Still goofing around with ideas...

[Lurion]

Hi guys!! I've been doing a bit more research into analogue synths and, after having read a bit in the internet and done a bit of research (I finally think I know the basics of FM and modular synthesis), I have decided to try out the Nord Lead 3. One question that pops into my mind is if the lack of an effects section is a real draw back. I mean, if after having spent 1500€ on it I have to spend another 500€ on an effects module or a bunch of pedals, I don't think I'm going to even bother trying it out!!

[Omega Monkey]

Well, the thing that you get with an external effects unit is flexability. When you get right down to it, a Nord Lead is probably not gonna be the only keyboard you will ever want, you will at the very least probably want something for piano and other acoustic sounds. With external effects, you can run various keyboards through them, whereas internal effects generally only work internally (although a few synths like my ASR-X have inputs to use the effects on external sources).

I would recommend you look into getting something like the Ensoniq DP/4. This is a unit that listed for about $1500 when it came out maybe 10 years ago, and its very powerful. I have had one for about 4 years now, and to be honest, I have barely scratched the surface of this thing. I use it mostly for delays and reverbs, as well as modulation effects like phaser and chorus, but it also has stuff like compression, eq, sine wave generator (good for tuning and weird effects), vocoder, etc... It has four discrete effects units, with input and output for each, and you can route them in a lot of different ways, and use anywhere from 1 mono source to 2 stereo sources to 4 mono sources. It is pretty versatile, and there are several modulation sources that you can assign to any effect parameter you want. The only problem is that it doesnt have a dedicated footswitch. But it does have inputs for a dual footswitch and an expression pedal, as well as standard MIDI connections.

They go for about 300-500 or so on eBay and they crop up fairly often. There is also a DP/2 which is basically the same thing but with only 2 effects units. I use mine for pretty much everything, guitar, keys, vocals, bass, etc... and overall Im very happy with the sound.