KORG 01/W
KORG Trinity w/solo tri
Fairlight CMI
Synclaviar
Roland JD-990
Your 5 "wow" synths of all time?
Moderators: Sharp, X-Trade, Pepperpotty, karmathanever
Five Good Ones...
I would include the following as among the most impressive synths that I have used, but I don't think I can pick only 5...
Yamaha VL1-m
Yamaha VL70-m
Korg Z1
Kurzweil k2500s
Korg PA3x
Korg M3
Yamaha FS1r
Any one of these is impressive beyond belief and has more potential than could ever be explored in a lifetime. I imagine the Kronos is like that but I have not used one- yet.
If I had to pick a single "desert island" synth, I think it would have to be the Korg PA3x.
Yamaha VL1-m Yamaha VL70-m Korg Z1 Kurzweil k2500s Korg PA3x Korg M3 Yamaha FS1rAny one of these is impressive beyond belief and has more potential than could ever be explored in a lifetime. I imagine the Kronos is like that but I have not used one- yet.
If I had to pick a single "desert island" synth, I think it would have to be the Korg PA3x.
wow synths (in order of hearing them)
Roland RS202
Roland Juno 60 (strings)
Whatever Trevor Horn was playing with FGTH on 'THE TUBE'
Roland JD990
Korg Karma (got rid of it as it never seemed to play the same thing twice)
Roland VP550
Anything played by Jordan Rudess.
Roland Juno 60 (strings)
Whatever Trevor Horn was playing with FGTH on 'THE TUBE'
Roland JD990
Korg Karma (got rid of it as it never seemed to play the same thing twice)
Roland VP550
Anything played by Jordan Rudess.
-
EvilDragon
- Platinum Member
- Posts: 1992
- Joined: Thu Nov 24, 2005 1:18 pm
- Location: Croatia
Nobody mentioned the great and awesome Waldorf Wave? Shame on you!
Well, my top 5 of WOW synths (not only by looks, but by synthesis power, as well), grouped by type, in no special order:
Analog/Hybrid:
- Waldorf Wave
- Schmidt 8-Voice
- Oberheim Matrix 12
- Andromeda A6
- DSI Prophet 12
VA:
- John Bowen Solaris
- Waldorf Q+ Phoenix
- Virus TI Polar (looks cool)
- the never realized Kurzweil VA1 looked spectacular IMHO
- Novation SuperNova looked splendid, too (if only it had encoders instead of knobs...). Sounded like a bulldozer, as well!
Digital/Rompler:
- Yamaha FS1R (it's on the way
)
- Kawai K5000S (I own the rack, splendid machine)
- V-Synth XT (because that rack is just so well thought out)
- OASYS (just can't beat LEDs around sliders and knobs, and very sturdy, spaceship looking exterior!)
- Yamaha DX1. Because come on - it looks like a piece of glowing furniture!
Well, my top 5 of WOW synths (not only by looks, but by synthesis power, as well), grouped by type, in no special order:
Analog/Hybrid:
- Waldorf Wave
- Schmidt 8-Voice
- Oberheim Matrix 12
- Andromeda A6
- DSI Prophet 12
VA:
- John Bowen Solaris
- Waldorf Q+ Phoenix
- Virus TI Polar (looks cool)
- the never realized Kurzweil VA1 looked spectacular IMHO
- Novation SuperNova looked splendid, too (if only it had encoders instead of knobs...). Sounded like a bulldozer, as well!
Digital/Rompler:
- Yamaha FS1R (it's on the way
)- Kawai K5000S (I own the rack, splendid machine)
- V-Synth XT (because that rack is just so well thought out)
- OASYS (just can't beat LEDs around sliders and knobs, and very sturdy, spaceship looking exterior!)
- Yamaha DX1. Because come on - it looks like a piece of glowing furniture!
-
Mellontikos
- Junior Member
- Posts: 96
- Joined: Wed Feb 01, 2012 9:17 pm
Hmm, I don't have the same experience with analog stuff as a lot of you guys do.
I played in live bands for a while, and only in the past couple of years started doing stuff by myself on a PC.
My 5 top synths ever go as follows:
1. Korg 01/W - Not only was I blown away by that angular design, but I was forever hooked on the patch B:81 DynoPiano.
At the time I had no idea what FM synthesis was, or that it was supposed to be a emulation of a DX7 emulation of a Rhodes DynoPiano (sheesh!)
All I knew was it was the goddamn most awesomest electric piano I had ever heard in my life.
I also loved the patch "Ephemerals" and "DWGS EP", and the string sounds were amazing for the time.
2. Korg M1 - I loved it primarily for that patch E.11 - E. Piano 1. That was just an amazing EP, I have no idea what it was trying to emulate (I suspect it was something on the DW8000?) but man, that was my 2nd favorite FM EP style sound.
I knew of the M1 Piano, but at the time it hadn't hooked me. I remember I had an M1R and I kept hearing of the M1 Piano, so I pulled it up and it sounded really cool! I was used to the 01/W's more classical A. Piano.
3. Korg X5. My first Korg synth. I was blown away by the sounds "Maxi Tine" and "Fantasia". The sheer clarity of the sounds coming out of that little thing used to shock people. I sometimes had people gather round wondering what the heck this think was. It also came with a free sequencer "MOTU Freestyle" and "MOTU Unisyn" I had a blast making my own music with just the X5 and the sequencer for a long time. 01/W was my second Korg synth and it was a blast using them both for a long time.
4. Roland U-20 - Got hooked by 2 sounds. One was a very bright sounding Acoustic Piano (there were several, it must have been A. Piano 8 or 9) and the other sound was "Synth Harp" (classic 80's sound). I also loved the look.
5. Korg Wavestation - By the time I had a WS, I had already had my other Korg stuff for a couple of years. But I remember playing 2 sounds on it "Deep Atmosphere" and "Quarks". They sold me and I had a WS EX that same day.
At one point my entire basement was full of Korg stuff, with some Roland stuff here and there.
Honorable mentions:
1. Hartmann Neuron. I had a chance to listen to one once, and it sounded really cool, and had a sort of "springy" sound to it. Organic almost you could say. I really didn't know how to use it though, and other than a really cool toy wasn't sure it was worth the $7000 they were asking for it.
2. Yamaha SY-99 - I remember listening to this and considered it to be Yamaha's equivalent of a 01/W. I loved the ability to mix FM with ROMpler sounds. I got hooked on the "Classic EP" patch (can you tell I like FM EP's? ) and some of the pads were killer. If the thing wasn't so massive and I had the space, I would have bought it.
3. Roland XP-30 - Man I loved this little synth! It was Roland's answer to the Korg X5. It was ram packed with sounds galore! I loved a ton of the synth sounds in this and miss it somewhat. But those very colourful Acoustic Pianos are unbeatable, bright and punchy like the M1 Piano, but so much meatier.
4. Tyros 4 - Right now I'm my own one man band. I bought it, + the ROMpler expansion, + the Classic EP collection, + a bunch of my favorite sounds that I've sampled myself (from the 01/W, the Roland XP-30 and others)
I once again gather crowds after a performance, looking at it. They can't believe all that sound is coming out of this one synth. Yamaha's architecture might be a pain in the ass, but when you get around the issues, what comes out surprises a ton of people. I have a blast playing it every time.
I played in live bands for a while, and only in the past couple of years started doing stuff by myself on a PC.
My 5 top synths ever go as follows:
1. Korg 01/W - Not only was I blown away by that angular design, but I was forever hooked on the patch B:81 DynoPiano.
At the time I had no idea what FM synthesis was, or that it was supposed to be a emulation of a DX7 emulation of a Rhodes DynoPiano (sheesh!)
All I knew was it was the goddamn most awesomest electric piano I had ever heard in my life.
I also loved the patch "Ephemerals" and "DWGS EP", and the string sounds were amazing for the time.
2. Korg M1 - I loved it primarily for that patch E.11 - E. Piano 1. That was just an amazing EP, I have no idea what it was trying to emulate (I suspect it was something on the DW8000?) but man, that was my 2nd favorite FM EP style sound.
I knew of the M1 Piano, but at the time it hadn't hooked me. I remember I had an M1R and I kept hearing of the M1 Piano, so I pulled it up and it sounded really cool! I was used to the 01/W's more classical A. Piano.
3. Korg X5. My first Korg synth. I was blown away by the sounds "Maxi Tine" and "Fantasia". The sheer clarity of the sounds coming out of that little thing used to shock people. I sometimes had people gather round wondering what the heck this think was. It also came with a free sequencer "MOTU Freestyle" and "MOTU Unisyn" I had a blast making my own music with just the X5 and the sequencer for a long time. 01/W was my second Korg synth and it was a blast using them both for a long time.
4. Roland U-20 - Got hooked by 2 sounds. One was a very bright sounding Acoustic Piano (there were several, it must have been A. Piano 8 or 9) and the other sound was "Synth Harp" (classic 80's sound). I also loved the look.
5. Korg Wavestation - By the time I had a WS, I had already had my other Korg stuff for a couple of years. But I remember playing 2 sounds on it "Deep Atmosphere" and "Quarks". They sold me and I had a WS EX that same day.
At one point my entire basement was full of Korg stuff, with some Roland stuff here and there.
Honorable mentions:
1. Hartmann Neuron. I had a chance to listen to one once, and it sounded really cool, and had a sort of "springy" sound to it. Organic almost you could say. I really didn't know how to use it though, and other than a really cool toy wasn't sure it was worth the $7000 they were asking for it.
2. Yamaha SY-99 - I remember listening to this and considered it to be Yamaha's equivalent of a 01/W. I loved the ability to mix FM with ROMpler sounds. I got hooked on the "Classic EP" patch (can you tell I like FM EP's?
) and some of the pads were killer. If the thing wasn't so massive and I had the space, I would have bought it. 3. Roland XP-30 - Man I loved this little synth! It was Roland's answer to the Korg X5. It was ram packed with sounds galore! I loved a ton of the synth sounds in this and miss it somewhat. But those very colourful Acoustic Pianos are unbeatable, bright and punchy like the M1 Piano, but so much meatier.
4. Tyros 4 - Right now I'm my own one man band. I bought it, + the ROMpler expansion, + the Classic EP collection, + a bunch of my favorite sounds that I've sampled myself (from the 01/W, the Roland XP-30 and others)
I once again gather crowds after a performance, looking at it. They can't believe all that sound is coming out of this one synth. Yamaha's architecture might be a pain in the ass, but when you get around the issues, what comes out surprises a ton of people. I have a blast playing it every time.
Tyros 4. 01/Wpro. N5ex. SY99, Legacy M1, WS & Triton VST's. Wavestate Native VST
-
SanderXpander
- Platinum Member
- Posts: 7860
- Joined: Fri Jul 29, 2011 7:23 am
Huh, haven't done these yet. I feel it's somehow obliged to say Fairlight and Synclavier but while they're very "wow" worthy, I can't say I've ever been close enough to one to really feel wowed. I'm too young for even the Korg Trinity, I think I was like 10 when that came out. So I'm going by stuff that I've actually played/worked with.
It's gonna be apples and oranges anyway I guess but the synths that have blown me away personally are;
1. Korg Kronos
2. Moog Minimoog Voyager
3. ModdArt Pianoteq
4. Roland V-Synth
5. Andromeda A6
I'm lucky enough to own 1 and 2. They both still wow me every time I play them.
It's gonna be apples and oranges anyway I guess but the synths that have blown me away personally are;
1. Korg Kronos
2. Moog Minimoog Voyager
3. ModdArt Pianoteq
4. Roland V-Synth
5. Andromeda A6
I'm lucky enough to own 1 and 2. They both still wow me every time I play them.
