r/Synthesizer

What do you speculate 🧐 Moog might release in the future to replace it?

Hi everyone!

I currently own a Yamaha MODX7 and will hopefully be getting a Roland FANTOM 7 EX soon. I'm trying to figure out the best way to connect everything together, but I'm having some trouble choosing the right audio interface.

I'd like to connect both synthesizers to the same interface and listen to them simultaneously through my headphones and, eventually, through a pair of studio monitors or active PA speakers.

My headphones are Beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO (250 ohms), so I also need an interface with a headphone output powerful enough to drive them properly. I currently have some issues getting enough volume from my MODX7's headphone output without turning it up too much.

I'd also like to connect a microphone to the interface because I want to do livestreams and Discord calls. Ideally, people on Discord should be able to hear both synthesizers and my microphone at the same time, while I can hear everything through my headphones.

I'd also like to record my synths on my computer, preferably as separate stereo tracks in a DAW, rather than having everything mixed into a single stereo track.

So, ideally, I'd need an interface that can:

- Connect both synths in stereo (four line inputs in total).

- Connect a microphone at the same time.

- Drive my 250-ohm Beyerdynamic headphones properly.

- Send a mix of both synths and my microphone to Discord and livestreaming software.

- Allow me to record both synths separately in my DAW.

- Connect to a pair of studio monitors or active PA speakers.

- Ideally, handle audio routing and loopback without requiring too much complicated software setup.

I'm looking for something with good sound quality and reliable performance, but I don't want to spend a fortune. I'd really appreciate recommendations for an interface that can handle all of this without being unnecessarily expensive.

I'd also be grateful for advice on how to route everything correctly, especially how to send the combined synth and microphone audio to Discord while still recording the synths separately on my computer.

Thanks in advance for any help!

And also sorry for the big text.

So this is a rant but I would like your thoughts on the latest developments.

I do have a Computer Engineering background so while I understand lots of things about synths analogue and digital I never gotten to deep on the internals. I have some Max/MSP experience but up to that.

So I was shocked to just discover how easy and efficient is to reverse engineer a firmware and extract some funcitonality out of it via Claude. My favorite reverb did not worked as a VST, and Claude build a VST out of a firmware file in 40minutes. It claims it has done bit for bit testing, but frankly as long as it sounds OKish(and it does) it does not matter. Previously this task was a matter of months of work and expertise.

SImilarly you might have learn about the AKAI Force and Octatrack modified firmwares. So how does this affect us as a community: on one hand, it gives incredible power to users, no longer dependent on companies, large teams, or roadmap priorities.

- It also gives new life to old designs; I am even thinking of buying an Octa again, which I sold for a combination of stability and poor performance problems.

But how does this affect the industry as a whole? In a time when you can extract via firmware any kind of niche functionality in software, is this another push towards analog, or towards digital platforms as things you buy as hw and modify via AI-assisted coding? Thoughts? I am currently kind of thinking that I could sell my Roland Boutique TB03 since it will be quite similar to run the same on another modded hw platform.

I believe that its a good thing for musicians and co. I am not so sure about synth companies and people working for them.

Hügelton Instruments Felucca is a new custom M-VAVE FM-1 firmware that turns it into a multi-engine Synthesizer.

Caution! It's an early beta and can brick the hardware.