Hi everyone. This is my first post to this board. I've been reading your comments for a while and I'm glad to be a part of the group. Looking through previous posts, I haven't found much this topic and frankly, Harmony Central hasn't been much help either. So on to the stuff...

I've owned an XP-80 for 3 years and within the last six months I've gotten the Vintage Synth, Bass and Drums, and Orchestral boards. All of these boards are great in my opinion and now I'm looking to fill that final slot with something. I'm into making orchestral/electronic/dance/rock and mixes of any of those (Progressive Dance?). I'd like to get some of your opinions on these two boards (Dance and Techno Collection). It's frankly been a pain trying to find an MP3 sample of the Dance board on the web.

I had the chance to demo some Techno board sounds on the XP-30 a while back, but didn't get to check out the whole thing (my ride was getting pushy and it was either go then or walk home!) From what I tried, I thought it was ok and that I could do some things with it. The industrial drum kit was nice, I don't know about the others.

Sometimes I try and do too much and I don't want to get a board that will make me feel limited by the waveforms (loops anyone?). I'm also concerned that there might be too much unnecessary overlap of synth bass and lead sounds on the Techno and Vintage Synth cards that I could easily avoid and be better off getting the Dance card. Of course price is an issue too, with the Dance card going for $200-$300 on ebay (if you can find one at all!). I can work around waveforms to an extent, but nothing can fix a bad waveform. Read mixed reviews on the Techno board, mostly positive on the Dance. I've considered going for an external module (Virus?) for techno stuff and getting the OrchII to round out my boards. But what I'm mainly looking for is clean, solid, usable 'electronic' drums. Comments? Opinions? Have I said too much? Have I said enough?


MappyPlus

Also I'd like to add that I'm a poor college student so a sampler is kinda out of my budget at the moment. This is sorta off-topic but, are there any similar drum waveforms/kits shared by the Dance and Hip Hop boards?


MappyPlus

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The Dance board was discontinued a while back due to licensing issues, hence the high price on EBay (if you can even find one at all). I had a go on the Techno card and wasn't very impressed (IMHO the loops were useless), but apparently the Dance card's very good if you can find one.

A much cheaper option is Roland's "Dance Kit" for the JV / XP range which can be freely downloaded from their web site and contains some very good patches.

Alternatively sample CDs can be good for dance music - if a proper sampler's too expensive then have you considered either a software sampler (Gigasampler?) or a suitable sound card such as the SB Live? Not as professional, but does the job!

Good luck...
Pete

Thanks Pete, in fact I do have a Soundblaster Live Value although I don't know what it's capable of compared to the full version (it came with the computer so I don't have any documentation). My PC would work for some things: 400Mhz, 8gb, 192mb of ram running Win98. Eventually I'll get my hands on a professional sound card or a sampler and hard disk recording unit (VS-1880 possible) But to get that stuff right now I'd have to take out a loan or something.

As far as getting dance music right now, I have the DanceKit. Some of the patches are usable but mostly I was unimpressed. The internal waveforms just don't cut it for me and I would mostly be creating my own patches using the Dance board (mainly snare drums). Aside from the loops, are the waveforms usable, tweakable enough to create 'original' drums and other sounds? My music is geared more toward 'musical' techno as opposed to 'noise and sound effects' techno. I like to use elements of funk/disco/rock/orchestra...basically anything goes as long as it's used in a musical context (which can be done with noise if used properly!). I especially like techno that uses real bass sounds as opposed to the electronic stuff. Groovy!

On a side note, has anyone made convincing 'electronic' drums using waveforms from the Bass and Drum board?

Mappy

The difference in the SB Live and Value is really just the Daughter card with digital outs, though these aren't a huge amount of use as they are fixed at 48khz and seem to introduce quite a few pops & clicks into audio so I now wish I'd just got the value one. They've both got quite comprehensive sampling facilities using sound fonts - you can download Vienna Soundfont studio from Creative Lab's web site which is quite a handy tool for sampling with the SB Live. My PC's only a 266 with 128 meg but I don't have any problems so you should be fine.

You might want to audition the Vintage Synth card - won't be so hot for those analogue basses you're after but it should be quite useful for a lot of dance music.

Pete

As far as wanting good drum loops and hits, the Hip Hop board would be a less expensive option for you. The drum kits of the HH board are very similar to the Dance board drums. I kind of like the HH drums better. The Dance board includes a distorted 909 kick sound and the HH doesn't, though. Of course, you can fiddle with the various 909-ish kick waveforms on the HH board and the distortion effect and get something close. Although the sound selection is very similar between the two boards, I think the Dance board offers better synth leads, basses, and pads, but I like the hits and "sound effects" of the HH board better.

I own both boards, by the way. Knowing what I know from owning them both (and for my tastes and purposes), I'd rather pay $175 for the HH board on eBay than $300 for the Dance board.

Thanks again. I really appreciate the advice on the SB Live subject. On the subject of expansion boards, the Vintage Synth is the first one I purchased and I agree that it's great for Dance and other electronic music. I'm really looking for that final board to round out my synth. I thought the Dance board would do it, but not for $360 on ebay!!

The other boards I have are the Orchestral and the Bass and Drums. But dang, I really wanted that Dance Board just because it sounds like the perfect thing for me. Decisions decisions...More advice is definitely welcome from anyone.

Thanks Wilkes, I got your post a little late for that last one. That's the kinda advice I was hoping for. As the price of the Dance Board consistently rises, the Hip Hip or Techno boards are looking to be better alternatives. I don't care for loops at all. As far as I'm concerned, they aren't even a purchasing factor. I'm looking for good drum waveforms to add to the rest. Also, I find it hilarious that I'm posting to this topic more than anyone else!!

Post all you want! We can tell that you're actually reading and thinking about our attempts to help you; it's nice to see/read.

I use the loops more than I figured I would. I always create my own "user" loops by taking component loops ("tone loops" might be the Roland way to say it) from the different patch loops and synchronizing them together at the same tempo. After you mess with the filters, effects settings, and LFOs, a component loop (and user patch loop, as a result) can sound way different than it did before it was edited.

If your primary concern in getting your last expansion board is getting some useable drum kits/hits, the HH board is, I'd say, as good as the Dance board. Overall, though, I like the Dance board better for dancey, synth-pop, techno-type music, but wouldn't pay a bunch of money for one!

You mentioned getting a hard disk recorder (like the VS-1880). It'd be a great investment; an XP-80 sync'ed to a VS recorder (even an 840, 880, or [soon!] 890) or an inexpensive audio card for your PC (Emagic Audiowerk2 or something) would really give you a lot more options for recording. You could record thick, layered sounds and use different XP effects on different tracks, almost like having several XPs at once. I'd definitely invest in an HDR before any of the other things you mentioned if you really want to record full-length songs now. I'd bet just the XP80 - with the knowledge of it you've likely accumulated over three years of owning it - and a used VS880EX (or PC card, Korg D8, etc.) would allow you to record some great-sounding tunes! Sorry about going on about this, but it kind of relates to a decision I made a few months ago...

Thanks, I understand how I could arrange loops in a measure to create original drum tracks. And even more interesting is the aspect of using the filters to separate hi hats or bass drums and then recombining them. It's fun to me and it's definitely possible to make quality music using these loops. Personally I just prefer using waveforms to make my own beats.

Some kind of hard disk recording system is in my future when I save up the bucks. I've researched the PC vs. stand alone unit thread for a long time. Also I've been looking at the VS-Planet website for the last couple of weeks. As many options as a PC offers, going this route seems quite daunting and sticking with a VS seems much more intuitive. There are lots of extras to buy no matter which route I take.

On one hand the VS system looks great. All those features in one box. On the other hand, PC systems are very flexible and upgradable. At the moment, I don't really need all the inputs or even mic processors since I'll be using my XP and possibly a guitar. I simply want the thing that's gonna do the best job with the work I put into it. Any thoughts?