midi keyboard before buying RADIAS

[nckorg]

Hi to all. I ve been following discussions etc. Thanks!

Pretty new to synths -- I own one E423 for my daughter

I am into getting a RADIAS, but before jumping into that (spending money and home-area) I thought to follow the following procedure:

1) get a midi keyboard to explore a bit of synths (in computer)

2) later use the midi keyboard for radias

3) buy new (900-1000Euros) or used radias (600Euro?)

So, what do you think about the general strategy of going into synths?

Regarding keyboard, I am leaning towards Novation Impulse 61, which says is splittable to 4 regions and has aftertouch, and some DAW. (Ableton live).

So, some more questions:

a) is a a good keyboard with splittable regions + DAW (Ableton) good to become familiarized with synths? I would like to play electronic patches (one on top of other) + basses, etc

b) Is the keyboard good for radias?
Will I be able to do anything the radias asks (area split, pitch bend)? The buttons on the keyboard will be useless, with RADIAS, right? Aftertouch will be usable with RADIAS? Can one map more midi keys to radias or it doesn't make sense( It has arpeggiator keys).

I cannot spend huge amounts of money in general.

[OpAmp]

Hi,

Phew, a lot Qs.

Not sure where you want to find a new Radias. The thing is phased out since years.

Note that the E423 is not a synth, it is more a keyboard. So you can not really compare.

In general the strategy is fine. As long as you have fun. Just make sure to have a good/fast PC to start with. Note latency (time between the moment you hit a key and the time your PC makes the corresponding sound) may otherwise kill the joy.

Find a VST (soft synth on your PC) which is virtual analog to get a feel of what a Radias can bring. Other types are also fine to play with but be aware that the Radias may not be able to produce such a sound. Glance through the manual of the Radias to get a feel and understanding of the engine it has. You may also download the editor. You can then explore a bit (without sound of course) how and what parameters you may be able to play on a Radias.

Regarding the MIDI keyboard. Yes it is fine for the Radias and exploring soft synths. For the Radias, the faders/knobs are not really necessary, because the radias itself has already a lot of knobs, but it does not hurt. There's always a short of knobs and faders... You may set it up to map more hidden functions that don't have a dedicated knob on the Radias itself. The 4 zones are strictly speaking not needed for the Radias because per timbre the keyzone can be configured. But it can be interesting when buying your second synth or use your PC for usage in parallel with the same MIDI keyboard.

The buttons can probably set up to send a CC value, which e.g. allows to control a parameter of the Radias, but only into 2 states.
Aftertouch is usable as well. But be aware that this needs to be set up per program on the Radias via a virtual patch.

Not clear what you mean by: "Can one map more midi keys to radias". Every key on the MIDI keyboard that can be assigned can be set up to control something on the Radias.

Have fun.

[nckorg]

Thank you for the reply.

I have seen many videos. I think I would like the Radias. Not sure whether I will be able to explore it fully, but that's not bad, it gives me slack to improve.

" Not sure where you want to find a new Radias. The thing is phased out since years.".
-->Well, it seems they sell it still (not sure in what sense exactly this is a new one..)
https://www.artsound.gr/product/korg-ra ... oder-rack/
Regarding used ones, I am bit worried that they might break
https://reverb.com/p/korg-radias

UPDATE: I found a good RADIAS..for 500Euro. Talked to the guy. Its nearly untouched! Would it be possible to connect it to the yamaha 423 and play from there??

Regarding the latency requirements, when practicing VST in S/W. Thank you for bringing this up.
I have mac air i5 (8 GBytes) 2018. Not sure which part of the computer must be super fast to bring the latency down...is it the GPU or the usb?
OK its the sound card, my stupid..Sounded super novice, but when I first installed some VST, the requirement was about the GPU openCL-- you never know what a GPU can do these days. But I might go for a sound-card if I find something cheap.

"Can one map more midi keys to Radias".
--> Sorry for poor phrasing, I meant to ask if you can use the keyboard knobs in the radias... as you already answered.

Good to know that most keyboards will be able to split! The only good thing left for the Radias keyboard is the mounting option, right? But the price is also high. For the same price I get other keyboards that are more flexible..

[OpAmp]

Hello,

The site you refer to for a new Radias is rather funny. It gives these days a 9% discount on the synth, whilst announcing that it is discontinued and there is no "add to cart" button... So I don't think so you can get a new one there.

For the latency. I think it should be fine, it is a rather new Mac that you have there. The latency can be a bit everywhere - USB, CPU power, complexity of the synth engine you are using, number of voices, ... Difficult to say. I'm not an expert here neither, as I only occasionally play around with DAWs and VSTs.

Playing the Radias via the Yamaha E423... In theory yes, but not that straighforward as the Yamaha has no DIN MIDI out connector. That means that you would need to connect both the Yamaha and the Radias using USB to your mac air, get the USB driver for each of them installed and look for some SW to install on top of it, which allows to bridge MIDI notes received from the Yamaha back to the Radias. Your PC is the go between. Not ideal IMHO.

Indeed the Radias keyboard does not add very specific features as such. It is nicely integrated and looks cool, but that's it.

Have fun.