Previously known for making knock-off VST emulations of classic hardware synths, Arturia is releasing their first hardware synth, Origin. It’s a DSP box running their synth plugins. Yawn. A VST Arp 2600 or CS-80 will never sound like the real thing and there are a million virtual analogs out there already. I heard an amusing conversation on a ride in the Manhattan subway last month. Two late-teen/early twenties guys were riding next to me and one was talking about how there wasn’t a difference between VST synths and hardware and VSTs were just as good and there wasn’t a reason to ever buy hardware. I almost fell out of my seat laughing but I didn’t have time to get in a debate with a guy who’s probably never even written his own synth patch or played on a decent hardware synth before. Plainly put, you owe it to yourself to check out the real thing.

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Get ready for tinny sound!

Some classic 80′s advertising there.
The first synth I ever bought was a DX-21 which is essentially the same synth but with a larger keybed. No velocity output, crappy FM synthesis and a bitch and a half to program. It’s usable for quirky noises but I would never use one for lead synth sounds. Right now mine gets used as a doorstop.

Last Saturday Royal Dead and I finally made it into our studio time.

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Looks like Whitney needs to pay a few bills and is auctioning off some music equipment to pay them off. Items range from some old ass samplers, Roland keyboards, even a church pew. Even Bobby Brown’s music awards must go.