Where to begin?

Hey all,

I've got to confess. I'm a complete newcomer to the scene here.

I'm looking to purchase my first synth. I've been playing classical piano for a number of years, and although I would hardly call myself an expert, I think I'm reasonably competent. Lately, however, I've been looking for something different.....

My synth experience is limited to a very limited exposure to a Korg N5 many years ago, and more recently, a friend's Moog Rouge that I've gotten to screw around with on a few occasions.

I'm fairly certain that I want a VA, just because of the sounds it produces and the ability to make my own patches.

Being a poor college student, I've got to set the price ceiling at $1000, preferably a lot less.

Right now, the primary contenders for me would seem to be the Alesis Ion, Korg MS2000, and Roland SH-201. I'm also completely willing to get something used -- the Roland JP8000 seems particularly attractive.

Right now, I'm leaning twoard the Ion, just because it seems to have received the most favorable reviews, although I'm a bit apprehensive because I haven't heard of many groups using it, and I hear reports that the keys feel cheap (although I guess this may be unavoidable at this price range). I tend to like the sound of Roland synths, although this may just be because they're so widely used and that I have little to base my judgements off of.

Any suggestions or advice? You guys appear to be the experts on this sort of stuff.....

Purchased an Alesis Fusion 6HD for my first synth in April. It does sample playback, VA, FM, and physical modeling. I'd say it's an ideal starter board.

my vote is the ion, nord lead 2X (dont think you can afford the NL3) and the jp8000

people might recommend the alesis micron. Stay away imho

interface is horrible.

WTF is THAT avatar????

Even Foosa's is cuter.

Yeah, the Micron is not an interface for beginners.

I agree with what XorAxAx said. The Fusion is right around your price range and should keep you busy for a long time to come and will give you the ability to create complete songs with nothing else needed.

another vote for the Fusion. best all around bang for the buck in that price range.

Originally posted by pighood WTF is THAT avatar???? Even Foosa's is cuter.

But no one's is as cute as your stupid-green-frog-headed cat, piggy! It's all in the eyes.

I would like to recommend just about any Ensoniq for the original question.

But they are old and you will get a lot more with the Fusion, like a retro AM radio.

I've seen enough of the micron to know to avoid it. The lack of an interface is quite enough of a deterrant to me. Although the microKorg has a nicer interface, one look at the small keys, and I immediately crossed it off of my list.

But you bring up a good point. Interface is second only to versatility right now for me. I want to learn how to properly program a patch, and would like a synth with an interface that would be conducive to this. I'm just not sure an LCD-driven interface is the best thing in the world.

When I said $1000, I was afraid that I'd get a list of $999 synths. Looks like I was right :-)

I know $1000 isn't really a lot for a musical instrument, but for a poor college student, it's quite a pretty penny.

The fusion intrigues me, but it would seem to me that something like the Ion would encourage more fiddling with patches than the fusion. What tangible benefits would I be getting from the Fusion over a more 'basic' VA apart from the obvious addition of a sampled sound bank.

Whenever I see or hear a Nord, "distinctive" and "not quite right" always come to mind. I still can't put a finger on exactly why this is, but I've been avoiding them for this reason.

ya, you get a lot of sampled sound banks, with more coming all the time.

you can also do your own sampling if you're interested in that.

you can also do FM synthesis.

it's got physical modelling.

built in multitrack audio and midi recording.

built in fx.

also, most basic VA's don't give you 8 envelopes and 8 lfo's and a nice mod matrix to have them interact with each other.

most also don't give you a tracking generator, and sample-and-hold.

it's got a LOT of features for the price.

looks like an old style car radio control knob feature too.

about the nord's. sometimes a synth line just doesn't seem to 'sit right' with you.

and sometimes it takes trying them out to find out if that way of thinking is right.

i felt that way about the whole VA concept at first.

ion and the jp8000 are MUCH less then 1k.

ion is like 700 new, 500 or so used and the JP8000 go for 500ish used.

The Fusion has 4 sample playback oscillators, 3 VA oscillators, 1 multimode filter, 8 LFOs, 8 envelopes, huge mod matrix, lots of effects, up to 180 voices polyphony (!), 40GB or 80GB hard drive for samples/sequences/whatever, up to 192MB sample RAM.

The small screen interface is what it is. The thing could use more knobbage. But I will say that it is a pretty good interface for an all-in-one board. You can see the envelope and filter curves graphically, for instance.

(Disclaimer: I have PMed the OP with a tentative offer to sell my Fusion. I have a G2X, XTk, Live 5, and maybe a V-Synth now ... the Fusion is a bit redundant for me, and I need money.)

Another recommendation, definitely not as versatile as the Fusion but better for instant gratification and tweakability, is an Access Virus KC or KB.

Ya'll making me want a Fusion.

XorAxAx (is that a Dr Suess Character), too bad I cannot trade you for a 30 voice XT....

Hey, who said you can't trade me?

I could transplant the 30-voice upgrade into my XTk and then sell your XT...

I would like to give this guy a couple of days to think about it though.

XOR AX, AX is:

(A) An assembly language instruction on the x86 platform.

(B) The first instruction executed by many PC OSes when booting.

© The first really neat programming trick I learned. It puts zero into the AX register with one less byte of machine code than the obvious instruction MOV AX, 0.

Hm. Haven't heard much about Access. Their current lineup is impossible for me to afford, but the Virus KB/C seem very impressive at first glance, and if I could nab one off of eBay, I could be in business.....

Their demos impressed me moreso than the ones Alesis has, even though it's VERY easy to see how much more versatile the fusion is.

This demo for the ion has always impressed me with its excellent renditions of classic analog synths. I've also heard the JP8000 used enough times in recordings to know that I like the way it sounds. From those demos, the fusion sounds like a cheap sampler. If anyone has better examples than the ones alesis provides, please send them this way and prove me wrong.

I think I'm going to just have to find a fusion and test one out, given the glowing reviews its getting here. I like the feature list, and I think I could live with the price, but those demos scare me away from it.

Could anyone with experience comment on the other (cheaper) VAs out there, specifically the Ion, Sh-201, or the JP8000?

Thanks for all your help! You guys have been most helpful today!

If you demo a Fusion, make *sure* it has a recent OS and one or more of the Hollow Sun banks installed on it. Though the Fusion is actively supported by Alesis, it initially suffered from bugs and a lackluster set of factory presets. Updates in recent months, including the Hollow Sun banks, have largely solved that problem.

Just hit the bank up/down buttons until you find the Hollow Sun bank(s).

Originally posted by XorAxAx Hey, who said you can't trade me? I could transplant the 30-voice upgrade into my XTk and then sell your XT... I would like to give this guy a couple of days to think about it though. XOR AX, AX is: (A) An assembly language instruction on the x86 platform. (B) The first instruction executed by many PC OSes when booting. (C) The first really neat programming trick I learned. It puts zero into the AX register with one less byte of machine code than the obvious instruction MOV AX, 0.

You had me at Dr Suess...

Or I could transplant it to my XTk and sell it for a gazillion...