what should I buy this weekend?

Maybe it'l be better to jus get 1.....Master that....Master it some more then by the time your hungry 4 a new challenge, either 1 would have dropped in price saving u even more doh!

When I say need/style of production.....I meant interms of ur sound...Is it real musical/instrument based etc...Or u a synthy/lead kinda person.

remember, the roland joints are expandable.......................

yo smoove, u gott any live instruments? if not then u should at least put some thought into it. like a guitar, or trumpet or like trombone or even a bass or a piano, or better yet, DRUMS !!! (really excited bout gettin mine).....u know, lil sumn sum
but i do understand the whole wanting to get a synth.... but a bass REEEAAALLLYYY helped me along my journey

Maybe this will help:

The Roland XV/JV, All E-mu's, Motif, Triton/Trinity are Romplers. That is, they have a sampler architecture with fixed source waveforms. Some even allow you to put your own 'sample waveforms' in them and use the rest of the engine for processing. With a little work there is little of these that I cannot reproduce myself with a single sampler and a few sample CD's. I have even reproduced many of the Emu module's sounds with an Akai sampler and Sample CD's from Emuthemselves.

VA synths are another story. They have usually about three source waveforms (square, saw, triangle). Some have more, I know. A lot of processing power goes into generating these raw waveforms since they are not samples. Even the cheapest Rompler/sampler can delivery 32-64 voices, but the earliest VA's were 4-8 voice. My last VA is 16 voice and that was nearly $3000. Some examples:
JP-8080
Waldorf Q
Novation
Access
Korg MS
and more.

Is there a difference? There can be. One of the tests I use is portamento. Even though a Rompler can use multiple samples across the keyspan to keep a close approximation of the original waveform, portamento will tell the truth. Turn it on and slide a note across the keyboard. A rompler is forced to use the original sample beyond what is considered acceptable to prevent artifacts. It just does not sound right. A VA does not have this problem since it is continually recalculating the waveform as it is being played.

I have owned many romplers, but eventually sold them all after I bought a couple samplers. They just fell out of use since i could accomplish most of the same with the samplers. Even though I have to spend some time setting up up the samples, they will always have the latest and best sounds. Even the oldest sampler can get new sounds.

BRAVO wrote:An s5000 could turn out to be the best module u've ever had....If ya put the work in.

Once again, mike brings the truth.

Think about what you want. It sounds you just want to spend some money on a new piece of gear. I mean c'mon, you must have SOME idea of what you need the gear for?

- What kind of sounds do you want?
- What kind of sounds do you want?
- What kind of sounds do you want?
- What kind of working method are you looking for?
- Do you want something analog, a VA or an S+S synth?
- Do you need a lot of polyphony?
- Do you need a lot of presets/user memories?

Ask yourself these things and you'll narrow your shortlist down to 3 or 4 specific units.

i myself thought about the rack sampler as a module, and will prolly go that route later, but then you gotta find good sample cds for multisamples which can get expensive, but you will always have what YOU want instead of presets that you may not like, tuff decision, all comes down to what are you trying to do

BRAVO wrote:

BRAVO wrote:An s5000 could turn out to be the best module u've ever had....If ya put the work in.

co-sign. **** all the sound mods with pre set sounds. a rack sampler is one of the best investments to pair with the mpc.

I think you're sleepin on reality.
NO MATTER what module you buy and whatever expansion it has
YOU WILL grow tired of it.
Kinda like buying a drum machine with 200 sounds, one day you will be tired of them.
They all have a characteristic sound that you identify to quickly when you are familiar with the unit.
Doesn't matter if it's a Triton, Trinity, JV, Motif......
Expand your samplers, they have character but it varies dependant on how you feed it.
Sampler libraries are the cheapest they have ever been, why ?
Because programs like Translator allow you to convert things like wav and SF to your proprietory format.
The only reason to check out the rack synths is because you are going to sample them into your rack sampler (or key).
With so many people going to the virtual samplers incredible deals can be had.

^^^^
this is true
you can always change your sampler, if you have a rack synth, thats what you have

with a sampler it is quite possible to get sounds from all the modules that you are considering, one way or another

yeah i would def go the sampler route. cause i guarntee that whatever u will get u will prob want to ebay in a few years. The synths are nice though. they are good to have. But shi* like a mo phatt and a proteus or triton rack would get old eventually. If u do have the money though def go with a nice sampler. The akais are my favorite the s5000 and s6000. but there are alot of diff samplers out there that are goin for real cheap. the roland variphrase vp9000, is a very ill sampler with some really ill time strecting and pitch correction. The emu esi 4000 or the higher end emus are cool. yamaha has there rack mounts, the a3000, a4k and a5k. Def look around on ebay.

Yor head must be swollen by now... "Get this....get that" - Lol!

Sampler = If you got the time & patience this could be the route. They have a big appitite so u gotta feed em well

Synth/module = A good option if you jus wanna turn on your sh*t and get down to it. Still requires patience tho...Programming etc

I'd say if you aint got at least one beast (module) in your arsenal, you should get one 1st then perhaps cop a sampler. Im sure most of us got modules to compliment our MPC's 1st for bread & butter (i know I did)

Bravo

copping a module could do you good for now, and you may not have to spend too much, then you could see what you really want in a sampler

a modle will give you instant gratification, and bread and butter sounds, then you can get specific and cop a sampler later

Really comes down to are you trying sculpt some new sounds or are you just after the sounds you are hearing in other songs.
If you go with a module it's like listening to the radio, you may like what you hear but have a limited amount of control.
A sampler is more like making a mixtape, you control what goes on the CD.
If you feel you need something new, you won't be happy until you get something new.
Regardless of whether or not it helps your creative nature.