An analog yes but which one?

[Trancer]

Thank you for your answers and opinions.

Indeed the combination of a few synths and modules for different sounds, compared to an investment for a single machine seems to be a good choice.

Regarding Arturia, really a shame that there is no desktop version of Matrixbrute and Polybrute, otherwise the choice would be quickly made

[AdvancedFollower]

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.

The problem with XD is that if you play two 3-note chords in rapid succession, the second chord will cut off the first due to voice stealing. Also the envelopes on XD retrigger which make the voice stealing even more evident. Of course if you mostly play sounds with short release, it's not noticeable, and you can also mask the effect with delay/reverb. But a minimum of 6 voices is really the sweet spot for a "proper" poly IMO. Still the XD is excellent value and it's a very fun, immediate synth to work with. You pay a hefty premium for one extra voice and some more modulation capabilities on the Take 5 vs it.

Of course a DeepMind 12/12D is nearly the same price, has 3x as many voices and is based off the Juno architecture, so that's a real pad monster.

Before the price hike, Rev2-8 Desktop would have been a great choice too. Can even be upgraded to 16 voices down the road. But last time I checked they were €1800 on Thomann, which is nearly what I paid for my Rev2-16 Keyboard....

[kritikon]

Yeah...5 voices seems like a really weird choice for Sequential to make. There are obvious reasons that 6 voices are a good number as you mentioned. Even 4 makes sense on the XD - 1 finger low end plus a 3-note chord and it keeps cost down over a 6 voice. But 5? Seems like a completely random number purely to enable them to advertise that "we have more voices". Or it was designed specifically for kangaroos to play - 4 limbs plus a tail...though they'd fall over if they played all 5 notes at the same time. Actually I'd pay to see that.

[esencia2]

IMHO, the answer should be the one that gives you inspiration, not just sound. SW is really advanced today, but I feel that devices that you can touch or get something new are the things to look for...
Arturia Polybrute is a good option
Vermona Performer MKII
Torso T-1 sequencer
Monome grid+norns
Arturia key step pro

[chk071]

Yeah...5 voices seems like a really weird choice for Sequential to make. There are obvious reasons that 6 voices are a good number as you mentioned. Even 4 makes sense on the XD - 1 finger low end plus a 3-note chord and it keeps cost down over a 6 voice. But 5? Seems like a completely random number purely to enable them to advertise that "we have more voices". Or it was designed specifically for kangaroos to play - 4 limbs plus a tail...though they'd fall over if they played all 5 notes at the same time.

5 fingers - 5 voices.

[chk071]

Before the price hike, Rev2-8 Desktop would have been a great choice too. Can even be upgraded to 16 voices down the road. But last time I checked they were €1800 on Thomann, which is nearly what I paid for my Rev2-16 Keyboard....

Yeah... the times are so sick. Everything electronics is like 300 to 400 € too expensive.

I hope it'll get better in the next few years.

[Trancer]

Thank you for your answers and opinions.

After considering your opinions, research, youtube (even if not always a safe bet), between Sequential and others.

It is the Polybrute that holds all my attention, but two concerns prevent me from taking the course.

At 2500 euros, I find that the quality of the keyboard is a little overdone, which is really mediocre (I tried the Polybrute in the store), at the asking price the keyboard is the centerpiece, however, it is just an error by Arturia.

the quality of the keyboard is just worthy for a synthesizer of 1500 euros maximum.

For 2500 euros, Arturia should really have taken inspiration from the excellence of the Virus ti2 keyboard, which, as a reminder, is a machine that is more than a decade old.

In addition, a recurring disagreement is often observed, just like at the time of their drum machines.

There also at 2500 euros its question.

Really unfortunate and not very understandable for a company like Arturia not to have put in a quality keyboard and to have settled its famous mismatch which is also really a black point.

Why not make a desktop version as well?

[cryophonik]

Yeah, that Fatar keybed is one feature that really sets the Virus above many of its competitors IMO. I'm also sorta lusting after a PolyBrute lately, but I've never actually touched one and I agree that if you're going to make a synth that is designed for maximum performance, don't skimp on the keybed! I'm not crazy about the keybed in my Sub37, but it's functional and I've got it MIDI'ed to my KK 61mk2 and Novation ReMote SL25 mk1, which both have excellent keybeds. So yeah, a PolyBrute desktop module would probably be the tipping point for me to buy one as well.

[Trancer]

Thank you for your reply.

Very disappointed on this point of Arturia.

When you want to play in the big leagues and claim high-end products (2500 euros), the product must be flawless and functional (another example of the ti2 virus).

Unfortunately Arturia makes excellent products technologically, but for the rest, they are not at all up to the competition, to my greatest regret.

Beyond the keyboard, the concern for mismatch is really a big problem and that on the other hand I don't know how Arturia can solve it, certainly not possible.

Too bad because the Polybrute is really an exceptional machine for the rest.

Incomprehensible on the part of Arturia to make this kind of commercial error.

[Trancer]

Now if I have to fly the Polybrute with my Komplet kontrol s61 mk2 no matter what, don't overdo it.

Arturia must especially given the asking price to have put a keyboard worthy of the name and not a keyboard of a synthesizer at 1500 euros.

To release a machine where the operation is optimized, really a shame for the mismatch.

So having a tip top machine for the price of 2500 euros.

I had found the almost perfect machine, the Polybrute is breathtaking and inspiring.

[kritikon]

Yeah...5 voices seems like a really weird choice for Sequential to make. There are obvious reasons that 6 voices are a good number as you mentioned. Even 4 makes sense on the XD - 1 finger low end plus a 3-note chord and it keeps cost down over a 6 voice. But 5? Seems like a completely random number purely to enable them to advertise that "we have more voices". Or it was designed specifically for kangaroos to play - 4 limbs plus a tail...though they'd fall over if they played all 5 notes at the same time.

5 fingers - 5 voices.

Maybe near you, but where I came from in central and other parts of Manchester, if you want to equate number of fingers with playing - a 6 voice would be nearer the mark. Pretty sure in Levenshulme some of them had 7 fingers. In the gangier parts they often had fewer than 5 fingers - especially the Chinese gangs

[kritikon]

Actually, last night I was surfing some vids of that Udo Super6 thing. Obvs some kind of Jupiter6 emu and I have to admit it's capable of some very nice sounds - not quite as good as I remember a Jp6 being but still very good in its own right. For the price though...not sure it hits the right level for a modern analogue poly (and with DCOs). Seems to be lacking in a few major areas compared to the features on Arturia/Korg/Sequential et al.

[vurt]

Yeah...5 voices seems like a really weird choice for Sequential to make. There are obvious reasons that 6 voices are a good number as you mentioned. Even 4 makes sense on the XD - 1 finger low end plus a 3-note chord and it keeps cost down over a 6 voice. But 5? Seems like a completely random number purely to enable them to advertise that "we have more voices". Or it was designed specifically for kangaroos to play - 4 limbs plus a tail...though they'd fall over if they played all 5 notes at the same time.

5 fingers - 5 voices.

what about witches?

[db3]

TAKE 5 is a cheap reworked Prophet 5, that's why 5 voices.

[Passante]

You mentioned you looked at the rev2 at first, what stopped you from getting it?