runningman67 wrote:
I am not very technical, I play at home, I am scared of software synths and I am not wealthy and approaching 50.
What about this line up.
Kronos 73 (best synth ever)
Waldorf Blofeld. Brilliant keyboard, action , perfect learning tool for 50 year olds who don't sound design (yet), fun, affordable. Perfect MIDI controller too?
Omnisphere. Monster for me but the final chapter?
Sounds like a great setup, i don't think you need the blofeld once you have omnisphere, but the blofeld is a great synth.
Omnisphere is a soft synth, personally i think it's the best synth available in the world. I think it's way better than any hardware synth available at the moment (including the kronos). But be prepared, it's also a really complicated synth. Most people i know are using omnisphere as a preset player where they select a preset and play it.
But once you dive into the programming possibilities you will discover that it goes really deep. You can:
- program your own envelopes
- create morphing filters between types (programmed through envelopes or assigned to controllers)
- can use ''vector' type of modulation,
- it has a fantastic Virtual Analog synth including models of most of the famous analog hardware synths.
- It has a supurb Granular Synth engine that can do lot's of exiting stuff.
- You can assign any knob to any controller or envelope (like the Kronos AMS features).
- The arpeggiator is programmable
- Gate features are programmable
- There are gigabytes of samples which you can completely transform into other type of sounds with the internal engines.
- the Sample and Virtual Analog features are extensive including harmonics, unison, FM synthesis, etc...
- The effect section is large and really good
- there are ton of Filter models ranging from standard filters to emulations of for instance moog filters
- flawless integration with an iPad APP
- Live performance mode with 8 selectable sounds that you can assign yourself.
- you can use your own samples (drag and drop) in most of the omnisphere engine
- And the list goes on and on........
I can say only one thing, Omnisphere is incredible!
Now the downside of Omnisphere:
- you need an extremely fast computer to run this, especially when you use things like the Granular engine and the FM features it is quite CPU hungry
- You need a VST host to run it
- the learning curve is huge (probably longer than the kronos learning curve, if you want to get everything out of omnisphere)
- you need a lot of diskspace to run it
- it's a little bit technical to use in combination with the kronos (i've added a demo below how i do it in cubase)
But if you have a computer to do this, then i would really suggest to add omnisphere for your kind of music to the kronos. Don't be intimidated by the complex learning curve, you can start really easy to use it as a preset player (most people do that) and then when you need more features, just watch one of the tutorials on YouTube for that section.
Here's a demo where i play a small part live with omnisphere and the kronos
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="
https://www.youtube.com/embed/Kd23OjFZjz8" frameborder="0"></iframe>
