TRUTH - we HAD analog synths. They sounded good. Mostly they were out of tune. Yes, the sound palette was very limited. YES, we could hardly wait to sell them to get our DX7
I still have a number of mono synths - but the modeling analog synths sound great to me. My JP8000 sounds amazing - well to me.
Korg Kronos, RD-88, Yamaha VL1, Deep Mind 6, Korg Kross, author of unrealBook for iPad.
I'm actually looking to sell myTriton Pro-X with the piano card.
If music is the food of love, play on and play loud!
Gear: Kronos 73, Wavestation EX, Polysix, King Korg, Monotron and Monotron Duo, Minikorg, Moog Grandmother, my very old MiniKorg, 4 acoustic and 9 electric guitars, 1 Ibanez 5 string bass, a Steel guitar, a bunch of microphones, 2 pairs of studio monitors and other very cool toys, 1 wife and 4 cats and a lava lamp!
IMO the greatest part of owning an analog was the knobs/sliders and ease of understanding how it worked. Once some of the analogs went knob less the fun was gone (to me). That's why I sold my Matrix 6 even though it sounded pretty darn good. I have much more fun with my Kronos and other synthesizers with knobs. I like the sounds of my Kurzweil, but I don't like the knob less interface. It does have sliders but...
Korg Kronos, RD-88, Yamaha VL1, Deep Mind 6, Korg Kross, author of unrealBook for iPad.
SanderXpander wrote:To be honest I thought the P08 was pretty uninteresting sounding when I tried it.
That's what I've heard from a few other keyboard folks. Quite surprising.
Sadly, I've never had a chance to audition one... our local music stores don't carry any Dave Smith instruments.
I know, and it's not simple to explain. It doesn't sound bad. It just, to me, seemed to completely lack the "wow" factor. Especially since it's great on paper. Complete opposite example is the Nord Lead 4 which is a VA and not even a terribly interesting one apart from one or two features, and I thought it sounded great and was very inspiring to play.
I have bought and sold exchanged loads of gear over the years and sometimes wished I had just kept it and built on it adding what I need as I go.
The money comes and goes so just hold on to the Kronos and buy another synth when you have some more money ect.
I totally get the "knob" thing. Tweaking is necessary to me. My first synth had knobs except of course for my old Minikorg. I was tossed between the Polysix and the Roland Juno 60 but for me, knobs just seem eminently more tweakable than sliders. So I went with the Polysix.
The whole "data entry"knob idea in the old days was horrible.
If music is the food of love, play on and play loud!
Gear: Kronos 73, Wavestation EX, Polysix, King Korg, Monotron and Monotron Duo, Minikorg, Moog Grandmother, my very old MiniKorg, 4 acoustic and 9 electric guitars, 1 Ibanez 5 string bass, a Steel guitar, a bunch of microphones, 2 pairs of studio monitors and other very cool toys, 1 wife and 4 cats and a lava lamp!
No. The Kronos is far too versatile for me to get rid of it, especially for something as sonically limited as the P08. (Not saying it can't sound good, just that -- given its single-filter architecture and lack of onboard effects -- the P08 is much more specialized than some of the other polysynths out there.)
That being said, I would love to have a one-knob-per-function synth in addition to the Kronos. For all of its strengths, the Kronos' workstation UI is arguably its greatest drawback, at least for live sound design. Something like a Prophet 12 or an Evolver keyboard would be a nice counterpart there.
There are very few one knob per function synths left, and the P08 isn't really one either. Even my Voyager with its plethora of knobs and patch points makes me menu dive for quite a few functions.
I enjoy my Micro Moog for that stuff, I guess an MS20 mini would be a good "modern one"?
SanderXpander wrote:There are very few one knob per function synths left, and the P08 isn't really one either. Even my Voyager with its plethora of knobs and patch points makes me menu dive for quite a few functions.
True, but also somewhat beside the point. Synths like the Voyager, P08, and P12 may not be exactly one knob per function, but they're close enough to have the same approximate workflow. The Voyager, for example, can still be used as a complete (if somewhat more basic) monosynth voice even if you never touch the menu screen. The same can't be said for, say, the Kronos' MS-20EX engine.
The point is, a synth with one knob or slider for at least each major function offers a different workflow than one that requires menu diving for major functions, or even one with an assignable bank of knobs.
I'm of two minds. I don't really "mind" menu diving, but it's nice to create a sound while you have all tools directly available. Somehow it feels way more disruptive to my workflow if I have to menu dive on my Voyager than if I have to do it on my Kronos. Probably because of the tiny screen and clunky controls.