An analog yes but which one?

[chk071]

.Thank you very much for your answers and opinions.

My search for a polyphonic analog with arpeggiator and sequencer.

A very good Moog product is the Subsequent 37, but monophonic.

A plus, it has patches.

Sequential not bad, but horribly expensive.

2600 euros a rack module, not cheap.

I really hesitated with a Rev 2, but some people complain about the quality that could be improved.

The price in the 2000 euros maximum.

If more than 2000 it must be exceptional, both the sound and the control capabilities.

on the other hand to be honest I don't care whether it's Sequential, Moog, Behringer or others.

I just want a good machine with good sound, possibilities for tweaking the sound, an arpeggiator and a sequencer.

I don't know when it will be presented, but, the Behringer Prophet-600 clone (think it's called Pro-800) might be right up your alley.

Will probably cost ~600 € in Europe.

No idea if it will have an arp/sequencer though. TBH, that doesn't matter to me, as, here, it would be included in a DAW workflow anyway.

[trusampler]

I'd recommend saving your pennies for something truly worth the investment. Sequential makes amazing synths that will last for a lifetime. On the cheaper side, the Deep mind can sound very good if programmed correctly.

[Trancer]

The big problem with Behringer, plethora of announcements, but for the realization of the products it is unfortunately more a fantasy sold as a dream.

Thank you very much for your feedback and reviews.

If a sequential, which model?

Sequential or Oberheim?

According to the musical style, I suppose that a model would be more adapted than others?

Filters, for example, are certainly of major importance, for composing melodic, minimal and trance techno.

[cryophonik]

I really like the Minilogue XD for a low cost analog poly that also features a digital oscillator. The big question is, can you live with 4 notes of polyphony? I sold my keyboard version due to space and ergonomics (and I wasn’t a fan of the cheap keybed, so I just used my MIDI controller instead), but I’m hopefully about to buy the module version.

[kritikon]

Likewise I think a Minilogue XD is a great compromise of price vs function & character. If it's dance/ minimal techno etc then really not sure you need a big 8 or 16 voice poly. When are you going to be playing spectrum-filling 8 finger chords for that? And for mono unison lines...seriously, 16 voices is overkill.

Korg Prologue...great but doesn't offer that much more over an XD apart from voices. Real character filters on all Korgs.

Sequential. Depends where you are...very expensive here. For your music possibly something like a Pro3 makes more sense (mono, not poly). But expensive for a mono. Vanilla filters IMO but drive makes them much better. Not entirely sure I'd call Sequential polys Techno machines..?

Moog you either love or hate. Character filters but unless you love them, you're stuck with IMO less versatile synths. Expensive too.

Behringer. DM is best value out of the bunch, shitloads of features/options but very vanilla filters. Definitely usable for techno stuff though.

You compromise whatever you buy...to me XD offers best compromises out of the lot without breaking the bank. It's next on my list, and generally I go for monos not polys. But if you're a techno Beethoven then I'd say 16 voice Prologue simply cos the filters are the most characterful (IMO as always).

EDIT...nearly forgot Arturia. Polybrute is full of character too. IMO more suited to techno etc than Sequential. And a beast of a synth.

[Trancer]

Thank you for your most interesting answers and opinions.

The XD indeed seems a good compromise, just like the Deepmind.

I'm not a keyboard virtuoso and you're right, a poly might not be very relevant.

Sequential not suitable for Techno?

where I misunderstood.

Concerning Moog, I had thought of the Subsequent 37, an excellent mono, but a little afraid of being quickly limited in relation to the sounds that I could produce.

Regarding the Polybrute, is it a polyphonic then?

The price is as high as a Sequential.

A very nice machine, but not really confident about the quality of the Polybrute and given the price, not really wanting to take the risk of buying this machine rightly or wrongly.

[cryophonik]

The Sequential synths mentioned here (e.g., Rev2, Take5, Pro 3) are all perfectly capable of techno.

Yes, the Polybrute is polyphonic and the quality of Arturia synths are second to none, so no worries there.

[AnX]

.

Regarding the Polybrute, is it a polyphonic then?

The clue is in the name

https://www.arturia.com/products/hardwa ... e/overview

[Trancer]

Thank you for your answers.

Indeed as much for me poly obvious

I had an unfortunate experience with arturia and the quality of their keyboard controller, so putting over 2000 euros makes me think.

Even if not comparable with a master keyboard, it makes you think anyway.

If I had to invest 2000 euros, I would strongly hesitate between the Pro 3 and the Matrixbrute to remain consistent monophonic.

But as said above, Arturia has concerns and doubts about the quality of the keyboard and other components.

[cryophonik]

Arturia does make some hardware with a cheaper build design (e.g., MicroFreak, some controllers), but my experience is that most of them are rock solid. The PolyBrute is a beast. I want one and had a chance to buy one at a killer price a few months ago, but simply don’t have the space or inputs for it without giving up my beloved Sub37, so I passed on it. In hindsight, I should’ve just bought it and figured out where to put it at a later date

[Trancer]

Thanks for your feedback.

The keyboard, for example, is not of excellent quality and given the price (both the Matrixbrute and the Polybrute) I don't find that normal.

I was lucky enough to be able to use them in a store near my home.

A lot of opinions also on the net that go in this direction, poor quality keyboard.

At 2000 or 2500 euros per machine, we can expect a very good quality keyboard.

I have only virtual Arturia products and I'm very happy with them, as well as an Audiofuse 2 audio interface which is really top notch.

So not at all anti Arturia, just pragmatic and logical.

[Trancer]

On the other hand if a desktop version of both Matrixbrute and Polybrute were produced, on the other hand I would be really very interested.

[FapFilter]

just as an advice though to still keep in mind that especially for techno, no expensive gear is really needed.

of course it is nice to have one (or two) great expensive synths that also act as your main keyboards, but sound wise it is not said that they will give you equally greater results, other than some narrow fringe cases, than even very inexpensive gear.

in fact, all my favorite synths actually happen to be digital (in software and hardware form), though analog filters can indeed be very nice (though i'm not sure how much factually "better" they really are compared to The Drop, or some Native Instruments filters for instance)

TL;DR: it is actually more important that it's actually you who likes the certain sound characters and features / workflow of a synth, than wether it is analog through and through, or digital to the bones under the hood.

[cryophonik]

On the other hand if a desktop version of both Matrixbrute and Polybrute were produced, on the other hand I would be really very interested.

Yeah, a PolyBrute module would likely be an insta-buy for me, although it would still probably be HUGE with that matrix!

[kritikon]

Thank you for your answers.

Indeed as much for me poly obvious

I had an unfortunate experience with arturia and the quality of their keyboard controller, so putting over 2000 euros makes me think.

Even if not comparable with a master keyboard, it makes you think anyway.

If I had to invest 2000 euros, I would strongly hesitate between the Pro 3 and the Matrixbrute to remain consistent monophonic.

But as said above, Arturia has concerns and doubts about the quality of the keyboard and other components.

I like the look of the Pro3 and it likely packs in the most features for a pure mono synth. BUT, you have to figure in that for the price...you could get a Monopoly, Cat, MS20, Pro One and a Wasp from Behringer, possibly also a 101. That bunch will pack in far more different character and techno juicy filters than one Sequential ever can despite how good it looks. Or any flagship poly. You really have to figure out how badly you want to play chords...or not. I'm busy collecting the whole Behringer set and not regretting it. I have choices and character filters coming out of my wazoo. Also doesn't stop me picking up other synths.

I suspect once I get the XD I can finally lay my dying Junos to rest and bin them once and for all...y'know we used to be happy with 6 voices back in the day. And being brutally honest I never played more than 4 anyway. Mostly my chords were 3 finger jobbies, occasionally getting fancy with 4. You can do that with an XD.
Matrix brute does look like fun though, and quite different to everything else...Pro3 is just more of the same thing everyone else is doing.