Hi all.

Excuse my ignorance but I've got a Yamaha An1x, a Novation Nova and a Korg 05rw, and I would like to know if there is anything about any of these that my Akai z4 can't emulate with a few crafty waveforms and some tweaking?

Thanks Nick.

Well, IMHO, you could but it'll need some tweaking easier on the Nova and the AN1x. Now, if I remember well, all these are sample based (wave samples or PCMs) so it's really more a question of ease of use overall than blatant sonic difference.

Now, it all induce that you become Mr Sample King too…

Hi there .

Thanks for your reply, I thought this might be the case. My thinking was that, since I have limited patience for working out how to use things, it would be better to really know one box, the z4, rather than kinda half know all four.

Regards, Nick.

I've kinda like the AN1X when it came out, sonically ok enough (now it's NOT analogue like enough, but it's an ok synth), though I was a bit baffled by the interface a bit too complicated for what it is. The interface on the Nova is really good, too bad Novation makes boring stuff (IMHO). Never touched a 05rw with a flagpole so… And the Z4 is a powerful sampler on its own (I'm E-mu fan myself, so I won't go into religious war mode

I'd go with the Z4, AN1X and Nova and I'd ditch the 05rw at least. But it's my personal choice.

yeah I had already decided on ditching the 05. What I was really interested in knowing though was about how the sounds are created, my knowledge of synthesis is shaky at best. On the z4 can I build up sounds from basic blocks, saw waves, square waves etc and get the same results, or are there things these boxes will do like (i'm making all this up wildly as I go along) maybe alter the rise time on a saw wave or adjust the ratio of positive to negitive on a square wave? Or can this be done on a sampler?


Thanks for your patience, Nick.

well, i see what you are asking, but i think the answer is 'no'.

while your sampler is a very powerful synthesis engine, it will never be able to emulate analogue oscillators like the AN1X can, for example. All synths sound very different and have different architectures, different filter shapes etc.

to start with, to emulate your AN1X you would need sawtooth/sqaure waves etc multisampled on EVERY note. You would then need all the modulation possibilties of AN1X, for example: pulse width modulation, something that it is not possible for sampler to do, as it is not generating the waveforms, it is simply playing back recordings of them.

a synth generates its own waveforms, and therefore offers much much more control over the shape and behaviour of the wave, which can be varied over time, which is what 'modulation' means.

it IS possible to make very complex, interesting sounds on your sampler, and you should do so - but every instrument has it's own strengths. so, just as your sampler cannot make a PWM string sound, your synth can't play back the sound of a baby farting thru its filters.

don't sell your AN1X, its a very powerful synth, and you'll miss it. you could do everything in your sampler, but you will be missing many sonic possibilites.

sory if this is a bit vague.. basically a samplers synthesis engine is great, but it does not have oscillators. therefore you woudl need a huge collection of samples to begine to emulate other synths closely, and even then it would not be the same.

Hi.
Thanks for your input, you have confirmed what I suspected. I have to confess that in a fit of luddite rage about a week ago I pulled all the synths out of the studio and put them on ebay (sorry, I know!) and as a result, I have seen my work rate increase exponentially. No longer do I spend days wondering which synth to use, or trying to figure out the step sequencer. I feel a real sense of relief to be out of technology hell! My thoughts on this are that we have to remember our target audience, would they notice the diff between the Yam and the Akai? My music loving friend couldn't tell the diff between a major and a minor chord..........
Thanks again, Nick.

I forgot to add something I always tell my guitar students, it's not the gear that counts. If you can't do it with one box having two boxes isn't going to be any better.

Nick.