Hardware synth - What to purchase?

[werp]

Funnily enough, somebody just posted the SOS review on the very thing a few minutes ago.
Here's the link
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jun09/a ... origin.htm

[lfm]

@lfm - in 2010 I had a nord rack 2x for a while from a friend but didn't buy it, I thought I need something my computer can't do. It's not that it's not a great sounding synth, but too modern for my taste.

I had a Nord Rack 2 - and things I never seen anywhere else is the brilliant implementation of how a parameter is affected by different velocity.
Just hold a button, and turn the knob between min and max and you quickly find how you want it.

The new Nord Lead 4 seems interesting to me, at least.

But Roland VR09 is one in the pricerange you mentioned, but nothing modular about it.
It also has halfdecent Hammond emulation abilities. iPad editor. Maybe not enough knobs for you, I don't know.

[danbroad]

I'd like to have 2-3 oscillators with ring and/or fm
at least 2 lfos and envelopes.
I'd like to buy something with great patching/modulation abilities -
Audio rate modulation .
analog or digital,
mono or poly.

How's about a 4-osc-plus FM/AM- plus sub osc 2x6 voice 6xSharc DSP hybrid polyphonic with a killer A/B unison and detune, wavescanning abilities per oscillator, with pre filter bit reduction/noise/glitch, 2/4 pole resonant analogue filters, resonant analogue hi pass, 4 ADSR envelopes, 4 LFO's, feedback control, analogue two-layer distortion, preset recall and a fantastically easy 16x16 mod matrix in a 61-key aftertouch enabled wooden-clad chassis controlled by a classy 59-knobbed, OLED-displayed, 4-wheeled control surface?

Just a thought, but I'm loving my Prophet 12.

[galingong]

Thanks for all the replies, now I've got plenty of options to consider, however the most appealing way for me is still going modular - I had no idea that assembling a modular synth can be way less pricy than I thought.
I have one more question, which is about a more specific hardware - the MFB Kraftzwerg (or the corresponding modules from the same manufacturer) - they are even cheaper than the rest of the semi-mod. synths/eurorack format modules that I've found. Does anyone have any experience with them?

[KrisM]

I was going to suggest the kraftzwerg (the old one) when I finished reading to make sure it hadn't already been mentioned. It pretty much ticks off all your wants. When I was looking for a semi-modular hardware synth it was on the top of my list.

Kind of rare used, though, but if you can find one they've been about $500-600 iirc.