Korg R3 Vs Novation Ultranova Synth.

Morshu · Post by **Morshu** » Sat Oct 15, 2011 12:42 pm

xmlguy, i did do that, look at the afrojack patch topic, i posted a sample of the sound and an r3p file. but i got no responses as to how to improve it/ if it was good.

xmlguy · Post by **xmlguy** » Sat Oct 15, 2011 1:15 pm

Morshu wrote:xmlguy, i did do that, look at the afrojack patch topic, i posted a sample of the sound and an r3p file. but i got no responses as to how to improve it/ if it was good.

You already got comments from X-Trade, which you ignored and dismissed based on your replies to that thread. Then when nobody else would help you, only then did you request *MORE* assistance several weeks later. Pretty soon, every message you post will be ignored if you don't follow the advice I gave, or you will get banned, but either way, you'll see what happens.

Morshu · Post by **Morshu** » Sat Oct 15, 2011 9:07 pm

I didnt find his advice helpful, i tried it and it didnt sound like it was right. Usually X-trades advice is spot on, but on that one it didnt help me. So sorry.

xmlguy · Post by **xmlguy** » Sun Oct 16, 2011 1:14 am

Morshu wrote:I didnt find his advice helpful, i tried it and it didnt sound like it was right. Usually X-trades advice is spot on, but on that one it didnt help me. So sorry.

Morshu wrote:(in response to X-Trade) actually, its not formant, afrojack doesnt use formants lol
it could be a dwgs waveform, but afrojack himself just uses a simple saw, with a compressor- but simulating it on a r3 or radias would require a certain amount of distortion/amplification. .

So first you disagree with X-trade.

You have no clue what afrojack uses or not. You don't have an authentic copy of those patches. Most musicians with unique sounds have spent a whole shitload of time and effort making those patches, and they won't give them to anyone. It's also not beyond them to lie or use other deception to confuse the wannabees and cover bands. For example, they'll use a Microkorg as a midi controller to a hidden rack running Massive or other powerful softsynths. It can be fun to lie to magazines about the details of the synths, then observe all the forums go wild trying to reproduce a sound on completely unsuitable gear.

Morshu wrote:(later on in the other thread)I think the sound may be using a formant, but the formant is so mildly automated that i can't tell how its sounding so vocal. I hear no distortion, for some reason it reminds me of the monotron.

Then you say exactly the opposite later. I think you just don't know enough to be able to use the advice you've been given, so the problem is in your understanding and implementation of the advice you been given, not with the advice itself.

richardw · Post by **richardw** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 12:52 am

After doing a little more research (as of now) the Alesis Micron/Akai Miniak with an editor from HyperSynth is looking like a pretty good option. Both of those VA synths actually sound pretty good. They both need an editor with their clunky interface. Hard to believe that neither Alesis or Akai could come up with an editor for their equipment. Come on Akai, how about an editor for an otherwise pretty decent synth?

ravenmek · Post by **ravenmek** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 2:25 am

well, yes, they are both the same synth, and also akai and alesis are part of the numark company. So, I presume it is an attempt to make akai the synth and sampler company and leave the mixers and that kind of thing to alesis

acemonvw · Post by **acemonvw** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 2:56 am

Check out:
Well, I guess its not letting me post it, the Radias on eBay going for $250 right now. Poorly taken care of it seems (missing knobs), but might sell for much less because of that. The radias is awesome.

Maybe someone else would want to comment on a less-well taken care of item. Better value, but perhaps not worth fixing up?

Not sure what your price range was though, or forgot if you posted earlier. I personally think once you get down to it, the radias is just really nice, especially for its price. The one thing I wish it had that the R3 has is the LED knobs... god I loved those.

Oh, another thing to check out is the korg Z1
http://www.vintagesynth.com/korg/z1.php

Sometimes you can find it on craigslist for a good price. I think people view it as a great synth (not an owner, but looked into getting it when I had some major G.A.S.)

Morshu · Post by **Morshu** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 9:56 pm

If i were you i would go with the most highly rated synths, namely the Korg R3, JP8000, Novation Supernova, Juno 106, Alpha juno 1or2, Akai Miniak, Oberheim OB-8, Korg polysix- theres quite alot of choices, but of them, these are my favorite cheaper synths. although the OB-8 can be expensive if you get a bad deal

acemonvw · Post by **acemonvw** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 10:45 pm

THe OB-8 isn't a cheap synth and sells for $1000's. The Juno's and polysix are all real analog, and in my opinion, overpriced due to the 'vintage effect'. The Alpha Juno's aren't as easy to manipulate as the 106, and the HS-60 is a lot cheaper and is identical to the Juno 106. That said, they all felt limited when I compared them to what I could do with the Radias. The only analog I have left is the Oberheim matrix 1000, I just can't part with that one.

I'm fairly certain the OP was looking for a VA synth anyway. It's too confusing to give someone a list of radically different synths and have them get something out of it.

I don't know what your budget was, but if you're still considering the R3, I still think the Radias is the way to go, though I really haven't played with the Ultranova enough to say anything against it. I think Novation makes some good products so I'm sure it would be just fine.

richardw · Post by **richardw** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 11:56 pm

I am looking at a budget VA synth; price range US $400 - $800 preferably new with a warranty. Being brand-new to this, I like the idea of having the mfg coverage (also having a "base line" of what to expect with a product). I will probably purchase it from Sweetwater Sound as they cover their sales (IMO) pretty good. In the past, I have needed some tech support, and they "were right on it." GC is also OK, and I buy from them too, but I prefer Sweetwater.

With some experience, buying used on e-bay would be OK for me, but at this point, I would not know what to look for in a used product and what to avoid. I can imagine that some older synths can be a big problem to get repaired.

I have considered the following products up to this point, and of course, some synths appeal more to me than others:

GAIA (rebate right now in the US)
VENOM
MICRON/MINIAK (looks to be the same & confirmed by some comments)
ULTRANOVA
R3 (rebate right now in the US)
MOPHO KEYBOARD (I know this is not VA, it's analog, one voice)

VA is my preference; more features for less money.

For everyone who has helped me so far with advice, I thank you. For a newbie, the choices seem confusing. It is fun to shop though; and I am learning from this.

ravenmek · Post by **ravenmek** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 12:10 am

richardw wrote:I am looking at a budget VA synth; price range US $400 - $800 preferably new with a warranty. Being brand-new to this, I like the idea of having the mfg coverage (also having a "base line" of what to expect with a product). I will probably purchase it from Sweetwater Sound as they cover their sales (IMO) pretty good. In the past, I have needed some tech support, and they "were right on it." GC is also OK, and I buy from them too, but I prefer Sweetwater.

With some experience, buying used on e-bay would be OK for me, but at this point, I would not know what to look for in a used product and what to avoid. I can imagine that some older synths can be a big problem to get repaired.

I have considered the following products up to this point, and of course, some synths appeal more to me than others:

GAIA (rebate right now in the US)
VENOM
MICRON/MINIAK (looks to be the same & confirmed by some comments)
ULTRANOVA
R3 (rebate right now in the US)
MOPHO KEYBOARD (I know this is not VA, it's analog, one voice)

VA is my preference; more features for less money.

For everyone who has helped me so far with advice, I thank you. For a newbie, the choices seem confusing. It is fun to shop though; and I am learning from this.

Well, the gaia is great because of the interface, almost one knob-one parameter (if I remember correctly, it has a shift button), but the modulation options are not so good (so, it will be difficult -or impossible- to make some complex sounds).

I love the miniak (more difficult to program than my old novation Xio, but great possibilities) great sound. The interface is not so good, though. It sounds awesome!

The ultranova is monotimbrical, but it has a great interface, and it has wavetables and samples (like a rompler), and a good modulation matrix.

I can't talk about the other synths cause I never tried them, so...

acemonvw · Post by **acemonvw** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 12:12 am

Yeah, I guess I've been okay with buying used, my Radias is used, as are most of my synths. But it can be a pain. One guy sold me a mixer on eBay saying that it had been used for only 5 minutes... and failed to mention that it sat in his garage in the south for 5 years... I wasn't happy by its condition. Definitely avoid the Radias I suggested earlier because it had a lot of knob damage. I would recommend avoiding ones with lots of cosmetic damage, because chances are, if someone wasn't gentle to it on the outside, the inside doesn't look pretty either.

Sweetwater is good I'm sure, another GREAT place IMO is Novamusik. They seem to have very good deals and that's who I bought my Spectralis through, they were really helpful and I called them multiple times just to ask them questions.

I look at the R3 and while I like the LED's I just remember why I sold it for the Radias... 4 knobs versus 39. I mean, you're going to spend $500 on the R3 if you go through sweetwater, you wouldn't spend that much more on a Radias if you wait for a bit to get one on eBay they've been selling for $500 to $600 from october 9th to the 10th... recent, and not much more than you'd spend on 1/3 the synth. Sorry, I've been just pushing the Radias, it just doesn't make sense. Although the 37 keyboard might be nice if you don't have a midi controller, but those aren't that expensive to get a decent one. I got a cheap Korg 01/wfd synth as my midi controller and love it.

You can always ask people on here if they think the synth that you're looking for on ebay seems alright or if they have any idea if its a good deal, for any of them.

I never thought people were too happy with the GAIA when I was reading up on it, but maybe opinions have changed since when I was looking. Same with the Venom.

While the real analogs like the Juno 106 is great to learn subtractive synthesis, it doesn't have the features most of the current synths have. But it DOES look pretty freaking cool.

I'm sure you've gone through all the iterations of R3 vs Ultranova, R3 vs Radias, Ultranova vs Gaia, Gaia vs R3, Micron vs R3 vs Gaia... everyone has an opinion, and no one's wrong. Choice is an annoying thing sometimes, which is why I bought like 7 different synths back in January and then pruned my collection down after I realized some things just didn't add to my setup (Juno being one of those).

Good luck!

zalo · Post by **zalo** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 3:27 am

Mopho Keyboard.

Great learning synth and you will hold onto it for a long time. The simplicity of it makes it perfect.

Once you have your head around the MophoKey you will have enough money saved up to buy a Radias.

I have a DSI P08 and a Radias. It is not a bad combo, they blend well but definitely have their own strengths.

Re-Member · Post by **Re-Member** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 5:58 am

ravenmek wrote:Well, the gaia is great because of the interface, almost one knob-one parameter (if I remember correctly, it has a shift button), but the modulation options are not so good (so, it will be difficult -or impossible- to make some complex sounds).

To give another opinion on the subject since a few people mentioned it, I own the SH-201 and was thinking the GAIA SH-01 would have been a good replacement, but the differences made me hold on to the 201.

This page has some good info about the two. Make sure to read the comments at the bottom as well:
http://jimatwood.wordpress.com/2010/07/ ... h-01-gaia/

One thing he doesn't mention though is that the SH-201 has more oscillator choices and LFO modulation routings, plus a separate filter for Audio In. The GAIA does has a software editor now, but it is $89.

Morshu · Post by **Morshu** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 8:24 pm

I think the two best synths on your list are the Gaia and the Novation SuperNova 1 or 2(ok its not on your list, but its a crap load better than the Ultranova, although similar) you should compare them yourself though, because alot of professionals have used teh supernova before