New piece of gear to pair with my esx

slinky · Post by **slinky** » Fri Apr 20, 2012 12:59 am

Hey

new to the forums, and making electronic music in general, been browsing for a while. Had an esx for almost a year now and looking for a decent synthesizer to expand so i can (mostly) make some kinda sketchy sample based 140bpm-ish techno/ psy trance to perform live.
currently my ideas consist of a waldorf blofeld keyboard, roland gaia sh-01 or a second hand virus b/c (sort of price range i can afford at the moment)
recommendations/ideas?
thanks <3

xmlguy · Post by **xmlguy** » Fri Apr 20, 2012 3:02 am

The new Casio XW-P1 is a better match because it has a step sequencer, rhythm patterns, general midi, PCM sounds, drawbar organ sim, and a deep virtual analog synthesis engine with up to 5 layers and 64 polyphony.

csteen · Post by **csteen** » Fri Apr 20, 2012 10:55 am

I too find that XW=P1 to be most interesting especially at it's price.

slinky · Post by **slinky** » Fri Apr 20, 2012 12:25 pm

I cant really find many examples or videos online of people getting alot of different sounds from the casio or using it in a setup to see what its capable of, does anyone who has one care to give their 2 cents? thanks <3

csteen · Post by **csteen** » Fri Apr 20, 2012 7:22 pm

This keyboard just barely hit the store shelves, it may take a month or two before many videos or tutorials come out. Stay tuned, I know I am.

sound4sina · Post by **sound4sina** » Fri Apr 20, 2012 7:43 pm

Have you looked into the Roland MC-series? They're not the newest out there.. but you'll definitely find really nice techno/trance/acid sounds (plus.. they're all tweakable). The MC-808 has sampling capability and is the "newest" in the line, although the MC-909 is faily similar but has half the polyphony (64 notes) and bigger LCD screen compared to the 808.

I think the Casio XW-P1/G1 only has 19 seconds of sample loop memory which is a tad...ridiculous.

ravenmek · Post by **ravenmek** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 12:17 am

But he didn't ask for a sampler/looper, but for a synth. And the casio XW-P1 is an awesome synth for the money.

xmlguy · Post by **xmlguy** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 3:02 am

sound4sina wrote: I think the Casio XW-P1/G1 only has 19 seconds of sample loop memory which is a tad...ridiculous.

The XW-P1 has no sample loop memory. None of the synths the OP asked about, nor any that are currently available on the market, have any kind of audio looping in any case, so the point is moot. The G1 will have looping, but that will be rather pointless to have when you already have an ESX, which can already do much more powerful midi loopng.

The fact that the XW-P1 is a powerful synth with a step sequencer makes it a good match for the ESX. You've already revealed your bias against Casio in another thread, and I don't put up with any fanboi BS around here.

slinky · Post by **slinky** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 12:46 pm

yeah was looking at the 909 for a while but the fact they dont make them anymore kinda put me off, whats it like for serviceability now?

sound4sina · Post by **sound4sina** » Sun Apr 22, 2012 3:46 am

xmlguy wrote:None of the synths the OP asked about, nor any that are currently available on the market, have any kind of audio looping in any case, so the point is moot.

You've already revealed your bias against Casio in another thread, and I don't put up with any fanboi BS around here.

Really? No synth on the market is capable of audio looping? So what is it the G1 has then?!

Furthermore, I think you should stop being nitpicky about other peoples' biases! My post was a fair and just comment about Casio synthesizers in general. Casio is in most cases a starter brand. Then you might have products such as the CZ-101 (which I am a proud owner of), that will make it to the pro's and remain a sought-after synth, even after 25+ years from its initial release.

But do not ever again call anyone in this forum a fanboi, nor say that their input is BS. It only shows your own ignorance and disrespect.

sound4sina · Post by **sound4sina** » Sun Apr 22, 2012 4:07 am

slinky wrote:yeah was looking at the 909 for a while but the fact they dont make them anymore kinda put me off, whats it like for serviceability now?

In what sense are you asking about the MC-909's serviceability?
The MC-series are really robust and were built to be portable. In fact, I haven't heard about, or had any issues myself with them. The issues surrounding the MC-series has much been related to the software and the 909 had its latest OS update five years after it's product release, which is pretty good for a device in that price range.

There are several user groups for the Roland MC Grooveboxes and you'll find a lot of audio material and files to play around with.
If you're really into the old school EDM sound, then consider the Roland JP-8000 (Module version is JP-8080). The polyphony is limited to 8 and 10 voices, but the sound reproduction is slightly superior compared to the Gaia and other newer Roland products. The feeling of the JP-8000 is really nice and not as plastic'y as the Gaia.

But hey, it's just a matter of taste. I certainly believe that a semi-vintage synth would add value to the overall sound of your music. Just check them out on YouTube and figure what fit your style the most.

ravenmek · Post by **ravenmek** » Sun Apr 22, 2012 7:49 am

You had no real reason to talk about the audio looper of the G1. I don't really think it is relevant to this topic.

xmlguy · Post by **xmlguy** » Sun Apr 22, 2012 12:51 pm

sound4sina wrote:
xmlguy wrote:None of the synths the OP asked about, nor any that are currently available on the market, have any kind of audio looping in any case, so the point is moot.

You've already revealed your bias against Casio in another thread, and I don't put up with any fanboi BS around here.
Really? No synth on the market is capable of audio looping? So what is it the G1 has then?!

Furthermore, I think you should stop being nitpicky about other peoples' biases! My post was a fair and just comment about Casio synthesizers in general. Casio is in most cases a starter brand. Then you might have products such as the CZ-101 (which I am a proud owner of), that will make it to the pro's and remain a sought-after synth, even after 25+ years from its initial release.

But do not ever again call anyone in this forum a fanboi, nor say that their input is BS. It only shows your own ignorance and disrespect.

The G1 is not on the market because is not shipping yet. Do you have one? No. Have you tried one? No. So you are just spewing BS whan you talk about the G1 looping? Apparently so, for everyone to see.

You need to learn how to quote properly, because if you had quoted me honestly, you would have included the following statement, which was in my original message:

xmlguy wrote:The G1 will have looping, but that will be rather pointless to have when you already have an ESX, which can already do much more powerful midi loopng.

You must be very naive indeed if you would think that I wouldn't notice and easily recognize your selective quoting to distort and misrepresent what I said by removing the exact statement from me that indicated that I knew that the G1 would have audio looping, in the future, when it ships.

You also included the P1 as having an audio looper. It is not nitpicky to expose your BS. The P1 does not have audio looping. That is a fact, a fact you got wrong. So instead of bitching about being exposed for what you are, how about you just stick to topics where you are qualified to comment, then I will not feel compelled to correct your BS.

slinky · Post by **slinky** » Sun Apr 22, 2012 2:50 pm

Ahh theres no need to argue guys its only the internet

the JP-8000 looks pretty cool, im also now considering saving for longer and maybe getting a nord lead 2x now, in my experience instant gratification has only ever ended in disappointment...

xmlguy · Post by **xmlguy** » Sun Apr 22, 2012 3:29 pm

The Nord Modular G2 is a more interesting synth to combine with the ESX. The Nord Lead is straight forward VA synth, while the modular does a wider range of synthesis, such as FM and granular.