Talking of layering, it's definitely a great way of finding 'unique' pads that one synth alone could never do.

JD-800 layered with SY77 (in FM mode ONLY!!) is making some very special sounding pads here - a great pairing. SY provides the steak, JD provides the sizzle - Or JD layered with FM8 (or a Software analog emulation) very nice.

gonna get lolled at here...but the an1x can actually do some nice mod pads :P

ugh, i really didnt think it would be this hard for me to make up my mind, lol

the korg tr racks sound fantastic too

Korg TR-Rack Motion Synth demos 1 of 2 - YouTube

Roland Gaia... Not expensive, USB integration, layering of sounds (Afaik 3 layer), additional editor software (but works only standalone, not as plug-in)

The sound - it's nasal, plastic, nasty, lack of edge and lack of focus. Weired phase problems that mess it up in mono compatibility - that's what you least at all want to have with pads. That's why - IMHO

well now ive narrowed it down to either the korg micro-x or the korg tr rack

anyone one own one or both of these?

which one would you guys recommend?

I don't experience this with my K5000S.

Get the triton rack instead. It allows you to add the Z1 card and you can also add the orchestral Expansion roms. It also samples. That would cover just about everything except for FM types of sounds.

isnt the micro-x basically an updated version of the triton?

I wouldn't laugh at the AN1x, great synth IMO once you tweak it.

not to my knowledge

well after doing some research the micro-x uses the same techology that powers the triton and also looks to be a newer version of the x50.

it looks like it would be easier to edit than the tr rack but man the tr rack has killer fx and nice drum sounds to go along with the nice pads and strings it can produce

but do you guys think the tr rack might be a bit dated in terms of sound?

Perhaps someone used a broken one or some dodgy cabling...or hundreds have just not noticed it..

In any case, it's a unique sounding synth and great for pads IMHO.

It is a nice choice for pads. It is very easy to program also. The thing in my mind that works against it is that you cannot sync the LFO's to midi clock. It does sound really great though.

I don't understand the facepalm given earlier for the K5000S. That is just silly cause it is excellent for this type of stuff. It is harder to program and I think you really need to get the memory expansion to make it useful.

Somehow, the Blofeld dropped out of the mix but I don't understand why. It certainly does at least as much as any of the others mentioned and it is very inexpensive. I love the XT/XTk but they are going to be a lot more money.

The ESQ-1 would be one of my last choices of the ones mentioned on this thread. Not a very smooth sound for a lush pad.

I don't own the Roland's mentioned nor the Korg's. I own all of the above I commented on.

i was considering the blofeld but i think it might kind of overlap with my virus classic. having some wavetables to work with would be nice though

That's good

i wasn't suggesting lolling at the an1x for everything, i just always here its more for leads, arps, bass but not so much for pads. Def top 10 VA if not top 5.

First, the Korg TR rack is the rack version of the trinity not the triton though the triton is the evolution of the trinity.

Second, I get what you are saying about the MicroX. To my knowledge I believe the MicroX is a straight romper. So it has string sampled instruments and it can also do your classic synthesized strings.

My previous post highlighted the fact that a Triton rack can also sample if it has the sampling upgrade which could add flexibility for strings and pads. Also the Triton rack can be upgraded with the Z1 card which augments the Triton rack with 6 voices of physical modelling synth goodness. Finally the triton rack can be augmented with expansion roms and Korg make a very nice orchestral one. So for bang for buck, I'd be looking at the Triton Rack as something that could give me what I what now that I can add too relatively cheaply in the future. If you can find one with the sampling or Z1 options already installed so much the better.

my .02

Totally agree !

Well I have a Virus TI2 and I don't think my Blofeld overlaps too much with it. The Blofeld has fantastic modulation capabilities and, as you have observed, wavetable synthesis. The wavetable handling on the Blofeld is in some ways superior to the XT/XTk because you can select a separate wave table for each oscillator. Very cool stuff especially if you get the sample license or buy the keyboard which has it by default.

Roland JD-800
Kurzweil K2000/2500/2600 (maybe a rack version to pump the prize down)

I've actually been doing this kind of thing, except on steroids. I've been layering a VZ-1, CZ-1, TX81z, and a quadrasynth s4 plus. Throw some wacky filter sweeps on all the tracks (ableton's auto filter with lfo works good) with spacey reverb and delay, mix, bus them out.

Largest pads I've heard in my life. All the best of PM, PD, FM, and rompler built into one sound. VZ-1 has 8 "operators" with ring mod, and saw tooth waves. Some people like the CZ series better as far as wave modulation stuff goes, but it's really interesting and a weird design and nothing sounds like it. It's like a DX-7 on steroids.

Also as someone mentioned, the Wavestation is great at pads.
The AD is excellent but for a budget, you can't beat the SR. Cheap as chips these days.

my favorites:

hybrid/vangelisque/etheral/smooth - JD990
ambient/character/dark/impeding doom - D50/550
complex/liquid metal/fm/etheral/voxey - FS1R
ambient/illbient/doom/gritt digital - XT

i had K5000W, and even did layers of additive and Rompler sounds, which yielded quite interesting results. it is really one of warmer digital boards, certainly worked very nice for some darker pads, but when using open filter or resonance ultimately i prefered it less than some others.

PS JD990 doesnt really need an editor or JD800 for programming (altough that would be nice) bcs it has one of the best and most ergonomic large LCD editing setups i've seen on all that generation. its possible to work really fast with a JD990. unlike D50..

From experience:

Wavestation A/D

Z1 (shame more people don't explore what this synth can do. Some of the best digital strings & pads I ever heard ... if you program it)

JD800


also worth a mention, Waldorf Q can do some fabulous pads, (but it takes abit of work to iron out the edgy Waldorf sheen)

For some unexplained reason, Virus pads and strings somehow don't work for me. Like the JP8000/SH-201, they somehow leave a bad 'after taste' to my ears after a while, which I find quite off putting.

Sorry, I was maybe a little bit brutal.

It's all cool.
I like the cold warmth of the K5000 and it can create unique and deep textures.
Ultimately, if it works for you or not , only you can tell.
I was never a fan of the Roland Romplers, but many are I can see! Just personal preferences.
I still think any one synth is less than half as good as 2 synths combined..

I'm on the lookout of a k5000 rack, but you don't see a lot of them around. I just got a k2500 though which with my current setup would probably be enough minus a couple true analog pieces which are just as easy emulatable in plugins for me. I like all of the old digital crap from the 80s/90s and a few newer things like the motif and korg/roland grooveboxes... I like aliasing. I like old computers and game consoles. Detuning primitive waveforms and running them through a filter is boring. It sounds 80% the same just by architecture alone. Compare that to all of the weird digital shit you can get for peanuts now that have interesting timbres and just enough mistakes in their digital structure and engineering. You just have to know which models to look for and what they are good at.

I like harmonics TYVM.

No blood no foul. Glad your championing the cause for all dogs now.

man, you guys are making this decision any easier, haha

the roland d-550 sounds amazing as well