Hey everyone… So I’m starting to realize that my studio is really missing an easy instrument for pads and strings… Or maybe thats just one of the areas i need improvement with my productions i dont know. Anyway, i’m looking for a good synth (soft or hard, but preferably hard) that excels at pad sounds and strings (obviously polyphonic too), that is easy to use. I’ve tried getting good layered pads with the voyager and little phatty, but I usually end up with something so massive its un-useable, or mud and not very pleasing to the ear.
I’ve been eyeballing the Prophet 08 and the Nord Lead/wave, but wanted to see if there were any other solutions out there. The sonic timbre of the evolver is just kinda too out there for me…
I have a Voyager, Little Phatty, a ton of MFs, and Native Instruments soft synths.. Although ever since i started on the hardware thing, i havent been patient enough to sit there with a mouse and tweak a soft synth, so maybe i need a hardware one..
Anyone have any recomendations for a synth, and/or some good resources on how to program good pads and strings?
I know it might sound sacrilegious, but I use a good’ol Korg DW8000 (not a full analog synth but an hybrid with analog filters, VCA, and everything else being digital). Its got 8 voice polyphony, creamy analog filters, a “gulp” digital stereo delay (12 bits). Pads and strings are about the best sounds you can get out of this, and it’s very inexpensive but sounds like a million bucks for those.
You can hear it in action (strings) in this rough demo. The sound of the strings has no outside effects on it, except the internal stereo delay set up as a simili-reverb.
I don’t necessarily agree with the ESQ-1. I have one (actually an SQ80 the deluxe version) and even though its got Curtis filters, it’s not as clean as other synths because of its 8 bits only and rather noisy waveforms. The sound quality of a DW8000 is superior when compared side-by-side. Although when mixed with other instruments, it might not make a big difference after all.
While we’re suggesting digital synths, I’ve always been partial to the sound of a Kurzweil. Even the older ones sound great. They have a nice action as well.
Of course the Alesis Andromeda, with its 16 pure analog voices, won’t have any polyphony problems with really long envelope release times on pads… if you can get your hands on one. And if you can afford it.
Nord and Prophet 08 are indeed good candidates to me.
Kurzwel, for having payed some for years, can soud great. BUT they are a pita to program: far from your knobby synths.
I find the Nord Lead and Little Phatty to go very well together sounwise.
How would you compare the Nord Lead to the Nord Wave? I would idealy like to avoid tons of menu diving, and I like making my own sounds, so knobby synths, or at least easy to program synths, are what im looking for.
I know you are considering some more expensive options.
But if you are mainly interested in pads and strings an option to consider: Alpha Juno and a BCF2000 (faders over knobs for the envelopes in the alpha junos). The Alpha Juno 2 has more keys and velocity.
$200 to $500 for both and you’re good to go.
If you are not looking to move it around a late 70s early 80s paraphonic stringer would be my choice. Though it would obviously be better for strings and have less depth for complex pads.
The Nord Wave has more possibilities in terms of “sample synthesis”, if I dare, while the Lead are more about pure substractive plus a bit of FM/RM. Oh… the Nord Lead 3 is much more powerful than the 2X, with another character (I’ve read so, at least).
The Nord Wave has onboard effects, but is less powerful when it comes to multitimbrality.
You should read their manuals: the Clavia website propose them.
That is crazy. I paid $1,400 new for mine. (final run)
It is a great synth, but when I want lush warm evolving pads, I reach for my Q+.
The A6 is a monster that distorts easily and in many ways. Quite experimental sounding. Great for arps and insane rhythm textures.
Juno 6/60/106. Otherwise there are lots of great string synths from the late 70’s/early 80’s that are absolutely wondrous in the string/pad section (Crumar Orchestrator, Korg Lambda, Moog Opus 3, Yamaha SK15/20/30, ARP Solina, ARP Omni, Roland had a bunch of good ones..). Also, this one is a bit more out there, but I just bought an old Casiotone 405 and use it for really warm strings. I run it through effects (delay, reverb, chorus, and tube overdrive) and get REALLY thick, really complex pads out of it. You don’t even have to spend 1k if you ask me.
http://www.vintagesynth.com has a great tool called “synthfinder” where you just plug in what you’re looking for (price; mono/poly; analog/digital; synthetic/realistic; and so on…) and it turns out several options for you. Great way to find out what it is you’re looking for.
Are you sure about that ? The lowest I’ve seen the A6, and it was the store demo, was $2,400.
Heck, even a Prophet 08 goes for $1,850 (open box demo) at NovaMusik !
Can I ask you where you bought your Andy ?
Anyway, I would have believed that with such high polyphony and real analog oscillators and Moog filters, it would be easy to program lush pads and strings on an A6 … And aren’t there any good sounding preset pads and strings on that machine ?
My Alesis Ion has a few good ones already, and it’s quite easy to program some, even if it’s only a virtual analog synth.
My A6 purchased the day the final run was anounced for release. (at the time I did not know that it would end up being the final run)
I purchased it locally.
There are some good sounding presets on the A6 I would imagine. I am not a preset type of person. I use a memory card for my A6 and start from scratch on everything. (init programs)
Even with my Voyager. I have never ever even heard more than 10 of the presets. I initialize it and go from there. I never have the time for presets. The Old School would have been perfect for me, but that came out years after I had my Performer.
It is possible with the Andromeda, but there are so many ways for it to distort and enter a world of kaoss that sometimes it is a rabbit hole. The synthesizer is hard to tame and turning back is not always an option.
What I have been having fun with lately is using an iPad to sequence the A6.
Maybe I’ll do a demo, but since this is a Moog forum, maybe I sequence the Voyager instead.
