We are the music makers - producers?

I do think it makes a difference with some synth patches but I'm not about to pick it as a hill to die on.

This is also my opinion, but I'm also not going to go to war over it.

For playback, no difference whatsoever. But IMO some softsynths struggle with things like high resonance (sine waves) at higher frequencies and it introduces aliasing at 44.1 that isn't there at 96.

Just to clarify, the latest version of Ableton seems a bit more stable running Analog Lab at 96k 2048 buffer using about 40% cpu without any CPU overload. So maybe the latest versions of both software are become more stable/efficient on the M1 platform.

That's just with limited time spent experimenting though.

I'm using Reaper on a T450. Current trimmed down setup experiment is:

• MPC 1000
  
• MS-20
  
• 18i20
  
• DD-500
  
• Eventide Space
  
• SM84
  
• DR40 (for field recordings)
  
  

I think if I were to get fully back in the box, I'd be more interested in exploring the opposite end with things like Pure Data or live-coding.

I got quite deep into Reaktor for a long time many years ago. I've not ventured into Max with Ableton. After Reaktor I bought one of the SFX-6 Monomachines, spent many years working on that.

Sometimes I really get into an instrument or software and I guess that's why I keep putting energy into music.

I'm also interested in the electronics and sound system side of music and repairing electronics. I built one of the first 250 xOx boxes when Adafruit were just out of MIT. My background is coding but many years ago. I can still write C++ if I have to!

Realised that just sounds like a cv. I suppose I meant to say my attention is all over the place with music.

Right on, it's cool you're able to explore it from so many angles.

What's becoming more and more apparent as the years go on is that I more or less just want to know how songs I like were made.

There are some great tutorials these days. I watched one about Origin Unknown - Valley Of The Shadows that was brilliant, couldn't find it to link to though.

Yeah, the breadth of what's available in terms of tutorials has really exploded in the last 3-4yrs. I'm especially fond of the "Let's make Jungle like it's 1993" type videos that focus on era-appropriate hardware rather than just Ableton (though those are helpful too.)

Early experiences with the Arturia stuff have not been great.

Tried firing up some of the standalone V-Collection VSTs and all the ones I tried were non-responsive and crashed if I tried to select a preset. Works perfectly fine in FL though. Odd indeed.

Most important thing though, got PG-8X installed and running, so everything else is secondary!

I'm still early stages with the v-collection. I've had the 2600 since the first version. Another synth I can spend months playing with and still not feel I know it.

I had not seen the PG-8X, will maybe check it out.

I've got at least 2 different 2600 VSTs (the Arturia one and another that came bundled with an MPK Mini). Definitely seems like one of the worst synths to use as a software instrument relative to the hardware in terms of the amount of controls and patch points.

PG-8X is wonderful, if you like the JX-8P of course. From what I've seen the JX-8P has almost DX7 levels of polarising opinions between people. I recently picked up Roland's Boutique version (the JX-08) and even though it's just their ZenCore VST (a league below PG-8X IMO) in a box, it's still wonderful to use.

I've seen some great tutorials on the physical 2600 and it's almost made sense to me. Then I go back to the software and lose the plot.

I’ve got the Behringer clone and the basic/normalled layout is fairly straightforward but I’m not really sure how to use the logic sections usefully.

I'm selling my MPC 1000
It's been mine since new. Comes with original box, manual and power lead.
It has the 128MB memory upgrade.
For full disclosure there are a few pads with although they work, don't have velocity sensitivity. When they stopped working I 'fixed' them myself as a temporary measure until I got the pad upgrade kit. However they've been just fine all this time so I never bothered with the pad upgrade.
I put stickers on those pads to highlight for you.
You can see the details here.
Taking this into account how's...
£350 Posted

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Not sure who it was I was chatting about the MS-20 with recently, but Arturia's new V-Collection is out with an MS-20 emulation. Tempting for sure, I'd definitely had my hopes up for a JX-8P emulation, maybe next time.

Explains why the Arturia site is not serving pages at the moment.

Anyone have any advice on testing individual patch points on the MS-20? Patches I've used in the past to make bass drums now just spit out high-pitched metallic sounds and I think the EG1 "Rev Out" jack is the cause.

This may be just an 'old man yells at cloud moment', but what the hell is the purpose of these things?

https://teenage.engineering/store/op-1-field

£2k...

I get that a laptop + MPK Mini is a bit more bulky, but surely working on something like that for any period of time is going to be a massive pain in the arse. Probably great for instagram influencers and the like, but for actual use?

A fun music making toy for rich hipsters.

But to be more serious, I think pretty much everyone who buys that works on computers all day and doesn't want to stare at a screen while they're pretending to make good music.
Again, I'm talking about myself.

Quite possibly! Though with things like the OP-1 (or even Roland's Jupiter-X), that's offset by the large amount of menu diving required. Plonking my MPK on top of my laptop's keyboard and using a full DAW works wonderfully for me (but can understand it's not for everyone!).

I'm going to defend the OP-1 here. I think it's a brilliant instrument and TE have made it better. Yes, the pricing is "premium", and I wouldn't pay 2k for one with my current financial means, but it is a singular thing. Vastly different experience to using a computer.

Seems counter-intuitive to suggest that the limitations (eg destructive editing/bouncing, very limited number of tracks) are the "benefit" that you pay for, but it really is how it all comes together as a creative workflow and as a piece of design.

As you say - not for everyone, for sure, but for some people it's absolutely worth it. I had one of the first batch (bought new for about £700 IIRC) and sold it when the prices were getting silly, and used the money to buy a Novation Peak. Don't regret that decision, but I've still never experienced anything like the OP-1. I think it's similar to how a lot of people feel about the classic era of MPCs.

Definitely seems like a sort of horses for courses thing. I was having speculative looks at things like the Yamaha MODX and Roland Jupiter Xm a while back but the amount of menu diving required due to it not being a standalone unit and not just in a DAW on a computer was a big turn-off for me.

There's definitely a subconscious (well, maybe not all that sub) part of me that just sees it as an instagram magnet also. Though to be fair, one of my preferred music YouTube people had done some great work with it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65gmDy6YAcY&list=PLcaEIjiwaCmQC8ono49T1IQXfUwNJcPUO
&v=65gmDy6YAcY

But compared with the ease of opening my DAW and working away, adding newly instruments/effects/samples with ease, and having full visibility of everything going on at a glance, I don't think I could get on with it.

But hey, I think the Roland Boutique series is excellent, so maybe my opinions on music gear are not necessarily to be trusted!

Also, re: this -

Probably great for instagram influencers and the like, but for actual use?

Thom Yorke uses one a lot, and it's all over Tom Misch & Yussef Dayes' "What Kinda Music" album, to name a couple of examples of "proper" musicians using it off the top of my head.

It's always going to be a Youtube / Insta darling because it looks cool, but there's more to it than that.

The OP-1's main strength has always been it's sheer portability - they're especially fun on long flights.

While TE is really reinforcing their status as a designer product company first and a synth maker second with the $2k price tag, people regularly spend more for less coughmodularsynthscough so I find the reaction to the price a bit overly-dramatic.