I have a limited budget ($1500 USD) and I need to buy some gear for 80s kind of synth bass sound, leads and pads.
My alternatives are the following:
(1) DSI Mopho SE + Waldorf Blofeld Desktop
I’ve seen mopho’s demos on youtube and the bass and leads are pretty good and it has knobs for tweaking the all parameters. As for the Blofeld, the programming screen it’s the same, the keyb version only adds keys and mod wheels and cost $1000 USD.
(2) Novation BS II + Waldorf Blofeld Keyboard
My only BUT are the 25 keys of the BS II. It’s a bit annoying for me to play in small keyboards.
Dont know what to do here. Any advice or suggestions?
The AK/A4 can do all 3 of those, and exceptionally well. Pads especially, thanks to the onboard FX. I’ve been making massive pads with just a single A4 voice utilizing both OSCs and both sub OSCs, the chorus, and reverb.
And the sequencer will allow you to do all 3 live, and build the tracks together in realtime.
Hopefully 37 keys isn’t too limiting. I think the onboard sequencer helps make up for the smaller key bed, as it effectively acts as a midi phrase looper for keyboardists.
My only BUT are the 25 keys of the BS II. It’s a bit annoying for me to play in small keyboards.
I think it is a very very very nice combo and should not be more than 1200/1300$ (maybe some money for a drummachine )
The blofeld keyboard is lovely and the BS is very complementary, adding nice analog touch!.
You can setup the blofeld keyboard to pilot the BS.
The AK/A4 can do all 3 of those, and exceptionally well. Pads especially, thanks to the onboard FX. I’ve been making massive pads with just a single A4 voice utilizing both OSCs and both sub OSCs, the chorus, and reverb.
And the sequencer will allow you to do all 3 live, and build the tracks together in realtime.
Hopefully 37 keys isn’t too limiting. I think the onboard sequencer helps make up for the smaller key bed, as it effectively acts as a midi phrase looper for keyboardists.
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Hey AdamJay, thanks for your reply.
I wanted the AK, but the 4 voice polyphony it’s too short for me. I often do 7th and 9th chords.
Well the blofeld is real killer for pads and the keyboard version is awesome with a good feeling on the keys and heavy metallic construction…but if you prefer to save money and pilot it with other keyboard, the desktop version is cool as well.
Bass Station is nice and cheap…but if you want to talk about bass you will have lots of contenders. I am not a moog guy but lots of people enjoy the Minitaur, SlimPhatty…The only thing that I would say is that the Mopho is not the best option IMO (bleeding filter, sub-diving menu…).
if you are after 80’s sound i’m not sure you have the best options there… the blofeld is nice but id recommend the desktop because of price and size… the keyboard feels really good but its not worth the extra space and coin. the sound is pretty, thin and modern, not so 80’s but it can sound analog with some filter drive settings.
the basstation is 90’s sounding, can’t reccomment it really. maybe someone else can? mopho? well, i wouldn’t go there. you could get an 80’s hybrid polysynth (keyboard if you need or rack) for example, akai ax60, juno, jx8p, ensoniq esq1, crumar etc… a blofeld desktop and a moog minitaur all for $1500. a used Analog keys or an A4 and a blofeld?
I’d vote “DSI Mopho SE + Waldorf Blofeld Desktop” just because I have a Tetra and a Blofeld Desktop.
Tetra is hard to program, but you’ll have plenty a knobs to program the Mopho, so that issue is moot.
Blofeld will sometimes bug out if you have multiple complicated instruments playing, but it sounds like you’ll only be utilizing one patch at a time, so you should be fine.
It’s so hard to find the right gear! Well, unless you spend thousands of dollars… I also dont want vintage gear. In my country its almost imposible to find a good service.
AK + Waldorf Blofeld Desktop could be an option…
Dont know if AK can make fat sounding basses. I’m thinking Juno-60 kind of sound… very 80s.
Nord A1 for $1700 USD… I’ve read that it’s very cool but I still think that it sounds like a nice vsti.
Don’t worry about the Basses , there’s enough power to blow your monitors. You’ll have to digg a little deeper than with a Moog or Bass-station but it’s very rewarding. With both filters - the fast ENV’s and all the OScillator sync - and AM - options, endless variations are there to be found. These machines have everything to fine-tune so there’s a lot of control into harmonics what gives you very useful tools to make the Bass fit into your mix. ( The high-pass filter helps if you want to cut some low-freq. )
Vintage - synth sounds are very possible - there’s an Oscillator - drift on/of - Osc. detuning - Pulse-with on all waveforms - 2 LFO’s and nice Sub’s who can sound gritty enough. Adding subtel LFO-modulated Delay or/and Reverb settings can be useful.
Personnaly the first thing I’ve tried when testing this instrument was trying to achieve what I call typical Tangerine Dream kind of slow-airy waves.and it stole my hart. I’ts all a matter of personal taste ofcoarse…
Don’t worry about the Basses , there’s enough power to blow your monitors. You’ll have to digg a little deeper than with a Moog or Bass-station but it’s very rewarding. With both filters - the fast ENV’s and all the OScillator sync - and AM - options, endless variations are there to be found. These machines have everything to fine-tune so there’s a lot of control into harmonics what gives you very useful tools to make the Bass fit into your mix. ( The high-pass filter helps if you want to cut some low-freq. )[/quote]
+1
Once I got my head around how A4’s Filter 1 is the scalpel, and Filter 2 is the calligraphy pen, dialing in basses became very fast and effortless.
Also, those SUB OSCs are just wonderful.
If you’re not interested in the heavier Moog bass sound but still seek something nice and full that can sit well in the mix, AK/A4 has it in spades. It’s just that it is capable of so much else that the bass capabilities aren’t right up in your face from the get-go like a Moog. Fortunately, the sound/kit system is easy to navigate when you need a quick starting point.
I have the Both the Blofeld KB and Mopho Desktop.
I would recommend the Blofeld for Ice cold pads and deep programing.
The Mod matrix is the key to making wild patches and I find the Blofeld excels more in the area of strange sounds than bread and butter stuff like synth bass. But if need be it can cover almost any territory. Adding an analog filter and or nice preamp can help some.
Blofeld Key bed is really nice.
The Mopho Desktop I got super cheap in a trade and have been blown away with what it is capable of. I recommend it for bass and the Arp and Sequencer are super handy as well. The Desktop is pretty brutal to program so get the other models. Also the filter input would be great for using on the Blofeld.
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