Help, I need better sounds/voices...

Reefer Franklin

Reefer Franklin

Beatmaker
I have an MPC1000 with EXM128 & HDM-10 upgrades, and a Yamaha Portable Grand DGX-500, my problem is this, the Yamaha DGX has horribly cheesy in-store demo style sounds on it, albeit the keyboard itself is amazing, it has 88 full-sized half-weighted piano keys that feel great to play.

Now I don't have much, at all, of a budget and I'm into hardware so I'm looking for some sort of MIDI Module I'd imagine, what hardware joints have amazing sounds/patches/voices/instruments I could play on my DGX, that won't have me taking out a second mortgage?

BTW, I produce mostly sample-based hip-hop, but I like a very diverse sound palette, including some sounds from other genres that hip-hop producers aren't touching too much, yet.
 
Reefer Franklin

Reefer Franklin

Beatmaker
Do you have a computer that you can use for production?
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Not one that can handle production (on the to-do list), but I could prolly use it as a virtual sound module synced with the MPC, it just isn't powerful enough to handle all the sequencing, etc.

Why not use the internet to gather whatever samples you want and load them in the MPC...
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I do that to an extent right now with Freesound.org and Looperman.com but it's a very cumbersome process that I feel has a tendency to impede my creative flow, sounds on the internet that I've found are very unorganized and tend to need a lot of tweeking to become useful.

...and not use the DGX for sounds at all?
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The main reason, I like playing accompaniments on a piano, it just feels right most of the time.
 
Reefer Franklin

Reefer Franklin

Beatmaker
On that thought, of using my PC as a MIDI sound module, would Reason Essentials be worth checking out, I notice it isn't that expensive, how does it compare to Reason 7 in performance/practicality?
 
Reefer Franklin

Reefer Franklin

Beatmaker
Define decent interface, I mean I have a MOTU Fastlane for my MIDI in/out and I'm buying an ART USB Mix to get me by until my MOTU 828 MKII gets repaired...question though, could that be compensated at all with ASIO4ALL type buffering? Even if I get some distortion on playback I could always change the settings and sample it in off-time then play it back in the MPC on point. I seem to recall doing something like that with FL Studio and my MPD16 a long time ago.

Also I like the look of Kontakt Komplete Essentials, and it's even cheaper, plus it's progressively expandable.

Back to my original question though, are there any decent hardware modules that don't break the bank?
 
Reefer Franklin

Reefer Franklin

Beatmaker
The Yamaha Motif XS is $1,300 the Yamaha Motif ES is $600-$700 and you can't find the original Yamaha Motif Rack anymore, and the Korg Triton Rack is anywhere from $400-$800, both are a bit out of my price range at the moment, though I may keep an eye out for a cheaper ($350) Triton Rack as soon as I can afford it.

Are there any racks at a little lower price point worth checking out? Sounds don't need to be great, good would be leaps and bounds better than what I currently have.

P.S.: Are there any other entry-level soft synth/samplers loaded with good sounds I haven't mentioned? So far I like Propellerhead Reason Essentials & Kontakt Komplete Essentials...

Nice, I just found an E-Mu Proteus 2000 at the Music Go Round that just moved into my town for only $159, I think I might borrow the money and check that out...but you can NEVER get enough sounds, so the hunt continues.
 
Reefer Franklin

Reefer Franklin

Beatmaker
Other notorious Hip-Hop racks I've looked at, that are a bit out of my price range are the Ensoniq ASR-10 Rack at ~$400, the Roland Fantom-XR at ~$550-$750, and the Novation SuperNova Rack at ~$750.

I like both, and use Synths and Acoustic Emulations rather evenly in my production, but I'd say the Acoustic Emulation part is more important to me sound-wise.
 
Reefer Franklin

Reefer Franklin

Beatmaker
Picked up that E-Mu Proteus 2000 today, and I think I'll pick up a Roland JV-880 and start building a nice little Roland rack unit (I saw a video where the RZA gives the whole line from 1080 to 5080 a cosign). I like the Kurzweils but it'll prolly be a while before I grab one, I think the Korg 05R/W Ai2 looks rather interesting, as well.

The Korg TR Rack isn't that expensive and has the Korg Trinity sounds in it...the E-Mu Mo'Phatt is rather inexpensive as well, though I might wait to afford the Turbo Phatt.
 
Formant024

Formant024

Digital Smokerings
ill o.g.
Not a fan of emu modules, the vintage keys was the nicest one.
JD990's are nice, basicaly a JD800 in a rack (uses the same engine as S750/S770).
Roland XV series can be had cheap, some really old korgs can be had cheap and are cool x5dr,ns5r, wavestation (SR/AD) m1r and ms2000r .
 
Reefer Franklin

Reefer Franklin

Beatmaker
Look, the whole buying a new computer for $500 or $600 isn't going to happen until next tax season, I'm living off unemployment checks until the Liberty Tax Service I manage is booming again, not to mention I could do much better performance-wise by rebuilding/upgrading the one I have for that much money. Also I'm a hardware fan, I used to have plenty of it to play with in the studio I learned in.

And maybe it's my level of experience, but I always find it a huge pain in the ass to get all those latency issues worked out.

P.S.: I was kinda hoping to save up for a Sweetwater Creation Station ($999-$1,799) before I bought a new PC.

some really old korgs can be had cheap and are cool x5dr,ns5r, wavestation (SR/AD) m1r and ms2000r .
Click to expand...
Thank You Formant, I'll check those out...

Wow, that X5DR sounds amazing, I love it...and I had already checked-out the Wavestation SR and the M1R both superb.
 
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