From: metlay@minerva.phyast.pitt.edu (metlay)
Newsgroups: rec.music.synth
Subject: Re: SY99 has no peers?
Summary: Different strokes; one gearhead's thoughts (hit 'n' now)
Date: 22 Jul 92 14:58:59 GMT
Organization: Atomic City

In article <1992Jul22.032113.20916@ads.com> jtn@ADS.COM (John T. Nelson) writes:
>Hello all.  I'm looking for my next megasynth [...]

What, crushed harpsichords not good enough for you any more, John? |->


>Hey... there's the SY99 from Yamaha.  I've always liked the looks of
>this synth on paper.  It combines samples and FM synthesis together.

This is a PLUS? (Oops, sorry, old anti-FM sentiment from 1987 bubbling
up like indigestion. Ignore it.) Actually, for someone who wants an
all-in-one box with a 76 note keyboard, the SY99 is hard to beat. But
as you pointed out, the sound quality is good but IMO not grab-yer-ballz.

>The hipest thing about this synthesizer is that you can download
>samples to it via MIDI Dump Standard.  Now THAT'S a cool thing.

If you think this is a "cool" thing, you should see what Yamaha charges
for RAM to do it. Memory modules are inrdibly expensive! Now, if you 
want a machine that lets you do this cheaply (ordinary SIMMS up to 64
Meg), look at the new Kurzweil.

>And over there... an Emax II!  Mmmmm.... pretty low on the max number
>of notes/poliphony you get. 

Yes, but the filters are incredible. And the arpeggiator, man, the
ARPEGGIATOR! Cruz Control!!

>Oh NO!  Wave Wankers pulled the Wavestation from their displays.  Guess
>not everyone can handle one of those.  I do notice they have a Waldorf
>Wave.  I'm not sure I can warm up to the Wave's style of synthesis.

I assume you mean the MicroWave. If there's a real Wave in a store anywhere
in this World, I'd like to know about it.

>Let's play with this W/01 workstation from Korg.  Hmmmm... how do I get
>out of this menu.  Grumble.  Hit this button.  Nope.  How about this
>one?  Nope...

<snigger>

>So anyone else looking for a new box?  What looks good to you?

My opinions and a quarter will get you a game of pinball, but I am
currently thinking about two boxes to supplement my setup, possibly
after selling some of what I have (or at least setting it aside for a
while). One is the Wavestation A/D; I find its sound quality to be not
as powerful as the Prophet VS (which is not a bad thing, since the VS
can wreck a mix if not kept on a tight leash), but the wave sequencing
appeals to me, for the sort of rhythmic synthesis that pushes my
creative buttons. The other, which I plan to test out and evaluate
heavily in the very near future, is the Kurzweil 2000. It has an
expandable RAM area, fairly decent ROM waves, a disk drive and a SCSI
port for a HD, the ability to read Akai S1000 disks (and soon EPS disks
as well), and will eventually also act as a sampler (although you can
get a Peavey SX right now and avoid the issue if you wish). The two
things I wish it had more of were onboard effects and sequencing power
(it has a playback sequencer but no editing ability). 

Or I could wait a year and get an SD-1/32 for cheap. |->


--
metlay@  | 
minerva. | "YOW! He done blowed out his FRONTAL LOBE!"
phyast.  |                                          --Cheech's assistant
pitt.edu | 
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