Best synth under 3000 euros (new or vintage)

[cryophonik]

Best monosynth under $3,000 is the Studio Electronics SE-3X (to me, it's the best on the market, period). Runner up is the Pro3.

A month ago, I would’ve agreed with this, but I’ve since added a Matrixbrute and I’d probably rank it as tied with the SE-3X. But, I honestly might be in denial that the MatrixBrute hasn’t displaced it as my favorite.

Re-reading this thread and, now that the honeymoon period is over, the MatrixBrute is still a beast, but my SE-1X/3X is still the reigning king of monos in my studio.

[_leras]

For the kind of music I tend to make there's just no big need for analogue polyphony. I do use pads but Wavestate can beat the pants off any analogue in terms of lush and interesting pads and I almost always turn to that for anything vocal or string-like. I occasionally do stabs & pretend guitar chords for dub, but Opsix has me covered for that. I think reality is telling me - yeah it'd be nice to have a giant analogue poly, but WTF are you actually going to do with it? And my honest answer is - I don't know. Doesn't stop me kinda wanting one though. I rarely even ever play more than 4 note chords FFS, so 16 voices really is redundant for me. But bigger is better, right?

I think it'll be the Behringer Jupiter most likely, but I'll change my mind at least 15 more times.

I hear you as I feel I have fairly simple needs for a poly.

I actually really like the korg modwave sound and it would cover a bunch of poly tones. Also the dreadbox nymphes sounds great and would probably be fine for my needs.

[_leras]

Best monosynth under $3,000 is the Studio Electronics SE-3X (to me, it's the best on the market, period). Runner up is the Pro3.

A month ago, I would’ve agreed with this, but I’ve since added a Matrixbrute and I’d probably rank it as tied with the SE-3X. But, I honestly might be in denial that the MatrixBrute hasn’t displaced it as my favorite.

Re-reading this thread and, now that the honeymoon period is over, the MatrixBrute is still a beast, but my SE-1X/3X is still the reigning king of monos in my studio.

The se3x sounds amazing. I'd love to get my hands on one of those.

[Uncle E]

Studio Electronics Omega sells for (relatively) cheap used.

[cryophonik]

Studio Electronics Omega sells for (relatively) cheap used.

I’ve been watching for a fully filtered version for a few years now and have seen the prices start to drop a bit. There was a like-new one posted on Reverb a few months ago for $4500, but I blinked and missed it. I saw it hours after it was posted and figured I had at least a few days to think about it, but it sold in one day.

[PieBerger]

I rarely even ever play more than 4 note chords FFS, so 16 voices really is redundant for me. But bigger is better, right?

I think 16 voices is solid for a poly. You might only play 4 note chords, but you'd want 8 minimum just to mitigate voice stealing and by doubling to 16 you can comfortably play 4 note chords with two voices of unison, for some extra thickness and that's before you even think about splits/layers; it's bi-timbral after all!

I am biased though because the Summit is the top of my GAS list right now

[_leras]

I am biased though because the Summit is the top of my GAS list right now

In many ways it's probably the best synth out there. It's modern sounding, but with an edge on VSTs, very flexible and an amazing set of hands on control.

Arguably the wave table aspect could be a bit stronger and more flexible, but that's being pretty picky as overall it's an immense synth.

The single voice bass it's makes sounds immense.

I've almost pulled the trigger on one for a couple of years now. I have money aside for a poly, but I can't decide. This week I'm thinking of nymphes and a modwave combo for poly duties. But the summit I think is superb and it would even fill gaps in the mono sounds I can make.

[kritikon]

I finally stopped f**king around and bought a UBXa. Have to say it's as unaggressive as I remember Obies being and initially sounds like cheesy dated shite, but it really is capable of some depth and intricately modulated evolving sounds. I particularly like the pulse waves and it does some great sucking sounds. 12dB filter is growing on me - soft but useful and is very musical. 24dB filter is pretty crap vanilla & can't see me using it much at all. I didn't realize what fkn huge sounds it can make on unison though and it has a beautiful bass end. Cheap as chips for a big poly, does everything you'd want for pads, and I think I'll actually use it a lot for mono sounds. The sync is restrained but has some sweet mod options. And it leaves me cash to go buy something else with overt aggression and character. Can't really go wrong at half the price of other polys.

AND...it's not as ugly as it looks in the pics. And the screen is not as bad as it's made out to be. I expected to hate how it looks, but was wrong...it looks quite sleek.

[kritikon]

Though I'm still going to get the Jupiter when it comes out.

[egbert101]

I love my minilogues but 4 note polyphony is 4 note polyphony, and just doesn't cut it. Even 6 notes I don't think is satisfactory. 8 notes minimum perhaps, so 16 notes is a healthy amount for chords or pads.

[HAL76]

Have a Lok at the Matrix 1000. Recently got one for 700 eur.

[ghettosynth]

Have a Lok at the Matrix 1000. Recently got one for 700 eur.

The Matrix 1000 is exactly the kind of vintage synth that is easily replaced with a better modern alternative. I have one, I also had an M6 years ago. Even if one wants to think of it as "A" valid synth under $3k, I hardly think that it's the best in any category whatsoever. It's not even the best single rack space vintage quasi-analog, I'd give that to the MKS-50, despite only having one oscillator and an equally mediocre filter.

The polybrute is among the best polys in that price range, but, today I'd buy the 12 voice variant. I honestly think that the only vintage poly that can still actually compete, assuming that you can find a good deal, is the Jupiter 6. Other than that, modern polys beat vintage polys hands down when you factor in value.

[zerocrossing]

Hello,

I managed to sell some gear I don't use much, and now I have about 3k to spend for a synth.

I want something versatile that keeps things simple (no menu diving), and most of all, it has to sound great.

I already own a Prophet 6, which does what is said above. So I want something a bit different. It doesn't have to be 3K. It can be vintage.

The music I do is kind of Balearic : https://kekoskekos.bandcamp.com/

What would be the best pick, in your opinion?

Thx for your help.

If you can find a Nina used for $3k, jump on it. I think it’s one of the best modern polyphonic analog synthesizers, plus its got a wavetable oscillator too.

[HAL76]

Have a Lok at the Matrix 1000. Recently got one for 700 eur.

The Matrix 1000 is exactly the kind of vintage synth that is easily replaced with a better modern alternative. I have one, I also had an M6 years ago. Even if one wants to think of it as "A" valid synth under $3k, I hardly think that it's the best in any category whatsoever. It's not even the best single rack space vintage quasi-analog, I'd give that to the MKS-50, despite only having one oscillator and an equally mediocre filter.

The polybrute is among the best polys in that price range, but, today I'd buy the 12 voice variant. I honestly think that the only vintage poly that can still actually compete, assuming that you can find a good deal, is the Jupiter 6. Other than that, modern polys beat vintage polys hands down when you factor in value.

The modern alternative will cost more and take more space. The rest ist subjective. I know a guy who has a basement full of hardware synths including an OB-X, CS-70M, Jupiter 4 - guess which one he likes and uses most? Tip: he has a quartett of them.

It definitely sounds more analog than the OB-6 which I have just given away - although it has DCOs.

I have just focussed ojn my MKS-50 for three days and I´m also impressed. But essentially because it´s so special and nothing else really compares.

I can just recoimmend to consider the Matrix. It was intensively used back in the 90s and we all know this sound.