Close, look at the Pro 2. They’re different. The Pro-2 has deeper synthesis.
And it’s a big reason I’m always considering the Prophet 12 for poly.
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For me, a poly is much less about playing big chords and more about overlapping decaying notes. Often even just a 4 voice poly gets me what I need. For a long while I got by with just a DSI Tetra.
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DX7 mk1
Impossible to get bored of… Adventure to program, capable of weirdness but also a very emotional instrument.
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DN or A4, for me.
I need it to be a multitimbral groovebox more than a key playing thing.
4 tracks is all I need to make a whole track.
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Sometimes i think i got it wrong when i got the Rev 2 over the Prophet 6/12. It comes down to the sound. Yes the Rev 2 can do most things well but the 6/12 just have the edge on sound imo. I think polys are over-rated though now. I think pads/strings can be sourced very easily. The mono sounds not so, again imo.
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Well since someone had to ask it, I had to dump my gear droolings here. I had a great poly, the Minilogue XD. Killer little poly. Then I booted it and a DT for my OTMk2. And I’ve been itching to get an analog poly back.
I’d say asking someone what is the one synth isn’t something I could tell you for myself I’d be able to suggest for anyone. I’m a total 80’s baby. Other than maybe Jesus Loves me, my first musical memory that hits me the strongest is rocking out, jumping around on the couch and living room to none other than JUMP!
So the synth aside from the sample based power house the OT can be, for my analog heaven I’d have to say the Dave Smith & Tom Oberhiem OB-6 is like my dream synth to get one day. With a Moog Sub Phatty and Minibrute, I’d have 3 killer filters, and the mono’s I can run the rest of my audio through, though to bad the Ob-6 doesn’t have an audio in for the filter. Otherwise it takes care of poly duties with all the oozing goodness of my childhood and more.
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The Minilogue XD is also one of my favorites and I love how it works with the OT. Having all the controls exposed for performance makes it a great synth to tweak while the OT sequences it. Also, I like that you can play a little video game while the oscillators calibrate.
I do wish it had keyboard split, but over all I strongly recommend the XD.
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Nord G1 (ora G2 if I can ever afford it 
)
If that’s cheating then a Lead 2 or 3
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Either the Dreadbox Abyss or the Moog Matriarch (not true poly, I know, but if I can play chords on it, then it counts for me). Close runner up would be the Deckard’s Dream MkII if they ever release it, and if it sounds just like the MkI.
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From the ones I owned probably digitone. Analog four is close.
same I guess. I often think about selling DN and A4 to get one really nice poly keyboard (prophet 6 probably) but I assume I would be pissed that I have to record every sound to audio one after the other. Multitimbral plus sequencer is so powerful and fast
Nord lead 2 was really nice too. There was something special about it
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I also find that as much as I like Peak and enjoyed having OB-6, I can get a lot more mileage out of a multitimbral box like A4 or DN. A lot easier for me to start writing a track when I don’t have to worry about multitracking into a DAW right from the get-go.
Still, there’s something about great poly synths that make me gas for them. I would love to spend a week or two with a Prophet 6 or a Matriarch, even though I know a big monotimbral poly is not crucial for my current workflow.
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I’m also a huge fan of the Peak. One of my favorite aspects is all the options at your finger tips. Talk about modulation:
– 16 slots in the mod matrix
– 16 (at least, depending on how you count) “normaled” modulations available at your finger tips
– 4 slots in the fx mod matrix
– Every envelope can be velocity sensitive without using a slot in the mod matrix (in fact, this applies to every destination the envelope is modulating)
Other reasons it stands out to me:
– FM, wavetables, (FM w/ wavetables!), plus nice warm VA goodness
– 3 ways to bring noise into the mix
– LFO 1+2 can act like envelopes
– Every envelope can act like an LFO (triangle, saw and trapezoid shapes)
– Pretty great effects
The Summit does this even better with more normaled modulations for FM. I didn’t really look into the Summit much when buying my Peak because I didn’t want to commit to a synth/keyboard combo but seeing those FM options on the front panel made me envious. I’m definitely eyeing one in the future.
Second @korpinen’s comment about having a multitimbral synth for writing tracks though. I mostly use the Peak for late night noodling. I have a DN on the way and very excited to get some ideas down.
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I think the same exactly.
I have both OB-6 and Peak, and while they are amazing, I would never make the mistake to sell either for one neat monotimbral poly.
@Unifono you would have fun for some time, but feel the same at some point I guess.
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I think it would have to be my DSI PolyEvolver, for the breadth of things that it can do rather than simply being a poly synth.
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JX-3P, wouldn’t work for everyone, but would be more than enough for me. Really able to zen out and program the JX-3P like no other synth (without the PG-200!!!).
I’ve never tried an Alpha Juno, but I could see it giving my JX some competition. ESQ-1 is the most similar synth I’ve owned, programming wise, but there’s something about the JX’s simplicity. Took a day to memorize the 32 parameter options and takes me far less time to hone a targeted sound than it does on the S8’s JX-3P plugout.
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Another vote for Digitone. Just has so many features in the box and can do more than just FM type sounds.
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Lovely instrument. I got one for the whopping sum of $10 back in the early 90s (before analogue synths were resurrected the first time). It was beat to a pulp. Still worked, though, and sounded fantastic. I gave it away when I moved away from Arizona.
Later on, I got the MKS-30, which I must have sold at some point (though I don’t remember doing it) as I haven’t had it for at least a decade.
In my opinion, it has more character than does the Alpha Juno - a little more untamed and uncouth. it may be simple, but it has exactly what you need and not a dollop more.
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Am i right, being at the elektronauts forum and no one mentioned Monomachine ?
(And yes, of course it actually is a 6-voice polysynth. Nobody said i´d have to use it as such, but it is “the one” i would keep)
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I’m torn between the Minilogue XD and the Digitone.
On one hand I’ve gotten real familiar with the Minilogue. I can have an idea for a sound in my head and get it out of the instrument with relative ease.
On the other, as I put more time into the Digitone it feels like diving deeper and deeper into an ocean of sounds. Additionally all the destinations for LFOs plus MIDI sequencing are really blowing my mind. It’s still taking me some work to get a hold on, but I’m enjoying it a lot. (And growing up as a Sega Genesis kid, I’m pretty partial to FM sounds.)
It’d be hard for me to just use one! But since this is all hypothetical anyway, in reality they go together pretty dang well!
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It’s hands down easily the Virus TI. The virus TI is basically every VST feature you’d ever need in a hardware box, with PC cross compatibility, usb interface mode, 16 channel multi, a multitude of inputs and outputs, and a sound engine with every kind of common oscillator and effect you’d want. I don’t know how they cooked this up almost 12 years ago. The only thing it lacks is robust internal sequencing options.
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