dubdisciple

51 minutes ago, Fleer said:

Sorry to say, PC,, but IMO they are. Although I particularly appreciate the Advanced tab, allowing for ADSR tweaking (especially the attack portion of string samples). 

I'm surprised how little info is out regarding differences aside from presets.  I was looking for a way to adjust ADSR in the Intro version and was hoping full version had just that.

Hard to resist at this price.  I can't justify upgrading from 8 to 9 to get a few more synths I will barely use, but the strings seem aimed at guys like me who love lush strings but don't make enough orchestral stuff to justify a dedicated string library

On 7/13/2022 at 3:32 PM, Reid Rosefelt said:

This is a little off topic, but I've never used Arturia synths much.  I enjoy messing around with them, but they never made their way into my finished music. The V Collection appeals to nostalgia for the old days in me.  As do so many products they sell to old fogies like me.

But Pigments!  It's quickly becoming my favorite synth after Omnisphere. I love the presets and I love how easy it is to program.  Pigments is all about the music of 2022.  I've been experimenting wiht EDM and it is very inspiring.   You can put a preset on, pull up a beat and away you go.

 

 

You would be surprised how many younger artists use Arturia.  Hip-Hop and UK Drill artists love it. Also great for modern R&B and Lo-fi. Any genre that has the need for creating retro sounding samples they are better than most.   Omnisphere is still king in the genres I named, but Arturia has a respectable showing.   Not trying to sell you on them, but it might be worth a look. 

I too use Pigments more than the others.  It just works 

12 hours ago, kitekrazy said:

I dont think I have it installed anymore.  I've got some of those Xenos patches for Z3 v1.  They are really loud in v2.

Never noticed that issue.  Maybe I just lowered volume and kept going lol

I still use my old z3ta+ patches from him.  Great sound designer

Retro machines is one of those products that fly under the radar because most of is received it as part of a suite of other NI products.  It has quite a few usable sounds. The DX7 EP preset is perfect for Neo Soul and 90s RnB

How dare the non-believers doubt His Dealness!😂

Crispy tuner for that price is awesome

Their one shots are good. This is more than worth the price if you don't already have a million drum samples

I will be honest and say that I don't understand how to make anything useful with euclidean generators lol

46 minutes ago, Fleer said:

Don’t. Push. Me. Cause. I’m. Close. To. The. Edge

I can't justify it, but i can see a person who is looking to get into mpc style production and liking the idea of working completely without computers biting. I suspect you may be in a similar boat. You likely have multiple controllers, virtual instruments superior to the suite offered and some form of sampler. I have MPC software already and even id I didn't MPC Beats offers the sampler aspect for free.

5 minutes ago, Fleer said:

Compare that to EU pricing, with MPCX at less than €1700 and MPC Key 61 at €1990. 

And that pricing makes sense. You get a keyboard, audio interface and 1000 set of software for 290 euro more

I got it, opened once and have not touched it lol

Considering the MPCX is still highly regarded and costs $3000 with less ability and no keyboard, the price is not as bad. Sample based artists have always had the following traits:

1) Willingness to pay crazy prices ( from the fairlight to the original MPC to the SP1200, all were crazy priced). 

2) Prone to copying whatever big name producers are using. In 90s hip-hop Akai and Emu absolutely owned hip-hop despite there being other options. A few exceptions like RZA used ASR10 but definitely was an exception.  In hip-hop, among hardware users MPC and Maschine dominate when it comes to sampling.  Almost any big name in hip-hop that doesn't use one of those two for sampling is typically using software sampling instead.

18 hours ago, Fleer said:

Still, I don’t get how it stacks up to the Yamaha MODX 6 at $1100. Or the new Fantom-06 for that matter.  Those do much more for almost half the price. 

Again, that's kinda true and not true at the same time. For sample based production both are not very good.  The sequencers on both work in a pinch but anyone used to a DAW will be frustrated. The sampling is even more frustrating.   I don't think their market is synth players looking for a replacement for either of those products. If you need a synth based workstation both are obviously better choices with better sounds and build. This product fills a different niche. It is centered around sampling but has more powerful synth capabilities than the keyboard samplers of the past.  A better comparison price wise is buying either of those products PLUS either a Maschine MK3 or an MPC One or live since the customer this seems to be targeting would likely want the power of a dedicated sampler.  I think people who are primarily keyboard players should take a hard pass.

And for what it's worth, for me personally I can't justify expense for me but i know people that this is perfect for. 

On 6/23/2022 at 9:18 AM, abacab said:

$1,899 at Guitar Center https://www.guitarcenter.com/Akai-Professional/MPC-Key-61-Production-Synthesizer-1500000377153.gc

Cheaper to build a very strong PC and add just add MPC software...

Kinda. The extra software is not included with MPC software. It also has a built in audio interface. With that said, the extra software is good but not great. You are paying for the integration.  Imo this is good for people who:

1) have few vsts

2) lack a controller keyboard

3) really love mpc sequencer and workflow

4) really prefer hardware but want some benefits of computer based production

5) don't already own and MPC One or Live

This is probably not so good for people who have some or all of the following:

1) Own a recent MPC

2) Own a solid keyboard controller

3) have a solid collection of virtual instruments

4) Have no need of a hardware sampler

I think it's best to think of this as a workstation along the lines of a Fantom or Motiff with lesser synth abilities but with arguably better sequencer,accompanying DAW and superior sampling capabilities. Better yet, think of it as a modern ASR10 without the same filters and more plasticky. 

This is actually very good and better than a lot of costlier alternatives

This is as close as one will get to fabfilter eq this cheaply unless you use reaper

It is an awesome synth to have if you are making modern trap, RnB or pop, especially at that price.

1 hour ago, Tim Smith said:

I tended to favor the Arturia route as well. Some things look great on paper or in the spec. However in real life use I simply need certain sounds and Arturia has them custom tied to my controller.

Syntronic is a great bunch of synths too. Since I don't tend to modify my sounds extensively or build custom sounds and since I found something that works for me in Arturia, I seldom reach for anything Syntronik. The sounds in the Arturia collections are plenty amazing. 

I have tried a couple syntronik synths and they sound great to me. I think i would have been happy either way. The fact that i have an arturia controller did make arturia choice easier

2 hours ago, abacab said:

Not so sure about that here. The Arturia presets load for me as fast as the NKS previews do.

I mostly use this feature when actually using maschine, so I have not tried head to head. Will conpare

5 hours ago, abacab said:

I did notice that the presets in Syntronik 2 load faster!

But they could still use a feature like NI has with NKS previews. Indispensable with large sample libraries!

I do like that arturia uses nks. The preview is such a timesaver with so many presets

5 hours ago, Homer Jones said:

Arturia, definitely; you can do lots of tweaking.
Wait…
• Unless you want fuller, richer, more dynamic, more authentic sound… then Syntronik 2.
• Unless you want a consistent and larger, more comprehensive set of effects… then Syntronik 2.
• Unless you want 4 preset/instrument layering; with independent arp/sequencer, full effects, midi control (PB, mod wheel, sustain, aftertouch) filtering, keyboard range, velocity range, and tuning per layer… then Syntronik 2.
• Unless you want a significantly lower price; especially with the current amazing group buy pricing… then Syntronik 2.
• Unless you want sounds from more classic synths… then Syntronik 2.
• Unless you want the choice of 7 filters (including circuit-level models of 4 well-known classics) per instrument preset… then Syntronik 2.
Yeah, otherwise Arturia, especially if you want pianos and organs.

I own and love Arturia, especially Pigments. But when it comes to rich, full, authentic sound, IMHO many of those Syntronik 2 sounds just can't be beat.

Note: The preceding opinion is mine; go get your own! Download the free Syntronik 2 and give it a test. Or, at least go to the Syntronik 2 webpage and listen (on a good set of speakers or headphones) to the audio demos - the overview ones for Syntronik 2 as well as the ones for the individual Syntronik 2 synths. And check out the currenly available (limited time) amazing Group Buy - up to all 33 (currently 24) Syntronik 2 synths for the price of one ($49.99, or about $35 if you have IK Multimedia 'Jam Points'). 

Thanks for the awesome opinion. I ended up going with Arturia. A large part of my decision was disc space. The syntronik approximation of v collection was massive. The group buy is tempting, but it may be overkill at this point

1 hour ago, LittleStudios said:

So what's the point of the 29 forever plan? 

For when you want something that moment instead of waiting for the time you can save $5