They will sort you for between about $300 to $1,300.
The Hardware Megathread
IO_Madness
#2995
I used to drool over classic synths, like the TB303, Minimoog, Arp 2600, and there was at least one synth I had always wanted from early-00’s/late 90’s, but nowadays with all the remakes coming out for way less and being all-analog, I haven’t really had much desire to get into any of the old systems. I LOVE analog, but I’m not necessarily going for vintage original gear. It if it gets the job done and it’s analog, I’m happy enough.
The late 90’s/early-00’s stuff, back in the day before analog started coming back, people were still praising the superiority and convenience (and cost) of digital gear and damning analog as “old”. Now, analog is back and people realize it actually IS really cool and provides things that you just don’t really have in digital formats. I think it was just the old people thinking analog was “dead” when really it was just because no one was making analog gear anymore. Granted, a lot of the designs from old synths were still under copyright so clones were out, but people still made stuff like the XoXBox… I don’t know, it’s weird having people get into it now, having grew up in a time when all that stuff was just “old” and “outdated”, and only certain professionals who KNEW analog was awesome stuck with it, but now it’s back in and analog’s ok because it’s being made new.
In any case, nowadays all the gear from the late 90’s/early-00’s doesn’t really seem to offer as much imo. There was definitely some gear from that era I had always really wanted, for example the Korg MS2000. I’ve ALWAYS wanted that synth ever since I found a rack version in a used music gear shop, went back and forth over it for like a month, then finally went in to buy it but someone had beat me to it!
My concerns with gear from that period, is just it’s longevity, as the digital devices I’ve had haven’t always seemed to handle aging in a room that well. Granted, I’d leave the equipment out and so it’d get dust in it and stuff like that, so part of it is just me not necessarily taking care of it, but certainly now, buying something from that age and me still just going to leave it out until it gets dusty and knobs start freaking out, I’m not terribly assured of how long they last. In any case, VSTi’s are WAYYYY better than they used to be back in that day, and they can do a lot of cool stuff, so if I do need a digital synth I could just buy a plugin. But I think just buying digital gear that is 15-20+ years old, I’m hesitant to spend my money. idk tho, I haven’t really seen what’s out there or tried buying anything. The digital gear you’d see from that time tho I’d be hesitant to see how long it’d last cuz while that stuff was cool, my gear would always end up having issues after a few years.
I’d rather buy one of the new analog synths, those definitely have my interest, but there are some things I’ve thought about trying, some of the nicer tabletop synths like the Access Virus and things like that, I’ve thought picking up an older model for cheaper and trying them out. I’ve just never gone and took the plunge. But yeah, mostly I just buy more recent analog gear nowadays.
Of course, part of that also is I make more money now lol so I can afford a brand new Mother 32 so I just don’t want to take the chance on old digital gear lol
RFJ
#2996
Fuck let’s just keep it rolling…
1010 Blackbox arrived today, just in time for 4 days off. Maybe I’ll get a couple hours with it over the long weekend. Although that’s heavily dependent on what the rest of the family has up their sleeves.
chasedobson
#2998
i ended up with a bunch of shit i wanted during the late 90’s/early 2000s as it got cheap quick.
virus classic
novation bass station OG
Alesis Midiverb 2
Line6 DL4
im going to fire up octamed and cover some juno reaktor.
Artificer
#2999
I’ve been pawn shopping synths since the 80s. I’ve owned Moogs, DX7s, Junos, 808s, Oberheims, Ensoniqs, all sorts of shit that are ‘gold standard’ nowadays. They all sound great in their own way and much music was made. No regrets.
But nobody talks about the downsides of all that gear - the space, the heat, the constant upkeep, the unobtainium parts that die, and on and on. All those synths were made with components that didn’t benefit from the massive engineering advances in the last several decades. They drift out of tune, their power goes wonky, their caps explode. All that’s even more true today than it was 30 years ago. In a word, their a huge fucking hassle. It’s probably good that they cost thousands of dollars now; it means people that buy them can afford to keep them running.
If you want to know what they sound like, buy the Arturia collection. It’s like 99% sound-wise, great interface and more features than the original models with none of the headaches.
Koldunya
#3001
I want a Virus C but just can’t bring myself to pay their prices these days. You can actually still get a “MS2000” in the Mikrokorg, iirc. 4 voice VA seems meh though. I think the 90s Clavia Nords had voice expansions for up to 12? Meanwhile Elektron is still all “lol 4 is enough!” in their analog line, though it’s arguably more expensive to get voices there.
I don’t shy away from even admitting I still use software. I love the modern MPC’s autosampler feature for sampling plugin patches into it. I stole the plugin’s soul and now it’s mine. I am the Synth Succubus 
Not to mention Bitwig is a sound design playground and The Grid is incredibly deep while being so much simpler than something like Max4Live imo, and I don’t need to faff with two programs. The Grid’s main weakness is using it with hardware or software instruments. It really works best with its own sound generators. Getting it to pump notes into an Arturia Piano V is an exercise in hating life and wanting to murder people in Berlin; so I just use the sampler module and a piano multisample, which is annoying. Maybe in another version…
If NI would let people make Reaktor patches to use on the Machine+ I would drop that $1400 in a fucking heartbeat, though. Hardware I can design patches for? Yes, please (yes I am aware of the Nord modular stuff). Although I wish the Maschine+ had more inputs/outputs.
As for modern analogs? I’m an Arturia fangirl atm. It started with a MicroBrute and went to a MiniBrute 2S and I would not kick a PolyBrute out of bed. Software side, I have V Collection 7 from the even.
Creepr
#3002
I am really just starting my hardware journey as I spend all my work-day in front of a PC and whereas everything I have produced to date has been 90% ITB, I find I “play” with my HW synths way more. I can zone out and tweak and fiddle and so far I have some great ideas written down (gotta keep a notepad handy for that, with line drawings and everything to remember what I did.) I too have lusted after some older stuff, like the Rave-O-Lution and the MS2000, maybe an early Electribe but I agree with much of the above: the older analog shit seems like a hassle. It may be a fun hassle, but still. The only synth that I think I would impulse buy if I found one under a thousand would be a Kawai SX240. It just sounds cool, and looks great.
I just bought a circuit, may arrive today, so now I have enough HW to make some solid tracks that will not sound all same-y. This should be enough for a while, I told myself if I cannot actually make some music this way then there is no need for more hardware. If I had a few grand to spend on a “signature synth” I think I would go rather for the Super6 than anything vintage, but for now, that is a pipedream.
canecreek
#3003
The salmiak got opened on Christmas Day, what you see now is a bottle of Jack Daniels
canecreek
#3004
I was just going through some of the polyend tracker demo tracks last night checking out the realtime jamming live aspects, fun indeed.
I’m thinking i’ll knock up 90’s rave inspired ideas on this tracker then transfer to Ableton to add the modern production/techniques, quite looking forward to what ill be producing in 2021.
A few of these synths have just had a mention so thought that was a good excuse for a rack shot ,
Ive just found out Dreadbox only ever made 500 abyss’s so thats a keeper.
Auto-meh-geddon
#3005
Has the NTS-1 arrived? How do you like it? There’s a free overdrive effects somewhere on the internet, I put it in slot 1, so I can have an effect chain with distortion, delay and reverb…
Auto-meh-geddon
#3007
@Koldunya I think we’re coming into a resurgence of VA synths, which is a great thing.
I have currently 2 on my desk and love them equally, the Microfreak is super inspiring and playable, and the MicroMonsta2 sounds Huge (even though I’m not a huge fan of the filters), it reminds me of the Blofeld in terms of engine, with a better interface.
And if you fancy sharing some of your auto-sampler patches, I’m sure my Force will be glad. I can’t be arsed with it, I tried it but then realised I hardly use software and I hardly use more than one note
canecreek
#3008
i’m not familiar with Nes games, but i had a go of the lawnmower one its very similar to Hover bover that i used to play on the commodore 64. Music projects can take about 10 seconds to load but the games load instantly.
The games available at the moment are all Homebrew games i guess for copyright purposes but it only a matter of time i guess before you get all the good stuff
Artificer
#3009
No, hasn’t arrived yet, and it has me pissed. I ordered from a seller on Reverb instead of just ordering on Amazon so I could save $10, and the whole thing’s gone wrong. Hopefully it gets sorted fast, otherwise I’ll likely request a refund and just get one from a reputable source.
All’s a shame, I was really looking forward to playing with it over the holiday break.
relic
#3011
Is this like a digital version of the SH-101 or a poly version? I love the SH-101 sound. There was a VST version that was like a classic reese bass machine I used to use all the time way way way back. I’d like to try the Behringer clone of the SH 101 some time. Price is right.
I will say this is typically a good time of year to buy vintage stuff as people tend to sell stuff in general to buy whatever is new. Or you can wait until around when all the trade shows happen, same effect then.
White_Noise
#3013
If I were going to buy one of the Roland Boutiques, it would hands-down be the SH-01A. A mono bass machine with 4 voice poly and unison modes? Like, duh. If I’m not mistaken, the PG-8X free softsynth is based more or less on that architecture, and I love that thing, always making great sounds on it.