Looking for a polyphonic velocity sensitive synth (no paraphony)

The Lounge Other Gear
#1

Hi,

I’m looking for a small real-polyphonic & velocity sensitive synth (something like 4+ voices) to use with my Arturia KeyStep.

My intended use: I want to be able to hold 2 to 4 notes chords with the left hand, and add a melody with the right hand on top of it.

Another point important for me: being able to hold the chord notes with the keyboard as long as I want, and have it followed by a configurable release (so keyboard-controlled per-voice sustain + release).

After hearing demos, I’m considering at the moment:

  • Blofeld,
  • Micromonsta,
  • A4 (4 voices only, so 2-3 notes chords, but that should be ok).

So my question for each one of those: can it be played like I intend to?
Any other suggestion in the same price range?

Why I’m asking: at the moment, I already have a paraphonic synth, and it’s super frustrating because although I like the sounds a lot, the shared envelope kills the expressivity of the melody. And it allows either keyboard-controlled sustain or configurable release - not what I want, and this was hard to know beforehand.

Cheers!

#2

How about the Nord lead series? There’s like 4 or 5 different models.

3 Likes
#3

You’ll love the sound of the MicroMonsta but I’m not sure if you can modulate the sustain or release with the mod matrix. I think it’s sort of limited in modulation compared to others.

You may also investigate since of the more affordable Waldorf synths like the microQ or the Blofeld as they can definitely do that.

#4

I’d research the Nords, well built, multitimbral, lots of polyphony, great features, rack or keyboard (if you fancy).

That red (?) colour…

#5

The Roland JD-Xi is nice.

#6

Try the Novation Ultranova which has more modulation capabilities and better effects than the Blofeld and is easier to edit. The only drawback compared to the Blo would be the lack of FM and multimode. On the other hand the Ultranova has a chord functionality, live modulation encoders, a vocoder and can also be used as a computer Sound Card/Audio Interface.

I own both and they are half the price of any Nord. I love my Nord A1 for it´s immediacy but it lacks modulation depth. The Nord Lead 4 for 3x the price doesn´t even come close to the Blo or Ultranova. The Blofeld and the Ultranova have a tendency to sound more modern (even though they can emulate old-shool analog as well ) than the Nord which leans more towards old-school analog emulation only (created by their choice of OSC, filter types and FXs).

#7

Thanks for the replies. Ultranova and JD-Xi are too big for me at the moment (they wouldn’t fit in the closet where I keep my hardware).

Maybe I’ll look for Nord (rack versions I guess) if they fit in my closet, thanks for the suggestion.

Cheers!

1 Like
#8

Ok, just for info I chose the Micromonsta and it’s perfect for me!

What I like about it after a quick try:

  • the sound, very nice
  • the 8 voice polyphony, with priority to held down notes (hello, jazz chords + melody)
  • it’s easy to program (see the manual to have an idea)
  • with the 2 osc + sub, various wave shapes, wave tables, 3 envelopes per voice, 3 LFOs per voice, modulation matrix, and effects, it looks like it can cover quite a wide area
  • the modwheel & aftertouch can be assigned to lots of things
  • it can be a very nice mono too
  • it makes a great digital buddy for the Octatrack
  • the awesomeness / size ratio is unbelievable

For more competent opinions, see this thread:

Thanks for your help,
Cheers!

4 Likes
#9

Good choice! Lots of great talk on the Micromonsta recently and it seems to be justified.

1 Like