This question is impossible to answer but I would say:
Granular sampler - check out the tasty chips gr-1
Wavetable - Waldorf is famous. 3rd Wave is the new-old hotness. Korg Modwave is the affordable one
Physical Modelling - I do not know a hardware physical modelling synth off hand. I use software.
West Coast based synthesis - lots of choices out there.
Old sampling synth tech - Roland V-Synth. Probably not worth the money unless you really want that sound. But I have one, the keyboard, and you will create sounds that kind of almost impossible to do so without using a bunch of software.
Which leads me to …. Software. Most flexible sound design environment. I choose Bitwig.
Would be interesting to see modern hardware machine, maybe groove box like Elektron with proper physical modelling implemented… even like Mutable models with proper patch saving, sequencer some effects and multitimbrality
Waldorf Q is pretty notable (rack or keyboard versions, sadly uQ drops a lot of the weirdest features and doesn’t have the same quality of fx). Nice continuously variable filter routing design with its dual filters. Nice envelopes with lots of options on how they function along with getting 4 of them. FM, 2 wave tables that a more or less feel like Waldorfs greatest hits (these really are really good honestly they could cover what I need from wave tables with its mix of having FM capabilities). Xmorph between patches. Ability to feed one patch into another patch and vocode it or just treat it however you like. Deep sequencer for modulation or notes with some crazy per channel time divisions you can set up. Crazy deep arp also essentially a sequencer as well with some really interesting tools for sound design. 3 deep lfos (honestly these boarder on being annoying as there are lots of settings that could be potentially making them act in an unexpected manner but once you know you know) I dunno people love the Q but I still think it is somehow a sleeper… maybe there just aren’t enough of them out in the wild for it to get the fame of something like the virus maybe its depth is also a bit of a gatekeeper… quite quick once you know your way around it though and it has borderline modular like routing and modulation options.
Cool! Always wanted one, but afraid to start it : )
Do you have any nice Q patches audio examples? Maybe some of those you made yourself? Just interested how deep it could go.
Continue to mess with Yamaha FS1R - it’s a monster together with software editor and Eventide H8000 post processing… This combo makes sounds I never heard before! : ) Making some loops out of it for samplers…
and this is the first thing I did with it when I got it… was not really going for weird but it makes a pretty nice full mix. All sequenced from itself in this instance groovebox style.
Syntrx mk2 might be worth looking at. Can be ambient as well as techno.
In a completely different category, the Nord Wave 2 is surprisingly deep and can be very experimental with its layers and everything that can be modulated by aftertouch, pitchweel etc.
i recently picked up a Novation Peak for a workhorse sound design machine and it goes DEEP. Much exploration with polyphonic LFOs among other things. And the onboard effects really take the sound further. Ricky Tinez has a lot of great sound design videos where he uses the Peak. I learned a ton of tricks from them.
Is the novation peak / summit one of the synths that you’ll probably keep forever as it can do many things or there’s something better to cover a big sound palette?
Hydrasynth is pretty universal and deep.
Blofeld can do much more than Peak/Summit.
Modern Waldorfs, Sequential stuff, Arturia’s top-tier Brutes, Moog One, 3rd Wave. I haven’t owned any of them, but all these synths can work as sound design workhorses I guess.
My choice is Summit however. It’s not the deepest and most flexible synth I owned, bit I love the mix of capabilities, sound and interface.
Very much so. And specifically in the realm of sound design, I’ve found its frame-based additive engine to be a game changer at getting down evolving sounds.
With subtractive I often approach this in a sort of vague way — I shape a sound I like with mix and tuning and filters and then ask, “What happens if I modulate those parameters with an LFO or envelope?" I’ll usually have a general idea of what I’m going for (I want the filter to open, or I want noise to climb, or…) but trying to land somewhere specific through tweaking various modulation speeds and depths is a frustrating experience. So I often wander randomly and hope for the best.
With additive frames I can be much more specific. “I want this oboe sound to slowly morph to a bowed string then quickly decay to a sine" is really easy. Just draw those spectrums and adjust where you want them in relation to one another. Done!
A downside to this can be that it sounds a little plain compared to sweeping filters or chorused pads. But this is where the second Synclavier sound design gem really shines: layering. It’s ridiculously easy to just add another layer — each patch can hold up to 12. So it really encourages you to break your sound into elements (tone element, noise element, maybe some percussive or arp-like thing, maybe a sweep) and design them individually.
I guess “design” is the key word. With most synths I feel like I’m experimenting with sound and sometimes land on some keepers. With the Synclavier, I feel like I’m actually designing it as I intend. That doesn’t mean I end up with anything better! But it does give me more opportunities to learn and grow when I make a real clunker
I got a Microfreak and love the huge range of sounds possible with all the different engines available. The filter is perhaps a limiting factor for some if you’re not into the sound of it but for me its not a problem. The BP is especially nice for pads/atmospheres!
Loved it so much I also got a Minifreak for the expanded polyphony and mod options and by jove it’s a joy to program and play - I have it front and centre in my setup and its my go-to for designing new sounds cos it’s so flexible and the I gel with the interface.
Slightly cheaper than units like Hydrasynth and Peak, the Freaks satisfy my needs for a multi-engine synth.
I also have an Ambika (6 x SVF filters) and Shruthi (4PM filter) which were my previous go-to synths for sound design with the rich selection of oscillators & wavetables (plus 14 mod slots in the Ambika, with 2 logic operators for complex mod signal generation, a built in sequencer and loads of useful targets!).
So there’s a fair bit of overlap in my setup now! But for me the huge selection of oscillators make all these synths very flexible.
Of course if you have the cash for a top tier multi-engine / multi-filter / mod-monster synth like Quantum etc then they are far more flexible but on my limited budget I’ve reached a place where I’m not GASing for new synthesis methods (but I did just get a TG77 so I can really learn FM on a powerhouse unit - that was the only thing that was missing from my setup!).
