master synth

[Sheridan]

so I am looking into buying some hardware, mainly a master synth/workstation.
does anyone have any tips or suggestions as to what would be good to get.
good sounds, epandability, efficiency of use, etc.
I dont have a wole lot of money to spend though....

[Triptonizer]

I'm not a big fan of workstations ('all in one' solutions), but as far as good synths go:

if it has to be hardware: Clavia Nord Lead (best sound around, Nord Lead II is reasonably priced nowadays, no effects though), Acces Virus or Waldorf Q-series (due to its design the Q is somewhat more capable of experimental sounds); check out the specs, they all have their strong and weaker points, better still try them out before buying anything.

[octavecat]

agreed - workstations are becoming more and more unnecessary as the home computer studio is becoming cheaper and better. you're better off investing in a nice computer, good audio interface, good controller keyboard (with weighted keys, preferably), fast hard drives, and some good software. then add on external hardware synths as you develop enough of an understanding to know what you need and how it can affect your sound. Workstations made sense when computers for music were only used by computer music programs at universities, but nowadays something like a Triton is just a cheap computer & nice sample library with a keyboard attached to it anyway.

[Sheridan]

yeah I am certainly not looking at anything like a triton. when I said workstation I was reffering a bit to the old K2000 synths. something that has good sounds and some editing features on board but nothing real fancy. I do have a good comp and some programs that I have been using. but I feel like I am really missing out on quality sounds to work with and manipulate. thats why I am looking for a nice master synth to start off with and then later on pick up some rack mount synths to control. I would like a nord, they are real good synths, but I was thinking there might be something else out there that offers other possibilities.
has anyone tried the new nord electro? I saw it at www.sweetwater.com and I was wondering if anyone was using that.

[Kaiten]

Have you seen the Yamaha EX5 (http://www.yamahasynth.com/pro/ex5/index.html)? It has a whole bunch of synthesis techniques + sampling, just like the Kurzweil, and its soundquality is way beyond any softsynth I've ever heard. They're about $800 used nowadays.

[zongkong]

the Nord Electro is an awesome piece of equipment - if I had about 1800 euro just lying around I'd definetely get one.
As for it's use in electronic music - well, I'm pretty damn sure it'd be fun as hell using it, but moneywise it's probably a lot cheaper getting Native Instrument's B4 as well as the Fender Rhodes clone in Logic - because that's what the Nord Electro's got inside itself. A very nice jazzy organ as well as a very very nice electronic piano.

Have you checked out the old Wavestations? Haven't actually tried them out myself, although from what I've heard they are capable of a lot of good sounds, and they're very cheap: the ones I see on a swedish used stuff-site go for between 300-400 euro. It's also possible to expand with waveform cards or something like that.
But like I mentioned earlier, I haven't tried the Wavestation out at all - so don't take my word for it :)
Also, the Nord Modulars are dropping in price as well, they go for about 700-800 euros these days (although I don't know if those are the upgraded versions or not).
Or maybe a Prophet VS? :)

Check out www.vintagesynth.com

[thetonewrecker]

Too many possibilities.. gets a bit mind boggling after awhile.

Lots of older synths (not analog) have crappy D/A convertors and your output sound isn't that great.

Nord Modular stuff is sick and since the prices are coming down, it'd be a very versatile item to look into. I'm saving for one myself. I have a nord lead 2 and it's never failed to keep me smiling.

Do you need the item to be a bit portable, or is it just going to sit in the studio? I'd do a little checking around the states here on sites like www.harmonycentral.com for some deals.