Looking into first Analog synth...

[infernouk]

At first I was all excited for the MS-20 mini... then I dismissed it. Why? Well, IMO they went too far with the reissue thing. They removed something good about the original (full sized keyboard) and replaced it with a crappy tiny keyboard. OK, sure, they added MIDI to this one, but what didn't they do? Let you assign simple things like velocity and aftertouch to modulators. As a beginner you might not think those things are important but to me they're like Volkswagon re-releasing the Beatle without putting in things like air bags and a way to plug in your phone.

However, why don't you look at one of these:

http://www.studioelectronics.com/produc ... /boomstar/

One of my first "modern" analogs (I had a couple in the 80s we'll not count) was an ATC-1. That thing sounded fantastic... so I sold it and got the ATC-x QFS (quad filter system) which is all four filter types they made for the ATC-1 (moog, ARP, Oberheim and Roland TB) If I had to limit myself to one of my current instruments, it would be the ATC-x for sure. However you might not like it because of it's one knob UI set up. I happen to really like it, but no matter, they released the Boomstars which have a similar architecture but are pure analog. This means no presets, but they didn't leave out things like aftertouch and mod wheel assignment. That's what I like about Studio Electronics as a company. They focus on great "vintage" analog sound but not not on crappy vintage lack of functionality.

thanks for the detailed info, the boomstar looks good though its £200 more than the MS-20, not sure if i can stretch that far

[thecontrolcentre]

Doepfer Dark Energy
Arturia MiniBrute
The Rocket

Maybe a long shot, but if you are not afraid of some solder, the Mutable-Instruments Anushri sounds amazing.

im no good myself but i know some electricians who are very good at it.

though im looking for something a little more simple!

Thats why I suggested what I did. You could add the Sub Phatty and Mono Lancet to that list.

Or you could go second hand.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_rScBRKlTdoE/S ... %7E_12.JPG

This was my first analog synth. Cost £50 back in the 90's. Gets a lot of use and never dissapoints.

[infernouk]

Doepfer Dark Energy
Arturia MiniBrute
The Rocket

Maybe a long shot, but if you are not afraid of some solder, the Mutable-Instruments Anushri sounds amazing.

im no good myself but i know some electricians who are very good at it.

though im looking for something a little more simple!

Thats why I suggested what I did. You could add the Sub Phatty and Mono Lancet to that list.

Or you could go second hand.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_rScBRKlTdoE/S ... %7E_12.JPG

This was my first analog synth. Cost £50 back in the 90's. Gets a lot of use and never dissapoints.

the moog sub is very expensive isnt it though? (im sure not relatively, but at my price budget) the slim looks more realistic but still a couple hundred over my initial intentions

I was looking at the rocket, its only £200 and the cheapest mentioned, is it good?

I want something that lets my learn all the synth functions and features etc in general for my overall knowledge

whilst still providing a good analog sound, primarily for house basslines, but also for chords and leads,. if such a thing exists. in my price range

[zerocrossing]

At first I was all excited for the MS-20 mini... then I dismissed it. Why? Well, IMO they went too far with the reissue thing. They removed something good about the original (full sized keyboard) and replaced it with a crappy tiny keyboard. OK, sure, they added MIDI to this one, but what didn't they do? Let you assign simple things like velocity and aftertouch to modulators. As a beginner you might not think those things are important but to me they're like Volkswagon re-releasing the Beatle without putting in things like air bags and a way to plug in your phone.

However, why don't you look at one of these:

http://www.studioelectronics.com/produc ... /boomstar/

One of my first "modern" analogs (I had a couple in the 80s we'll not count) was an ATC-1. That thing sounded fantastic... so I sold it and got the ATC-x QFS (quad filter system) which is all four filter types they made for the ATC-1 (moog, ARP, Oberheim and Roland TB) If I had to limit myself to one of my current instruments, it would be the ATC-x for sure. However you might not like it because of it's one knob UI set up. I happen to really like it, but no matter, they released the Boomstars which have a similar architecture but are pure analog. This means no presets, but they didn't leave out things like aftertouch and mod wheel assignment. That's what I like about Studio Electronics as a company. They focus on great "vintage" analog sound but not not on crappy vintage lack of functionality.

thanks for the detailed info, the boomstar looks good though its £200 more than the MS-20, not sure if i can stretch that far

I think they built the first batch by hand so they're selling it at list price, but when the manufactuer gets going (should be soon or maybe even now) I imagine they'll be discounted to come in at a lower price. I could be wrong.

[thecontrolcentre]

Doepfer Dark Energy
Arturia MiniBrute
The Rocket

Maybe a long shot, but if you are not afraid of some solder, the Mutable-Instruments Anushri sounds amazing.

im no good myself but i know some electricians who are very good at it.

though im looking for something a little more simple!

Thats why I suggested what I did. You could add the Sub Phatty and Mono Lancet to that list.

Or you could go second hand.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_rScBRKlTdoE/S ... %7E_12.JPG

This was my first analog synth. Cost £50 back in the 90's. Gets a lot of use and never dissapoints.

the moog sub is very expensive isnt it though? (im sure not relatively, but at my price budget) the slim looks more realistic but still a couple hundred over my initial intentions

I was looking at the rocket, its only £200 and the cheapest mentioned, is it good?

I want something that lets my learn all the synth functions and features etc in general for my overall knowledge

whilst still providing a good analog sound, primarily for house basslines, but also for chords and leads,. if such a thing exists. in my price range

Afaik the Rocket isn't out yet. Demos look great. Will likely be picking one up myself.

[SWAN808]

i was looking at the moog's but aren't they very expensive especially the voyager?

you can pick up a slim phatty second hand for around £450-500...There is also the Minitaur at £485 new...although Id go with the phatty...

[himalaya]

I make house (deep/electro etc) and modern dubstep stuff so i dont know what my best bet is in terms of a synth that will work as a go to choice for all my needs, if thats even possible?

With the thread title and the above quote in mind, I'd want a comprehensive synth, even if it was my first. That means, knobs for each parameter - no menus. At least two oscillators and stuff like hard-sync, PWM, amp and filter envelopes, a nice filter plus more exotic features like ring-modulation, FM or x-mod.

This spec is available in the SE Boomstar series. I'd actually save up and get one of those. Or perhaps Dominion X SED, but that's much more expensive. The Boomstar though, will get you an insane range of sounds.

Once you have such a solid synth you could venture out and experiment with synths like the Minibrute, Dark Energy or MS20 mini - which despite zerocrossing's melodramatic language doesn't have 'tiny' keys. The keys are mid size and more than adequate for normal synth playing - you're not going to suddenly break into one of the Études by Frédéric Chopin on the MS20 Mini, are you, so these keys are more than ok.

Waldorf The Rocket looks like a nice proposition too. Cheap but effective.

[himalaya]

Mind you, those dual resonant filters on the MS20 will give some very extreme sounds - good for dubstep I should think.

[werp]

I can throw the Roland Gaia into the mix...
A modelled analog synth with presets and knobs/faders...
I was contemplating an MS20 but I think I'll go for the Arturia Minibrute.
for aftertouch and expandability options, not provided by the MS20.
The keys on the minibrute feel ok too.
On many small synths lately, the keys feel like your'e poking your fingers into a bowl of custard.

[thecontrolcentre]

I can throw the Roland Gaia into the mix...

You could ... if VA was Analog.

MiniBrute looks great for £400.

[werp]

I can throw the Roland Gaia into the mix...

You could ... if VA was Analog.

That's what the 'modelled analog' was for.
just an affordable option which allows for hand on tweaking, a simple layout enabling learning of subtractive synthesis, full MIDI and presets.
and it doesn't take 5 minutes of stuffing about with patch leads to get a different sound

(I'm just listing my Arturia Origin k/b on ebay, it's too complex for my simple tastes)

[thecontrolcentre]

I can throw the Roland Gaia into the mix...

You could ... if VA was Analog.

That's what the 'modelled analog' was for.

Yeah ... I know. That's what the was for.

[ghettosynth]

whilst still providing a good analog sound, primarily for house basslines, but also for chords and leads,. if such a thing exists. in my price range

Just to be clear, all of these synths being discussed are mono-synths, that is, they produce one note at a time. To produce chords you have to sample each note of the chord and use your sampler.

Personally, I think that you could answer a lot of questions for yourself if you just restricted yourself to a simple monosynth VST for a while.

[thecontrolcentre]

@ghettosynth your sig

[infernouk]

whilst still providing a good analog sound, primarily for house basslines, but also for chords and leads,. if such a thing exists. in my price range

Just to be clear, all of these synths being discussed are mono-synths, that is, they produce one note at a time. To produce chords you have to sample each note of the chord and use your sampler.

Personally, I think that you could answer a lot of questions for yourself if you just restricted yourself to a simple monosynth VST for a while.

ive already got a load of vst synths ive built up over a couple years.

Primarily i use massive, sylenth, a.n.a, nexus and a few others but i generally end up just scrolling through presets as i cant get to grips with them on a pc screen.


I was looking at the virus synths, i know they arent 100% analog but how do they perform in comparison?