Is the Korg Minilogue my only option?

[SHall1000]

I have a Bass Station 2 but I am considering getting a polyphonic hardware synth. I would prefer analogue but don't have the funds for anything high end. At £525 (current UK price) the Korg looks like the only option at this sort of price.

The Deepmind 6 is a possible but at £675 I do start to wince. Maybe if a Deepmind 6 module surfaces it might be nearer the mark.

Do I have any other options?

[EvilDragon]

Try to find a second-hand Yamaha AN1x. It's virtual analog but really really good, and you get 10 voices of polyphony, with some pretty great FX as well. Can go around 500 quid or so.

[Russell Grand]

Definitely go with Minilogue. She's an analogue beauty! Can't do any better for the price IMO.

[do_androids_dream]

Try to find a second-hand Yamaha AN1x. It's virtual analog but really really good, and you get 10 voices of polyphony, with some pretty great FX as well. Can go around 500 quid or so.

If you're going to go hardware VA there's loads of good options at that price. A Novation K Station, for example, goes for less than £200 quite regularly.

Try to demo the Korg first. I liked it at first but found the sound to be grainy and irritating after a while and got shot of it. The deepmind demos all sound vastly better than the Korg to me.

[EvilDragon]

Might be because of the lo-fi delay in it, haha (it's still better than that godawful reverb in K-station. Now THAT is grainy and all sorts of nope).

I absolutely do like the filter in the Minilogue, and oscillators are not too shabby either. Just wish envelopes continued from current level rather than restarted, as an option. Couldn't hurt them to add it.

[zerocrossing]

You might be able to find a Tetra in your price range. Great sounding synth, and you can make it an 8 voice with a second unit down the line.

[sin night]

I would wait to see if something is announced at the KnobCon in September (though I think it's not very likely; as far as I know, things like the Minilogue are usually announced at Winter NAMM).

I'm quite happy with my Minilogue, even though I'd like to buy something more advanced in the future.
I would absolutely try it before buying.

[tehlord]

The minilogue is such a red herring. It's technically analogue, but (imo) doesn't offer any benefits of being analogue, it just sounds so vanilla.

I would put my money into a used digital poly. Anything is better than a minilogue.

Nord Lead
King Korg
Virus B/C

etc

All offer far superior synth engines and much greater polyphony.

If you really want to stick with analogue, I would definitely hold out until you can afford the DM6, or wait for the desktop. It's a different league of synthesis and sound.

[funktoons]

i wasn't impressed with minilogue sound, at least in the demos i watched yesterday. to me, the arturia mini brute has more grunt going on, but what seems like the "ultimate" to me is the new mini korg MS-20 because it's a copy of a well regarded classic, if not 100% authentic, it's semi modular so there's potential to expand it with eurorack modules (???), AND it has a ring modulator which is something i like a lot.

i was just getting ready to create an MS20 thread as i see there isn't one yet to get some feedback on that if you want to see what people think.

[transmetropolitan]

The magic of the Minilogue is in the front end of the synth.

Things like waveshaping, cross mod, sending Osc 2 pitch to Filter envelope, sync, ring mod etc. It's extremely well featured and sonically versatile in this respect.

The oscillators themselves are not as good as the best analogs but they are very good. Certainly better than the Deepmind imo (DM's big strength is modulation possibilities and ability to integrate quality fx into programming).

The filter is nice but very much about taming/controlling the front end rather than having a pronounced character like e.g. MS20 filter.

It's a joy to programme compared to something like Tetra with all those knobs and switches.

The other nice thing with Minilogue is midi cc ability - set up modulation from your DAW for additional mod possibilities (I use Numerology for this and it's great).

Some of the Minilogue videos I've seen don't necessarily show it in the best light... You need to get your head around its strengths.

It's not the only thing to consider but certainly an excellent option.

[funktoons]

see? to me, THE FILTER IS EVERYTHING. nothing gives a synth character as much as its filter, and if you really want that ultimate fat analogue sound, you don't want to be skimping on filters unless maybe you have some awesome wavetable oscillator that can do all kinds of waves an analogue can't to compensate for an anemic filter, but if you're approaching the issue from that side, you can get a ton of varied sounding synthesizers using all kinds of techniques as freeware VSTs, but they just won't have that fat sound of a real analogue synth with a good filter.

no rights or wrongs... just different priorities

[D-Fusion]

If you get a Minilogue i would recommend adding the Bass Preacher in the signal chain for more punchy sound.
It really turns the synth up a notch compared to it without the Bass Preacher.

[moshimoshi]

i wasn't impressed with minilogue sound, at least in the demos i watched yesterday. to me, the arturia mini brute has more grunt going on, but what seems like the "ultimate" to me is the new mini korg MS-20 because it's a copy of a well regarded classic, if not 100% authentic, it's semi modular so there's potential to expand it with eurorack modules (???), AND it has a ring modulator which is something i like a lot.

i was just getting ready to create an MS20 thread as i see there isn't one yet to get some feedback on that if you want to see what people think.

I think the OP wants a polysynth not a mono... imho you don't necessarily want the beefiest, fattest architecture for a poly because it's simply used in a different way to monos. Minilogue is an excellent synth in my opinion, cross-mod and ring-mod can get it to pretty interesting territory.

[transmetropolitan]

see? to me, THE FILTER IS EVERYTHING. nothing gives a synth character as much as its filter, and if you really want that ultimate fat analogue sound, you don't want to be skimping on filters unless maybe you have some awesome wavetable oscillator that can do all kinds of waves an analogue can't to compensate for an anemic filter, but if you're approaching the issue from that side, you can get a ton of varied sounding synthesizers using all kinds of techniques as freeware VSTs, but they just won't have that fat sound of a real analogue synth with a good filter.

no rights or wrongs... just different priorities

I'm not sure I've properly explained myself.

There are filters like the MS20 and 303 filter where the character of the filter is very obvious and ‘in your face’.

The complete lack of smoothness in the MS20 filter, the way it overloads/distorts and the way it almost randomly picks out frequencies through a sweep give it a very recognizable sound that is almost effect-y. But while it’s definitely high on character, its utility is relatively limited – it often behaves in unpredictable ways, tends towards making everything sound the same and certainly would not be a filter of first choice for an analog poly.

A filter like the Oberheim SEM similarly has a lot of character and a distinctive sound but it’s more subtle and about the filter working WITH the front end of the synth. The filter is smooth, versatile, and behaves in quite predictable ways and thus is a great choice for a poly. You’ve got to remember, if you’re playing a 6 note chord, there’s 6x the harmonic content going into the filter – there’s more there to be controlled and if you change chords you don’t want a random bunch of frequencies suddenly jumping out.

Now, the SEM sound has been on/responsible for loads of truly classic sounds. But it’s not a filter that you’d necessarily seek to overload/distort for effect (which is what a lot of people mean when they talk about fat analog filter sounds).

The Minilogue’s filter is more of the SEM type – albeit that it’s not as good as the SEM. It’s versatile, predictable, works effectively with the front end of the synth (which can sound harsh in the wrong hands) and has a very pleasing character. It’s quite similar to the Arp Solus filter.

It’s a nice filter as long as you understand what it is and what it isn’t.

[eXode]

I think the Minilogue seems to be a really nice polysynth. I just wish they did a full size 49 note keyboard version with at least 6 voices (or alternatively a desktop with 6-8 voices).

This is pretty cool imho:


This is also nice:


Another of Adam's videos: