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From: dmt@mtgzz.UUCP (d.m.tutelman)
Newsgroups: net.music.synth
Subject: Buying a first synthesizer
Message-ID: <929@mtgzz.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 16-Jul-85 17:26:49 EDT
Article-I.D.: mtgzz.929
Posted: Tue Jul 16 17:26:49 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 18-Jul-85 04:37:23 EDT
Organization: AT&T Information Systems Labs, Holmdel NJ
Lines: 56

About a month ago, I posted a request for info on buying a first
synthesizer.  Having gotten disappointingly few net responses, I
concluded that people on net.synth either didn't know or didn't
care; if the latter, hit "n" and move on.

As you may remember (or may not even care), I was shopping for a
synthesizer, primarily for use by my 14-year-old son.  We all play
piano, but none of us had ever used a synthesizer.

I eventually decided on a Roland Juno 106 ($800).  It was recommended by
a number of local "experts" as being good for beginners, because the
analog slide controls give instant feedback on what your adjustments
are doing to the sound.

Below are the other candidates we considered, and the reasons for
not getting them:

-	Korg DW-6000: a new machine that was our second choice. But
	its digital waveform generator didn't seem to produce
	better sound than the straightforward analog. The sounds clearly
	weren't as full or interesting, and the accuracy of bell and
	"piano" wasn't enough to make up for it.  Without superior
	sound, the other factors were all against the Korg. (Juno
	has twice the preset storage, easier controls to set in
	real-time [say, live performance], fuller string/brass sounds,
	and at the same price.) (~$800)

-	Korg Poly-800:  Only four octaves.  And if we wanted a keypress
	(rather than slide) parameter setting, the other Korg (DW-6000)
	is a better choice. (~$650)

-	Casio:  has two new synthesizers, about which a number of people said
	"don't be scared off by the name; these are real synthesizers."
	Sorry, it still seemed like a toy.  The parameter setting was
	abysmally slow and non-intuitive (the salesman demoing it
	couldn't make it do what I was asking for).  It's only four
	octaves long.  The advertised 8 voices seem to be only four
	independent voices in practice.  Relatively few presets.
	And it was selling for 80%
	of the price of the Juno and the DW-6000 (~$650).

-	Melodion (Keyboard + Software + Commodore 64): At three voices
	and a short keyboard, this seemed more for the computer hacker
	than the musician.  (Yes we are computer hackers, but THIS
	purchase is intended as a musical instrument.) (~$500)

-	Yamaha DX-7: included for completeness. At more than twice
	the price, we'll wait until we really need it.  (I loved the
	sound, and some day we may need something like it.  But technology
	moves on, and by then it'll be cheaper or better or both.) (~$1700)

			Dave Tutelman
			Physical - AT&T Information Systems
				   Holmdel, NJ 07733
			Logical  - ...ihnp4!mtuxo!mtgzz!dmt
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