I’m considering a VA for going together with the voyager. Now, I’ve noticed that the moog has a very distinct sound so I’m looking something that will blend well with it without many post processing tweaks.
Is there any that you find that particularly blends well with the voyager?
It’ll mainly be used for ambiences/fx. Bass/leads will be taken care by the moog.
Also, any drum machine that blends well with it’s massive bass? jomox? machinedrum?
Any inputs are welcome since this is hard to test in a store.
Hi!
I got some VA’s, and i would recommend the NL3.
or an used Waldorf. My Favourite is the Microwave (which is NOT a VA).
The Nordlead got one of the best Interfaces i ever saw…
To decide between Machinedrum and the Jomox XBase09 or 999 is very easy!
Take both!
This is the same like comparing the Voyager with an Digital Synth.
I have both drummachines (and the MBase01) and love this setup very much. both are fantastic machines and sound great, but both machines are still expencieve…
(also i own the Jomox SunSyn, great analog Polysynth)
I can offer you to buy my XBase09 after i recieved the XBase999
The Waldorf Microwave would be excellent or the Ion. Both are aggressive sounding and can do pads and have arps. I think any VA could do the trick. It depends on what you need. Sometimes it’s nice to have a smooth, delicate digital pad behind an aggessive Moog sound. A Novation could handle that pretty well or a rich-sounding Waldorf Q.
I’m considering a waldorf Q actually, specially because of it’s vast arquitecture and double filters. i like flexibility and modulatioon options in a synth. My fear is that it may sound too digital and won’t blend well with the voyager. My other possibility is an access virus. Any thoughts on this one?
For ambient types of sounds I would look hard at the Nord Lead 3. Alot of peeps say the G2 engine is even better but I just don’t like the computer interface part because you can’t design patches straight from the synth itself. A V-synth is not a bad option either.
Drums…Machinedrum is the way to go. Though I can’t wait to hear that XBase999. I think Stefan is right, gotta have both to wet your percussion needs
I use a Q rack with my Voyager. I find that they complement each other very well. It can sound digital, but what’s wrong with that? I like having synths that have different sound characteristics. The Q can come up with some really smooth pads. Plus the arp and sequencer are useful and the midi can be sent to the Voyager. The Q can also come up with some insane aggressive tones as well. Those two wave tables can really come up with some evolving sounds. I’ve not tried a Virus, but they look pretty good.
Since that’s the case, it’ll need to be a synth with effects, which rules out all the nords other than the g2. Because the g2 is modular it is easily the best VA for ambiences and fx, but this (and the computer interface) is also what puts some people off. Fortunately, of all VAs it is the easiest to test for yourself. Go to http://www.clavia.se/products/nordmodular/demo.htm and you can d/l an almost fully functional g2 demo (it’s monophonic, though) and test it for yourself on your computer. It’ll also give you a good idea of the basic clavia sound (there are plenty of patches for the demo that emulate the nl2 and nl3).
If you don’t like the g2, for whatever reason, I think you you should look for a waldorf synth - either the q or the microwave xt - they sound quite distinct from the moogs and are very good at ambientish sounds.
If you’re not absolutely stuck on a VA, another possibility is one of the evolver range, which are also very capable effects machines…
The g2 can be a very capable drum machine as well.
The editing from the synth itself is pretty fully featured: every parameter can be assigned to a knob. So you can expose as many or as few controls as you want. What you can’t do from the keyboard itself is patching, but then you can’t do that in the nl2 or nl3 either (given that they’re fixed architecture synths).
Along with the Voyager, I use:
Waldorf Q+
Waldorf MicroWave XT
Future Retro 777
Nord Modular G2 Engine
One thing to consider is that you can no longer purchase Waldorf new. I do love their synths though.
The g2 is simply amazing. I would say it is the best digital piece avaible today. I use it as a drum machine very often too. I also has 4 inputs.
I used to own a MonoMachine, and although cool, it just didn’t fit in with what I am doing. It seemed kind of limited to itself. I tried to like it, but it always fell short of my needs.
If you haven’t already dl the demo of the G2 and see if it is what you want.
True. But perhaps some sort of fixed architecture (pre-patched) would have helped which you can over-ride with the G2 editor if need be. I just don’t like being tied to the editor. Reminds me of a patchable softsynth. And if I never gig with it using it only in the studio what would be the advantage of assigning features to the knobs if I can do it all from the editor? I don’t want to be clicking with a mouse here to patch. But you can’t please them all. It’s just not for me.
I use a Waldorf Q, a Nord Lead, and a Virus with my Voyager. I would actually recommend you get a Korg Wavestation for the type of sound you are describing. VA sound digital used with the Voyager. Any of them are good and have a different sound so you can’t go wrong. I’d look into the Wavestation as a strong choice too.
I just found a good deal on a Q rack and went for it. I was undecided between the virus and the Q, but decided to go with the waldorf. Everybody says great things about them so, and teh demos sound good. Not sure how it’ll fit with the saturated tone of the voyager but I’ll see how they fit. The virus on the other hand offered way more possibilities in terms of fx.
