looking for a new synth on budget

supercluster · Post by **supercluster** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 11:59 pm

Hey, right now my setup is simply an rs7000, and a roland jv1010. My biggest influences in music are people like Brian Eno, Broken Social Scene, Sonic youth, my bloody valentine, aphex twin.... i also like making hip hop beats.

so obviously my collection is pretty limited. I want to get a new synthesizer board.

For a long time i was thinking i would go for a D50 + PG1000 combo, i know the dx7 was used quite a bit by Eno and ive read the d50 sounds similar but easier to program.

I've also looked at Alesis Ion's the past few days. My budget is basically about 550 dollars. I could potentially hold out for a bit longer and save for something a little bit nicer...

What do you all suggest for this sort of price range? is the d-50 still a good idea? are there other good options? ... i also just played a moog lil phatty and the sound was so nice....

thanks in advance.

Post by **tallowwaters** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 12:29 am

well, i dont know about the D-50 sound like a dx7...

but if you have wanted the D-50 then get it. you wont be happy until you do.

Mpresev · Post by **Mpresev** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 1:54 am

when I was shopping at Pawn Shops l.o.l.. there seems to be a D50, S50, D10(i think) in every shop. I have played and checked out the presets on the D50 and I was really going to get it but I held back. A few weeks later I went to another shop and there was an ESQ1 from Ensoniq there.. I was impress because it could make these metallic bell sounds.. I was close to getting the D50 in 94 but decided to go for the ESQ1.

So yeahhh check out the ESQ1 before getting the D50. YOu can get an ESQ1 for 200.00 or maybe less. The velocity feature on ESQ1 is very impressive sounding.. You'll probably like it.

Mpresev · Post by **Mpresev** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 1:56 am

btw have you played or heard an ESQ1 b4?

Mpresev · Post by **Mpresev** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 1:58 am

listen to this.. this is one of the demo

otto · Post by **otto** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 2:03 am

Judging from your likes I think you would be pleased with an Ion. It would also give you a chance to try a knobby synth. If your into software FM8 is a good route to go if your looking for FM synthesis.

supercluster · Post by **supercluster** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 2:15 am

im definently not a software person. thanks for the feedback.

if anyone has any other suggestions for similar synths in that price range id love to hear them also. THANKSSxXXQ!

crystalmsc · Post by **crystalmsc** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 2:06 pm

the D is a nice synth, but I won't view it as an FM replacement and I'd rather go with the DX200 instead.

OriginalJambo · Post by **OriginalJambo** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 6:58 pm

The Roland D-50 and DX7 sound nothing alike for the most part. To be honest, I don't think either would be a good choice for hip hop.

Check 'em both out to make sure they are what you want, but I feel the Ion would be a solid choice and you can get some decent FM sounds out of it too. And if you liked the sound of the Moog LP so much then the Ion can give you the same sorts of sounds - the D-50 and DX7 will struggle with simple analogue tones.

Funny thing is I've owned all these synths at some point.

otto · Post by **otto** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 2:37 am

If your after the moog sound you could get a creamware minimax. A lot of people have hyped them up as being very good sounding VA emulations of moog though I haven't tried one myself. I do have the LP and while it's more than your currently looking to spend I think its worth it. I think you need to identify what you really want though. The DX-7, D-50, Ion, and Moog LP are all over the place. Of them I think the Ion will cover the most ground and does pretty good analogish sound.