Most Enjoyable Gear

[LimpyLoo]

 

 

Weird, I had a 404 and hated the shit out of it.

 

Love how everyone has such different needs and likes.

 

given how awesome your current gear is

 

i'm curious what sorta stuff you've gotten rid of

 

any noteworthy bits?

 

Not really, mainly standard stuff. Some stuff was good and got some good stuff from but just didn't gel like the korg radias, some I liked but made redundant like the FR mobius and others just straight hated like SP404, MPC500/1000, MC505, Yamaha SU200, RM1x, Mopho's, evolves, Tetra, R5 etc etc

Some I tried in shops and knew straight away like the spectralis, prophet 08, V synth, and all the recent synths over the past 10 years.

It's only the past 3-4 years I have been able to purchase higher value gear.

 

 

About a year ago I was actually looking at buying either the cs1x or the an1x. Beautiful synths.

 

Listen to that warm brass...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I especially like the an1x. The brassy sounds really nails the CS-80 vibe, and the thing seems to nails many of the CS-80's articulation aspects, as well.

 

*drools*

[Guest Chesney]

The CS1x is sort of half performance synth and VA but does not hit either that hard. The AN1x is meant to be the most analogue sounding VA out there. Not tried one as I have plenty of analogue to do that sound. If I want digi I want something different to analogue.

 

But yeah, AN1x is meant to be lovely. CS1x, not so much.

[TRiP]

+1 for the Monotribe! No matter what, 2minutes with it and you've got something tasty!

Machinedrum is also much fun for a quick turn-on + go, few random p-locks and you're into something interesting, especially when messing around with some samples on the uw

 

Dark Time is also great fun sequencing! Especially with poly synths on the 2x8 step mode and then changing around the step direction and lengths

[Danny O Flannagin]

 

 

 

monotribe is great at making crazy space sounds

 

Agreed! The Monotribe is a really simple synth but I love its sound somehow. I think it sounds better than my Novation Bass Station 2 but it's hard to compare because the BS2 is way more versatile. As the clicking happening at every note on/off makes it really hard to use in a lot of contexts I ended up using it mostly for doing noises (fair amount of LFO modulation on filter cutoff and/or pitch). The filter sounds great and the LFO can be really fast - those to things combined definitely gave me some fun. I wouldn't use that in every track though and I hardly think about using that synth anymore. I would sell it for cheap if I wouldn't think I still could recycle its filter in an hypothetical future where I've learned electronics.

 

Ya, the real power of the thing is how fast the LFO goes. (actually stops being a low frequency oscillator and turns into a high frequency one, lol) the thing basically turns into an FM synth when you modulate frequency with fast LFO.

[QQQ]

I'm pretty new to the whole music making thing but I've acquired a decent amount of gear so far. Hardly delved into the depths of any of it in the grand scheme of things but I love my sp404sx and kp3 for sound design and general fun.

[Berk]

Kawai Q-80

TR-606

Teisco SR-450E

Fostex Multitracker 280

Alpha Juno 1

Peavey 900 mixer

Casio HT3000

[Guest Aces]

I haven't got anything currently, I did just buy a microbrute though. I'm very much looking forward to getting it and using it. I've been coveting one for quite a while.

[TubularCorporation]

MPC2kxl

 

Anushri

 

Sustaniac Model C used for things other than its intended purpose (especially using it on unamplified acoustic guitar and using it to play ne instrument into another rather than feeding back an instrument into itself).

 

The lowly Akai MFC42 is really fun and useful, too, as long as you aren't looking for a character filter. It's very clean but it does a lot and I think it sounds great for what it is. The prices have been going back up though, so you might be able to do better depending on your needs. Any multimode filter is great to have, though.

 

Wavestation (I've got an SR and the Soundtower editor and it's great that way, but one of the models with a proper interface would be even more fun)

 

Alesis The Wedge. Dirt cheap, unpopular, great interface for using it as a performance instrument.

[Guest kymppinetti]

i just got a mpc 1000 and it's really enjoyable. lots of more to do with it than mpc 500. and the pads are soo much more sensitive so that i made them cry. heh

[blanketforts]

I liked my Nord Modular G1 so much that I bought another one on eBay a few years later. :)

 

Also a fan of my Octatrack. But TBH those are the only pieces of gear I use right now.

[flacid]

Shit. Didn't expect to see so many synths/drum machines that I'd never heard of before. A lot to learn/youtube videos to check out...

 

The main reason I liked the Electribe was because of this specific (preset) dirty as fuck early AFX drum that sounded wicked. That and the touch pad was well good for playing unique rhythms.

 

I really want to get an MD because of the sheer drum sound variation and potential. Presume they're worth the money? Any other cool touchpad based gear out there worth looking at?

[sweepstakes]

i just got a mpc 1000 and it's really enjoyable. lots of more to do with it than mpc 500. and the pads are soo much more sensitive so that i made them cry. heh

Do yourself a favor and get JJOS!

[Guest kymppinetti]

 

i just got a mpc 1000 and it's really enjoyable. lots of more to do with it than mpc 500. and the pads are soo much more sensitive so that i made them cry. heh

Do yourself a favor and get JJOS!

 

soon i will. :)

[Leon Sumbitches]

I made a pleasant discovery recently- namely, that my Boss BR600, which is an entry-level digital recorder meant for bedroom guitarists and the like, can actually be used to make beats in much the same way as a SP303 or 404. Here's the beast in question:

 

 

 

Those wee grey buttons on the right hand side double as drum pads, and you can load up drum sounds from any recorded track and use them. So you can sample from vinyl, say, and slice it up and assign it to the pads and start tapping out a beat, MPC-style. The really nice thing is that, as far as I can tell, the effects in this unit are pretty much exactly the same as on the SP303 and 404- same compression, same vinyl sim, etc. So a lot of what makes that 'SP sound' comes with the unit. The only big differences are in the size of the pads and the lack of timestretch. So lately I've taken to making wee beats wholly within the BR600.

 

It's been super enjoyable trying to find ways to work round the limitations of this wee beast and amazing to get away from the laptop. Plus tapping out beats and what have you is a whole lot of fun, especially with some greenery thrown into the mix. The track in my sig, for instance, was done entirely on the BR600. So yeah, shitty gear ftw! Sometimes you can go deeper than you think and discover lots of nice surprises.

[TubularCorporation]

In the spirit of the thread, one of the most fun pieces of gear I've ever owned is also one of the worst: Redsound Elevata. It's buggy as hell and sounds weird but there's something about the simplicity and sturdy build of the interface that makes it really fun to work with. I wouldn't really recommend it to anyone because it really is just full of bugs, even with the most current OS update, but I keep finding uses for it all the time.

 

It's a real contender for least popular synthesizer of the 21st century so far, too, and I kind of appreciate that.

[AWW]

KORG MS2000 - piss about in ANY style and simply SAVE. It is one of my best friends.

[Guest skibby]

i've got this love/hate thing going on with my stuff.

soundwise, I love the tone and presence that are delivered by the TG77 and the K5000r

programmingwise, they are literal monsters that should not even be approached with any serious intention to make a voice that utilizes all their capabilities.

best to just mess around and record the interesting accidents. sort of need sounddiver to edit these unless you're MGF or something.

 

honorable mention, the FS1R just because of it's ridiculously laughable and absurd amount of depth that renders it ironically enough a preset box.
FS1R is kind of my least favourite bit of gear, although I do use it to disturb what would otherwise be silence where it would potentially be.

[TubularCorporation]

I still have a soft spot for the old, silver Akai Headrush and use it all the time even though it makes everything that goes through it sound kind of crap, even in bypass.