Forum for all other samplers & synths such as Maschine, MVs, Akai S & Z series, Roland, Korg, OP-1, analog synths etc.
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By Lazy Ray Sun Sep 02, 2018 6:17 pm
Ok, I guess I'ma buy the ASR10 soon or late.

Not to be a fanboy, but saw Evidence still has an ASR in his lab, hehe:

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By saltmcgault Sun Sep 02, 2018 8:34 pm
tapedeck wrote:
CharlesRandolph wrote:ASR 10 does a good job, however money wise, it would be better to purchase outboard compressors, eq's, filters, and pre-amps. I find that people buy different pieces of gear, that do the same thing. Instead of getting gear that will compliment and enhance their workflow.

thats true and thats good you have your way of doing it, but the actual sampler itself can do a lot more than an eq / pre / filter in some aspects. especially old ones when the tech wasn't as clean as it is today.

aliasing, retuning algorithms, converters, workflow...all these things add up to a particular sound, and its not always as simple as adding an effect on top.

i could never make an mpc sound like my 13-bit eps through outboard fx alone.
i can't make an mpc pitch a sample the same way an emu does.

to use your same example, if i want a roast beef sandwich instead of turkey, no amount of mayonaise or lettuce is ever going to make that turkey into roast beef. :mrgreen:


haha you have a point.
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By Lazy Ray Mon Sep 03, 2018 10:05 am
CharlesRandolph wrote:
Lazy Ray wrote:Interesting thoughts. Is the outboard gear (compressor, eq) so much better than using plugins in your DAW?


I would not say better, but different. They work without having your computer on and they work with your computer on. If you buy the pieces that are manufactured well, you can really push them. They also become a main stay in your personal studio, because you can run any sound though them and benefit right away. Guitar, Drums, Pianos, Synth, Voice, Doorbells, you name it. :lol:

If you don't have crazy budget and space, I would start with 500 Series pieces and slow build your lunch box. Like this one here the API 500-8B 8-Channel 500. You can put 8 different pieces in it.

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Now a days people glorify the gear and forget who the person is behind the gear. That's why SP1200 are on sale and unsold for 5000 dollars on ebay. It's all hype. If we can't make dope music with mpc2000xl. We are not going to make dope music with ASR-10, Logic, and so on.

I've had the EPS, ASR 10, ASR 88, ASR X (Red and Black), most of them are gone but my outboard gear is still here. Keyboards and samplers are wonderful pieces and we can do many things with them. But learning how to engineer, record, and make your music sound good, is the key to long term success in this industry.

Also our knowledge with outboard gear, can open up other doors. People are always looking for great engineers who know what they are doing. However they are not always looking for a person who can freak an ASR 10.

If you have your heart set on an ASR-10, I suggest you buy the best one you can, that is fully maxed out. Because the last thing you want, is to have to repair them. I like gear but I rather spend my time making music and not becoming a repair tech. :lol: This is a good place for replacement parts: https://syntaur.com/asr_parts.html

And like @tapedeck said: "An actual sampler itself can do a lot more than an eq / pre / filter in some aspects. Especially old ones when the tech wasn't as clean as it is today."


Space isn't the issue, money is. On a low budget like Kev, hah. Are there some really cheap compressors, eq's, etc that are worth buying? Some Behringer stuff or something.
By CharlesRandolph Mon Sep 03, 2018 12:47 pm
Lazy Ray wrote:Space isn't the issue, money is. On a low budget like Kev, hah. Are there some really cheap compressors, eq's, etc that are worth buying? Some Behringer stuff or something.


That would depend on your budget, however there are lots of 500 Series for under $400 US each. The one's below are single channel, so you need two for stereo. Except for the dbx 560A Pair Compressor/Limiter. The key is trying different ones until you find the chain that brings out the desired sound. Learning any of them will enhance your knowledge for when or if you decided to expand. The thing about gear is, it could be cheap but once it known to be on hit records. The price jumps because everyone wants it.


Compressors
dbx 560A Pair Compressor/Limiter *I've used before
Joemeek meC 500 Compressor
Midas 522
Radial PreComp *I've used before
Lindell Audio 7X 500 *I've used before
Golden Age Project Comp-554 500
Fredenstien Artistic Compressor 500


EQ's
dbx 530 Parametric EQ
Midas 512 Parametric EQ *I've used before
Lindell Audio PEX-500 Passive EQ
Lindell Audio 6X-500 Microphone Preamp & EQ
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By tapedeck Mon Sep 03, 2018 4:07 pm
CharlesRandolph wrote:
Lazy Ray wrote:Space isn't the issue, money is. On a low budget like Kev, hah. Are there some really cheap compressors, eq's, etc that are worth buying? Some Behringer stuff or something.


That would depend on your budget, however there are lots of 500 Series for under $400 US each. The one's below are single channel, so you need two for stereo.

short answer .... no :mrgreen:

get a cheap sampler, get a shitty cassette deck .... tone for daaaays
By CharlesRandolph Mon Sep 03, 2018 4:31 pm
tapedeck wrote:short answer .... no :mrgreen:

get a cheap sampler, get a **** cassette deck .... tone for daaaays


I rather run it through an Empirical Labs Fatso. :mrgreen: :nod:
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By Lazy Ray Tue Sep 04, 2018 9:47 am
CharlesRandolph wrote:
Lazy Ray wrote:Space isn't the issue, money is. On a low budget like Kev, hah. Are there some really cheap compressors, eq's, etc that are worth buying? Some Behringer stuff or something.


That would depend on your budget, however there are lots of 500 Series for under $400 US each. The one's below are single channel, so you need two for stereo. Except for the dbx 560A Pair Compressor/Limiter. The key is trying different ones until you find the chain that brings out the desired sound. Learning any of them will enhance your knowledge for when or if you decided to expand. The thing about gear is, it could be cheap but once it known to be on hit records. The price jumps because everyone wants it.


Compressors
dbx 560A Pair Compressor/Limiter *I've used before
Joemeek meC 500 Compressor
Midas 522
Radial PreComp *I've used before
Lindell Audio 7X 500 *I've used before
Golden Age Project Comp-554 500
Fredenstien Artistic Compressor 500


EQ's
dbx 530 Parametric EQ
Midas 512 Parametric EQ *I've used before
Lindell Audio PEX-500 Passive EQ
Lindell Audio 6X-500 Microphone Preamp & EQ


Thanks for the suggestions, I found https://www.bax-shop.nl/audio-processor ... qgQAvD_BwE

Great to see there are some options on a budget. Do you use the hardware in the whole proces? Or do you use it on the master to thick things up?

Some other hardware that caught my eye:

https://www.bax-shop.nl/equalizer/dbx-215s-equalizer

https://www.bax-shop.nl/audio-processor ... 0-de-esser

https://www.bax-shop.nl/audio-processor ... versterker
By CharlesRandolph Tue Sep 04, 2018 11:59 am
Lazy Ray wrote:
Thanks for the suggestions, I found https://www.bax-shop.nl/audio-processor ... qgQAvD_BwE

Great to see there are some options on a budget. Do you use the hardware in the whole proces? Or do you use it on the master to thick things up?

Some other hardware that caught my eye:

https://www.bax-shop.nl/equalizer/dbx-215s-equalizer

https://www.bax-shop.nl/audio-processor ... 0-de-esser

https://www.bax-shop.nl/audio-processor ... versterker


I have a hybrid work flow and sometime it depends if the sound needs treatment. Many time when you're are working with acoustic instruments, compression helps to beef it up. However when you're working with pre-recorded sample sets and samples from records/cd/tape. You don't need much compression because the audio has already been processed.

The key to quality sampling is to try and capture the best signal. It's not the processors, but it's really comes down to your creative process. Everything from the SP12 to ASR-10 can provide clean results as well as dirty.
It's always easier to dirty up a sound, then to try and make a dirty sound, clean. So I always suggest, get the cleanest sound you can, then mangle it, so it matches the texture you're listening for.

But to mangle it without all the headaches, get the tools that will do the job. Get what you can afford, and slowly move up. Don't let gear lust, consume your lust to create music. That's my motto. :nod:
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By Lazy Ray Tue Sep 04, 2018 1:08 pm
Great advise my man :-)

Since yesterday I've got a MPC Studio and I directly noticed that my 2kxl better blends sounds from different sources than the 'clean' Akai software does.
By golden-era Fri Sep 14, 2018 8:16 am
OP,

I currently own 2 ASR-10s and have messed with them for about 15 years or more. Sounds to me like you like boom-bap and indie hip hop and the ASR is an excellent choice for that.

That said it is quirky. It is a 96 ppqn sampler like MPC2000XL but I would say sequencer isn't as accurate.

So say you lay down some drums you might find your kick off a tad even after quantize or it might add an odd note at the end of your last bar that causes a slight glitch. However, the fix is easy you can manually go in and correct those notes <delete,add, etc.>

It will be a learning curve because it's vintage, but I wouldn't turn mine in for anything and I owned an SP1200 which is great as well. I guess it is something I enjoy about the keys vs pads and the experimentation you get with messing with keys.

But as you mentioned if you make boom bap and sample like old Alchemist or Evidence this could be your one and only machine. I have hundreds of boom bap beats I could share with you made exclusively on the ASR. In addition. ElP, Havoc, ANT, Necro and Blockhead all Enqsoniq heads at some point. Great machines.

Or you more into Kanye or Timbaland or whatever current rap is the ASR can do that too.