I am copying/pasting this thread from the old forum. Some really good stuff was mentioned and it could be found useful to people besides myself as well.

My original post was as follows:

"Ok, before I get strung up by my nuts for opening up YET ANOTHER thread asking totally redundant shit, allow me to apologize! I know the question has been proposed a thousand times but I'd like to think I am trying to be a little more specific than others past.

I am financially ready (FINALLY) to start buying up all nessessary software and hardware and finally write tracks I have had for some time, thanks to Reason software.

My question is, what specifically should I buy in order to have a nice little basement studio/live setup of my own? (Kind of lame playing stuff from a labtop, you know?) I know there is A TON of stuff out there in all price ranges. I primarily make music influenced from (go figure) Prodigy along with being a HUGE fan of breakbeat.

Basically, I want to over the next two years put together a nice little studio in my basement. With the equiptment, I'd also like the option of hooking it up at friends homes for a little live mixing, if needed. I would rather not be spending 5,000 a keyboard (unless I have to of course). I figure I'll need alot to do it, but some guidance would be tremendously appreciated. I already have Reason and use Acoustica for editing. Again, I don't plan on getting EVERYTHING all at once. Just a little at a time. I literally will be going off these recs and buying up what is recommended!

Thanks ahead of time for all advice."


Iridium replied:

"Buy yourself a Triton."


Oracle Replied:

"Don't buy a Triton it's outdated. Korg already released newer versions of this workstation as it keeps getting remade over and over and over. First it was the Trinity, then it was the Triton, then the Triton Extreme, and now the TR. They are milking it, plus I own one and while it is a good workstation it's just been used too much too often and newer workstations are getting better.

If you're going to get a workstation any time soon. Look into Alesis Fusion. The Roland Fantom and Yamaha Motif have been overused by this point as well. It's almost like hardware manufacturers stopped giving a shit about workstations and focused on synths primarily as the Triton,Fantom,and Motif have been around long enough to survive what used to be 2 generations worth of workstations if not more. Synth wise I can list alot of shit to get but really it's all down to what you like to hear in terms of sounds. Anyone can tell you a synth to get, but whether or not it suits what you want and your style of playing is another story.

I'll think up a good list of stuff to get and keep in mind a decent cost range for you (not looking at the highest, but not looking at the lowest)."


and gave a list of stuff to buy:

Well in terms of Korg sounds let's see...

Korg microKorg - loved by many, including myself. Even Liam loves it, but it is about 4 years old now.

Korg MicroX - This little bad ass is new. Built on the Triton engine it's a pretty wicked synth.

Korg Radias R (Rack Version) - Pricey but very new and top of the line!

Korg ESX - A couple years old but it's a new and improved version of the Korg ES-1 Sampler.

Korg EMX - A couple years old as well and is the new improved version of my Korg EM-1.

Korg MS2000B - Bigger version of the microKorg in short, with a few extra features.

Korg Radias (Keyboard Version) - A couple hundred more than the rack version but still bad ass.

Korg TR - New version of the Triton, a bit milked I think but you may like it.

Korg X50 - Another cool synth that just came out.

and finally...

Korg KARMA - About as old as the Triton but master of all workstations in terms of production power without sampling, other than the Oasys of course which is the KARMA mark II with a hell of alot of balls but an 8k price tag.

Dagger wrote:

"Korg MS-20, except it might be out of your price range. not sure. it's an awesome synth, really phat sound. there's a photo one in the Their Law booklet the microKorg is very good too, heaps of bands use it."

Iridium said back:

Smokey, I advice you to buy slightly outdated used stuff, it's cheaper but still cool.

P.s. I'd say Alesis Andromeda. It's outdated (fuck yeah!) but very cool analog(!) synthesizer. In Moscow it costs around $3000 (new), so it'd be cheaper in your place.


AZZiDo added:

Why not just download the Korg VSTs?

and the last post was a rebuttle from Oracle:

vsts are virtual and sound close but not fully to hardware. they lack the sound and warmth of the original and cannot by any means brought to the same with anything else.

andromeda is iridium's natural choice.. why i dunno. it's a good synth but it's fucking old and out done by almost every synth out today. choosing slightly out dated synths is like choosing slightly out dated genres. the sounds have been used in so many fashions through so many effects you might as well say "hey i'm big beat" . look for new shit if you want the new sound or look for old skool early 90's through 80's synths for the old skool analog sounds.

also here's a few to consider...

Alesis Ion or the micron

Access Virus TI

If you can afford some older hardware...

Roland's stuff is definitely worth the bang for the buck.

Roland TR-808, 909.. TB-303.. Alpha Juno 1.. Juno 106 ... Jupiter 8.. JD990.. JP8000 (for it's supersaw!).. SH-101.. U 220

any other older Access Virus synth

Korg MS-20.. PolySix.. M1.. Prophecy.. Z1.. DW-8000

there's honestly so much out there, it all comes down to your ears and what you like in terms of sound.

Im definately gonna snag a Roland 303. I want something that is capable of sounding overly 1997. That should do the trick.

I got a question to go along with this.....

What order do you recommend I buy this stuff? I will say right off the bat, I will not be buying one of those $2,000 keyboards rights away.

Would the MicroKorg or the newer version of the MicroKorg be the correct first step?

One other thing...

Yes, I am very new to this....

But what are the differences between the EMX/ESX and the ER1/ES1?
I've watched the demos of both and they seem to do pretty much the same thing. I know that if I get the MicroKorg, Im gonna need something to beat match.


Again, thanks for the help.

ok well first off... if you want a 303 you're looking to dish out 1 grand on it. not to mention a midi convertor as this was made before midi.

the differences between the esx and the emx is this.. the esx is a sampler with an effects board on it. i can't remember if they give you preset sounds for it but i know you can save sounds on a memory card.the emx is a drum machine/synth machine, not a sampler. so it only has so many sounds and of those you can use the built in effects to manipulate and mangle if you please. both have a 16 step sequencer.

i own the microkorg, right now there is no newer version of it. there is however a bigger version (ms2000). both are fun to fuck with

microkorgs are sick, i highly reccomend again.

don't get a TB-303. too expensive, and you can get an excellent vst of it in ReBirth. it also has TR-808. TR-909 and TB-606. Four popular rolands in one neat package.

ReBirth is fantastic for making cheesy acid. you can also use it as an input machine with Reason. it has the best software based synthesiser i've heard, contarary to say, the software version of the Korg MS-20 or Polysix where the hardware sounds much better.

Don't get a 303 get a 777 or the revolution.
http://www.future-retro.com/

It's like the 303 on crack. Also get the Virus TI those synths are just freakin amazing.

Bought a korg emx recently, really satisfied with the sound coming out of that little box. Doesn't sound cheap and digital like the roland grooveboxes imo

i think the revolution sounds nice but still nothing is 'the 303'. everything else is only imitated. rebirth is ok for cheese acid but it's too thin.