Looking for get the hardware for the techno, rave and dance. Need some advice Show me what machinery has the most 90s cheeze

[Y2KBazo]

Y0 BL0××3R5
For a few years ive done music on tracker as i found it the easyest option for me since i cant wrap my head around DAWs. Recently ive been wanting to try making music completely on actual hardware. Ive only ever used samples and Im not too sure what hardware would have the sickest sounds and yet be the most autist friendly without breaking the bank.
Right now for equipment i only have 2 Yamaha DX100s and an Alesis ADAT-XT 8 track recorder thatve been sitting around. I plan on getting a TB-3 for the cliché but i'm still lacking drums, sequencer and a lead better than FM.
thats where i was thinking of grabbing a groovebox or a sampler. Right now im not sure if a Yamaha RM1X or a Korg ES-1 would be the better option. RM1X is just a great sequencer with baked in cheezy 90s samples in ROM and the ES-1 is an actual sampler that i would have to record samples into each time, but it would probably be more versatile in the long run. Other options i like seem to be the MC307, MC505, SU200, SP505 and SP404.
There are some machines with great sounds in rom, sampling and even a proper synth but i seem to find any for under 400CDN.
Are there any other cheap synths, samplers, drum machines, etc thay yallsve would recccomend? And what are your thoughts on the RMX-1 and the ES-1.

Tankz

 

[Heim]

The alpha juno is requred.
It has the chord memory, It has the hoover, It can't go wrong.
pwm ftw

 

[ninturez0]

sorry i know nothing about actual "real" music hardware. i am too poor for that shit lol. i don't think you can get good hardware without breaking the bank.

roland cloud VSTs are pretty cool.

 

[ninturez0]

i seem to find any for under 400CDN

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The alpha juno is requred.

Click to shrink...

lol

 

[1337h4x0rRul3z]

You can get yourself a Roland JV1080 for under $300 still (because it's the best selling synth of all time, so there are a ton of them out there), and it will get you where you're headed and then some, other than sequencing.

That and two DX-100s is more than enough to cover a LOT of ground.

If you want period-authentic sequencing on the cheap, download a 100% legitimate backup copy of C-Lab Notator and put an Atari ST emulator on a Raspberry Pi or something. That's what most of that music was done on. You won't get the rock solid Atari MIDI timing but you'll still have the general experience if you really want to.

EDIT: you can get a Boss SE-50 pretty cheap for effects, too. They're about twice what they were a year or two ago, but a year or two ago they we elike $75 so it's still not bad. They were used a lot in the 90s. I mean, a LOT.

 

[Heim]

Junny :3

I barely had time to work on that article i was talking about. But most of it is about early the early hardcore hardware days. Hope that I can turn it up soon. It might have a lot of useful info. Until then, try looking for a KORG wavestation, 200USD ish. Maybe it works for yous ^-~

 

[1337h4x0rRul3z]

Wavestation SR is $200-$300, an A/D or keyboard is more like $500-$1k these days, sadly.

The SR is fine if you don't need the joystick, but it's also the only synth I've ever used that I actually prefer editing from software. That interface is pretty minimal, up there with the Roland D-110.

Sounds fantastic though.

 

[Y2KBazo]

"rad ideas"

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yee i thought of using the atari as a sequencer. would be perfect and i wouldnt be past just getting a real st since they haven't reached amiga prices yet lol. another one may be Voyetra MIDI Orchestrator Plus for the pc. a JV1080 would be great too with how cheap and awesome they are, but it seems like this part of canada pays like a 30% premium on any musical instruments and it pisses me off. can never find anything for market value. thanks a bunch for the input im def gunna try to get a jv1080 now!

 

[Y2KBazo]

was also thinking of a korg microsampler for cheapo rave stabs etc

 

[1337h4x0rRul3z]

yee i thought of using the atari as a sequencer. would be perfect and i wouldnt be past just getting a real st since they haven't reached amiga prices yet lol. another one may be Voyetra MIDI Orchestrator Plus for the pc. a JV1080 would be great too with how cheap and awesome they are, but it seems like this part of canada pays like a 30% premium on any musical instruments and it pisses me off. can never find anything for market value. thanks a bunch for the input im def gunna try to get a jv1080 now!

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Could you import a 1080 from the USA? If the prices are too high where you are the shipping might still cost less than getting one locally.

Another option is a Yamaha QY70 or QY100 for sequencing and cheesy 90s sounds, and something like a 1080 or similar for everything else.

Alesis QSR (if you don't mind editing patches with software) or S4/S4+ is also pretty cheap relative to a lot of 90s gear and they're really nice. The QS6.1 or 7.1 is also pretty cheap but would be expensive to ship. The QS7.1 was the first hardware synth I ever bought, nice keybed and. Probably the last really good piece of Alesis gear, they were bought out right after it was released.

EDIT: I've always wanted to try a Microsampler but I was too broke when they were cheap and last I looked they were rare and kind of expensive now. It seemed like the SK-1 of the 21st century, in a good way. It's really too bad this stuff isn't cheap like it was 3-4 years ago, it seems like the higher the prices go the worse the music people make with the stuff is. Maybe that's only a coincidence...

EDIT: there IS a beat up Akai s-5000 for under $500 USD in Canada right now: https://www.ebay.com/itm/125458467542 twice what a flawless one with every option but the effects board and USB board installed in 2018, but not a bad deal at today's prices and they ARE really nice. As far as sounds go, you'd have all the sample libraries uploaded here, and I'm pretty sure FlashFloppy on a Gotek with an IDE to SCSI adapter would work as a hard rive for it and save you spending $100+ on a SCSI2SD. The timestretch is too good to do the 90s jungle thing Akai samplers are famous for (which is why it stayed affordable longer than the older models) but it's a REALLY nice sampler, and it takses standard WAV files on standard FAT formatted disks so it's very easy to use alongside modern hardware and software. Some really unusual filter types, too. A cost effecive way to do what you're talking about could be applying the sampling skill you've already got from trackers to an s5000 or similar late 90s/early 2000s sampler, and then (at least in the beginning) using VSTs like that Roland Cloud stuff but SAMPLING THEM and actually making your tracks in hardware with the samples, plus maybe one Behringer analog synth or comparable (any analog monosynth will sound appropriate with the right effects, TBH - I'd have said Bass Station Rack for 90s authenticity but they're WAY too expensive no for what they actually are, I'd never suggest one for over $200).

 

[Y2KBazo]

Could you import a 1080 from the USA? If the prices are too high where you are the shipping might still cost less than getting one locally.

Another option is a Yamaha QY70 or QY100 for sequencing and cheesy 90s sounds, and something like a 1080 or similar for everything else.

Alesis QSR (if you don't mind editing patches with software) or S4/S4+ is also pretty cheap relative to a lot of 90s gear and they're really nice. The QS6.1 or 7.1 is also pretty cheap but would be expensive to ship. The QS7.1 was the first hardware synth I ever bought, nice keybed and. Probably the last really good piece of Alesis gear, they were bought out right after it was released.

EDIT: I've always wanted to try a Microsampler but I was too broke when they were cheap and last I looked they were rare and kind of expensive now. It seemed like the SK-1 of the 21st century, in a good way. It's really too bad this stuff isn't cheap like it was 3-4 years ago, it seems like the higher the prices go the worse the music people make with the stuff is. Maybe that's only a coincidence...

EDIT: there IS a beat up Akai s-5000 for under $500 USD in Canada right now: https://www.ebay.com/itm/125458467542 twice what a flawless one with every option but the effects board and USB board installed in 2018, but not a bad deal at today's prices and they ARE really nice. As far as sounds go, you'd have all the sample libraries uploaded here, and I'm pretty sure FlashFloppy on a Gotek with an IDE to SCSI adapter would work as a hard rive for it and save you spending $100+ on a SCSI2SD. The timestretch is too good to do the 90s jungle thing Akai samplers are famous for (which is why it stayed affordable longer than the older models) but it's a REALLY nice sampler, and it takses standard WAV files on standard FAT formatted disks so it's very easy to use alongside modern hardware and software. Some really unusual filter types, too. A cost effecive way to do what you're talking about could be applying the sampling skill you've already got from trackers to an s5000 or similar late 90s/early 2000s sampler, and then (at least in the beginning) using VSTs like that Roland Cloud stuff but SAMPLING THEM and actually making your tracks in hardware with the samples, plus maybe one Behringer analog synth or comparable (any analog monosynth will sound appropriate with the right effects, TBH - I'd have said Bass Station Rack for 90s authenticity but they're WAY too expensive no for what they actually are, I'd never suggest one for over $200).

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That akai seems super easy to mess with! Just takes WAV on a FAT formatted floppy? Imma keep an eye out for it. And i could get a 1080 from the us so it might not be so bad. has perfect sounds. Maybe i should get a little rack with a tx81z, akai s-5000 and a 1080. I heard the 1080 and the 1010 have some silly techno expansion board for some more cheezy sounds lol. Also someone localy is selling a microsampler for 250CDN. Does the microsampler have any sort of sequencing for external stuffs? May be fun to just have the MS and a TD-3 as an on the go groove machine. Thankz a bunch for the infos btw baybee

 

[1337h4x0rRul3z]

Yeah, WAV on a FAT formatted floppy. External SCSI port so you coul probably buy a broken, external SCSI drive and rehouse a Gotek in it. I considered doing that but went with the SCSI2SD so I'm not 100% sure it's possible but it should be. I've opened up a borken, high end Ricoh SCSI CD burner from the 90s and it was a standard IDE drive inside so you might not even need an IDE to SCSI adapter. But it also might not work at all. SCSI2SD works perfectly except that it's a pain to get the card in and out, and I've missed the SD slot and had it fall down inside the case two or three times.

It's not going to give you "oldschool sampler" sound - it's VERY clean and hi-fi in a nice way.

If you think you'll want the effects then save up extra and get an s6000 or a fully loaded 5000, I learned the hard way. When I got mine a 5000 was $200-$300 and a 6000 was $250-$350. I got a 5000 for $270 shipped that had all the expansions that come standard in a 6000 except the effects board because I didn't need the extra inputs and preferred a smaller unit without fans. Figured I'd jsut buy an effects baord for $80 or so like I did with the MPC2000xl I picked up for $100 a couple years earlier (that's a whole other story) but it turns out that even in 2018 the effects board on its own was already more expensive than an entire s-6000 would have been, and I still haven't bought one because they're usually like $400 now. Since the 5000/6000 can self-sample internally, it would have actually been really handy to have the effects board and I'd have absolutely spent $75 more on a 6000 if I could do it over. From what I'm seeing on eBay, the difference between a 5000 and 6000 is almost as much as the cost of an effects board now, but the 5000s mostly don't have the other expansions installed so the 6000 is still a better deal (but not even close to cheap anymore, which is really a shame).

I always heard the Akai Z8 was one of the post-buyout sleepers like the MPC1000, but I've never tried one and it isn't cheap anymore (neither is the MPC1000, of course, but that is a hell of a sampler and sequencer if you put the commercial version of JJOS on it - I've never owned one but three or four people I know did or still do and if I didn't have a sampler or sequencer that's probably what I would get, I just didn't mention it because of the price)

 

[Y2KBazo]

Yeah, WAV on a FAT formatted floppy. External SCSI port so you coul probably buy a broken, external SCSI drive and rehouse a Gotek in it. I considered doing that but went with the SCSI2SD so I'm not 100% sure it's possible but it should be. I've opened up a borken, high end Ricoh SCSI CD burner from the 90s and it was a standard IDE drive inside so you might not even need an IDE to SCSI adapter. But it also might not work at all. SCSI2SD works perfectly except that it's a pain to get the card in and out, and I've missed the SD slot and had it fall down inside the case two or three times.

It's not going to give you "oldschool sampler" sound - it's VERY clean and hi-fi in a nice way.

If you think you'll want the effects then save up extra and get an s6000 or a fully loaded 5000, I learned the hard way. When I got mine a 5000 was $200-$300 and a 6000 was $250-$350. I got a 5000 for $270 shipped that had all the expansions that come standard in a 6000 except the effects board because I didn't need the extra inputs and preferred a smaller unit without fans. Figured I'd jsut buy an effects baord for $80 or so like I did with the MPC2000xl I picked up for $100 a couple years earlier (that's a whole other story) but it turns out that even in 2018 the effects board on its own was already more expensive than an entire s-6000 would have been, and I still haven't bought one because they're usually like $400 now. Since the 5000/6000 can self-sample internally, it would have actually been really handy to have the effects board and I'd have absolutely spent $75 more on a 6000 if I could do it over. From what I'm seeing on eBay, the difference between a 5000 and 6000 is almost as much as the cost of an effects board now, but the 5000s mostly don't have the other expansions installed so the 6000 is still a better deal (but not even close to cheap anymore, which is really a shame).

I always heard the Akai Z8 was one of the post-buyout sleepers like the MPC1000, but I've never tried one and it isn't cheap anymore (neither is the MPC1000, of course, but that is a hell of a sampler and sequencer if you put the commercial version of JJOS on it - I've never owned one but three or four people I know did or still do and if I didn't have a sampler or sequencer that's probably what I would get, I just didn't mention it because of the price)

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lmao that reminds me of when i got an amiga 2000 over a 500 then realised the keyboards cost more than the fucking computer. then did the exact same thing with a bunch of mac pluses. still don't have a keyboard for any of em. APCs are like the amiga of samplers, seem so cult status now with an air of evangelism as the white box that hip hop nerds pay too much for to chop 3 beats together and call it lo-fi beetz. id love to get one of i could find one for cheap cheap tho since they're actually intuitive.

today tho BAYbEE i got this cheapass alesis QS7.1 that popped up in a second hand shop for 145. doesent seem to be very tekkno oriented but it has some very good dancey sounds like a super deep organ. telling by the internet it seems like an unpopular instrument, but for 145 i cant complain.
as for a sampler with how crazy the prices are i was thinking of grabbing a volca sample, although it seems to be totally bare bones and more rythm oriented than anything and has no resampling features or beat chopping etc. actually never mind fuck the volca sample lmao.

heres the wikkid organ patch in mono

 

[1337h4x0rRul3z]

QS7.1 was my first keyboard, unerrated and has nice aftertouch - just squshy enough that you can feel how much pressure you're giving it, but firm enough that you don't accidentally give it pressure when you don't want to. Nice score!

 

[Y2KBazo]

*Radikal shit*

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Thanks! Jeezus what a coincidence! Exact Same model and all. Its allegedly been sitting there for a while since nobody in this whole city has a hobby, so it was marked down from 445 to 170 and i traded in some random crap for instore credit and got it for the equiv of 145 taxes in. Im super happy with it so far! Like you said the aftertouch is perfect and the presets are alot better than what i was expecting. Im really surprised theres next to no coverage of these boards on the internet, really fucking fun even on its own!
Any neat tricks or fave presets? i think i can plug in external instruments and use the onboard FX with them from what ive heard.

Shit bideo of super epic sounding synth ensambbble preset

I cant play anything to save my life so MIDI will be my saviour

 

[1337h4x0rRul3z]

I've never actually messed with it, but hidden deep in one of the menus there's a feature where you can build a table of values that act like a transfer function for the mod whele, so as you move it acros its range instead of going from 0-127 it scans through the values you put in the table. Really unusual feature I haven't seen anywhere else.

Also, even though it doesn't have a keybpoard with poly aftertouch, the synth engine itself will RESPOND to poly aftertouch.

A few years back a guy I know who used to work at Alesis gave me some Q-cards. If you can find this one at a reasonably price, it has some really excellent late 90s newagey pads and things. I guess it's meant for chuch bands or something but it sounds like a cross between a 90s yoga studio and Eyes Wide Shut.

 

[Tammy Twotoes]

I know this is an old thread, but f it, here's my .02. I have either owned or still own all this stuff, so...

For newer equipment:
Check out the Dirtywave M8 if you are into trackers, it's super versatile, sounds great, and is reasonably priced, but kinda on the spendy side.
Also, check out the Elektron Samples and Cycles, they are easy to learn and are great little boxes IMO. You can pick them up used for around $300 depending on where you live.

For older gear, I have the MC-505, I like screwing around on it in Megamix mode, but I can't stand Roland's complicated workflow, I need to put more time into it I suppose. There's a dude on youtube that can really rock out on it and makes it sound like a more modern instrument. I'm sure you'll find him pretty easy with a quick search for MC-505.
I also owned the Korg ES-1, it's kinda cool, but I found it a bit limited, I had it for years and never really created anything with it. Again, I think it was mostly just me not fully investing myself in learning how to make music on it properly. I did like the delay on it though, I would like to get another one to give it another shot now that I know more about music production on hardware.

 

[nostaflair]

The access virus is one of THE techno machines of the 90s imho.

The Usual Suspects - DSP56300 Emulation

Digitally Preserving Classic Synthesizers through Emulation

dsp56300.wordpress.com

^ this is a very accurate emulation, but you also need the roms: https://archive.org/details/access-virus-b-c-roms

 

[Xeraser]

The access virus is one of THE techno machines of the 90s imho.

The Usual Suspects - DSP56300 Emulation

Digitally Preserving Classic Synthesizers through Emulation

dsp56300.wordpress.com

^ this is a very accurate emulation, but you also need the roms: https://archive.org/details/access-virus-b-c-roms

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I wish someone would just leak the Ti plugin

 

[m78]

same. Love the virus sound!