Well... it really hasn't been a very good day. I bought a Roland JV-1010 synth a few years ago and loved it. For the money it was one of the best in it's class.

I got away from doing music for a few years and so the Roland just sat on my desk gathering dust. However, I got back the urge to start the music up again. I used to use Cakewalk but started finding it too time consuming having to do the bass and drum tracks especially. I then started hearing about BIAB and RB and so I did a lot of research on them. I decided to take the plunge and bought the UltraPac... it came last week. I couldn't wait to start music making.

The software and drivers for my Roland was out of date and so I got in touch with Roland and asked if I could get the new stuff I needed to start using it again. The guy responded and told me yes, I could get it - at a price of $35.00. I really didn't see any problem with that - in fact, I thought it was a fair price to pay.

The CD came in the mail today. I just put it in the computer and waited for it to start up and start installing. That's when my problems began. It turns out that the software I bought was the exact same as the old stuff I had. In fact, I downloaded the EXACT same stuff that was on the CD - for FREE. This isn't good because it is only for use with Windows 95 "and newer", meaning Windows 98. But that's where it stops. Drivers for Win XP were never developed or released. I was never told this and so I'm stuck with a great synth that I can't use anymore. I'm not about to start using Win 98 again. I emailed the guy at Roland right away to tell him this, hoping that I would get my $35.00 back but so far I haven't heard back from him. This is really starting to change my opinion about Roland.

What really p---ed me off was that the guy actually TOLD me that buying the CD would solve my problems. When I was on the phone with him I asked him if the synth was oblolete... he said no... it was just "discontinued", meaning that they weren't making it anymore, but it was still supported. Can you imagine???

And so, here I am... needing a synth but unable to afford one just after shelling out over $500.00 for the BIAB bundle I bought.

I've been hearing about "soft synths". My knowledge about them is next to nil but I'm guessing that they are synths in software form instead of exterior hardware like the JV-1010. If I were to start looking for some of this stuff, which one should I be looking at? I'm sure that one would be better than another. I'm looking for high quality sound - at an affordable price - if there is such a thing. Until I get something I'm stuck as far as putting any midi in my songs.

Like I said... I know absolutely NOTHING about this stuff and sure would appreciate any help from anyone who knows about it.

Thanks for listening to me whine...
Bobby

https://soundcloud.com/bobby-t-394727974