Quality of Synth Sounds on NS2?

[DJKeys]

I have a Nord Electro 3 and Wave which I am very happy with. I am always trying to scale down my setup and was wondering from the NS2 owners how you like the synth section? It only has one oscillator (Wave has two) so I was wondering how limiting this was in terms of synthesis and programming sounds for most classic rock applications.

Any input appreciated-

-dj

[anotherscott]

The one oscillator is not as limiting as it first appears, because there are numerous ways of achieving the effect of multiple oscillators. There is "unison mode" to give the effect of stacked oscillators; there is "dual detune" which gives you a second oscillator at any additional pitch within an octave up or down; there is "sync" which gives you the effect of a "hard-synced" second oscillator; and there is the fact that you can layer two synth sounds together (one in slot A and one in slot B).

[DJKeys]

Thank you, Scott! Great info

[Freak out]

No betther way to explain!!
I still can't work with it verry well tough... But i know what's possible

[TheWeed42]

When I upgraded, I came from an Alesis Micron that had 3 oscillators and 2 filters. I sometimes miss the extra filter, but I never miss the oscillators. And the jump in sound quality was enormous (which I'm sure you already know, being a Nord user already )

There's very little I haven't been able to program with it yet, using the tricks anotherscott mentioned. Two more things to add:
1.) Some of the wavetable samples are of thicker, multi-oscillator synths. So if you can't get it with the analog waveforms, that's another option.
2.) If you just need "that sound" you can always sample it from the Wave and load it in.

[anotherscott]

1.) Some of the wavetable samples are of thicker, multi-oscillator synths. So if you can't get it with the analog waveforms, that's another option.
2.) If you just need "that sound" you can always sample it from the Wave and load it in.

More good ideas! I forgot that some of the synth samples in the sample library would, themselves, be multi-oscillator sounds, good tip! And the sampling doesn't have to just be from the Wave, you could sample from anything. So for people reading this who don't have a Wave, for example, let's say that you set up a cool NS2 sound that requires synths in both slots, but you want to be able to play it from one slot. You might find that you could sample the 2-slot synth sound, create a custom sample of it, and then be able to load it and play it from just one slot.

[Lyonart]

I personally think the ability to play samples offers the greatest potential for creating unusual and complex sounds.

For example it is possible to create complex loops as samples and, by using the HOLD button and setting a long decay time, you can set sampled loops going on one slot and switch to the other slot with another synth/piano or organ (or all three if you like).

I am currently working on a series of tempo mapped drum tracks sampled from my Boss DR880 and hope to share these with the forum as soon as they are completed (time permitting of course).

Whilst the synth in the Stage 2 has it's limits, I am not sure whether the things that are missing from it would necessarilly bring anything of significant value to live playing, if that makes sense. In other words it is excellent for the vast majority of sounds that a keyboard player is ever likely to need in a live situation and, if you can't create it directly from the Stage 2, you can of course sample the sound you do want and play them back from the Stage 2 (albeit it with one velocity layer)

[dazzjazz]

I really love the sound of the synth section.
I've had the NS2 for about a month now and my desire for a dedicated polysynth has gone - the NS2 can do it!

For example, I was listening to the Cars "Let's Go" with the famous P5 Sync sound and the Solina strng part. I managed to program both sounds - one using the internal waveforms, the other using a sample, in about 5 minutes - awesome!!