Justifying Expensive Synth Purchases

[pseudonym813]

I'm just wondering, as I am about to purchase another synth, how do you justify buying expensive analog synths when there are tons of great sounding plugins out there that are in many cases way more flexible?

As an example, I was about to get a P08 a couple weeks ago, but I began thinking about how great plugins like NI Komplete have tons more capability and flexibility for a much lower price than a P08. As a poor student, I am not too keen on dropping months of savings onto one synth as opposed to less than half the price on the NI bundle. But I also know that sitting in front of the computer clicking is no where near as inspiring or fun for me as actually turning knobs and pushing buttons.

Any advice?

[cl516]

i'm not sure i have the most appropriate advice for you, but i will say this: do only one or the other. either stick with plugins, or just go for the hardware you want. don't get something that you think might be an ok substitute only to find out you still have to get the other one later. demo demo demo.

[MarcB]

I can see this ending well ...

[duggabax]

What kind of advice are you looking for? Hardware can be expensive, but it also has a certain resale value, especially if you buy used.

As far as justifying expensive synth purchases, well...it's what I love so it's what I spend my money on. Pretty simple.

You gotta think though, that this isn't just a product or a tool you're buying (though it is those), it has to be something that you'll love using and find inspirational. From what you say, "sitting in front of the computer clicking is no where near as inspiring or fun", are you going to do your best work with something not as fun or inspiring? Get what's best for you and accept no substitute.

[boon]

who cares? if you want it and like using it then that's the end of the story.

jesus. wtf is it with these stupid threads.

again.. gearslutz goes from zero to stupid at light speed.

[100th Monkey]

Originally Posted by pseudonym813

But I also know that sitting in front of the computer clicking is no where near as inspiring or fun for me as actually turning knobs and pushing buttons.

Any advice?

My advice is to go with what inspires you.

If you're going down the hardware path you should probably make sure you do some research and identify what you really want before you start buying anything. It'll save you wasting time and money trying to get the sound of a certain synth on the cheap when you could've just saved up a bit longer and bought the real thing.

Also, buy used. You'll usually be able to sell something for pretty much what you paid for it if you end up not liking it.

[Bumply]

Originally Posted by boon

who cares? if you want it and like using it then that's the end of the story.

jesus. wtf is it with these stupid threads.

again.. gearslutz goes from zero to stupid at light speed.

That's harsh. The OP just wants some advice about spending money wisely, and the responses have been far from stupid.

[Space Station]

Originally Posted by pseudonym813

I'm just wondering, as I am about to purchase another synth, how do you justify buying expensive analog synths when there are tons of great sounding plugins?

Because a lot of us don't like the sound or workflow of plugins.

Simple as that.

I myself have never heard a plugin synth I thought was 'great' and I hate working with a mouse, so for me, the decision is easy.

[LiveFromKyoto]

Originally Posted by pseudonym813

I'm just wondering, as I am about to purchase another synth, how do you justify buying expensive analog synths when there are tons of great sounding plugins out there that are in many cases way more flexible?

As an example, I was about to get a P08 a couple weeks ago, but I began thinking about how great plugins like NI Komplete have tons more capability and flexibility for a much lower price than a P08. As a poor student, I am not too keen on dropping months of savings onto one synth as opposed to less than half the price on the NI bundle. But I also know that sitting in front of the computer clicking is no where near as inspiring or fun for me as actually turning knobs and pushing buttons.

Any advice?

You'd get the P08 because it makes sounds softsynths can't, or at least have a very hard time replicating. You'd get it because it is an actual instrument that you can play and presents a tactile interface. You'd get it because the look/shape/size/feel/sound inspires you, or is something you identify with, and you feel presents a unique opportunity for self expression.

But for the most part what you say is the truth, many of these pricey hardware synths don't justify their cost in this day and age. Software has caught up in most areas, hence the rise in esteem of the analog synth as the one thing which is different than a softsynth by nature. Komplete does do a hell of a lot more, and if your setup is lacking something like that, then it's absolutely what you should be getting first.

Getting a hardware synth first really makes little sense these days. It's an accent to a studio, not the whole thing anymore imo. When major performers can go on stage with just a Macbook, Ableton and a MIDI pad controller, the age of the softsynth has dawned.

I will say though, that having a bunch of knobs in front of you gives you a much more immediate response and opens everything up for you, so it is worth it if you feel that your workflow suffers from working entirely on a computer.

[shponglefan]

Originally Posted by boon

again.. gearslutz goes from zero to stupid at light speed.

Irony. You has it.

[Shy]

Originally Posted by pseudonym813

how do you justify buying expensive analog synths when there are tons of great sounding plugins out there that are in many cases way more flexible?

First of all, I don't need to justify anything to you or anyone.

Secondly, you couldn't justify embedding your opinion in the question as if you're stating a fact. It's perfectly fine to simply state an opinion (like "this is the best"), but expecting people to answer that question when you know many don't even agree with that opinion is unjustifiable.

Finally, "expensive" is subjective and depends on perspective, and no software synth can make sounds similar to those my analog synths can do and sound as good as them or in many cases even make them at all.

[Pentachoron]

As a poor student, I am not too keen on dropping months of savings onto one synth as opposed to less than half the price on the NI bundle.

If this is the case, should you really be spending months of savings on anything like a hardware synth or synth software? Do you have in savings, before disposable income, three to six months of emergency funds to fully cover all living expenses, should you lose your job or some other major problems crop up? Would you be using the keyboard or software to actually generate money -- enough to quickly make up what you paid?

[e6400ultra]

Any number of justfications: Used for making a living, have the money to pay for them without neglecting responsibilities, hardware is more fun for you, prefer the sound of hardware, you only live once, etc, etc.

[Estin]

depends on what you want really, i use VST's because hardware can't do what i want. Not to mention for me the work flow is a breeze ITB and latency is a thing of the past.

[cramseur]

Originally Posted by boon

who cares? if you want it and like using it then that's the end of the story.

jesus. wtf is it with these stupid threads.

again.. gearslutz goes from zero to stupid at light speed.

It seems than rather than making people more independent, the access to a bazillion opinions has made people indecisive.
They HAVE to ask everyone they know what they should do, for fear of making a "wrong" choice, or something.

Look, buying a synth may be a big purchase, but not like buying a house.
If you find that you don't like it, sell it, take the loss of a coupla hundred, and chalk it up to experience.

You cannot fail. You're not a bad person if you buy the wrong synth.
It is not a character test.

[paugui]

Originally Posted by pseudonym813

I'm just wondering, as I am about to purchase another synth, how do you justify buying expensive analog synths when there are tons of great sounding plugins out there that are in many cases way more flexible?

As an example, I was about to get a P08 a couple weeks ago, but I began thinking about how great plugins like NI Komplete have tons more capability and flexibility for a much lower price than a P08. As a poor student, I am not too keen on dropping months of savings onto one synth as opposed to less than half the price on the NI bundle. But I also know that sitting in front of the computer clicking is no where near as inspiring or fun for me as actually turning knobs and pushing buttons.

Any advice?

I totally get what you mean.

I am a student myself too (taking my PhD, which fortunately means I am making some money from it) and I can't seem to justify buying really expensive synths either as I don't have a solid income...


So far, I only bought two pieces of gear for which I gave more than 1000 euros, my first synth, a Korg Triton Pro, and a Clavia Nord Modular G2X, both ex-demo products.

Still, I'm quite satisfied with my setup, as I got some really good bargains.

I was able to grab a Korg Trident last year for 335 euros (the seller was selling a JX8p and a DX7 for more than the Trident...) and a Roland MKS-80 rev5 for 600 euros some months later, which I think are really good analog synths (not saying that they are better than the ones that go for really high prices, but it works for me for sure).

And the same for other kinds of musical equipment.


If you don't have a job yet and are worried about the money, my suggestion is that you just try to grab good bargains and don't spend more money on a synth than what you know you can sell it for if you happen to need it for an emergence.

You can always buy more expensive stuff later when you have a solid income and maybe before that, you can pick up some really good deals along the way

And there are some really good synths, that sell regularly for low prices, which can still make you happy

[Mr. Varaldo]

Originally Posted by pseudonym813

As a poor student, I am not too keen on dropping months of savings onto one synth as opposed to less than half the price on the NI bundle. But I also know that sitting in front of the computer clicking is no where near as inspiring or fun for me as actually turning knobs and pushing buttons.

Any advice?

We've all been there. With the difference that when I was a poor student, plugins didn't exist, so the best I could do was to buy a used Casio CZ-1000 at a store.

These days? You answered yourself already... get the NI bundle and a MIDI controller that has plenty of knobs / sliders / buttons.

[clusterchord]

Originally Posted by Shy

Secondly, you couldn't justify embedding your opinion in the question as if you're stating a fact. It's perfectly fine to simply state an opinion (like "this is the best"), but expecting people to answer that question when you know many don't even agree with that opinion is unjustifiable.

i agree. this is bordering trollish.

Originally Posted by Shy

Finally, "expensive" is subjective and depends on perspective, and no software synth can make sounds similar to those my analog synths can do and sound as good as them or in many cases even make them at all.

yep. in most cases.


i do use some vsti but never for emulation. bit only those with its own character, that bring something fresh to the sonic palette.

but Complete aint a bad start for someone startng out, who much budget, as it covers a lot of ground. down the road you get other things .. no hurry.

[shponglefan]

Originally Posted by pseudonym813

I'm just wondering, as I am about to purchase another synth, how do you justify buying expensive analog synths when there are tons of great sounding plugins out there that are in many cases way more flexible?

Simple: I use it in the music I create. There is no other justification needed.

[karma harvester]

Please dont take this as rude, as I dont mean it to be elitist or anything. But if you have to ask that question, hardware is not right for you, yet....

You may grow into appreciating its nuances which software cannot capture.

cheers,

rich

Originally Posted by pseudonym813

I'm just wondering, as I am about to purchase another synth, how do you justify buying expensive analog synths when there are tons of great sounding plugins out there that are in many cases way more flexible?

As an example, I was about to get a P08 a couple weeks ago, but I began thinking about how great plugins like NI Komplete have tons more capability and flexibility for a much lower price than a P08. As a poor student, I am not too keen on dropping months of savings onto one synth as opposed to less than half the price on the NI bundle. But I also know that sitting in front of the computer clicking is no where near as inspiring or fun for me as actually turning knobs and pushing buttons.

Any advice?

[Xero]

clearly this will all end in you buying numerous things, only to be unhappy time and time again, then finally you'll go and buy that jupiter 8/cs-80/synthex/someotherabsurdlyexpensivesynth and you'll be happy forever

and then you'll want the next thing.

better start saving now

[natrixgli]

Originally Posted by pseudonym813

Any advice?

- Save as much money as you can. Get a cheap synth that you can satisfy your knob twiddling desires on (Korg Electribe, etc) and stick to the software for now. You'll have plenty of time later on once you're out of school to blow your earnings on gear when it's much easier to replace that money once it's gone.

- Don't buy new, buy used so that you don't get killed on depreciation if you get into a bind and need to sell. Something inexpensive would cure your GAS temporarily and if you get bored with it, sample the crap out of it and trade or sell it.

- Avoid stuff with deep menu driven interfaces and limited knobs as they won't be any less limiting than mapping a control surface to a plugin.

There's some good stuff out there that can be had cheap - small analog boxes such as MFB Synth Lite or VA stuff such as MS-2000, ION, Virus A, etc ought to give you some away-from-the-computer quality noodling time.

The problem is that once you get one piece it's easy to get hooked. And once you have two pieces, then you need a mixer, better sound interface, outboard gear, a rack, etc. Not a good situation for a student!

[pseudonym813]

@Shy and clusterchord

I wasn't meaning to state my opinion as a fact. I am very aware that many people don't agree with what I said and I know that there are many exceptions. I was just asking a question.

Anyway, thanks for all the advice.

[qtuner]

You only live once, and you could get hit by a bus or have an aneurism tomorrow. However, this not an excuse to spend money frivolously. If you go hardware, buy used and be patient for a good deal.

[alexstringer]

Originally Posted by pseudonym813

I'm just wondering, as I am about to purchase another synth, how do you justify buying expensive analog synths when there are tons of great sounding plugins out there that are in many cases way more flexible?

I hear you... For many years, i was spending all my money on synths and very little on processing. 15 years later i finally understood that processing was of a major importance to get your tracks to sound like a record so after i got the few synths that i really wanted, i started to spend heavy $ on serious outboard and Converters and stopped buying synths. Now trust me, i realize that's the best decision i ever made. Running the Arp Odyssey plug in or the Jp8 plug in through Prism sound conversion>H8000> Neve 1081>Pultec eq makes it sound nothing shy of using a real JP8 for instance. Using VST synths is great if you have at least a good computer & good converters ...Nothing stops you from using vintage analog FX to process your vst synths to give it a lil' edge too... I do that sometimes with a Roland SBF325 or Ams 2:20...Sounds freaking great!

[scottrod]

You can feel and truly interact with synthesizers when playing them.

They're warm and smell good when they're ready to go. IYKWIM.

Software synths are synth porn.

Hardware synths are the real thing.

[Teknobeam]

Originally Posted by pseudonym813

I'm just wondering, as I am about to purchase another synth, how do you justify buying expensive analog synths when there are tons of great sounding plugins out there that are in many cases way more flexible?

As an example, I was about to get a P08 a couple weeks ago, but I began thinking about how great plugins like NI Komplete have tons more capability and flexibility for a much lower price than a P08. As a poor student, I am not too keen on dropping months of savings onto one synth as opposed to less than half the price on the NI bundle. But I also know that sitting in front of the computer clicking is no where near as inspiring or fun for me as actually turning knobs and pushing buttons.

Any advice?

I think you answered your own question. Go for the P08. If you were wrong then you can always throw it back into the sea and get most if not all of your money back.

[clusterchord]

Originally Posted by pseudonym813

@Shy and clusterchord

I wasn't meaning to state my opinion as a fact. I am very aware that many people don't agree with what I said and I know that there are many exceptions. I was just asking a question.

Anyway, thanks for all the advice.

sorry maybe i overreacted a tad..

so as others have said, if you're not sure about these things, ... take your time. use what you can when you can. once you get deeper into it, you will begin to appreciate the difference more n more. maybe it will be applicable to your music and aesthetic at that point in time, maybe it won't.

in any case you gotta try things out... numero uno reason behind many ppl coming with ideas that a software can replicate something just about perfect is... inexperience, and i don't mean like, in general, but with the original analog machines that are allegedly "perfectly" emulated. its a wide spread diesease and theres not cure. were phuked

ok but seriously, if i don't have a great sound to begin with, things like "flexibility" and "capability" mean very little.

[droolmaster0]

Well, so, you're asking us to decide for you what's more important to YOU - being inspired, or having lots of stuff?

This is something that you have to decide for yourself.

As a reaction to yet another silly thread:
The p08 sounds pretty godammn awful. If that's the choice, go with the plugins.

Originally Posted by pseudonym813

I'm just wondering, as I am about to purchase another synth, how do you justify buying expensive analog synths when there are tons of great sounding plugins out there that are in many cases way more flexible?

As an example, I was about to get a P08 a couple weeks ago, but I began thinking about how great plugins like NI Komplete have tons more capability and flexibility for a much lower price than a P08. As a poor student, I am not too keen on dropping months of savings onto one synth as opposed to less than half the price on the NI bundle. But I also know that sitting in front of the computer clicking is no where near as inspiring or fun for me as actually turning knobs and pushing buttons.

Any advice?

[shponglefan]

Originally Posted by droolmaster0

The p08 sounds pretty godammn awesome.

Fixed.