The XY is quite close to perfect (wishlist implanted) most certainly it will be superb with sample M-locks drum & vocal synths etc.. yet its alot of coin.
There is a MC707 for sale locally for quarter of the price with accessories, a system that’s very appealing, performance oriented, with insert & performance FX, macros, etc ..There’s also a bunch of MPC 1s & Electron’s in similar price.
Right now the XY size factor, work speed, sequencer and general sound are very attractive, but the sampel choopin of the MPC is the best in the game and that 707 is a monster
a bit worried that Ill miss out on great synthesis on the 707
yet on the flip side I may be loading and editing all the time VS creating /jamming full songs on the XY after 10 minuts after power up
The synth of the XY may be simple but they have varranty, some mileage and more importantly they have modeled behavior, like the way envelopes retrigger like they are alive is simply awesome they also sound rich/full in a NuDigital HiFi kinda way, same can be said for the FX and samples have great detail.
So to whom can compare what are the good bad and the ugly in the VS OXY scenarios. Sound, Worflow/speed & Star features etc
i think the biggest thing that te has going for it, xy, op-1, etc. is that they are intuitive to use. you can turn them on without a manual and pretty much do something. or you can dive into the manual and do something complicated. they sound good, the sample and synth engines are well thought out and expressive, or experimental, and are very easy to do something with, with very simple controls. intuitively designed and well built physically. a child or teenager can do something with no musical knowledge. or an expert can do something great. its immediate and responsive. they are my desert island machines
It’s kinda hard to say because it’s so subjective. Can you elaborate on what exactly you’re looking for with a groovebox? Both with regard to workflow but also maybe genre of music and whether you’re wanting to share or perform the end product in some specific way.
One benefit of getting a box that’s been around for longer is they often have a lot of the bugs worked out (and/or community discussions around those bugs), and you don’t have to wait for new features through firmware updates.
Any chance you’ve been able to try a TE/Elektron/Roland instrument yet? They all take pretty different approaches to how they design their gear.
The 707 is one of my favorite pieces of gear, but I would not suggest if if you’re wanting a more sample-based workflow. It’s rather slow on that front, its real power lies in the synthesis and effects it has onboard. Though I would recommend you maybe watch the online Roland video manuals for it, as a lot of that synthesis power is accessed through a some what small screen and lots of scrolling.
Like you said, it’s also very straightforward to use in a performance aspect, way more than the XY is (IMVHO). Very solid feeling for what it is, and it’s never crashed or glitched on me live either.
I can’t speak to the MPCs as I’m not a fan of that workflow. But if you’re going to be doing a lot of sample based work, the Digitakt 2 has been blowing my mind since it came out. It’s probably the best all around groovebox Elektron has ever made, and I’ve used them all. For $1k (or whatever they are now) you get a LOT of power and performance capabilities.
Systmcrsh
All very valid points, immediacy & portability are one of XY top attractions. Im not sure Te would be my desert island synths as the sound design is a bit on the simple side.
Jtswearingen
Absolutely on point. We all have our objectives. My prefaces would be modular structure both in synth/sampler and sequencer. The MC 707 kinda comes out strongest in that regard (zencore can have semi modular like configuration) , although I think my perfect groove box already is in production / Polypulse, its just far to big and heavy to travel with.
Older Electribe with Hacktribe OS is possibly a cool portable option as far as older boxes go, have yet to cheek that out.
There is the the Ableton Move but its seams to be design to be just an idea box, not having fine tune of sample and synths kills it for me, personally.
Tarekith
I watched your performance with the 707 then the OP XY and I couldn’t see one or the other greatly impacting your style with some advantage, other than the 707 seamed more tactile in live use.
It’s almost all I want: but as you said its sampler is no MPC in comparison on speed and convince. Just wondering
Can sample you load up in the ZenCore be edited (as in Trim mode?)
How do you assign samples in trim to different layers in drum kit? (as it can’t be done via Trim window if I understand it correctly
If I resample stuff into the looper (for some realtime time streatching) can I bounce/resample it back into drum kit or zencore or do I have to save and load it manually everytime?
Can it resample ‘‘step loop’’ state?
How bad is the navigation sample editing setting up?
How quickly can I say assign maccros
say ‘‘on a arp lead with release and delay’’: HP cutoff, Delay Feedback (positive), Release (to negative) and a Xmod amount to one macro. This kinda stuff is just wild live and to step lock but I dont see any media on it
Does the Scatter have its own sequence track?
And finally how do you rate the overall sound quality vs the other synths and sampler you’ve had?
I also welcome the DT 2 recommendation, its straight-up portable and has a ton of features I love, any reason why it’s better than the Octatrak? (I love how the through-machine on Okta can work like VCAs with envelopes (you can even modulate the envelopes of the through machines) I’m kinda blow away every time I watch media on what it can do.
Ok been doing a ton of research and I’ve rolled out the MC707 .. The workflow is just not as immediate enough to my preference for sampling and editing.. It’s very fine for just hitting random or dialing in presets and making some adjustments but for very heavy sound design I’d be burning the cursor keys into smoke
I do alot of sample loop / drum layers and subtile modulation for sonic movement… much of it is breakbeats some synth/modular like with some 4on the floor … mostly looking to fusion a few styles into one .. which is the mix of the these breaks /DnB / modular lines .. thought the 707 would be perfect but an MPC has way better sampling with fast layering and loop options … but no real paralocks
So Im back looking at the Octa … I hear everyone saying it dont sound the biz & that the DT2 sounds better .. I don’t know the Okta seams to sound quite amazing in some videos (horrible in some) but it seams in the right hands it’s very strong on audio .. Im actually not hearing this sound drom the DT2
how complex does synthesis have to be? i guess it depends on what you want. ie, are you a sound designer or a musician. i’m guessing that we are all a little of both. i mean a piano is just a mallet hitting a string, a cello is just a string being bowed, and there are absolute masterpieces for both those instruments. i mean, for instance, ableton’s wavetable, or dr wave on the op-1, you can get very complex sounds out of those. sound design is fun, no doubt. i think its fun pushing boundaries and tinkering, but at the end of the day its about music. a million lfos or a million waveshapers isn’t going to make music more expressive ← it might make it fun though, sort of like how exploiting technology is fun like black midi or ai generated death metal is fun. anyways, good luck on your journey, but i think describing the sound design of te’s synths as being on the simple side isn’t that accurate. have you tried them? have you pushed the boundaries of them?
edit but if breaks are your thing, that is not te’s strong suit. it can be done, but its not an intuitive workflow for breaks imo. the only intuitive workflow for breaks or interesting rhythms imo is a computer, but there are geniuses out there who can prove me wrong and do it on a digitakt or op-1 too, so i don’t know. gotta find a machine you bond with i guess
I actually have a degree in sound design, dont like calling myself a musician as I feel it be disrespectful for actual real-time players of instruments. I can sit in front of a keyboard and knock out baselines and riffs but I wouldn’t do as a keyboardist in band.
&I have to respectfully disagree with your stand on technology part. For example a wave shaper & LFO’s can create new parallel or advance a melody if you use them as an instrument or part of a sound melodically.
As for breaks, I have used MPCs for a long time, they excel at breaks, pad layers, mute groups with realtime record/erase.
TE is quite simple in terms of both layers and sound design, although they pose a clever ideoligy, you can get mileage out of the engines but as’‘HiFI’'as they sound they also show limits in regards to sound. Not just in complexity but also in the ‘‘price of HiFi’’ as (IMO) the bass synth in the original Z and the PO sub sound more punchy and raw.
mostly interested in step component stacking and all the sequencing tricks and endevors that can be explored .. , This is where I can make breaks
& melodies that musican playing instrumnet can’t. This is what gives the XY edge.
