1. Digital Suburban Dexed (DX7) —
I still think the DX7 is a messy joy to work with. Dexed is so lightweight that I can get greedy with instances and layering sounds. It's a staple for me for responsive percussive, mallet, EP and weirdo instruments. Works well adding percussive elements to other synths too.
2. nakst ExtraBold —
This is the wavetable synth that I clicked with the most and it's because I can just push it to fun extremes. It can do the traditional stuff great, sure, but... it can make bright clicky bells, dusty pads, nasal leads or digital synthetic faux instruments. This synth is the "beautiful accident" synth for me.
3. KORG M1 —
Perhaps not much of a pure "synth" to some, and perhaps a bit of a nostalgia pick at this point, but whatever. I still just love its pads, its fluffy sounding glittery weirdness and synthetic sounding instruments. I like New Age stuff!
This just nails that. I've tried a ton of newer KORG and Roland stuff, both software and hardware... but in real use I still go to the M1.4. e-phonic Invader 2 —
I have a few analog-style synths but I think this one just nails the general sound while being super intuitive to use. It sounds incredible for the fundamental stuff, but you can also push it to unique timbres without it falling apart either. It's like the "no brainer" analog synth for me.
So yeah, I think a FM, wavetable, old sample workstation and subtractive synth covers a decent ground.
