Meganoob starting out, Korg Taktile vs M-Audio Axiom?
Greetings. As the title says, I have zero experience with anything music related but finally decided to do something about that.
I've got Ableton set up, quickly realized the utility of having a MIDI controller. Google told me the Axiom 25 would be a good first piece of equipment to have but I've only found second-hand ones in my area. Musician friend says Korg is generally a better brand but I don't like how the Taktile 25 looks and it seems to be slightly bigger.
As you can see, I don't have very solid criteria for comparing them and haven't been able to find a side-to-side comparison online. Was hoping you lovely people could give me some suggestions.
Posted Oct 24, 2017, 12:18 AM UTC
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Just starting out, a midi keyboard is a great first piece of gear. I’d advise avoid sinking a ton of money into it, because you may discover you’re not as enchanted as you first thought.
I started with an M-Audio Radium49 which was great and cheap. Axiom is a simple piece of kit, and a good intro to midi controls. I think M-Audio in general is good starter gear. If you find that you need more, consider some smaller synths that can double as a midi keyboard.
Thanks for the advice, I found a good deal on a secondhand Axiom so I'll go for it.
While you're here! My intuition tells me that since a computer can play back music without issue, one individual with sufficient knowledge and time could hypothetically synthesize any sound digitally. I wanted to take this approach, both due to space and budget concerns as well as being a sort of personal challenge/experiment. But maybe I'm overlooking something, so my question is, is there some unique quality to hardware synths that I'd be missing out on?
Good question! Software synth plugins are pretty amazing nowadays in terms of quality and breadth of sounds you can make. Lots of good free ones, but there are some where you get what you pay for.
The allure of hardware synths is (arguably, there is debate) the warmth that you get from analog circuitry, which some producers will argue is impossible to faithfully reproduce via software. Some synths also have unique qualities to them regarding circuits being overdriven and producing a unique sound you might not replicate in software. Again, it’s debatable.
For a lot of folks, it’s just simply pretty damn fun to have a hardware kit in front of you and directly manipulate knobs/sliders and directly affect the sound. It’s a sense of connection with the instrument, much like a guitarist with a guitar. But, hardware synths come at a pretty price, so you might find a good balance with a midi controller and software synth as a start.
Heh, yeah, the fun factor is definitely tempting. :)
Anyway, really appreciate your help getting me started. Thanks!