RE: [AH] Choose Five Synths

From Peter Forrest
Sent Sun, Mar 25th 2018, 00:50

I always thought the Casino SK-1 was  bit of a gamble ;o)

-----Original Message-----
From: Patrick Dohman [mailto:xxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx]=20
Sent: 25 March 2018 00:49
To: AH
Subject: Re: [AH] Choose Five Synths

Is ownership a requirement?

Moog sub phatty - Only analog I will attest to - excellent editability =
even withstanding its poor knob count & menu diving.  Dialing in patches =
was often musical & results were frequent.=20

Kurzweil K2VX - A great experimental synth with an almost brilliant =
workflow that literally facilitated composition.

Waldorf MW XT - The hands down winner in polyphonic pads & ambient =
drones. After learning how to build on user presets and avoid =
reinventing the wheel a fun synth that initially I found too mysterious.

Clavia Nord modular GT2 - The quintessential clavia sound in a modular =
was surprisingly the way I learned to play melodic bass due to its =
respectful portamento & legato modules.=20

Casino SK1 - I know I=E2=80=99m sounding sarcastic :) I threw it away =
after soldering things that shouldn=E2=80=99t  a surprisingly adept =
glitchy experimental synth especially for pitched sampled material.=20

#Synths I=E2=80=99ve played#

Synton Fenix - Cool normaled functionality in a curiously well thought =
out pre-built modular.
Studio Electronics SE1 - Damn that is a bass synthesizer.=20
MFB-Dominon 1 - If for no other reason but it=E2=80=99s aesthetics - =
Finally a boutique got it right. A handsome Moog sound to boot.
ARP Odyssey 1 - A first rate drone machine that can create satisfying =
leads that are difficult to emulate on other synths.=20

Regards
Patrick

> On Mar 23, 2018, at 4:12 PM, Mark C <xxxxxx.xxxxxxxxxx@xxxxx.xxx> =
wrote:
>=20
> Being in possession of a sprawling but cheaper synth collection I =
tried to think if there was anything I would keep regardless of what =
else was on offer. I don=E2=80=99t think there was; I'd probably give =
them all up for the following five even though I=E2=80=99ve never owned =
or played any of them.
>=20
> What do you think, good choice? I=E2=80=99m guessing a there are a few =
owners/ex-owners on this list.
>=20
> ARP2600 =E2=80=93 best self contained feature rich semi modular, =
better ergonomics, better stability and sound than EMS Synthi.
> Roland SH5 =E2=80=93 discrete early Roland design, excellent =
aesthetics, best regarded of the early Rolands. Had also considered the =
System 100.
> Yamaha CS80 =E2=80=93 chosen for control features and polyphonic =
aftertouch. For some weird reason I might prefer the sound of the =
Polymoog but Yamaha keyboard, dual voice and ring mod gives this the =
edge.
> Oberheim OBX =E2=80=93 best sound of two oscillators beating against =
each other in existence? Perfect filter for polyphony. Would you rather =
take to the stage with this against a Prophet, Jupiter or newer OB?
> Moog Modular =E2=80=93 any model with the inductor based fixed filter, =
LPF and VCOs aren=E2=80=99t supposed to be too bad either. Other 70s =
modulars (EMU, ARP2500, Polyfusion) just don=E2=80=99t excite as much.
>=20