Hi guys im new to the synth world, I play in a band and want to add a little something to the sound i.e. a synth. I had two in mind the Korg ms-2000b, and the alesis ion. I done alot of research on them, but since I don't know alot about synths it's hard to judge, perhaps someone from here can give me a good idea to which is better, or better value for money etc. I love the idea of a vocoder and I know that both of these synths have one and is a big selling point for me, I also like pad like sweeping sounds.

Thanks

If analog emulation is *exactly* what you are after then either would do just fine. To my opinion the Access Virus Classic is a much better sounding VA (Virtual Analog( synth though.

My advice is this. Read as much as you can about the history of synthesis. Google stuf like: Subtractive Analog Synthesis, Modular synthesizers, Bob Moog, Arp, sample, sample playback, sampler, FM synthesis, Additive synthesis, Wavetable synthesis etc. Anything that has to do with synths and sound making. It will help you make your decision.


A lot of people who are new to the world of synthesizers get easily confused because there are so many different kinds of synthesis and so many many many different synthesizers. Some assume that a synth of their choice can do *everything* just because it has lots of knobs on it. Such is not the case. each synth has it's strengths and limitations.

If *purely synthetic* sounds is what you are after you are on the right track. But if you need sounds like pianos, strings, guitars, drums etc you'll need a different kind of synthesizer. The one that works with samples.

If you knew all that that is great. But if you didn't then there's some homework for you.

-ED-

EDIT
.. Forgot about Vocoders. Access synths aren't bad for vocoding but they have an odd limitation. The filters get bypassed when you enable the vocoder. So if you want to vocode a filter sweep with say pink noise (just for fun( or vocode your own voice with some bubbly filtery sound Access stuff is a no-no. Novation Nova has an awesome vocoder though. Best bang for the buck. Or so I say

I wasn't to impressed with the Vocoder on the Ion. Korg MS synths have a decent vocoder but it's not as expressive as the one on Novation Nova/Supernova I.
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[This message has been edited by 3351 (edited 07-13-2006).]

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