ok so i have $500 dollars to spend

and im pretty anxious to get a synth like right now

but i have no damn clue on what to get for that amount of money

just anything that will produce great ambient sounds

im actually thinking about getting in alesis, thats how anxious/desperate i am on getting something

any suggestions?

ok so like

haha i dont think that helped but thanks anyway

I really like radiohead. I was playing that e-piano part in Everything in it's right place today. Good stuff

Anyways, do you have any preference to new/used or local/shipped keys? I got a few suggestions but they all fall under the category of used. Vintagesynths.com has a synth finder, you might find it useful.

For ambient - find something used and cheap (Casio CZ-1, Yamaha SY22, or if you are lucky a JX10 or JX8P, for example) and a used reverb/flange/chorus/whatever type unit, like a Lexicon Vortex... the second part being more important than the first

people will tell you to get the micron. I will tell you NOT TO!!!

whatever you get, you want to get something with a crap load of knobs on it. Micron has I think 2 knobs on it. This means you will have to pay more attention on how to change a parameter and not just why.

My first ever "real" synth was the novation nova, its a very cool and powerful dekstop synth. Especailly for ambience!!! Its very mellow and smooth sounding. The only drawback is you will need some kind of midi controller. Fortunatley you can get them for cheap.

Order the Korg EMX-1 music production station for exactly $500 USD from www.sweetwater.com...No tax & free insured shipping. And you will get free chocolate truffles inside carton- no sh-t! cheers

what do you guys think of the alesis qs6.2?

Blech... grab Allerian's Virus B rack and a cheap controller keyboard and go to town....

If I had $500 to spend on a hardware synth, I'd consider the Nord modular. They can be had on ebay for $500-600. Awesome synth that you'll never grow out of any time soon.

Not a bad idea, I second it.

a korg wavestation

Roullette wheel at the Venetian

Yeah...I like the rack unit idea.

You can pour most of your budget into a solid rack unit and you can always update/upgrade the controller.

Most bang for you buck, probably.

Get a Keytar.

The guy just wants to hold down a synth pad chord.

A ROMpler isn't such a horrible idea. Nor is the Micron.

Nord Modular? Rack + controller + MIDI cable? I don't think that fits the bill in this case.

OK...so a Korg Karma

The Alesis isn't a horrible idea. I'd look for a used 6.1 instead. Musician's Friend has a killer deal on the KME-61 right now. Yamaha S30 is great for the money. XP-30 maybe?

Again, the Micron will work for you but it doesn't do piano or other traditionally sampled instruments, so don't ask it to.

If you do a search, there was a thread here recently titled "sub-$600 synth shootout" or similar.

+1.

LOL. I think it's a god-awful {censored}piece of a machine. But that's just me... I kept my Korg X5D and sent that mother{censored}er STRAIGHT back to the music shop.

+1.

That's a good idea. You'd have a hardware synth and a controller you can use for softsynths, and you'd still stay within your budget.

About the QS6 - it's got about everything you could ask for except for resonance on the filters.

Some of the samples have resonant sweeps built in, but while you can control the filter's frequency, you can't control the resonance.

If you want a synth that can do that, you'd probably be disappointed with it.

On the other hand, it's got some features that synths that cost thousands of dollars don't- like a tracking generator and release velocity.

You can use it as a standalone synth and as a softsynth controller.

But you can just about get a Fusion for that price.

'The Only' thing you should get is the Alesis Fusion. Has 4 synthesis types, sequencer, sampler, HD disk recorder, USB, nice keys, nice big screen, great sounds, loads of room to make your own sounds (again you have 4 synthesis types to use, most synths only have one).

Plus its worth $150

Two words: projectile vomit.

Seriously, I used to own one. Organs were thin, EPs didn't have enough power. Difficult to edit.

On the plus side, the pads were kind of nice.

Triton Le has good ambient stuff on it. I got mine used for 499.

Good suggestion, though they usually go for around $700 on eBay. You might chatch one cheaper, though. But it's another good way to get the Triton sound engine.