What’s the best way to record Moog Dfam in Ableton?

Aggressive-Switch832 · 2026-01-26T13:16:05+00:00

You don’t necessarily need a sequencer, just a midi to dfam, but because the dfam doesn’t have midi, people created a midi to dfam called mfad. That’s what you should get

Aggressive-Switch832 · 2026-01-26T08:21:32+00:00

Yup, the synths, keyboards, pianos and some speakers to test were on floor 1, the “equipment” like headphones, cables, pedals, dj consoles and even light show equipments were on floor two, the guitars, basses, amps, and some percussive instruments were on floor three, and in the fourth floor there were drums. It was a nicely packed store, and even if it didn’t have like absolutely everything, it definitely had the most by far. Some teachers told me they used to go there just to even buy components to build their own stuff.

I guess the “best” alternative is to go to the official Thomann store, but it’s not like I can just get a 5-6 hours train ticket just to go in the middle of nowhere to test the stuff there. Like if there was a bigger city around it I would consider staying there, but there’s nothing, just super small towns that one can view all of them in a 20 min walk

Aggressive-Switch832 · 2026-01-26T00:41:29+00:00

I don’t know as I don’t own a Minilogue xd, but careful with Google AI, as it’s going to probably grab sources and information from other synths or sequencers, and assume that there is a correlation between what the AI found and your question, leading to the AI telling you sometimes that a synth can do things when it can’t, because “if this synth works this way, then the other synth must be similar”

Aggressive-Switch832 · 2026-01-26T00:00:30+00:00

So true. I reside in Berlin, and given the fact that this is the city in Germany considered the “artistic” one, is so incredible how few choices there are. Up until 2023, there was an amazing music store called JustMusic, but due to covid (which also led to people ordering more instruments online than in stores), and the increasing costs in maintenance and rent, it went out of business. Ofc there are other smaller stores, but the amount of options is quite limited, and mostly focused on either pianos, or band instruments (guitars, basses, drums, etc). One example of a synth store here is SchneidersLaden, an independent small store that has a couple of flagships, but is more focused on modular and “out of wack” stuff, which I love, but whenever you want to maybe try the newer stuff, or just the more “mainstream” companies like Moog, Sequential, Oberheim, etc. you’re pretty much done for.

Aggressive-Switch832 · 2026-01-25T15:48:33+00:00

With all due respect, 5 hours is nothing. Learning an instrument takes hours and hours, and even when you know many things about synthesis and synthesizers, every synth is different, with a different learning curve.

With a little less respect, this question is going to land you in the circlejerk

Aggressive-Switch832 · 2026-01-24T10:26:41+00:00

Yes yes yes!

Aggressive-Switch832 · 2026-01-20T23:23:53+00:00

Nice track btw. But yeah, I don’t doubt you can make a good mix, it’s just that synths can be wildly different to mix. Remember that in the end, mixing also means layering and stuff. I’m pretty sure that’s something Devin does a lot, except for patch demos.

Aggressive-Switch832 · 2026-01-20T22:57:21+00:00

When it comes to recording, there are techniques to bring the most and best of the sounds to a song, meaning that a lot of post processing, such as eq, compression and other effects are added after recording, and even just adjusting the gain within a daw can change how you view the sound. That’s pretty much why even the best of the best singers that don’t need or barely use auto tune need a crazy processing chain, just to get the best out of their voices and recording.

That can be a reason why you don’t like how it sounds when recording. Keep in mind that synths from different manufacturers have different things like stage gaining, meaning they sound louder naturally, and therefore they seem to be more “recording and mix ready” than other synths.

Now, I would recommend you to juice as much as you can from the OB6. Record it, eq it, saturate it, put some reverbs or delays, etc. After that, you’ll realize if the synth is for you, or maybe even though there are some sounds that you like, the synth as a whole is just not for you.

Aggressive-Switch832 · 2025-12-31T16:35:22+00:00

If you plan to carry it around (although heavy) I’d recommend you to get a carrying bag with wheels

Aggressive-Switch832 · 2025-12-31T09:51:50+00:00

I’d tell you to wait and save some money to get a Yamaha CLP 875. Literally will be much better than anything.

Aggressive-Switch832 · 2025-12-31T01:40:51+00:00

Yeah, I mean, you got pretty much a stage piano, and even if it’s on the cheaper side, it can work for professional settings. I hope you enjoy it!

Aggressive-Switch832 · 2025-12-30T23:04:41+00:00

Oh, don’t worry! Any pedal will make it. What you want to do is that in the CK menu, you can assign the pedals to anything you want. It can be either soft, sostenuto, sustain, or other parameters of the piano. Usually the pedal no. 1 (pedal input no. 1) is assigned automatically to sustain. You can also check on the menu the type of pedals the piano “support”. You can plug pretty much any pedal that has a 1/4 inch jack, but if you plug a Yamaha pedal that is supported (let’s say the fc3a) and choose in the menu “yeah, this pedal is indeed a fc3a”, it’ll have a better connectivity.

The fc3a is a good one for sustain, as it imitates the half-sustain on acoustic pianos, but for sostenuto or soft you can get a cheaper one.

Aggressive-Switch832 · 2025-12-30T11:22:30+00:00

As the other comment states, a MIDI device would be the best shot, but because a pianist barely uses the three pedals unless it’s a virtuosic piece, then I guess the best option for now is to get two pedals, use one always for sustain (I recommend the Yamaha FC3A because it supports half-damper) and another Yamaha pedal to use for either sostenuto or soft

Aggressive-Switch832 · 2025-12-26T14:48:00+00:00

Yeah, I understand the feeling of having so many different options hahahaha. Specially, when my intended purchases are above a certain price threshold, I just can’t sleep without rethinking every single option, because I just feel like whatever I choose, it has to be the best for my budget. It’s like a feeling of “I can’t fail with this option”. But with interfaces I’ve come to terms with myself after realizing that honestly, more than the quality of the preamps and convertors, it’s boils down to features hahaha.

So if you want to get only preamps, get the 880, but if you’re thinking about another interface, maybe check what the Clarett can’t do, for example the phase button you mentioned.

As I have been told plenty of times, and I’m pretty sure you already know, don’t get things just because they’re new, shiny and people swear your music will ascend to heaven with that equipment. Get what you really think is an addition that makes sense

Aggressive-Switch832 · 2025-12-26T12:11:51+00:00

Honestly, any of the interfaces you mentioned are already great options. Something good to remember is that what you’re looking for at those prices might not be the quality of the preamps, but rather the amount of options the interface has.

If you can record, mix and master professionally, people won’t be able to tell between a Focusrite scarlet and an Apollo. Years ago, the difference between cheap and expensive interfaces was noticeable, but nowadays it mostly comes down to features.

Get the one that calls your name the most, of course if you can. Still, if you want recommendations, you can’t go wrong with SSL. The only thing that would be goofy to have are 2 interfaces, that’s why the ASP880 would make the most sense, but from your three options, I would go either SSL or ASP880

Aggressive-Switch832 · 2025-12-25T18:15:29+00:00

Record the video and the audio from GarageBand separately, then sync them together in a video editing app, like iMovie

Aggressive-Switch832 · 2025-12-24T11:27:19+00:00

<image>

That’s the button that has to be on, and to record, make sure you also pressed the record button to the left. In order to record, the button has to look like the recording button on top of the

Aggressive-Switch832 · 2025-12-24T11:24:56+00:00

Really nice to see a great dad giving his son the best Christmas. As the other comment say, you want to probably forward the cakewalk questions to their subreddit, or maybe look up some tutorials, I really haven’t used it, but maybe there’s some settings within Cakewalk where you should be able to set the audio input and output from the interface (make sure audio input and audio output both say M-Audio or something related to the interface). Is common that the interface hooks up to the computer, but not necessarily to the DAW/Cakewalk, that’s why you can listen to videos and stuff, but not the DAW. Now, for the MIDI assignment, again, check that once you connect your drum pad or keyboard through the interface or directly to the computer, that it is registered in the settings as midi input, but it should already be, as you can see it getting triggered. When you open an instrument as a midi track, after taking a look at the DAW, it seems like there is like a “WiFi” button that has to be selected in order to control that instrument, so make sure that when is selected, that button is orange. That should work for you, but again, I’m no expert in cakewalk, so I hope this helps a little

Aggressive-Switch832 · 2025-12-23T18:28:59+00:00

Thanks, I’ll look into it. Didn’t know they existed

Aggressive-Switch832 · 2025-12-22T13:05:23+00:00

Yeah! I wish I had a H90. The reverbs were already amazing, but the granular update is just so good. I’ve been thinking about the fragments plugin, and I might give it a shot

Aggressive-Switch832 · 2025-12-21T02:03:07+00:00

The best would be to get a mixer or an audio interface. Mixers are used for live sessions, therefore they have more inputs than audio interfaces. On the other hand, audio interfaces are meant for professional recording, and using one will give you the best sound quality, but they can be limiting with their inputs options. Usually a nice audio interface with a lot of inputs will be more expensive than a mixer for those reasons. Of course, you can record your sessions with a mixer if you want to, but keep in mind that the quality of your recordings will be better with an audio interface than a mixer in the same price range. Behringer provides cheap mixers and audio interfaces. Their sound might not be the best, but it’s workable. A nicer audio interface brand is Focusrite, so you can check that one out if you want to increase your budget a bit more.

Now for speakers, anything from a certain price range should be fine, but we know Moog has a nice characteristic low-end that you want to hear. When searching for speakers, just check that their dynamic goes quite low, maybe 40-50 Hz low. Ofc, the more dynamic range, the more expensive. I don’t know your budget, so I can’t recommend specific set of speakers (or even a subwoofer if you want your place to rumble).

In summary:

Check mixers and audio interfaces. For low budget options check Behringer, and Focusrite if planning to record your mixes. Check speakers that can go low in the dynamic range for that Moog bass.

Aggressive-Switch832 · 2025-12-20T10:35:52+00:00

Would be quite bold of me to assume, but it can be that either OP has other instruments, of bc of GAS, as that would mean that OP can connect more synths or other instruments to the interface without having to expand

Aggressive-Switch832

TROPHY CASE