Hello guys I intend to buy my first synthetizer this year. I started playing keyboards with organs and pianos but now it's time for me to buy a good synth. I play indie music, lo-fi tunes and so I'm looking for the right one. Second hand of course, from the 80s maybe. I love casio keyboards so I'd like to get one of them. do you know casio cz 3000? it seems cool but not knobs, do I have to program everything? what about korg? Roland? thanks!!!
I have a Casio WK-8000, and it has everything you would wish for. Great sound and huge functionality. At least 600 sounds with 200 different settings on each sound. Transposing function so you and a clarinetist can play from the same book. Can play midifiles from a memory card you put in the keyboard. It is newer than 80-s, but it is perhaps worth a peek.
You might consider looking at: Yamaha MM6 http://www.thomann.de/gb/yamaha_mm6.htm or if you are after more vintage sound http://www.thomann.de/gb/m_audio_venom.htm If you can stretch the budget or find a slightly used one: Roland Juno-Di Korg X-50 Of course, if you want to come to Australia, I will give you my Roland Juno-106, Korg EX800 and Ensoniq ESQ1 The Y-man
I just found this one http://www.vintagesynth.com/korg/delta.php I can get it in my city for 400 euro. But i really can't find instructions. what can you tell me about it? it seems fantastic to me. someone can help with owner manual? thanks again sara
Sara, There's no real "instructions" for those type of keyboards - you just twiddle the knobs until you find a sound you like. The Delta according to the review has no memory - so if you find a setting you like, you need to make a note or take a photo of it. I have to warn you that there are potential maintenance costs involved with older keyboards too - most of my 1980's vintage equipment have ceased some of their operational capacity due to parts failure, internal batteries etc. Have a watch of some of the youtube material on the Delta eg. If you like the Delta, you might like the M-Audio Venom I mentioned above The Y-man
thanks Y_man for your advice, yes I know about problems with vintage equipment. I have plenty of old keyboards. For one of them I was looking for service manual and I found the solution just writing in this forum anyway, looking in the enternet i found the service manual for the Delta. this saturday I'm going to try it. fingers crossed! thanks again
I had a CZ series synth and really liked it, PD synthesis was vastly under rated in my opinion. If you want something very "knobby" as Y-Man suggest the M-Audio Venom would be a starter however, i've never been impressed with their build quality. It is all very dependent on the sounds you're after. Remember a Korg Delta and a CZ series from Casio will never, ever produce a "realistic" sound. If you want something that can emulate real instruments as well as old vintage gear you're going to need to look at spending a bit more. My Kurzweil K2000VP is fantastic at both, it can still convince a lot of "musos" that it's analogue until they're told. **Quick note, I've noticed some Novation stuff going quite cheap on eBay. The KS4/5 maybe something you'd be interested in if you want a "vintage" sound.
Since you clearly are after a vintage synth for indie productions, I would recommend you to take a look at some vintage synth oriented sites like www.vintagesynth.com and http://www.synthzone.com. Depending on what kind of tone you are after you should able to find the most suitable synth for your needs within your budget. Casio, Roland, Korg and Yamaha all have models that might be suitable. Oberheim's and ARP's might do the trick too. Roland Juno series and Korg Poly series synths might be worth to take a look. Junos have pretty simple interface once you get familiar with the basics of analog synthesis. Prophet 5 was also one of the popular synths in the fist half of the 80's. If you include vintage digital synths like Yamaha DX7, you have even more options. If you want to try modern gear instead of Vintage, I think Roland SH-01 Gaia virtual analog could do sounds you might be after and has analog vintage synth like user interface with loads of knobs and sliders and no screen at all. Dave Smith Instrument's have a very impressive line of true analog synths. Mopho being very affordable. It's a monophonic synth, but sounds great. I really can't recommend any single synth over another, because we all have individual needs and preferences. Hope this helps though.
