NOSD (New Old Synth Day)

[Plenum n Heather]

Changing out the synth library in my home studio; soft synths are OUT. ROMpler synths are IN.

Roland JV-1080 w Orchesta II expansion card + E-mu Classic Keys = plenty of sounds for me!

[gwEm]

Like them Ben.

The 90s ROMpler thing is definitely coming back into vogue. I have a Roland U220 which I am very pleased with and have a couple of cards. The sounds in these units are perfectly produced and sit in the mix very well I think. I say congrats :)

[Plenum n Heather]

Thanks!

I am not familiar w electronic music and am not a keyboard player, so I cannot say whether ROMplers are making a comeback. But after seeing how soft synths costs hundreds of Dollars, it just seemed absurd. I figured I could get a rack of hardware units for less/much less.

The 1080 was a total steal; it's very clean aside from some rack rash, and I got it for $100 at Sam Ash.
The orchestral expansion card was $79 at Rogue Music.
And the Classic Keys was only $160, also at Rogue Music.

[gwEm]

good bargains

i don't think ROMplers are back to being super-trendy or anything yet. but as you point out - they are cheap. i also think some of the units, Rolands ones especially, have their own sound. a few of my electronic producer friends here in London are finding the same thing. a ROMpler doesn't have glory of a Moog or other famous analog synth, or even an FM synth like a DX7. but i do think this is the point in time where we'll be seeing them used more again. some of the preset already have nostalgic overtones.

people are realising the limitations of software synths i think. manufacturers put alot of time and effort into the sounds those ROMplers have in the 90s, usually they are already perfectly processed.

put it this way: i don't think they'll be getting much cheaper from now on.

[Plenum n Heather]

I agree on all points! I think the main reason ROMplers are so affordable now is because the pendulum has swung towards people not wanting the hardware taking up space; they would rather have a portable rig w a Macbook or whatever and a single keyboard. Kind of similar to what is happening in guitar circles w modelers versus valve amps ...

I have  a couple of Dave Smith/Moog analog sound modules already, so I was really looking for sample/emulation more than 'synth' sounds.

[AndyR]

Now that's quite interesting guys...

For some reason, soft-synths haven't grabbed me (well, right at the moment, I don't use a PC for recording/mixing anyway, but I did a while back).

When I was on a PC getting into recording and using keys, I was thinking "why can't you get them boxes and cards stuff? - they sounded much more like I want". I have to admit that I've never bought any "decent" soft-synths, but I always ended up using the midi on my PC to drive the sounds in my outboard keyboards - they seemed to sound loads better, more organic.

Nowadays, I don't even use MIDI for keys/etc, I just track the stuff live and keep the mistakes!!

(Oh, and btw, I'm working on a track at the moment where my amp modellor never even got switched on!!! There's an SM57 in front of a hissing valve amp behind me here :lol:)

[forestcaver]

I've been really getting into electronic music lately and the idea of hardware synths/romplers is quite appealing.... they look cool....
(am loving my NI Maschine though :-) )

[Plenum n Heather]

For sampled instruments, I prefer using a soft synth as an interface, like Kontact.

[forestcaver]

Maybe I'm confused - help! I thought romplers were simply sampled instruments on a ROM.... am I wrong?

[Plenum n Heather]

You are correct but 20 year old samples do not hold a candle to modern sampling methods for certain instruments.

[gwEm]

FWIW my favourite soft synths are all free. Check out Synth 1 for example.

[Plenum n Heather]

FWIW my favourite soft synths are all free. Check out Synth 1 for example.

I have several that I really like, too.

A great example of a soft synth playing samples being superior to a ROMpler synth would be MTron versus ... any other sampled 'tron!

[PhilKing]

I've had a JV2080 for years and really like it.  I have an old Wavestation AD too, which is another great synth.  I can see using them as it takes the strain off of the cpu in your DAW.  MIDI needs a lot less power than sound generation.

[Plenum n Heather]

Didn't know (or remember?) you had a 2080, though it does not surprise me! :)

You are totally right about the processing. Having to mix down the synths and then re-import them as wav's to keep my CPU from catching fire was. Regular occurrence for me, specially with the track count of my current projects ...

[Plenum n Heather]

Just looked up the 2080 ... dunno if I would need 8 expansion cards. Do you have any in yours, Phil? There is one other orchestral expansion card, and the 60s-70s one that I want ... but the 60s-70s one is quite hard to find now.