right, what synthesizer should I buy?

  BCM said:

er, one of what?

A penis.

knob twiddler

Creamware MiniMax ASB. even if it doesnt sound as good as the others (pah!), the mahogany finished/chunky knobbed design will give the illusion of it sounding ten times better. even those buttons - the thick matt plastic clicking down, the red led standing to attention. a proud sexy addition to any setup.

on a related midi controller note, i saw this baby today:

only a midi controller, but the sexiest midi controller ive ever seen. unfortunately you can only buy it in a package with the arturia analog factory (given youve already got a crack of the cs80 and modular). bit pissed too because apparantly its made by cme, and i bought a cme mkey about 6 months ago (needed some cheap extra octaves). i also remember seeing their UF range and thinking "why the fuck dont people make more midi controllers like that?", check:

shame i dont have the money for either

so are you after a mono or poly? VA, real analogue, something else...?

Out of the three listed, I would say the evolver is the best choice. If your budget is up to £400-500 though, theres loads of possibilities. A few that haven't been mentioned:

SE ATC-1

Pro-one

Waldorf Pulse

That new Dave Smith I cant remember the name of...

I'm about to put my Cheetah MS6 (w/midi cc mod) up for sale. Probably not what you're looking for, but a really great, underrated synth. Same curtis chips as the Matrix, but unlike anything really.

I'm sure you've thought of this, but if you're going all hardware, factor in some money for some effects. Ensoniq DP4+/DP2 would be my choice, maybe a couple of boutique pedals...

Theres a Behringer knockoff of the Boss Dimension C (real analogue, very similar circuit and sound), that costs next to nothing.

Probably the most cost-effective upgrade for a non-chorus (or non-stereo) synth around right now.

http://www.behringer.com/CC300/index.cfm?lang=ENG

evolver kinda sucks

i had a basstation back in the day. was fun at the time but there's much cooler stuff than that now. get a 2nd hand clavia micromodular. i'm sure you could make a patch with it that duplicates the basstation, plus you can do a million other things.

  kakapo said:

I'm about to put my Cheetah MS6 (w/midi cc mod) up for sale. Probably not what you're looking for, but a really great, underrated synth. Same curtis chips as the Matrix, but unlike anything really.

It's multitimbral right?

Does it have multiple/assignable outputs?

How many presets / memory locations?

Any patch librarians / programmer software / freeware patch collections for it?

Get the Dave Smith Mohpo. It just came out. It's based on the prophet 08 that is a new age take on the prophet, but has a much more flexible sound and has awesome sub osc's! Listen to some sound demos, i'm gonna get one soon.

Here's 2 decent (although cheesy) demos:

I used to have an evolver, and I would love a poly evolver, but with just one voice, the bass was a bit difficult to get out of it, and the interface was a headache.

http://www.davesmithinstruments.com/products/mopho/

The mopho comes with a great free software editor too, but people are saying editing from the front panel is pretty nice. OH and it has the sequencers that can be gated and triggered by the keys like the evolver does. It's a 100% analog signal path too, unlike the evolver (which I don't care about but some people do).

If you don't get that I second a Matrix 1000. Especially over the evolver. Although it's best programmed by software. BUt the sound is awesome!

ps - they've actually got a mopho used at analog haven right now for 320

http://www.analoguehaven.com/used/

Not knocking the MoPho at all, just wanted to say that that it ALSO (and the Prophet 08) has the same voice chips as the Matrix 1000.

Without the Evolver's digital weirdness, it is essentially a 1 voice Matrix 1000 for around the same cost.

You would pick a MoPho over a Matrix if you valued the inbuilt sequencer and the hands-on programming, I guess. If you are thinking purely in terms of grunt, it's gotta be the Matrix for the money.

  kakapo said:

Out of the three listed, I would say the evolver is the best choice. If your budget is up to £400-500 though, theres loads of possibilities. A few that haven't been mentioned:

 

SE ATC-1

Pro-one

Waldorf Pulse

That new Dave Smith I cant remember the name of...

 

I'm about to put my Cheetah MS6 (w/midi cc mod) up for sale. Probably not what you're looking for, but a really great, underrated synth. Same curtis chips as the Matrix, but unlike anything really.

 

I'm sure you've thought of this, but if you're going all hardware, factor in some money for some effects. Ensoniq DP4+/DP2 would be my choice, maybe a couple of boutique pedals...

cheers, I'll check out those synths you mentioned....i do have an effects rack already and a couple of cheap effects pedals too - will probably get some more though :)

  analogue wings said:

Not knocking the MoPho at all, just wanted to say that that it ALSO (and the Prophet 08) has the same voice chips as the Matrix 1000.

 

Without the Evolver's digital weirdness, it is essentially a 1 voice Matrix 1000 for around the same cost.

 

You would pick a MoPho over a Matrix if you valued the inbuilt sequencer and the hands-on programming, I guess. If you are thinking purely in terms of grunt, it's gotta be the Matrix for the money.

yeah, the sequencer is a big selling point for me - i like to send a clock signal from my multitrack to a MIDI thru box, then have that split off to all my other stuff to keep it all in sync - when i press play on the multitrack, everything starts and is in sync and ready to be recorded into the multitrack...anyway, nice to have things with built in sequencers so they can all sit there happily playing there own little patterns in time with each other....

Overview

The Prophet '08 Synthesizer Module is a tabletop "knobby" module with all of the features and controls of the Prophet '08 Keyboard (minus the keyboard, of course) in an even more compact enclosure. With real analog oscillators, famed Curtis low-pass filters, and analog VCAs, the Prophet '08 is capable of reproducing the familiar sounds of its legendary predecessors. But modern features like a greatly expanded modulation matrix and additional modulation sources—like three envelopes and four LFOs per voice—take it way beyond the vintage gear and make this a worthy and unique addition to the Prophet family tree.

Features include a gated 16 x 4 step sequencer, arpeggiator, split or stacked key modes with separate stereo outputs per layer, and rack ears for optional rack-mounting. The Prophet '08 module can also be used as an expander to increase the polyphony of another Prophet '08—keyboard or module—to 16 voices.

• The only affordable, full-featured polysynth with a 100% analog signal path.
• Classic, real analog sound—including legendary Curtis analog low-pass filters—married to a modern feature set.
• Small footprint, huge sound.
• Tons of knobs for direct, real-time editing and performance.
• Used as an expander, increases polyphony of another Prophet '08 to 16 voices.

  analogue wings said:

  kakapo said:

I'm about to put my Cheetah MS6 (w/midi cc mod) up for sale. Probably not what you're looking for, but a really great, underrated synth. Same curtis chips as the Matrix, but unlike anything really.

 

It's multitimbral right?

 

Does it have multiple/assignable outputs?

 

How many presets / memory locations?

 

Any patch librarians / programmer software / freeware patch collections for it?

6 part mult-timbral, which is pretty unique for an 80's polysynth. Except just the one mono output, which obviously limits the usefulness, but its still a feature worth having, even if its just for some of the weird stacked sounds you can get out of it.

320 Rom, 96 user and then 64 'performance' memories, essentially for the multitimbral feature.

I'm sure there are editors available, though I never used one. I started making my own midi device panel for Cubase as my MS6 has a cc mod, but in the end I just relied on my midi controller and templates.

now seriously considering the creamware pro 12 - sequential circuits prophet 5 clone....sound on sound review is very positive....

oh god i just don't know! i would have got a mopho but no cunt's got one in stock and i'd have to wait two or three weeks....fuck that....gone off the evolver now - don't like the interface that much and it's looks a bit cheap....

I really liked the virus c I had for awhile and got some wild sounds out of a ti recently.

just bought the creamware pro 12...couldn't resist the wood panelling, chunky buttons and plethora of knobs.

I've got a Waldorf Blofeld Desktop I'm trying to get rid of which has all the Q oscillator models, excellent comb filters and ppg wave low pass.

but the evolver is prolly a better choice based on this thread.

buy a nice piece of furniture

  sysex said:

I've got a Waldorf Blofeld Desktop I'm trying to get rid of which has all the Q oscillator models, excellent comb filters and ppg wave low pass.

 

but the evolver is prolly a better choice based on this thread.

the decision's been made and the die cast - bought a creamware pro 12 to be delivered on tuesday. can't wait!

  Mimi said:

evolver kinda sucks

this statement only emphasizes your inability to use one

jesus christ I've spent a lot of money today....just bought a new pair of sneakers....

  analogue wings said:

  BCM said:

  LUDD said:

how much is the wooden one?

 

£400 - £500

 

wtf and it's VA. just get a plugin for nothing.

 

That video is fucking awesome

  Awepittance said:

  Mimi said:

evolver kinda sucks

 

this statement only emphasizes your inability to use one

actually it's kind of true

i oogled the crap out of being able to modulate everything off each other then when i had borrowed seans poly i noticed something i never had before....the evolver kind of sounds terrible

it's shrill and thin

not saying i couldn't make shrill thin space sounds and creepy pads but i had to coax and plea so much just to get some decent bass out of the thing

honestly if you've been lookin at a waldorf q i'd go to it

or some other dave smith thing like a pro-one