looking for good, cheap sound module for Orchestral music
by Josh Culler · in Game Design and Creative Issues · 06/10/2003 (4:25 pm) · 2 replies
Im looking for something that wont break the bank, but will still provide relatively realistic sounding orchestral patches. Ive been eyeballing the JV 1080 for some time, as I would probably be able to fill my PCM needs with the one box (world and ethnic and orchestral is ALL I need). But has anyone here used one extensively?? Or perhaps another module like an Emu or Korg that is superior? Dont be afraid to get technical!
BTW - Gigastudio is not an option. I need a portable hardware unit. (Plus I dont have 5k$ to spend on sample libraries)
BTW - Gigastudio is not an option. I need a portable hardware unit. (Plus I dont have 5k$ to spend on sample libraries)
#2
Some problems you may run into:
-SR-JV cards have been discontinued by Roland. I'm not sure if retailers still carry them, or if you would need to resort to ebay. If you plan to use the 1080 for just orchestral stuff, you will definitely want the cards, since the factory sounds are nothing all that special in that department. This may be a potential headache.
-You may run into problems with polyphony. The 1080 is 64 voice polyphonic, but a lot of denser patches will burn through 4 voices per note. In a very busy composition you may have problems with voice stealing. The 1080 also gets pretty sloppy with timing when you push it too hard, so if you are averaging 60-64 voices during a piece you may experience some timing inconsistencies.
-The LFOs won't sync to MIDI worth a shit. They're supposed to, and often they ALMOST do, but they are unreliable. This is a long-standing problem with JV and XV series synths. Thanks, Roland. Anyway, this wouldn't be much of an issue with most orchestral-type work, but if you are ever doing a project that calls for some techno material you may end up pulling your hair out.
Other than those issues, I can wholeheartedly recommend the 1080. I think its sounds hold up quite well by today's standards, especially the stuff on the SR-JV expansion cards. The World card rocks, and the Orchestral I & II cards complement each other very nicely. I think my favorite may actually be the SFX card, which draws from Spectrasonics' Distorted Reality libs and is quite useful for ambient game stuff and disturbing textures. I've got several newer hardware synths and a couple of good soft synths, but I still find myself using the SR-JV stuff as my workhorse.
A nice alternative to the 1080 might be something like the XV-5050...it's a bit pricier, but it is a better sounding synth and the quality of the FX (especially the reverb) is much better. Then you could get the SRX cards that have the pertinent SR-JV sounds on them and possibly save some money that way (the SRX Orchestral card has all the waveforms from both of the SR-JV Orchestral cards). Plus, you'd have access to the very nice Symphonique Strings expansion, which kicks ass over the strings on the SR-JV cards.
08/06/2003 (1:26 pm)
I've had good success with my Roland XP-50, which uses the 1080 engine. I've made extensive use of the World and Orchestral I & II cards, and they're quite respectable.Some problems you may run into:
-SR-JV cards have been discontinued by Roland. I'm not sure if retailers still carry them, or if you would need to resort to ebay. If you plan to use the 1080 for just orchestral stuff, you will definitely want the cards, since the factory sounds are nothing all that special in that department. This may be a potential headache.
-You may run into problems with polyphony. The 1080 is 64 voice polyphonic, but a lot of denser patches will burn through 4 voices per note. In a very busy composition you may have problems with voice stealing. The 1080 also gets pretty sloppy with timing when you push it too hard, so if you are averaging 60-64 voices during a piece you may experience some timing inconsistencies.
-The LFOs won't sync to MIDI worth a shit. They're supposed to, and often they ALMOST do, but they are unreliable. This is a long-standing problem with JV and XV series synths. Thanks, Roland. Anyway, this wouldn't be much of an issue with most orchestral-type work, but if you are ever doing a project that calls for some techno material you may end up pulling your hair out.
Other than those issues, I can wholeheartedly recommend the 1080. I think its sounds hold up quite well by today's standards, especially the stuff on the SR-JV expansion cards. The World card rocks, and the Orchestral I & II cards complement each other very nicely. I think my favorite may actually be the SFX card, which draws from Spectrasonics' Distorted Reality libs and is quite useful for ambient game stuff and disturbing textures. I've got several newer hardware synths and a couple of good soft synths, but I still find myself using the SR-JV stuff as my workhorse.
A nice alternative to the 1080 might be something like the XV-5050...it's a bit pricier, but it is a better sounding synth and the quality of the FX (especially the reverb) is much better. Then you could get the SRX cards that have the pertinent SR-JV sounds on them and possibly save some money that way (the SRX Orchestral card has all the waveforms from both of the SR-JV Orchestral cards). Plus, you'd have access to the very nice Symphonique Strings expansion, which kicks ass over the strings on the SR-JV cards.
David J Franco
Failing that... gigastudio! lol :)