable to play it, except for a very short period, a few days, when it played without distorting. I bought it for recording and and have never been able to do so.

The customer service was abysmal at both Scarbee and Steinberg (who make Halion Player).

I did some research at the time, and there were lots of folks who had issues with HALion on Mac.

I have not had trouble with any other software instrument. Ivory, Trilogy, etc.

E

EASTWEST Fab Four - It simply does NOT work!!! Customer service is also not really quite up to par either. I mean, the guys were friendly enough walking me through several re-installs and downloading fixes for EVERY single component of the tedious process of owning one of EW's wonderful samples wrapped in $#!+ software! First a fix for the registration tool thing, then an update for the iLock, then the PLAY engine, then an update to Fab Four itself....and it still never worked. I asked if I could return the software and the iLock (I bought it all directly from EW online) and was told "SOrry it isnt working for you but there are no refunds...) IMO that is outright ROBBERY.

what didn't you like about the JD800 ?

jus curious.

Prophet 08 SE, While its a good synth with lots of options I can just never seem to get the sound I want out of it. Had it on ebay twice with no takers. I try to use it whenever I can but always seem to just end up turning it off.

The aftertouch feel was almost non-responsive. I'd have to really push on the keybed to get any AT, even if AT was set to maximum.

I also didn't particularly like the sound and the layout of it. Just one of those things where I never developed a good rapport with it.

Ah yeah,... I think I must have been lucky cause both my JD800 and my old D-50 have great aftertouch. The JX8p .. not so much.

I love the layout of the JD-800

Roland SH201.It was one of my worst purchases.

If you like doing handstands on the keyboard, sure.

Looking to trade anything for it? I'm looking to get rid of one of my Korg RADIAS synths with about 3 hours of use on it. Looks and works perfect...

-Mc

I regret buying my X50. It's a great synth no doubt, it's that my money would have been a lot better spent on other stuff, mainly sample libraries.

I'm just not a "synthy" guy. I wanna be really, I wanna be the coolest kid here. Alas, I am not. I'm an "emulation" guy. I like piannys and horns and oboes. Sample libraries do that best.

I'll keep the X50 (I think) to have a "synthy" synth on hand. In the future I will only buy sample libraries, and maybe one bitchin 88 key like S90 SX or something.

It's fun, easy to use, convenient, and taught me a lot about synthesis, but the sound sure is aweful. Leads and basses not as powerful as my ms2000r, and pads not as soft and full as my jx8p. Only keyboard I've ever sold.

it's a very midrange instrument although it can make some very deep and spacey sounding spuersaw pads / strings.

That RADIAS come with the keybed, by any chance?

yup. Both of my RADIAS' were bought with keybeds.