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Mutiny in Jonestown
Junior Member
Joined: 10 Jan 2012
Posts: 95
Location: WA State
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 Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2015 5:30 pm Post subject: Current Alternatives to Radias |
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Does anyone know of any hardware synths currently in production that are comparable or superior to our beloved Radias? I'm specifically referring to the Radias subtractive synth engine, the extensive modulation source and destination options, and the amount of controller knobs/buttons available for tweaking.
I've done some research but can't seem to find anything that matches my Radias.
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Current: Motif XF7, Prophet 12 Module, MS20 Desktop, SQ-1, Radias, MS2000R, Emu Proteus 1000, Roland System1-m
Past: Moog Taurus Bass Pedals, Yamaha CP-20, DX-100, SY22, Hammond M2, Hohner D6 Clavinet, SCI Pro-One, Crumar Trilogy, Cat Octave, Roland JX-3P, D50, D20, D70, S10, AlphaJuno1, V-Synth, JD800, JP8000, C-80 Digital Harpsichord, Ensoniq Fizmo, Nord Modular, Waldorf Q, DSI PolyEvolver, Emu Vintage Keys, Crumar Trilogy |
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Bald Eagle
Platinum Member
Joined: 25 Jan 2009
Posts: 2278
Location: Long Island, NY
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| Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2015 7:13 pm Post subject: |
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| If you want knobs and mod routing look at the Prophet 12. |
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X-Trade
Moderator
Joined: 14 Feb 2006
Posts: 6494
Location: Leeds, UK
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| Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2015 2:37 am Post subject: |
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I'm finding Novation's synths quite similar. I have a mininova right now and it seems to stand up features wise. However the sound leaves something to be desired... a bit flat and plastic somehow. I was able to get the Radias to sound both spacious and warm, that's quite an achievement.
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Current Gear: Kronos 61, RADIAS-R, Volca Bass, ESX-1, microKorg, MS2000B, R3, Kaossilator Pro +, MiniKP, AX3000B, nanoKontrol, nanoPad MK II,
Other Mfgrs: Moog Sub37, Roland Boutique JX03, Novation MiniNova, Akai APC40, MOTU MIDI TimePiece 2, ART Pro VLA, Focusrite Saffire Pro 40.
Past Gear: Korg Karma, TR61, Poly800, EA-1, ER-1, ES-1, Kawai K1, Novation ReMote37SL, Boss GT-6B
Software: NI Komplete 10 Ultimate, Arturia V Collection, Ableton Live 9. Apple OSX El Capitan on 15" MacBook Pro |
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Synthoid
Platinum Member
Joined: 17 Mar 2003
Posts: 3300
Location: PA, USA
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| Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2015 8:38 pm Post subject: |
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| X-Trade wrote: | | I was able to get the Radias to sound both spacious and warm, that's quite an achievement. |
A very under-appreciated synth. I'm very happy with mine. It offers a lot of bang for the buck.
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M3, Triton Classic, Radias, Motif XS, Alesis Ion |
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Mutiny in Jonestown
Junior Member
Joined: 10 Jan 2012
Posts: 95
Location: WA State
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| Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2015 6:15 pm Post subject: |
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Well, I spent a few days doing some research and my results were incredibly surprising. I checked out every current hardware poly synth available at online retailers like musician's friend/sweetwater/big city music/etc and youtube videos. The only synths I could find that beat the Radias in terms of modulation matrix slots and source/destination options were the Dave Smith Instruments Prophet 12 and the Arturia Origin.
Both retail new for about $3000 but I won't be buying either one. Why?
I checked out the Origin forum and found a lot of unhappy people. My impression was that the Origin is buggy and that Arturia has somewhat abandoned it to focus on their real focus, softsynths. This was seriously disappointing as I loved the idea of being able to grab various modules and randomly throw them together and modulate them. It was very reminiscent of the Nord Modular (which I owned in the late 90's) but a totally hardware solution. If any Origin keyboard owners are out there and my impressions are totally off base, please speak up! I want to hear if I'm wrong
As far as the Prophet 12 goes...it's a simple matter of not liking the raw sound of the digital oscillators. This was really disappointing because the modulation options are mind blowing but if I don't like the raw sound of the tone generators (the foundation of any patch), I'm not going to be happy with the house that's built upon them. Now if the Prophet 12 had the oscillators of the Prophet 08, or if the Prophet 08 had the modulation options of the Prophet 12 I'd be ready to pull the trigger. Once again, if any Prophet 08 or 12 owners would like to tell me why I'm all wet, please chime in
Bottom line, barring some new info from current owners of these 2 synths, I'll be continuing to treasure my Radias as an irreplaceable tool in my sonic arsenal and maybe sometime in the future will be able to find something that surpasses it.
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Current: Motif XF7, Prophet 12 Module, MS20 Desktop, SQ-1, Radias, MS2000R, Emu Proteus 1000, Roland System1-m
Past: Moog Taurus Bass Pedals, Yamaha CP-20, DX-100, SY22, Hammond M2, Hohner D6 Clavinet, SCI Pro-One, Crumar Trilogy, Cat Octave, Roland JX-3P, D50, D20, D70, S10, AlphaJuno1, V-Synth, JD800, JP8000, C-80 Digital Harpsichord, Ensoniq Fizmo, Nord Modular, Waldorf Q, DSI PolyEvolver, Emu Vintage Keys, Crumar Trilogy |
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Bald Eagle
Platinum Member
Joined: 25 Jan 2009
Posts: 2278
Location: Long Island, NY
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| Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2015 7:07 pm Post subject: |
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I have a Prophet 12 and like the sound. While there are many others who like the way it sounds there are also many who don't like it. Some say that it's to thin or digital. Well, its a hybrid with digital oscillators so that's not surprising.
Not an exact quote but DSI has said that the raw oscillators are on the "thin" side to allow for more robust sound sculpting and I tend to agree with that.
So with sufficient tweaking you can get more of a fat analog sound if that's what you are looking for. There have been many discussions and some good examples posted over at dsiforum.com.
The one big thing missing from the P12 that annoys me is the lack of a step sequencer. Other than that I'm pleased. |
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Mutiny in Jonestown
Junior Member
Joined: 10 Jan 2012
Posts: 95
Location: WA State
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| Posted: Sun Feb 08, 2015 9:23 pm Post subject: |
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Did a ton of research and just ordered something very cool. It was just released by Korg about a week ago at Winter NAMM. It's a desktop module analog MS-20 with analog SQ-1 sequencer. It's not a poly-synth (of course) but I think it will play very nicely with my Radias and MS2000R. According to the press release only 300 were made for US distribution and I got one!
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Current: Motif XF7, Prophet 12 Module, MS20 Desktop, SQ-1, Radias, MS2000R, Emu Proteus 1000, Roland System1-m
Past: Moog Taurus Bass Pedals, Yamaha CP-20, DX-100, SY22, Hammond M2, Hohner D6 Clavinet, SCI Pro-One, Crumar Trilogy, Cat Octave, Roland JX-3P, D50, D20, D70, S10, AlphaJuno1, V-Synth, JD800, JP8000, C-80 Digital Harpsichord, Ensoniq Fizmo, Nord Modular, Waldorf Q, DSI PolyEvolver, Emu Vintage Keys, Crumar Trilogy |
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gjvti
Senior Member
Joined: 13 Jan 2009
Posts: 327
Location: Riga, Latvia
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| Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2015 10:55 am Post subject: |
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| Mutiny in Jonestown wrote: | Well, I spent a few days doing some research and my results were incredibly surprising. I checked out every current hardware poly synth available at online retailers like musician's friend/sweetwater/big city music/etc and youtube videos. The only synths I could find that beat the Radias in terms of modulation matrix slots and source/destination options were the Dave Smith Instruments Prophet 12 and the Arturia Origin.
Both retail new for about $3000 but I won't be buying either one. Why?
..... |
Perhaps you can check also Radical Technologies Spectralis - not cheep either and not the easiest to use, but sounds nice. In my opinion Access Virus TI and Waldorf Blofeld are also comparable multitimbral VA synths, both have advanced modulation matrices, but both don't have integrated sequencing and are limited on providing complete play-along drum track. If you don't need multitimbrality then I think there are quite a lot of options including already mentioned Novation synths. |
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acemonvw
Full Member
Joined: 23 Feb 2011
Posts: 125
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| Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2015 11:42 pm Post subject: What about the Accelerator? |
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| Quote: | | Perhaps you can check also Radical Technologies Spectralis - not cheep either and not the easiest to use, but sounds nice. In my opinion Access Virus TI and Waldorf Blofeld are also comparable multitimbral VA synths, both have advanced modulation matrices, but both don't have integrated sequencing and are limited on providing complete play-along drum track. If you don't need multitimbrality then I think there are quite a lot of options including already mentioned Novation synths. |
The spectralis is amazing, but totally unlike the Radias (I own both and have written a quickstart guide and made lots of tutorials on the spectralis). The spectralis has two synth engines in it, one for sampling (the Dsynth) and the hybrid synth (Asynth). The Asynth uses digital oscillators that can be routed through analog filters (24db LP and a 12db MM filter). It uses 4 oscillators, which can be independently sequenced (up to 3 different sequences). The Dsynth, can sound nice, but there isn't anything that special with it, it's good for pads, but there isn't really a mod matrix in the Spectralis.
You might want to check out the Radikal Technologies Accelerator. It has a huge mod matrix, an amazing FX section, and has (stock) 2 step sequencers (up to 32 steps, each have independent lengths). To me, it's pretty similar to the Radias, though it sounds a lot better. However, it's not very knobby, if you need that. It uses a matrix for editing, which I don't have a problem with, but if that was a requirement, you might!
Comparison of Accelerator to Radias:
1) ACC has less notes originally at 8 polyphony between 2 parts (expanded with 2 expansions, it can have more).
2) ACC has more notes when fully expanded at 32 notes between 8 parts.
3) ACC has a far better sounding effects, but less FX to choose from.
4) ACC has less knobs (16 vs 40)
5) ACC is harder to navigate
6) ACC has a more extensive Mod matrix (32 sources and targets)
7) ACC has 3 LFOs vs Radias at 2 LFOs
 ACC lacks drum samples
9) Different synth engines, both 100% digital, Radias has sampled sounds
10) ACC uses Time linearity modulation (TLM) which is PWM for all waveforms that can be moved dynamically.
... I'm sure there's more, but that's what I've got for now.
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Radikal Technologies Spectralis II, Korg Radias, Access Virus TI polar, Roland MC-303, Korg EMX, Maschine |
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rukaav
Joined: 03 Dec 2010
Posts: 36
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| Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2015 8:27 am Post subject: |
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| why nobody tells about virus? i've got both: radias and virus (b). i can't say that one os the alternative to the other, but still they both have: powerful sound, 24 voices of polyphony, osc modulations, easy tweeking from front panel, effects, modmatrix, arp, and so on. all classical functions of subtractive synth + some interesting bonuses. viruses a, b and c sound different, ti is said to sound like c. so you have a choice not only in functions, but in sound as well. the price is much cheaper than $3000 for new ti, and under $1000 for a used a, b or c. |
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SanderXpander
Platinum Member
Joined: 29 Jul 2011
Posts: 7860
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| Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2015 10:29 am Post subject: |
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A Virus would also be my very first guess. I'm sure there are certain things the Radias does that the Virus doesn't (or doesn't do as well) but the same can be said of the opposite.
That said, I don't really get the motivation for this question if you already have a Radias. Why would you be replacing it? |
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Mutiny in Jonestown
Junior Member
Joined: 10 Jan 2012
Posts: 95
Location: WA State
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| Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2015 3:37 pm Post subject: |
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| SanderXpander wrote: |
That said, I don't really get the motivation for this question if you already have a Radias. Why would you be replacing it? |
Just curious since the Radias has been out of production for a few years if something else has stepped up in the "hardware-tons-of-buttons-and-knobs-subtractive-synth-extensive-mod-section" category. Always wondering if one of my out-of-production superstar synths gets damaged/stolen what I would do to replace it
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Current: Motif XF7, Prophet 12 Module, MS20 Desktop, SQ-1, Radias, MS2000R, Emu Proteus 1000, Roland System1-m
Past: Moog Taurus Bass Pedals, Yamaha CP-20, DX-100, SY22, Hammond M2, Hohner D6 Clavinet, SCI Pro-One, Crumar Trilogy, Cat Octave, Roland JX-3P, D50, D20, D70, S10, AlphaJuno1, V-Synth, JD800, JP8000, C-80 Digital Harpsichord, Ensoniq Fizmo, Nord Modular, Waldorf Q, DSI PolyEvolver, Emu Vintage Keys, Crumar Trilogy |
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eowyn
Junior Member
Joined: 04 Mar 2011
Posts: 67
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| Posted: Wed Jun 10, 2015 8:02 pm Post subject: |
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| How about Roland's System 1m? it has got similar flashy lights |
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eowyn
Junior Member
Joined: 04 Mar 2011
Posts: 67
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| Posted: Wed Jun 10, 2015 8:03 pm Post subject: |
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| How about Roland's System 1m? it has got similar flashy lights |
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eowyn
Junior Member
Joined: 04 Mar 2011
Posts: 67
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| Posted: Wed Jun 10, 2015 8:04 pm Post subject: |
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| How about Roland's System 1m? it has got similar flashy lights |
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