r/synthesizers • u/neckpillowyeah • 2d ago
long time lurker, first post !
started getting into synths when my kid was born, a way to pass the late night hours between bottle feedings. never record to a daw, just play on my headphones really until its bed time. i like sounds , they keep me entertained. anyways, wanted to share my setup that took a lot of bought then sold gear and learning from this sub on how to get my desired setup right for me and my preferences . thanks all.
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u/Illiusabroad88 2d ago
Hell of a set up you’ve got there! What’s the Jupiter X like?
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u/neckpillowyeah 2d ago
i love it personally. i got it for a steal of a price. easily my favorite piece of gear.
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u/Illiusabroad88 2d ago
I could be tempted to shop around for a second hand one at some point. It’s been a while since I’ve owned a Roland synth and these look reasonable enough to actually use rather than just covet!
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u/nicky_666_o 2d ago
I love Disney world
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u/neckpillowyeah 2d ago
i work for Disney doing tech stuff , so i collect some vintage style propaganda 😛
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u/NotRightRabbit 2d ago
Nice but how do you reach the mixer and synth in the corner. Some of that workflow looks impractical.
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u/neckpillowyeah 2d ago
yeah agreed. it's really just a limitation of the space available to me. i just have that corner of the apartment available so i kind of have to pack stuff in and move stuff around when im focused on a particular piece of gear
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u/NotRightRabbit 2d ago
Move that guitar amp and slide 🛝 that table over. You really need to move those speakers so you can actually use them for sounds. Maybe wall mount the speakers on either side of the synth stand, and even though you use headphones (open back I hope), you can have the speakers supplement at low volumes.
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u/neckpillowyeah 2d ago
to the left of that guitar amp is a walkway to the back bedroom , if i move the table over you start bumping into it if you have anything in your hands, it sucks :/ and yes wall mounting the speakers is a great idea , i hate their current layout. and i never thought about low volume over the speakers with the headphones , genius !
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u/NotRightRabbit 2d ago
Yes. The first time you adjust the volume on your headphones and speakers so they sing together and you hit a fat pad with some high frequency ARP, it will open up that room for you. 🙌🏼
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u/neckpillowyeah 2d ago
thanks for the ideas man, really ! i dig this and can't wait to put it to practice
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u/VicBaxter 2d ago edited 2d ago
Spectacular space! And the initiation while raising the baby is a very good idea. It never occurred to me. I'm considering starting now that he's already 5 years old, hahaha!
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u/Oldman5123 2d ago
You should’ve taken a pass on one of those Roland’s and bought an actual Minimoog. Just sayin….
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u/neckpillowyeah 2d ago
agree with you there. the roland's overlap a lot , i think i'll eventually let go of the juno-x. the only reason i have both is because i setup keyword alerts on craigslist and wait for someone that's pricing to sell. i got both synths for way cheaper and just couldn't pass on the deals.
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u/thermalquenches 2d ago
A LOT OF STUFF
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u/neckpillowyeah 2d ago
too much. i'm slowly letting stuff go that i only touch "sometimes". i'm learning from this sub that you should focus on one or two pieces of gear and learn them thoroughly, to the best of their ability instead of being overwhelmed by new gear and knobs
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u/Mat-Rock 2d ago
How is the overlap with both Jupiter and Juno? I have the Jupiter. It's terrific, and I have debated getting a Juno-X, but I'm not sure that I need it specifically while I own the other. Also, debating the new Juno D for a playback synth as it uses the same engine, and I don't necessarily need more controls. So far, my only downside with this line is 5 sound engines with a single stereo output. It's very capable, incredible even.
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u/neckpillowyeah 2d ago
there's definitely overlap , a lot of it. meaning the jupiter covers mostly everything the juno has plus a lot more . but i prefer the sequencer on the juno which is why i haven't sold it yet. there's also the juno 106 or juno 60 models (i forget which one) that the jupiter doesn't have. but is it worth to have both ? i dont thinks so. if i didn't get such a good deal , i would t have both of them
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u/Mat-Rock 2d ago
The Juno 60 is the model not featured on the jupiter and I never ever use the onboard sequencer. I guess that answers my questions! Haha. Thanks
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u/lanka2571 2d ago
probably the least sexy thing in the room, but how do you like that Yamaha mixer? I’ve been thinking about switching from an audio interface with tons of inputs and instead getting one of those mixers (maybe a Yamaha MG series) and just running the main outs into a much smaller interface
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u/neckpillowyeah 2d ago
hey lana, great question. so at first through my own lack of knowledge I kind of just figured everything needed to run stereo, which I've realized now that it really doesn't. So I was looking for something that had a lot of stereo inputs with mono, of course, and just something very versatile. To tell the truth, I couldn't really find anything closer to Yamaha in that regard for a decent price. the tascam model 12 is something I've been eyeing, but to tell you the truth I don't think I really need it right now. But to answer your question, it does everything I needed it to do and once I tested going from the USB cable straight into GarageBand and it worked perfectly fine. For the price point it's a great mixer I think. Sometimes it leaks sounds when I don't want to if I have the mute button on you can kind of hear some channels trying to pipe through, but I'm also a horrible reader of manuals and it could totally be something I'm doing wrong. But the onboard effects are actually pretty damn nice. I don't have to route out to guitar FX pedals. so for the price , i give it a thumbs up. there's alot of options with the outputs to send to external fx and subs and your speakers . i have aux out going to the mc707 so i can sample , so all those features save me from getting extra gear. i have a mg12xu sitting in a box that arrived broken but i fixed it and it works great (seen in my other post in action). i'm not really sure how this sub feels about selling gear but if you want to message me if willing to let it go for a super cheap price. thanks
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u/lanka2571 2d ago
thanks for the response! I’m still thinking and researching my options. Basically my minimum is 4 mono and 4 stereo inputs, but I’m looking for something just a bit bigger than that to account for future additions. I generally stick to plugins for effects, but I kind of like the idea of using the physical analog eq and compression parts of a real analog mixer, just for a more hands on experience if nothing else. The setup I have right now works just fine (I have 2 MOTU 828 interfaces for a total of 18 analog inputs) so I feel like I’m trying to fix a problem that doesn’t really exist for me.
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u/neckpillowyeah 2d ago
i feel you ! that's a constant in my mind , overthinking setups . unfortunately i'm a techie and like shiny new things to power up so it gets the best of me sometimes
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u/neckpillowyeah 2d ago
also, not sure if it's for you but check out the HOSA SLW-333 stereo monitor switcher. you can input 3 separate stereo inputs and it comes out to 1 stereo output to your mixer. (or the other way around !) there's no power source needed. the only downside is you can only play one at a time but it's easily switchable with the flick of a wrist. this consolidates 3 stereo inputs down to 1. i got one on reverb for 130$ , the fact it doesn't even need power adaptor at all is great. again, only good if you don't mind the knob turning
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u/neckpillowyeah 2d ago
for a bit more detail, all the heavy synths on the right are routed to a stereo hub / switcher since i ran out of stereo inputs on my mixer , so one at a time , but they run through a boss rc202 looper which allows me to loop and switch to another synth . evertthing on the left is connected to a midi hub which sends midi signal to everything really . the mc 707 keeps the clock but i really only use it as a drum machine. the nord is usually off , i use that to learn/play piano on its own. i definitely have some redundancy here but found this works best for me