Sequential Six Trak. Personally, I’d choose the Ambika.
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I have an almost nonsensical affection for the Six Trak. I wish I still had mine.
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that’s what huge fx chains of reverbs & delays are for… 
Seriously though - I’m sure it massively depends on the type of music you make, but I just dont feel the need for a poly at all.
Touche. I remember hearing one in a music shop in the 90’s and not being blown away by it soundwise, but would like to compare again.
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There’s a lot to like about it: It can do very fat bass and it can get pretty out there when you start layering the voices.
Programming from the front panel is a pain. The digital control is low resolution, so lfo modulation of parameters is often stepped. But it was a ground-breaking synth in many respects.
I swapped mine for Pittsburgh SV1 with a 98 hp case. I can’t say I regret that deal.
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Each voice could sound pretty weedy on its own, especially the presets, which were a product of their time. Even so, you could get some respectable basses and plucky sequences going. More importantly, it could sound pretty big when all six voices were shoved into unison mode.
I tended to use it as a big unison mono synth, neglecting the multitimbral options. I eventually gave it to a friend (along with a Porta-05), and he showed me up but good, using both to create some excellent multitrack compositions. 
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with or without the controller?
They are really affordable without extra controller, but not sure how frustrating it is program
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I’ve never had the controller for the Junos or MKS-50 I’ve owned. It’s not got too many parameters. The biggest problem is only being able to tweak one-at-a-time. It never bothered me much. Theses days there are plenty of software alternatives to the PG300 available, so it’s not too big of a drawback.
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this. I like intertwining melodies in my music, so it’s great to have the option for more decay and overlapping notes.
for a while I agreed with @xmit that poly synths were boring. hell I think I had a dozen vintage monos at one point, and no poly synths. mono synths by nature generally have more options; and though that’s not always true, it’s certainly true compared against the Prophet 5. but it’s not always about how many options the synth has. sometimes it’s just about how good its core sound is.
as far as just choosing one… not sure I could do it but if I had to it would probably be the Digitone. just because it’s the most versatile and deep poly I own. I’d lie, cheat and steal to find a way to afford (or find space, or get around whatever the constraint is behind choosing just one) a Rev2 too though. fortunately, I don’t have to choose just one; so I have both of the above, and more.
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Very nice written!
I have the Rev2 and feel it has lots of character. 
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No love here for Hydrasynth?
Two previous mentions:
https://www.elektronauts.com/search?context=topic&context_id=143329&q=Hydra&skip_context=false
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true
It’s like taking your eyes out with a spoon.
Press parameters, scroll to the one you want, press value, scroll to the value you want, press parameters again and repeat…
It’s simple to get around but painful to do.
I’ve only used mine for about 45 minutes today, but already absolutely in love with it. The layout is so nice. I’ve already created two decently complex but usable patches.
The combo of this and the Rev2 covers all the poly ground I need.
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It would be great if Elektron made this. I wouldn’t be surprised if they do add something like this to the digi line. That said, I recommend taking a look at the Micromonsta 2. It sounds great, it’s compact, it’s bi-timbral, it’s thoughtfully designed, it’s capable of lots of modulation, it has plenty of voices, it’s inexpensive, and it really plays nicely with the digitone. Using them together almost feels like the MM2 is some kind of VA supercharger for the DN.
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Haha. Didn’t see your post before I replied to the thread. Seems we’re having the same experience with the DN/MM2 combo.
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It’s obviously not as immediate as a knobby synth, but I don’t find it frustrating at all.
The jog dial is solid and smooth. The buttons are nice and clicky. Don’t be fooled by them looking like membranes; they are actually tactice buttons below a plastic overlay.
You press the SELECT button, rotate the jog dial to scroll to the parameter you want, press the VALUE button, rotate the jog dial to edit its value, press SELECT again to confirm and you’re ready to scroll to another parameter. Rinse and repeat.
The display shows the parameter and its value when you select, and both the old and the new value when you edit. It’s a simple but effective way to make sure you always know what “mode” you’re in, making the process pretty smooth once you get used to it.
It’s a much, much better process than almost all other mid-to-late 80s analogue and hybrid synths with a display where you had to use +/- buttons, a numpad, and/or a value slider to make changes.
The parameters are logically organized and there aren’t too many of them (it is a Juno, after all!). They also wrap around when you scroll through with the jog dial. In practice, you can get to the one you want really quickly after a while.
You should be able to find the manual as a PDF online; read through the “Tone Color Parameters” section from page 18 onwards to get an idea of what you can do. Cool features include the alternative waveshapes (sawtooth with PWM!), the bass boost setting on the HPF, dedicated LFO for the PWM, variable rate chorus (”What The?“), and its crazy multistage envelope:
Finally, the nice keybed, poly portamento, and chord memory are little extras that help make this thing fun to play. I actually still use mine regularly as a compact controller keyboard.
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OB-6.
When I reach out for a poly it’s bcs I want to create a certain atmosphere and in that respect the OB nails what I’m after like nothing else. Everything else I can do with monos. So for me it’s not about flexibility. It’s about THAT sound.
I have A4, SH-01A and System-1m but hardly ever use them as polys.
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I can NEVER think a poly can be boring. I don t know, maybe if u can t play keys. But if u do u want to play multiple notes and use both hands…
Apart from sound sculpting it s a hole world hidden into the notes… let s not forget the piano…
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