Now that we can record in renoise I am curios if people here uses hardware synths, and how they feel those compare to vsti’s and sample cds ?, is the days of hardware synthz over now that vst synths are everywhere…
Ive been thinking about getting a monosynth (waldorf pulse) any thoughts on this machine ?
I don’t ever use sample CDs, though I sometimes I use samples left over from competitions like BeatBattle or Soundevotion when the license allows for it. I use hardware synths, effects, and sometimes a sampler. I don’t use VSTis much, mostly because I haven’t found any that I think sound or look good, especially for FM. So, yes, there are still people using hardware synths, and Renoise gets along nicely with them.
I can’t vouch for the Pulse personally but there’s a very recent thread on it at em411: http://www.em411.com/forum/5004/1/144696/w…lse.html#144696
Hey License, I am also mongo at em411, thanx for your puls demo btw. good to see you here…
thanx
Haha! I didn’t notice that it was you who started the thread! Actually you should be thanking Logo and ignatius but looks like you already did 
It’s good to see more em411 peeps using Renoise 
The pulse is fantastic and unique sounding.
Ive never used sample cds and havent yet really got into synth vsti s. I use Reaktor but almost only to make sample based instruments.
Oh i do still use a novation a station. Some quite pulseish sounds come out of that and they re cheap.
Sample cds are travesties. I have bought one in my life and it was a piece of shit, and everything i’ve heard since then from sample cds have been equally shit.
I use a number of hardware synths:
Korg R3
Moog Etherwave theremin
2x Nintendo NES w. midines
I’m not sure if i’m getting any real benefit from the stuff being hardware aside from less CPU use. You might as well go VST for most things, though i still maintain the ratio of piss poor to very good in the VST market is pretty rough. I’m extremely pleased with my R3 for basses, stabs and leads, it’s just a complete monster, but for pads i gravitate towards samples. Apparently i just suck at making pads. I got a Zoom H4 stereo recorder to get ambiences and stuff with, and it’s been amazingly helpful.
The Waldorf Pulse is great - amazing value… My favourite synths are the ones which sound totally unique and usually only do one or two things really well… Pro One’s a great example… Nothing else sounds like it… It’s got so much presense - every time you play a note it’ll sound different… It can easily carry a tune on its own, nothing more than an 808 in the background - like you hear on tonnes of 80s electro and house… Just can’t get that from an Arturia emulation or NI synth…
I think that’s really important these days, now everyone’s putting music out there… Having just one or two real character instruments which carry a tune… When you listen to albums like Tri Repetae, or most Boards of Canada stuff, it often feels like a whole synthetic orchestra playing but most the time it’s just a Juno… Takes vision using an instrument like that, but I don’t think there’s many synths really capable of playing that kind of role…
If your budget and intend allows it, you should have a look at the Waldorf microQ. Instead of a monophonic, it has 25 voices and is 16x multi-timbral. And it has a really good value for money: I have seen it for 369 Eur (new!). I have another Waldorf synth (XT30) and can recommend them.
I think Sample CDs are good when they have single sounds (e.g. drums etc.). Loops of synthesizers or drums are not my cup of tea because they are not flexible relating to modulations etc. at all.
I’ve always been biased against sample dvd’s, something for lazy producers who don’t want to shape and collect their own sounds. This might be true for a lot of filmscorers or whatevr, but in Renoise with patterncommands, instr editor & vst nothing can stop you from creating something unique with them.
I’m more sample based in combination with vst(i), hardly use hardware. I’ve got a large collection multisamples of most classic (analogue) synths anyway that’s more then sufficient for the music I create. I can use the space in my room for other shit + can economize on the electric bill
Thanx for the feedback all. Yesterday I went and bought the pulse and its a lot of fun working with it, hope the fun will last…
use a combo of both tbh
gen rare i ever use a sample unprocessed by myself or ran thru some hardware for warming/distortion etc
but with synths and such some are too damn expensive (or take up too much room in workspace) and can be good for basic waveforms/presets on orig hardware to tweak
but personally would love to have all the synths/drum machines etc i use from sample cds or vst versions
one day i will own a tb303 damn it till then vsts and prophet64.com
I usually make a riff, make several samples with different envelopes
in the softsynth itself and use those to suggest massive synth tweakage.
cheap, cheesy, effective and oh so trackah
Hmm. Sample-Cds are funny sometimes. I like the stuff from Vipzone. But usually I only use the drumsamples from them. Melody-Samples are tricky to use but so lovely oldschool
For sequences and leads I use 2 Moog Little Phatties (analog beats the crap out of everything else), for pads 2 analog modeling synths (Korg MS2000 and Alesis Micron) and sometimes VSTi’s like FreeAlpha/Crystal/Orca.
Besides the above I have a Fender Rhodes Mark 1, and there is NOTHING that comes close to the sound of the original.
I don’t use the sample function much though…
Espacially for sequences it is important for me to get the “live” sound since analog oscillators have the tendency to go slightly out of tune, the warm and vivid sound it creates is priceless and can’t be sampled.