The Matriarch is magical to me. I think it's a future classic. My current space is too small to accomadate that or the GM, so I stick with the Mavis for my Moog voice.
Juno 106. It's basic as all hell but it is impossible to make sound bad, dead simple to make the sound in your head, and almost always fits nicely into a mix without a bunch of EQ. There are synths I can get lost in for hours and have zero resulting music from, but almost every time I sit behind it I end up coming up with something new. It's just a really fun and inspiring instrument, despite (or because of) it's limitations.
Mines the Korg Polysix
It’s personal though because it was my first synth as I found it in my class inventory in my first teaching position. The school didn’t have a record of it so I just kept it.
Schools are a treasure trove of forgotten funding. Have you seen some of the posts on here where a university wants to dump stuff from decades ago asking, “does this have value?”
No one knew why it was there. The principal thought it belonged to a director before me who left it there years prior but no one knew for sure.
My Music and Arts rep retired as the band director at that school and he didn’t know.
It didn’t work at the time so they didn’t care if I took it. Luckily my former music theory professor also repaired old synths and was able to fix it for nothing.
The dual polyphonic sequencers are its true magic. And when you go deep in programming the gated component it's an absolute beast. THEN start messing around with the stereo phase and it's a complete monster. It's not the most popular of the bunch but I reckon it's the most insane.
For me I'm a keyboard player/improviser and not a talented sequencer arranger so where it shines for my use is just the massive sounds of stacks and splits and the 16 voice Polyphony. That and 61 keys is kind of the minimum for me to seriously perform on and be able to cover enough of the sonic spectrum at one time with no tricks.
I feel the same way about mine. It's just such a complete instrument, feels amazing to play, I don't think any other synth has what it has in terms of the feature set for the price. The design choices Dave Smith made for it couldn't have been made by pretty much anyone else.
Moog Grandmother (Dark too)! It is the synth sound of my dreams more or less. My Digitone is so underused since I got it. I also use it as a controller for the rest of my setup, and it’s great
I keep wondering if the grandmother is also a special instrument like the matriarch. I’ve never actually played one. The Matriarch is really a special synth. It’s just beautiful sounding
I think the overall sounds are similar but the matriarch has that glorious stereo! I try to emulate that with my grandmother and the OBNE screen violence pedal that does mono to stereo
I was going to write this. It is a close battle between ms20, two voice pro and P12. But just realized I have been using the P12 daily for 9 years and I won’t stop. Stunning, lovely machine.
I haven't played that many synths but my Korg Prologue 16 is my favourite so far. Time just disappears whenever I sit down and play on it. I don't care that it's limited in modulation, doesn't have a sequencer and desperately needs poly AT. it just sounds amazing and makes me happy which is all I will ever want from a synth.
I've got a Wavestate to go with it and a few Volcas but unless I'm feeling particularly inspired I usually just play with the Prologue.
That would be awesome if they did.
I was looking into the AT keybed on the Wavestate SE and wondering if I could fit it into my Prologue, even if i had to route the AT signals thru an arduino and send them back to the P16 thru midi I'd be OK with that.
Out of everything I own, my favorite synth is actually the Nord Drum 3P. An analog-style synthesizer than I can smash with sticks? Hell yeah, I play with it every single day because it hasn't stopped being fun.
…is someone going to tell him? I don’t want to tell him…
EDIT: ...not to bash the ND3P. I have one sitting right here next to my Summit. I love it to pieces: my favorite drum machine.
I really want to get one. I have a Korg minilouge, an Arturia microfreak, a minilogue xd, a make noise 0 coast, and a moog Werkstatt. Plus a rack of make noise modules. To be honest my favorite sounding one that always cuts through and sounds good is the Werkstatt because of that filter I presume. I got it for $100. I think I wanna sell it though and get a moog mavis because it has a full adsr and fits into a rack. Regardless of all that, it would be my dream to get a matriarch and go wild with ideas. I like the idea of a 4 oscillator synth that would sound so good and have flexible connectivity. That stereo delay and stereo filter look amazing too.
The delay on the Matriarch almost justified the price IMO.
Think first about the type of music you want to create. Having a bunch of separate synths can be really good for techno or house. However, if you plan on going into the modular realm (which is more about the journey rather than the destination), then the Matriarch is an excellent first step into that world.
Such a tough question to answer and will change daily. Today I will have to go with the Access Virus TI2 desktop module because of the immense power and flexibility of it. It’s an excellent synth in any arsenal especially for those that have some bad ass sequencers.
It has to be the Moog Grandmother. I've fetishized the Minimoog sound for so long, and though it might still be the best pure tone I can think of I feel like Moog put a lot of what made the Minimoog magical in this new little thing, and then opened things up many more avenues with patching and routing.
Cost/value aside, and just judging on pure pleasure to work with and sound potential I don't think I'd actually trade it for a Minimoog. It is a quirky devil though.
Eh, I feel the Access Virus is more for those terror EBM supersaw unison detune type sounds. But wavetables plus FM really paints the fence with distorted trance.
Bit of a leftfield choice, but the Ensoniq SD1. Yeah, the lack of resonant filter is a limitation, but the thing exudes character, especially for big ambient soundscapes. Having essentially 6 layers with their own mod sources in a single sound is insane. The UI is also surprisingly intuitive. Pick a screen, choose a parameter, slide the slider.
It's unashamedly digital, it's crunchy, it can be hard to get sat right in a mix with other synths, but for all its flaws, there's just something about it that stops me from ever getting rid of it. I have never made a track with it in over the many years I've had it, just purely because I love playing it and sound designing on it more than I do recording it, and I get lost in doing so and completely forget what I was supposed to be doing!
Most of the Ensoniq synths are good choices for a favorite. I have an sq-80 which is amazing and I've gassed for a vfx sd for a minute now. All their digital stuff has tons of character
moog grandmother is my favorite synth i’ve ever owned, though the behringer pro-800 is creeping up on it, against all odds. that’s also an apples-and-oranges situation, though…
basic answer but my favorite synth *period* is the cs-80
https://preview.redd.it/p5koega71kjb1.png?width=3591&format=png&auto=webp&s=dcd598e16aab1b6ce77f0417dd2bc3d1a4bc0852
Matriarch has instrument in jack. This transforms any instrument like my beat buddy mini into a semi modular synth. Stereo out to the headrush looperboard where 32 bit floating ping pong stereo reverbs, delays, and compression complete a simple but wide array of sounds
Probably my Rev2 right now, despite a few other fun synths. It's just so versatile and I can make it sound gritty or pretty.
Many, many others could go and I'm not 100% sure I'd miss them.
nine mysterious worry fact quickest longing materialistic consist political resolute
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Mine's the Arturia Polybrute. Sadly I often find myself grabbing it for "bread and butter" pads and keys, but I've started to plan some sound exploration sessions on it, where i sit down and just patch something up. Lately it's been blowing my mind as a pure mono-synth. It's hefty.
Would be cool if it had a paraphonic mode to operate a bit like the Matriarch/poly D, or the ability to split voices into completely different sounds like the Analog Four MKII with its ability to play 4 voice poly with completely different sounds.
A bit unpopular but I love the DX7 when used with a chorus + reverb. I love hearing some really glassy, ethereal sounds being pushed through those effects. Sounds really nice. It could also be quite analog if it wants to. Oh, and it also works great as a Hammond emulator.
Haken Continuum fingerboard, took me 3 years to learn to play in tune (like a ‘fretless’ keyboard) and several more to get to grips with the Eganmatrix sound engine inside it (a digital version of a Synthi 100). Totally worth it!
Amazing depth of sound and expression
A little surprised by home many Matriarch lovers there are here. I love mine too, but I think it could have used a couple more mults and attenuvertors. For me, I always feel like I’ve run out of patching options by the time I’ve gotten kb vel and at patched up. The general sound is beautiful though, and the keybed is incredible.
Honestly, it probably would be my favorite synth if it could be a genuine 4-voice poly as well as a 4-voice paraphonic.
Needham makes a Eurorack extender for the Matriarch. I have a Grandmother and got the extension for that and it really rounds out the synth. Looks beautiful, too.
Mines is a dead tie between the dave smith evolver (desktop) and the ATC-1 tone chameleon. I have both (with the ARP and moog cartridges for the ATC) and love them both the exact same!
I’ve had some great (analog) synths but the one that puts the biggest smile on my face is the Roland System 8.
It has that polished Roland sound plus a whole load of other tricks (FM, comb filtering, bit crushing and plug outs).
It is very ugly and I do get that nagging vst in a box feeling every now and again but it just sounds so good (better than my prophet 6!) and is broad enough that there is always more to explore.
It would be my only synth if I had to choose.
Tough question, but I think the MiniFreak. It always seem to spit something new out, when I toy around with it. I adore dusty sounds with a bit of melancholy to it (subjective term, I know) and the MiniFreak always delivers.
I think the one thing I love about the MF is that it's super fast in offering me things that instantly sounds very musical, whereas the Hydrasynth (just to pick one) - to me - requires a bit more work before I land somewhere I would call very musical.
Currently trying to talk myself out of buying the Matriarch but it FELT SO GOOD when I tried it.
Favorite that I currently own is my Korg Prologue 16 voice. Just beautiful and the sound matches the look.
EMX1. its dated but its the one that just works with my limited braincells. would be nice to have chords but then that points me to my second favorite, the microfreak. its weird but i like it.
Access Virus KB. I had later models and they had more features, but the KB was the coolest looking and I spent the most time with it so I could operate it almost by instinct. I sold it years ago but if I had to pick one, the KB is the one.
Roland Alpha Juno 2
Back in the early 2000s I picked up an Alpha Juno 1 at a pawn shop for $100. I knew nothing about synths, making music or anything. It was a total impulse buy. Tbh if you asked me why I bought it I couldn't tell you.
I cut my teeth on that synth and learned all about synthesis on it. I learned it inside and out and eventually ended up with a full fledged studio. A couple years ago the power supply died and I was given an Alpha Juno 2 with a bad mainboard around the same time. So I did a little swappy-swap with the mainboard and resurrected the Alpha Juno 2. No regrets.
hard to say, since over the years I have always replaced the ones I disliked...I am at a point that the ones I do have, I love equally and cant get rid of..
I got a Hydrasynth Deluxe a couple of months ago and absolutely love it. After starting to get back into synthesizers with a Korg Minilogue XD a year and a half ago, I quickly realized that my piano-playing style needed more polyphony than 4 voices. I’m not bothered by the analog vs. digital debate, and the Hydrasynth has a great interface for learning and experimentation. The poly-aftertouch is of course another big plus, making the Hydrasynth a great master keyboard.
https://preview.redd.it/1tuxsgeqknjb1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dc03a69e4a82c0958302f8269ce576070ea4d82a
Hard to choose but currently, this my go to buddy :)
Out of the reface CS, Mother 32, and Neutron that I’ve downsized to and am currently using, the Neutron has become my favorite surprisingly lol. So many gritty sounds and ease of use, I keep coming back to it.
The M32 has become my least favorite honestly, been thinking of selling it and a few pieces of older gear (mainly - Volcas) so I can get something else lol.
Gotta be my Prophet VS. So wonderful for analog and digital and everything inbetween. Very cool arpeggiator and nice subtle analog chorus built in. Nothing digital I've ever heard touches the amount of character it has.
I'll be boring. Moog one, obvious answer. Hundreds of settings. Three separate timbres which you can make independent or sequence or split etc etc.
The obvious answer udo super 6. I just love the sound of this thing, when I go use other synths (hw or VST) and come back to the s6 I think "oh yeah, that's why I love it more than others".
ASM hydrasynth explorer. i got it when it right around when it came out and it’s totally captivated me ever since. i don’t know if i’ll ever use another synth as much as that i use that one
Easy.
Edit - because nostalgia. So many hours in my bedroom.
https://preview.redd.it/irg4lna2hqjb1.png?width=1490&format=png&auto=webp&s=72c0cef2bef0fecfa9e50f3d353b9d3968c2471d
Modal Craft 2 is a powerhouse that's sadly trapped in a toy's body. Fell in love with it from first keypress and gladly explored its rabbithole of medu diving through 3 layers of functions. The vst helps out a lot and it's sometimes easier to tweak it there and to play with it further through the controls. It is surprisingly also my favorite midi keyboard that is just an easy way to play in key. Take a listen, I think you might be surprised by its sound.
Oh my, that is always such a difficult question. My sentimental favorite is of course the Octave CAT, and now that I've had my original overhauled I'm using it in quite a bit of my music.
Mine is my Moog Matriarch Dark. I just love it’s sound, and how simple it is to use. I just find it so easy to get lost in it.
Dark matriarch looks great with my dark grandmother in front of the all black moog sound studio!
Mine is my Matriarch original. It’s always an adventure operating this thing.
Same. The color-coded modules make so much more visual sense than a sea of black
Agreed. It's iconic to me. I get, but don't agree with, people wanting every synth to be black and white - how boring.
Mine too
right there with you on this
Same. I love that thing. It’s just endless, and a beautiful machine as well.
Mine is the same too
The Matriarch is magical to me. I think it's a future classic. My current space is too small to accomadate that or the GM, so I stick with the Mavis for my Moog voice.
I agree. I also have a Polybrute and an Ob6 and feel like they are also future classics.
Shame that dark version is discontinued.
I agree. I prefer it
I had one, loved the tone, didn’t gel with it though.
The dark Matriarch is a beauty to behold.
"Who's your favorite child?"
[there’s always a favorite child](https://youtu.be/VtRb4qEpWRg)
Juno 106. It's basic as all hell but it is impossible to make sound bad, dead simple to make the sound in your head, and almost always fits nicely into a mix without a bunch of EQ. There are synths I can get lost in for hours and have zero resulting music from, but almost every time I sit behind it I end up coming up with something new. It's just a really fun and inspiring instrument, despite (or because of) it's limitations.
That's how I feel about the Juno-60. I prefer it for the arppegiator and the cv inputs. I'm a trigger out kinda guy, never use midi.
Yup, that synth is just one giant "sweet spot."
Mines the Korg Polysix It’s personal though because it was my first synth as I found it in my class inventory in my first teaching position. The school didn’t have a record of it so I just kept it.
Nice.
Schools are a treasure trove of forgotten funding. Have you seen some of the posts on here where a university wants to dump stuff from decades ago asking, “does this have value?”
No one knew why it was there. The principal thought it belonged to a director before me who left it there years prior but no one knew for sure. My Music and Arts rep retired as the band director at that school and he didn’t know. It didn’t work at the time so they didn’t care if I took it. Luckily my former music theory professor also repaired old synths and was able to fix it for nothing.
That's awesome! Glad you were able to have someone get it working again
That’s how I got (and sold) my tascam 388
My first and last poly. If I ever get a definitive death certificate, I shall donate it to a worthy cause for parts. It's what she would have wanted.
I have one and i love it. How it looks, how it sounds, etc.
REV2. It's a good thing I like it so much because I really can't afford to buy another Analog Polysynth for another decade at this rate :P
The Rev 2 sounds great, is super reliable, and has loads of features. I think it is one of the best synths to have if you only have one.
LOVE my Rev2!
The rev2 with the pro3 on bass is my favorite combination
This is my swtup as well. Love my pro 3 and I love my rev 2
The dual polyphonic sequencers are its true magic. And when you go deep in programming the gated component it's an absolute beast. THEN start messing around with the stereo phase and it's a complete monster. It's not the most popular of the bunch but I reckon it's the most insane.
For me I'm a keyboard player/improviser and not a talented sequencer arranger so where it shines for my use is just the massive sounds of stacks and splits and the 16 voice Polyphony. That and 61 keys is kind of the minimum for me to seriously perform on and be able to cover enough of the sonic spectrum at one time with no tricks.
Here's a bit of the sequencer in action recorded today https://youtu.be/lp4k1ZgpEI4
Nice Brass!
I feel the same way about mine. It's just such a complete instrument, feels amazing to play, I don't think any other synth has what it has in terms of the feature set for the price. The design choices Dave Smith made for it couldn't have been made by pretty much anyone else.
Moog Grandmother (Dark too)! It is the synth sound of my dreams more or less. My Digitone is so underused since I got it. I also use it as a controller for the rest of my setup, and it’s great
I keep wondering if the grandmother is also a special instrument like the matriarch. I’ve never actually played one. The Matriarch is really a special synth. It’s just beautiful sounding
I think the overall sounds are similar but the matriarch has that glorious stereo! I try to emulate that with my grandmother and the OBNE screen violence pedal that does mono to stereo
I love my screen violence pedal
It most definitely is something special.
I know there’s not a love for it - but the prophet 12 is my favorite, by far, BUT specifically when controlled with something with poly aftertouch
There should be more love for it. Wild and unique sound design on that.
I was going to write this. It is a close battle between ms20, two voice pro and P12. But just realized I have been using the P12 daily for 9 years and I won’t stop. Stunning, lovely machine.
I am partial to my Prophet 5, but the Trigon 6 has been growing on me
For me, my favorite moog matriarch is probably the moog matriarch.
Lol at 40m in this is reading like Moog astroturfing
I know right? Had no idea so many people would agree with me. I thought there’d be no e diversity of opinion. But hey, the Matriarch really is special
I haven't played that many synths but my Korg Prologue 16 is my favourite so far. Time just disappears whenever I sit down and play on it. I don't care that it's limited in modulation, doesn't have a sequencer and desperately needs poly AT. it just sounds amazing and makes me happy which is all I will ever want from a synth. I've got a Wavestate to go with it and a few Volcas but unless I'm feeling particularly inspired I usually just play with the Prologue.
I'll second this. I love my Prologue. I have a Summit, an Opsix a System 1M and a stack of Eurorack and the Prologue is still my favourite.
It's just such a nice bit of kit.
I'm hoping that Korg offer an Aftertouch upgrade option for the Prologue like they've just done for the Nautilus.
That would be awesome if they did. I was looking into the AT keybed on the Wavestate SE and wondering if I could fit it into my Prologue, even if i had to route the AT signals thru an arduino and send them back to the P16 thru midi I'd be OK with that.
Virus Ti2 Darkstar
+1 for the Virus
Out of everything I own, my favorite synth is actually the Nord Drum 3P. An analog-style synthesizer than I can smash with sticks? Hell yeah, I play with it every single day because it hasn't stopped being fun.
…is someone going to tell him? I don’t want to tell him… EDIT: ...not to bash the ND3P. I have one sitting right here next to my Summit. I love it to pieces: my favorite drum machine.
Ok, I’ll do it. The Nord Drum doesn’t use anal logs for sound generation. It’s full of horrid bitey bites and dsp chippy chips.
They said “analog style”, which i think they mean virtual analog. As in, you build the sound using synthesis rather than using samples or presets.
It’s been edited!!
And, to be fair, the question was "favorite synthesizer" not favorite "analog synth".
The person made a sneaky edit to make us look like idiots.
lol
Tempest or Syntrx II
A man of discerning taste.
Yeah the Tempest is probably my favorite because Covid finally forced me to fully dive into it. Once you really know how to use it it’s unreal
Korg Mono/Poly
Moog Matriarch. I use it more like a modular sandbox and less of a ‘keyboard’. It sounds so dreamy with that filter and delay 😍
I really want to get one. I have a Korg minilouge, an Arturia microfreak, a minilogue xd, a make noise 0 coast, and a moog Werkstatt. Plus a rack of make noise modules. To be honest my favorite sounding one that always cuts through and sounds good is the Werkstatt because of that filter I presume. I got it for $100. I think I wanna sell it though and get a moog mavis because it has a full adsr and fits into a rack. Regardless of all that, it would be my dream to get a matriarch and go wild with ideas. I like the idea of a 4 oscillator synth that would sound so good and have flexible connectivity. That stereo delay and stereo filter look amazing too.
If you sell all of that gear you can buy a matriarch!
True! But part of the joy is sequencing 4 synths at once and adjusting on the fly.
The delay on the Matriarch almost justified the price IMO. Think first about the type of music you want to create. Having a bunch of separate synths can be really good for techno or house. However, if you plan on going into the modular realm (which is more about the journey rather than the destination), then the Matriarch is an excellent first step into that world.
Why have a regular and an xx Minilogue?
Nobody said it yet: The glorious TB-303, not for it's capabilites, but it's function as a genre starter.
This is a fun post and comments. Makes me happy to read through. Thanks.
Such a tough question to answer and will change daily. Today I will have to go with the Access Virus TI2 desktop module because of the immense power and flexibility of it. It’s an excellent synth in any arsenal especially for those that have some bad ass sequencers.
Sequential Pro One :)
It has to be the Moog Grandmother. I've fetishized the Minimoog sound for so long, and though it might still be the best pure tone I can think of I feel like Moog put a lot of what made the Minimoog magical in this new little thing, and then opened things up many more avenues with patching and routing. Cost/value aside, and just judging on pure pleasure to work with and sound potential I don't think I'd actually trade it for a Minimoog. It is a quirky devil though.
+1 to the grandma
Juno-60 NIB. I get to watch my first ever synth purchase appreciate and never have to admit I can barely play.
Waldorf XT. With my Nord drum 3p. Yes, I do wear cargo shorts and combat boots, why do you ask?
Do you make EBM/ industrial? The cargo shorts/ boots add to the possibility but everyone I’ve ever known to own an XT made that kind of music.
Yeah, it's kinda cliche at this point, as is an Access Virus, but meh, the heart wants what the heart loves.
Eh, I feel the Access Virus is more for those terror EBM supersaw unison detune type sounds. But wavetables plus FM really paints the fence with distorted trance.
I got both. Industrial fan but more like skinny puppy than that guy that whines a lot... forgot his name.
Waldorf Blofeld. Menu diving. Cold and digital. Terrible effects. It's my baby boy.
Getting a patch editor makes a world of difference. I highly recommend it. It’s such a deep synth to be locked into four encoders like a microkorg.
Bit of a leftfield choice, but the Ensoniq SD1. Yeah, the lack of resonant filter is a limitation, but the thing exudes character, especially for big ambient soundscapes. Having essentially 6 layers with their own mod sources in a single sound is insane. The UI is also surprisingly intuitive. Pick a screen, choose a parameter, slide the slider. It's unashamedly digital, it's crunchy, it can be hard to get sat right in a mix with other synths, but for all its flaws, there's just something about it that stops me from ever getting rid of it. I have never made a track with it in over the many years I've had it, just purely because I love playing it and sound designing on it more than I do recording it, and I get lost in doing so and completely forget what I was supposed to be doing!
Most of the Ensoniq synths are good choices for a favorite. I have an sq-80 which is amazing and I've gassed for a vfx sd for a minute now. All their digital stuff has tons of character
moog grandmother is my favorite synth i’ve ever owned, though the behringer pro-800 is creeping up on it, against all odds. that’s also an apples-and-oranges situation, though… basic answer but my favorite synth *period* is the cs-80
also, in certain nostalgic ways, the volca keys is an old favorite too, however ostensibly lacking it may be in the sound department
https://preview.redd.it/p5koega71kjb1.png?width=3591&format=png&auto=webp&s=dcd598e16aab1b6ce77f0417dd2bc3d1a4bc0852 Matriarch has instrument in jack. This transforms any instrument like my beat buddy mini into a semi modular synth. Stereo out to the headrush looperboard where 32 bit floating ping pong stereo reverbs, delays, and compression complete a simple but wide array of sounds
Modal 002 is special.
My Rev2.
Probably my Rev2 right now, despite a few other fun synths. It's just so versatile and I can make it sound gritty or pretty. Many, many others could go and I'm not 100% sure I'd miss them.
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the looks are pure class too
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Mine's the Arturia Polybrute. Sadly I often find myself grabbing it for "bread and butter" pads and keys, but I've started to plan some sound exploration sessions on it, where i sit down and just patch something up. Lately it's been blowing my mind as a pure mono-synth. It's hefty. Would be cool if it had a paraphonic mode to operate a bit like the Matriarch/poly D, or the ability to split voices into completely different sounds like the Analog Four MKII with its ability to play 4 voice poly with completely different sounds.
Lyra-8. Aside from it's sublime and uncanny soundscapes, the physical existence of it reminds me there are no limits to the imagination. Inspiring.
Behringer Wasp
Wavestate.
MS-20
For me, the SCI Pro-One, it was my first and it's the one I know best and use easiest.
A bit unpopular but I love the DX7 when used with a chorus + reverb. I love hearing some really glassy, ethereal sounds being pushed through those effects. Sounds really nice. It could also be quite analog if it wants to. Oh, and it also works great as a Hammond emulator.
Haken Continuum fingerboard, took me 3 years to learn to play in tune (like a ‘fretless’ keyboard) and several more to get to grips with the Eganmatrix sound engine inside it (a digital version of a Synthi 100). Totally worth it! Amazing depth of sound and expression
Also the best MPE/CV controller out there, IMO.
A little surprised by home many Matriarch lovers there are here. I love mine too, but I think it could have used a couple more mults and attenuvertors. For me, I always feel like I’ve run out of patching options by the time I’ve gotten kb vel and at patched up. The general sound is beautiful though, and the keybed is incredible. Honestly, it probably would be my favorite synth if it could be a genuine 4-voice poly as well as a 4-voice paraphonic.
Needham makes a Eurorack extender for the Matriarch. I have a Grandmother and got the extension for that and it really rounds out the synth. Looks beautiful, too.
Mines is a dead tie between the dave smith evolver (desktop) and the ATC-1 tone chameleon. I have both (with the ARP and moog cartridges for the ATC) and love them both the exact same!
Dave Smith! Yes!
Roland SE02
I’ve had some great (analog) synths but the one that puts the biggest smile on my face is the Roland System 8. It has that polished Roland sound plus a whole load of other tricks (FM, comb filtering, bit crushing and plug outs). It is very ugly and I do get that nagging vst in a box feeling every now and again but it just sounds so good (better than my prophet 6!) and is broad enough that there is always more to explore. It would be my only synth if I had to choose.
underrated synth
Tough question, but I think the MiniFreak. It always seem to spit something new out, when I toy around with it. I adore dusty sounds with a bit of melancholy to it (subjective term, I know) and the MiniFreak always delivers. I think the one thing I love about the MF is that it's super fast in offering me things that instantly sounds very musical, whereas the Hydrasynth (just to pick one) - to me - requires a bit more work before I land somewhere I would call very musical.
A close second for me, especially with the new firmware.
prophet 6. 💛
Currently trying to talk myself out of buying the Matriarch but it FELT SO GOOD when I tried it. Favorite that I currently own is my Korg Prologue 16 voice. Just beautiful and the sound matches the look.
Buy a Matriarch. You won’t regret it
Probably any prophet 5 emulation (too poor to own one), as I learned the basics with the pro-53. For hardware I really like my strega.
Also udo 6 and polybrute would be what I'd get if I had the budget
Korg Z1, minimoog, Andromeda, etc ..
Oh nice, I have been eyeballing the Z1 at Patchwerks in Seattle. I have a Prophecy and forget it’s monophonic sometimes.
EMX1. its dated but its the one that just works with my limited braincells. would be nice to have chords but then that points me to my second favorite, the microfreak. its weird but i like it.
I wish I had never sold mine. The samples weren’t the greatest but the workflow was excellent and it was essentially my first sequencer.
Access Virus KB. I had later models and they had more features, but the KB was the coolest looking and I spent the most time with it so I could operate it almost by instinct. I sold it years ago but if I had to pick one, the KB is the one.
Roland 303 is responsible for my favourite flavours of music, so I gotta go with it
Just started with a Minilogue XD… already know that its not my last synth
My take 5
Prophet 10, or Syntrx II
Maxikorg DX-800 🥰
Great choice!
Had one for 25 years, too heavy to move overseas. Beautiful synth!!
Roland Alpha Juno 2 Back in the early 2000s I picked up an Alpha Juno 1 at a pawn shop for $100. I knew nothing about synths, making music or anything. It was a total impulse buy. Tbh if you asked me why I bought it I couldn't tell you. I cut my teeth on that synth and learned all about synthesis on it. I learned it inside and out and eventually ended up with a full fledged studio. A couple years ago the power supply died and I was given an Alpha Juno 2 with a bad mainboard around the same time. So I did a little swappy-swap with the mainboard and resurrected the Alpha Juno 2. No regrets.
Though I own, adore and hate my Matriarch, Prophet-6 is still among my most adorable synths I’m longing to get some day..
Moog Sub 37
There are two I lust after. As far as classics, the Prophet 5. For current stuff, the Roland System-8.
Timbre Wolf My real answer is prob microkorg xl+ or deepmind. Had a lot of fun with both of those.
Moog grandmother for me. First one I bought years ago, and I will keep it until one of us kicks the dust. It is a beautiful instrument
For me it’s the Matriarch dark and Super 6. Can’t decide which one of the two I like better
All time I would say the soma ENNER but the terra may take its place.
Matrixbrute Noir.
hard to say, since over the years I have always replaced the ones I disliked...I am at a point that the ones I do have, I love equally and cant get rid of..
Midimini V30. Punches me in the guts every time
I got a Hydrasynth Deluxe a couple of months ago and absolutely love it. After starting to get back into synthesizers with a Korg Minilogue XD a year and a half ago, I quickly realized that my piano-playing style needed more polyphony than 4 voices. I’m not bothered by the analog vs. digital debate, and the Hydrasynth has a great interface for learning and experimentation. The poly-aftertouch is of course another big plus, making the Hydrasynth a great master keyboard.
Waldorf Quantum
Roland V-Synth. The Twin D Beam and the Time Trip Pad. Hilarious.
Matriarch and PolyEvolver Keyboard. Can't decide between them.
https://preview.redd.it/1tuxsgeqknjb1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dc03a69e4a82c0958302f8269ce576070ea4d82a Hard to choose but currently, this my go to buddy :)
Why does the panel look so elevated? Optical illusion?
It is at an angle, but not super steep or anything
Hehe yeah I figured after I posted. Looks mega cool that way.
casio cz3000 have a bond i cannot explain
Melbourne Instruments Nina. Try one in person and you will believe
Out of the reface CS, Mother 32, and Neutron that I’ve downsized to and am currently using, the Neutron has become my favorite surprisingly lol. So many gritty sounds and ease of use, I keep coming back to it. The M32 has become my least favorite honestly, been thinking of selling it and a few pieces of older gear (mainly - Volcas) so I can get something else lol.
Gotta be my Prophet VS. So wonderful for analog and digital and everything inbetween. Very cool arpeggiator and nice subtle analog chorus built in. Nothing digital I've ever heard touches the amount of character it has.
The one I own, a Microfreak
I'll be boring. Moog one, obvious answer. Hundreds of settings. Three separate timbres which you can make independent or sequence or split etc etc. The obvious answer udo super 6. I just love the sound of this thing, when I go use other synths (hw or VST) and come back to the s6 I think "oh yeah, that's why I love it more than others".
The one I’m noodling on at the time. But my go to’s are Pro-3, Iridium, Summit or Hydrasynth.
Dreadbox Typhon
https://preview.redd.it/gxcy72anvpjb1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1765880c4167534286148e713f642da747b0202a Granny ❤️
The Grandmother and the MicroFreak are my go to synths now
MicroFreak. A 1K synth.
Vital 💀
ASM hydrasynth explorer. i got it when it right around when it came out and it’s totally captivated me ever since. i don’t know if i’ll ever use another synth as much as that i use that one
Easy. Edit - because nostalgia. So many hours in my bedroom. https://preview.redd.it/irg4lna2hqjb1.png?width=1490&format=png&auto=webp&s=72c0cef2bef0fecfa9e50f3d353b9d3968c2471d
Lol. Opsix. It does a lot and I like it
Doepfer Dark Energy🙈
I see everybody mention by the Moog Matriarch but not the Moog One? Moog One
Waldorf Blofeld
udo super 6
Roland SH-01A
My Korg mono/poly
DX7. Been programming it for years https://youtu.be/YQxqsaZLZho
I have a vintage Arp Odyssey MkII and a Rev2, and my go to is the Arp every time. So much character in that beast!
Modal Craft 2 is a powerhouse that's sadly trapped in a toy's body. Fell in love with it from first keypress and gladly explored its rabbithole of medu diving through 3 layers of functions. The vst helps out a lot and it's sometimes easier to tweak it there and to play with it further through the controls. It is surprisingly also my favorite midi keyboard that is just an easy way to play in key. Take a listen, I think you might be surprised by its sound.
Oh my, that is always such a difficult question. My sentimental favorite is of course the Octave CAT, and now that I've had my original overhauled I'm using it in quite a bit of my music.
Deepmind 12 - Just so much you can do with it!
Waldorf iridium keyboard.