Which synth matches this description?

[dhollmusik]

It absolutely has to be:

- polyphonic (3 the absolute minimum, anything from 6 ideal)
- small (if keyboard than not bigger than 2 octaves, preferably a desktop or rack)
- fully analogue (this includes VCO's)
- 500 of your nation's credits should be the around the upper limit of the budget for the average used example (this is flexible but excludes Prophet 08, Xpander & Sunsyn as they are too far beyond that price)
- knobs or sliders to control live parameters (only having one or two which you can assign will not do, the device has to be live-friendly, needing only a midi-keyboard to play)
- basic midi-in


What is not important:

- display screen
- patch-saving
- age


A nice but unnecessary bonus would be:

- advanced midi functions (like midi-out and knob-recording)
- onboard arpeggiator
- audio input


An acceptable exception to all of the above would be:

- DCO's in place of VCO's, but otherwise the synth should be mostly analogue in nature


What will not be considered:

- synth modules that require a second device to control the sound parameters (like a BCR2000) or where they have a display which requires lots of button-clicking to access basic parameters like ADSR and LFO speed (like a Matrix 6R or Roland MKS)



Now we know many dozens such synths exist in monophone...but are there any polyphonic synths that match this description?

I first asked this on sequencer.de and we struggled, and have only one true candidate, and one exception candidate:






So now I thought it's a good time to ask if the World Slutz can add any more suggestions

[dhollmusik]

so i guess there is a huge gap in the market then for a small affordable knobby poly-analog.

maybe Korg will plug the gap next year with a Polytribe.

[James Meeker]

Prophet 600 is close. Bigger keyboard, a little bit more expensive.

Chroma Polaris is close. Bigger keyboard. They usually sell around 500. BIG sounding VCO board. A true underdog. Unique sound.

VCO polysynths were a short-lived era. Jupiter 4/6/8, Prophet 5, CS-80/70/60/50, Oberheim OB-X/OB-Xa/OB-8, Prophet 600, Chroma, Chroma Polaris, Matrix 12/Xpander, Korg Polysix, Korg Mono/Poly (mostly polyphonic--shared envelopes), Oberheim FVS (mostly, but fiddly to work on), Akai AX80/73.

That may be all of them but I'm quoting from memory so there are surely some I missed. There weren't a whole bunch, that's for sure. And many of them are very, very expensive now because of the VCO's.

[dhollmusik]

Originally Posted by James Meeker

Prophet 600 is close.

Yeah, the Prophet won in the end (see this epic thread which got me banned from VSE). The Akai VX-600 (DCO's, but sounds great) and Vermona Perfourmer are the runners-up.

It's been really helpful starting these few threads lately. I've really narrowed down my gearlust...on my way to recovery! Less gear, more music-making.


VCO Poly: Prophet-600
half-rack FX: one of Sony HR-MP5 or Boss SE-70
half-rack rompler: keep JV-1010 or check out SC-8820
specialist real-world samples (world/orchestra): dedicated laptop with Kontakt and libraries


Pretty much have everything else I need/want. The only other outstanding gear-musing I have is a hardware graphic equalizer...thinking the Yamaha Q2031B is a good option here so probably won't start a thread on it.

[James Meeker]

Prophet 600 is a solid synth. I had one for a number of years until I got my Prophet 5. There are a few things the P600 is better at--long attack sounds are its forte' in my opinion.

The stepping on the controls is probably the only real downside. I can live with the software envelopes, they're not THAT slow. Faster than a Matrix 6, that's for sure.

Good synth, I thought it was way better than a Jupiter 6.

[Yoozer]

Originally Posted by dhollmusik

It absolutely has to be:

- polyphonic (3 the absolute minimum, anything from 6 ideal)
- small (if keyboard than not bigger than 2 octaves, preferably a desktop or rack)
- fully analogue (this includes VCO's)

And there's your problem: fully analog means big, and newer polyphonic units aren't made in small sizes. The Tetr4 being the exception - but then it's DCO, not VCO. Someone chopped up a Juno-106 to have a 3-octave keyboard, but that doesn't satisfy your requirements (and chopping properly is going to cost you if you can't do it yourself).

Your price requirement makes it completely impossible. Prices for analog are on the rise - and those who can't get a JP8 get a Juno-60, leading to the lesser analogs being hogged, too.

The positively huge Oberheims weren't that size because the designers wanted that - you have to get heat away from the components and without SMT your PCBs are big.

So yeah, Tetra it is.

[bizness80]

Easy- any number of MIDI 80's rack analogs with an aftermarket sysex controller (Beringer BC_, Novation Remote etc.)

Closest thing with a keyboard would be Juno 6 or 106 but they are too big and lose points for being DCO, according to your criteria.

Juno 60 and Prophet 600 are close too but they are getting up toward $1000 (and above in the case of the P600) in price.

[dhollmusik]

Originally Posted by James Meeker

The stepping on the controls is probably the only real downside. I can live with the software envelopes, they're not THAT slow.

These are my thoughts too...I heard the Prophet has only 64 steps in its entire filter sweep...sure doesn't count as a plus point...

Originally Posted by Yoozer

And there's your problem: fully analog means big, and newer polyphonic units aren't made in small sizes. The Tetr4 being the exception - but then it's DCO, not VCO.

Yeah...take away the price requirement there still isn't much left: Perfourmer, XPander, Sunsyn....I hear the Prophet 08 is coming down in price (first version), again DCO's and am not keen on its sound anyway (only going by online demos, tho'...oddly I prefer what I'm hearing from Tetra demos).

Originally Posted by bizness80

Easy- any number of MIDI 80's rack analogs with an aftermarket sysex controller (Beringer BC_, Novation Remote etc.)

Yeah, in the other thread I considered the MKS-50 + BCR2000 option...a viable option as it would mean I could sell my Alpha Juno 2 (partly funding the purchase and saving space). And I really enjoy the sound and synthesis of the Alpha Juno too.

So in theory it fits well, but it does require 3 devices before being fully playable - and I rather like the relatively small and light Alpha Juno 2 unit, it remains the only knobless synth I actually enjoy making patches on.

Originally Posted by bizness80

Juno 60 and Prophet 600 are close too but they are getting up toward $1000 (and above in the case of the P600) in price.

Prices vary wildly, but my plan would be to effectively swap my midi-fit Polysix (and eventually fully serviced) for one. I have two Polysixes, so would keep one to play in tandem with the Prophet. We had a nice thread on that here:

Polysix & Prophet-600 together in harmony


Pretty dead set now on the Prophet-600 above all other poly-analogues...I'm really enjoying audio demos with it, and looking at its control surface I think I'll enjoy playing it too. The limited filter steps is a shame...but then no synth is perfect.