Yet Another "Which Keyboard For Me" Thread

[DefinitelyNotPink]

And if you're so happy with a laptop and a controller then why in hell are you asking about buying a Kronos in the fist place?

Anyway, all I did was offer a suggestion and you jumped down my throat so screw you and I unfollow this thread.

Gary

Sorry, just to clarify (if needed) that I'm trying to work out the pros and cons of VST / Hardware; it seems prudent to ask about both given I know nothing on the subject

I do appreciate your input

 

[DefinitelyNotPink]

The £1k budget is limiting, of course. I'm surprised Kronos was even being considered in that context. maybe you've found a well-priced used one?

Thanks for your input, much appreciated.

On the budget point, I seem to either have mis-searched or missed out on a bargain as I can't find what I saw before!

 

[Biggles]

If you have an iphone or better yet an ipad then as Scott advises there is a lot of synth Apps available, some free some low cost that would get you started way cheaper than a hardware keyboard.

All you would need is a USB port on your keyboard and a Camera Connection adaptor fir your Apple device.

iVCS3 is currently £12.99 on the App Store so way way cheaper than hardware and you can easily build up a collection.

 

[nakeyer]

One more note.. If you have the strong computer (or laptop) with Windows it is much better (IMHO) than to pay for iPad, because the music software for Windows is much more better than for iPad (again IMHO). I don't talk about MAC comps because I'm not familiar with it..
About VSTi vs HardWare synth.. Please connect the speakers to your comp and try to listen this examples

and so on, and so on...
To say about Kontake libraries - I think it is best to emulate the real acoustic instruments..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTaWZJIqcDA&ab_channel=SpitfireAudio
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqc7AI3FT70&ab_channel=SONUSCORE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Fhc8jDHVeQ&ab_channel=muzykujkropkacom
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4zq9VFVo0s&t=184s&ab_channel=SoundsAndGear
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDSRLDD9p8w&t=399s&ab_channel=Cinesamples
Here are not Kontakt libraries

Ample Guitar V3 Upgrade | AGLP Demo & Review

This is the 1st of 6 videos highlighting the new features in Ample Guitar 3.0 upgrade. This is the AGLP (Les Paul) library. It comes with 3 pickups, amp and ...

www.youtube.com

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

www.youtube.com

【Heavier7Strings】Official Demo song, Old Moon

Heavier7Strings is a sampler-based metal-style virtual guitar instrument, with effects rack and MIDI patterns library. This video demonstrates most important...

www.youtube.com

To say about organs..

Best B3 Organ VST Shootout

Shootout video to determine the best B3 Organ VST, AU, or AAX plugin. We compare 11 B3 Organ plugins including:8 Dio Vintage Studio OrganAcousticsamples B5 v...

www.youtube.com

And if you like real organ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dY_omUskA9U&t=841s&ab_channel=PaulFey
with a lot of free sets for different World's known organs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-CvxEBKDYE&ab_channel=DMinorandmore
At last - some show of the Rompler Nexus 3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0XWGnaRJeQ&ab_channel=NIKOLAJOSADCHIJ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4ZgZbW9HrI&t=291s&ab_channel=BartekKrzemiński

So - what to say.. The software synths give you more freedom because there is no need to collect a lot of keyboards at home..
Regards!
Nick.

 

[Biggles]

To add to previous Native Instrument have a free starter park for you to download and try.

It is not exactly user friendly to get going with but its free.

I suggest iPad as it is far easier and often massively cheaper to get going in the synth world. Many are also free so as long as you have the device and a method of connection you can have both iPad and a Laptop sunning the Apps

 

[nakeyer]

Hello! What to say.. All software synths and Sound Libraries I mentioned above runs (except of some Hauptwerk organs) on my old HP Pro Tablet 608 G1 with 4Gb RAM and with Windows 10 which is much cheaper than iPad. And talking about Software synths for Windows.. There are tones of free VSTi in the web.. For example:

The 40 Best Free VST Plugins in 2024

There are tons of free plugins out there, but which ones are actually good? Our fully updated list names all the best ones in each category.

blog.landr.com

500+ Free VST Plugins & Free VST Instruments

Find the best free VST plugins to download.

hiphopmakers.com

The 225 Best Free VST/AU Plugins in the World! (2023) - THR

List of the best Free Synth VST, Orchestral VST, Piano VST, Guitar VST, Bass VST, Drum VST, Modulation VST, Auto-Tune VST and more!

thehomerecordings.com

... and so on... and so on...

 

[Biggles]

Nakeyer

You make it sound so easy, which it is not.

A VST is a Plug In, so what does it plug into, a DAW and zero of them are user friendly, they all have steep learning curves. Or they are part of an App and they run within the App and there is no guarantee that the device is going to be trouble free. Anything Windows related has been and is currently questionable with regard to reliability and performance.

Then again on a PC and especially a Laptop there is latency to consider.

My Asus laptop is rubbish with VST’s and DAW’s and I am certainly not going to spend £1000 on a new laptop to run a DAW when I can use my existing iPad and have no latency.

For the Op’s benefit.

Latency is the time period between pressing a key on your keyboard and the note sounding. On my laptop press a note and wait, there was a discernible time period and I could not remove the latency or lessen it to an acceptable level.

A PC or Mac is the ideal scenario but if you try using yours with the freebies to be sure your PC is up to the task.

 

[nakeyer]

This is the main marketing trick Apple use. How to order users to buy iPads? The best way is to talk tails about no stability of Windows, about huge delay in Windows audio system..
Please take a look on the screenshot of Korg Triton softsynth. It is standalone VSTi with some VSTi Host which is look like the real Korg. No need for user to thing how this VSTi works - he will simply use it as if there is the real Korg on his table. And about the latency... Do you really think somebody's ear will notice such 2.9ms delay???
All synths in iPad more look like a toys in comparing with VSTi in Windows.
I have HP notebook with Risen 5 CPU and 16gb of RAM. Using it I can use about 10 VSTi in CakeWalk simultaneously without any latency and without any stumbling of the sound..
The only one thing - if you occupied with music making - it is better to use external audio card because internal D/A and A/D converter on motherboards are not so good. To say - every modern external audio cards has ASIO drivers for their CPU.
My advice is - install into your comp as much RAM as it is possible, install Windows on your comp, better not newer than 1909 version, turn off all updating of Windows, turn off any antivirus software including Windows defender, connect external Audio card and... enjoy fantastic realistic sounds of millions VSTi with very low latency and stability.
Really I don't remember when I had any problem with my netbook, which has a lot of VSTs (I mentioned above by YouTube examples) and DAW (I prefer CakeWalk)
Kind Regards!

 

[anotherscott]

If you are already comfortable using a DAW (so learning curve isn't much of a factor), then using it to host a plug-in may not be a big deal. But if you are NOT already comfortably using a DAW for other things, Biggles is right, using a DAW just to run plug-ins is going to involve a significant learning curve, forcing you to understand many things that have nothing to do with playing VST instruments from your keyboard. For playing virtual instruments, it is faster and easier to use a hosting app designed for that purpose. You will be able to do much more, with much less effort. If you only need a single sound, you may not need a host at all, since so many VSTs also can run in a stand-alone mode, as do all iOS music apps. That's the simplest thing to do, if you just need the one sound source. For running/coordinating multiple software instruments, hosting options specifically designed for this purpose (i.e. not DAWs) include Mainstage (Mac), Cantabile (PC), Gig Performer (Mac/PC), Camelot Pro (Mac/PC/iOS), Keystage (iOS).

 

[nakeyer]

Sorry - it is my video in Russian from today...

As you can see - there is the VST host - Cantabile (no any DAW!!) and I opened in it 4 (in this case) software synths: D-50 from Roland, Triton from Korg, Dune 3 and Hybrid-3. You can take a look on these synths in Web:

Here is d-50 VST

Here is Triton

Here is Dune 3

Here is Hybrid 3

In my video I DON"T USE any special ASIO drivers or any external audio cards!!
As you can see in Settings of Cantabile - I use STANDARD Windows driver with the latency = 2.9 msec!!! Then one by one I turn ON all 4 synths and as you can here there is NO ANY DELAY between I press the key on the MIDI keyboard and hear sound from all 4 Software Synths!! Sure I can play only 1.. or 2.. or 3.. or 4 synth simultaneously!! Really I didn't make any experiment how many software synth I can play simultaneously And.. yes, Triton has its own graphical interface - no need any other hosts.. But Cantabile is not difficult software - simply open the software synth you have and .. have fun with music!
Somebody told here he couldn't play even only one software synth because of huge delay...

 

[Biggles]

 

[Biggles]

It just works on an iPad, OK quality may be down a bit on a Mac version but hey ho, it works and no drama.

 

[nakeyer]

Summing up our discussion "iPad vs VST" I want to say: if you are happy with your iPad and software synths for iPad - it is great! Also it is great that I am happy with my PC Windows and VST soft synths. I hope that I explained good that there is no problem to use Windows for music.
The one small note - if notebook is heavy for somebody to carry (sure iPad has more light weight) I can recommend to buy something like I have - rather small with very light weight (360g) 8" tablet with Windows - 4Gb RAM, Intel Atom x5-Z8550 (2.40GGhz), 64 bit, 4 Core, S-IPS, 7.86" 2048x1536.
Using it you can carry with you something like that:

 

[nakeyer]

And at the very end - let us send our thanks to the man who invented and constructed the very first synth in the World.
His name was Theremen Leo Sergeevich. Living and working in Petrograde (now Sankt-Petersburg, Russia) in 1920, on the basis of the experimental measuring installation, Leo Thermen was invented by the Thermentine Electrom -music tool, which later made it widely known.
Even now days you can hear "Teremenvox" on the different concerts.
Here Theremen is himself (he died in 1993 in Moscow)

and other concerts now days...

Have a very nice day! Music forever!
Regards!

 

[Viscount]

Some prices on synths mentioned in this thread (in Sweden) - Korg Kross 2: 800euro - Korg Krome EX: 1000euro - Korg Nautilus: 2000euro - Korg Kronos 1: Not available - Korg Kronos 2: 3500euro - Yamaha MODX6: 1500euro (my synth) - all 61 key versions - the price in dollars is the same as Euro right now, The above prices can vary, mostly upwards in different stores.
(sweden is an expensive country) - i myself also have the Roland EA7 arranger, still available for around 1500euro.
Levi in Sweden

+ an Modal Skulpt SE..