Shadowbait @ Shadowbait @waveform.social

Posts

2

Comments

30

Joined

2 yr. ago

Failed to hurt Reddit's bottom line in a meaningful way? Yes. But we haven't necessarily failed to create a good alternative for those of us who would rather not use Reddit anymore. It does seem like this place has become less active, which is a bit concerning, but I'm not giving up on it yet.

Yeah, the UI definitely has some odd and frustrating design choices. The main thing tempting me to keep it is the portability, but I can't really do more than sketch out short ideas on the go. I've got a bajillion of those lying around already and really need to focus more on finishing stuff.

If you don't care about it being wireless, the older wired-only version is $100 cheaper FYI. I don't see it on their site anymore, but you can get it on Amazon or B&H.

I'd probably be jumping on the Push 3 if it had an arrangement view. I never got into the clip-based workflow, and can't imagine ever making the switch without it changing the type of music I compose.

I'm curious about your thoughts on the SH-4D. Guitar Center talked me into buying one because they didn't have it on display and "you can just try it at home and return it if you don't like it", but with the end of the return window coming up I'm struggling to make a decision.

I've gotten some really satisfying sounds out of it, but it's disappointing that some of the oscillator models don't let you modulate most of the parameters, and the list of samples in the PCM model is surprisingly short. Those aren't necessarily dealbreakers, but I guess I'm still trying to figure out if it's really adding enough that isn't covered by my other synths.

I'm pretty mad at Polyend for preloading samples that are licensed only for non-commercial use with attribution. I'm used to assuming whatever comes with the gear is safe to use in my music, but they don't even tell you who to attribute the samples to so I don't know how it would even be possible to comply with the license terms. I asked their support about it years ago and never even got a response.

Edit: I suppose I should actually comment on the device itself - it's great for coming up with rhythmic ideas and such but a really clunky workflow for sound design and mixing.

As I understand it, you can just sign up here and ignore the rest of the fediverse. If you want to use one account to access other instances and get an experience like full Reddit maybe it's more complicated, but if you're just here for synthesizer stuff it's super simple.

What barrier to entry? I followed the link from Reddit, filled in a very simple sign up form, and here I am.

Yep!

I already did a long-winded post talking about all my synths so I'll just stick to a list here: Nord Wave 2, Nord Lead 4, Nina, Prophet 12, Peak, Modwave, SH-4D, and Prologue.

I won't go into a retrospective on what I started with because I've sold all the early stuff, and a lot more since. It's been a long road to figuring out what I actually want and need in a synth.

Some other gear I use:

• LUMI Keys - Not the greatest build quality, but it's so convenient to have an MPE controller I can just put wherever I need and use wirelessly.
• Zoom Livetrak L-8 - I regret not going for a bigger model, but it does the job well as a mixer / audio interface that lets you record each track separately in a DAW (or directly to an SD card.) Also convenient to have multiple submixes so I can switch between hearing just my DAW or hearing my synths directly when the DAW isn't running.
• Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro - The best headphones I've used so far.
• Tourbox - Not specifically music gear, but it's a real game-changer if you use multiple DAWs and struggle to remember which keyboard shortcuts to use for which. Now I have a consistent set of controls no matter what software I'm using.