not yet. I was at work. it's a pdf. it was 5 megs. work computer shreeked. I was left dissapointed and bored.

pdf is the worst format in the world.

right here's some text which we'll put in this handy new format we've developed yeah. only draw back is you need our program to read it.....oh and the files are needlessly massive....thats alright isn't it?

hello I'm adobe and I'm wank.

shall we do this on msn rather than bore everybody else?...I think so.

*lol*

You guys crack me up!

I think I'll buy one of these when I'll have money after working this summer :

http://www.yamaha-eu...1x_high_jpg.jpg

I wouldn't buy one, they're kinda redundant now that software sequencers have come so far. Plus they don't have a "full" synthesiser section, just tweakable sounds like a Yamaha CS1X and the Roland MC-303.

I'm sure you can find a much better piece of kit for the money (maybe something like a Moog Prodigy or an Octave Kitten)

If you must have the sequencer on board, then a Roland SH-101 has a basic sequencer, as does something like the Yamaha AN200 (that's a VA synth though)

Nice one on the Liquidmix Mippio - it's next on my list of things to buy. Pure sex.

Ben_j, a good one might be the DX200 which is a grovebox-like synth with the yamaha dx7 sounds, I've been waiting for one on ebay.. maybe later I can tell you if it's worth it. Octave Kittens are expensive though, I was eyeing one on ebay the last few days and it went for well over 400, might not be worth it, and keep in mind the chems use a "broken" so you'll only get certain sounds.

Biff I could get you a DX200 for 200€ here in Paris.

I dunno what I'll buy next, I'll see the money I'll get this summer first.

MC-505 kills the rm1x. Just throwing that out there.

yeah, the 505 is really expensive now. Supposed to be great, sequencer might suck though... I had the mc-303 and it was meh, good for drums and that was about it...

505 is the 303 with more sounds and capacity, and a mixer. That's about it. It's pretty crap really unless you're just starting out with music. *ducks*

I've got a DX200, I've always found the sound a bit digital and 'glitchy'. The sounds seem harsh, but when you use the LP filter to try to get control it doesn't seem to help much - it dulls the whole sound too much to get rid of the harshness (I can't stand the filter on it, really)

Yeah, you'd better duck, afro... Read some sonicstate reviews. You'll see that the FIRST THING most people do is distance it from the MC-303 right off the bat. It's actually repeatedly claimed to have the best sequencing action/midi spec of any groovebox style machine out there. It's synth engine is a taken directly from the jv-1080, NUFF SAID, effects are great, and everything is massively editable. Drums are quality too. As most reviews say, it's capable of much more than the presets show you. Get to programming if you're not impressed, because you obviously haven't spent much time with the machine, if I might make such an assertion.

i think most grooveboxes are a waste of time.

i can get better sounds out of my soft synths, and there more flexible. plus i can use my sequencer with my hardware.

(imo) ;)

Yeah, but some of us are rather budget-limited, mr. mips! Unless you're talking pirated soft-synths... Whatever, my comp's too weak to run much and i like things hands-on. Whatever works for you, I suppose, but grooveboxes definitely are usable. Except the MC-303, anyways.

So Chemicalfan, would you say avoid the dx200 or it's good?

'Whatever works for you, I suppose'

word to that maestro.

its ok, big software companies expect you to pirate their soft-synths, then if you ever make any money out of music you buy them - thats the way it works innit ;)

just had a look at the review on vintage synth of the 505 - def looks a lot tidier than the 303. recommends use as a standalone so if thats your bag, dig in with relish.

the only experience i had was with a mc-303 in a live perforamnce thing a few years ago. i didnt really like it much, felt very inflexible. still, those faders and t'ing look alright for use.

can you output each sound individually or is it a master stereo out?

I've been craving an an200 for quite some time. I hear the sequencing is way underpowered, and the drum sounds are quite horrid, which probably also applies to the dx200 but the an has a sweet analog modeling engine.

I've never given FM synthesis much of a try, but you should know what you're getting into before buying one, certainly.

Sonicstate and vse are excellent synth info sites, btw.

http://www.sonicstat...synth/index.cfm

http://www.vintagesynth.com

To mippio: it has 4 individual voice outs. I don't use it stand-alone, I have a kawai k4, korg ea-1, and casio ht-700 along with it.

fm synthesis is a nightmare.

fact.

i just designed a drum machine ensemble in reaktor for college and made the hi-hats/en-harmonic frequency generators out of FM.

its proper geek stuff but you can make good hi hats/bells out of it. because of the generation of harmonics the modulation generates at weird series you can make really metal sounds.

most of it sounds hideous though :D

(generally with fm synths its the pre-sets you go for then work off of those - the only time you change the fundamental generation of the sound is if you change the modulator or the carrier - and if thats lost ya read up a bit on FM before you buy the synth ;))

all in one groove boxes never sound that great to me. I have to admit I've not really liked any of rolands recent products anyway.

my honest opinion is if you're limited on budget, save up your cash and buy a decent laptop and soundcard. maybe a reconditioned lappy and a cheap but decent soundcard?...it's a good starting point

once you've done that you're not limited to what sounds you can generate. there's stacks of free plug-ins out there.

you can use the lappy for audio editing. sequence and generate sounds with soft synths. endless possibilty!

plus you can use a lappy for other stuff. e-mails and internet etc

just my tuppence worth.

Unless you dig IDM and stuff like Autchere, I wouldn't recommend the DX200. Although it RULES at that kind of thing.

I'm sure there is a lot more to the sounds, but I find it hard to come up with more general sounds. Then again, that's what it's about - weird sounds.

Oh, the drums are abysmal, don't even bother. There are about 30 sounds, all of them crap. The sequencer is crap too - it's only a 1 bar sequencer. But you can use another sequencer to drive the sytnh engine so it's all good. It has some nice features like the 'Scene' knob, which fades from one patch to another. Also, it's got 3 knobs for FM control, whereas the DX7 had none!