which mini synth with mpc 500?

beatbully wrote:Yeah a DCO not a VCO?

Yeah, there's VCO's, there's DCO's, and then there's digital oscillators.

Both DCO's and VCO's output analog waveforms. The difference is that the frequency of a DCO is digitally-controlled, so they have more stable tuning than VCO's.

Some of the well-known DCO-based synths are: Roland Junos, Oberheim Matrix, DSI Prophet 08 and Mopho. All these synths are considered true analog since the audio path is all analog, even if some or all of the control signals are digital.

In contrast, a digital oscillator is typically implemented in software. The most common way is by scanning a wavetable at a certain frequency and using interpolation to reduce aliasing. In any case, the output of a digital oscillator is just a discrete sequence of numbers that needs to go through a DAC before you can send it to your speakers. According to the description on the MFB website, the Synth Lite II oscillators fall under this category.

i see.

the manufacturer should have included some sort of low-passing in the circuit then?

it's really annoying.

beatbully wrote:the manufacturer should have included some sort of low-passing in the circuit then?

it's really annoying.

I happen to like the sound of aliasing and sometimes abuse it as an effect, but I agree that it can be annoying when you don't want it there.

Unfortunately, there's little you can do to get rid of it. Digital signals can only represent a limited range of frequencies: up to half the samplerate, which is called the Nyquist frequency. What happens when you get aliasing is that any frequencies that should be above Nyquist, actually bounce back into the lower part of the spectrum and become lower frequencies. These aliased frequencies can be low enough to become part of the main body of the sound, so low-pass filtering doesn't always remove them (without removing those frequencies you want to keep). The only way to remove aliased frequencies is by not producing them.... that is, not producing frequencies above Nyquist before the sampling process (while the signal is still analog). In the case of a digital oscillator, sampling occurs when interpolating the wavetable where the waveform is stored. A good interpolation method (e.g., quadratic or cubic) will reduce aliasing, whereas a not-so-good interpolation method (linear or no interpolation) will not.

My guess is that the CPU or DSP on the Synth Lite II is not too capable (after all, it's a cheap synth), and can only perform a simple interpolation (if any) for the oscillators.

That's the technical babble, but as a musician, I'd simply say that the aliasing is part of the synth's character, and you either like it or not. The Lite's big brother, the MFB Synth II, is supposedly VCO based and should not present any aliasing at all.

yeah. it has. but the problem with that one, is that it drifts in pitch. next to impossible to use live. i guess that's because of the analog vco's. it's okay for a studio-environment where you, like record loops and stuff, and have complete control. but very terrifying live....

no i can't say that i consider the aliasing to be something i'd like to have in the final mix.... but what i have found is that if i lowpass it really steep so high in frequency that it doesn't affect the treble of the sound to much it's okay.

supercool things about the mfb lite though is:
1. no stupid digital editing buttons and menus. every knob is on the panel!
2. has never failed. i guess simple constructions have it's upsides as well.
3. fully midi configurable.

it's a good buy. with a digital delay unit and some reverb you're there to say it at least.

beatbully wrote:supercool things about the mfb lite though is:
1. no stupid digital editing buttons and menus. every knob is on the panel!

Kind of. Check out the manual - there are plenty of important parameters that you need to access via weird combinations of keys (e.g. turn the machine off and on again to get to the second user patch bank!).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8Kiw4ao ... L&index=41



holy shit that video is ILL

logic_user99 wrote:

phono wrote:

beatbully wrote:101 is one hell of a synth.

btw if you guys are looking for basslines. check this is out. one hell of a analog devil.

http://www.ladyada.net/make/x0xb0x/

but only if you're up for some diy!

hehe funny you mention that, i help moderate teh x0x forums, its relativly simple to build if you take time and patience. Most build problems are caused by people rushing or not following the instructions.

I am SERIOUSLY tempted by the ol' x0xb0x! They're showing stock in, too...

afraid its not that simple, the waiting list was over 1300 people at the last count and its 12+ months long

I say MicroKorg, I use a 500 and a microkorg and it works great.
Plus, running both on batteries is pretty fun too.

Really, the Korg DS-10 on the Nintendo DS is a war machine, 2 synth channels and 4 drum synth channels, each one with editable stepsequencer.
1 master effect at a time (delay, chorus, flanger) plus each drum synth can have its own.
Ok, it's not midi, but the MPC is a sampler, make a loop, sample it, add more sounds!

I would normally recommend an analog desk top like the Mopho or evolver , but analog + sand = waste of money .

So in light of your situation I recommend digital ( can't believe I just said that ) plus you will get more polyphony for less money and as you stated you wanted to work on melodies so monophonic is maybe not the way to go sand or no .

Novation XioSynth 25 or X-station or the aforementioned Microkorg
...I'm not a big fan of the micro korg , but it has 4 voices , modern/generic enough presets that would work well for any genre , a vocoder , small and should be easy to clean .

You should be able to find any of these cheap used as they are all mass produced .... especially the microkorg .

BTW : Most music retailers with the exception of musicians friend will wheel and deal so mentioning your situation in an email and naming your price up front may just get you a better deal ; )