I really like this concept by creating a synth and promote it by an album complety build arround just this mono synth the MCS70. Just masterful!
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All Roland System 100 :
I think he has many albums that are all single synth. System 100 in the past. Moog now.
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Another perspective (of mine…) I have tons of modular gear. Have for decades now. I’ve had the big Waldorfs (short of the Wave and Quantum, so Q and uWave XT30, Pulses, etc.) and a ton of other things. Anyway, all of those offered nearly limitless possibilities. And yet, I just received my Erica Bassline the other day. Such a simple little box, with fixed signal path, and yet, I found myself coming up with some REALLY cool experimental sounds on it despite its size and intended purpose. I guess the interface and sequencer combination just combine to inspire experimentation. I guess the point is, you can build a wall of modular, or you could just stumble on something small that inspires you to create and experiment. Or better yet, a bit of both might do the trick. I found the Digitone to be one of these smaller synths as well.
There are people that create insane sounds on a couple of guitar pedals, or a spring reverb and a mic, or the like as well. Some of Robert Rich’s sounds that I thought were his wall of synthesizers were actually a lap-steel guitar or his PVC flute. 
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I made the most awesome, realistic snare/pitched percussion sound with my Erica Bassline the other day.
It’s certainly the most versatile single osc mono I’ve ever owned from a sound design perspective, despite looking like the least versatile synth ever.
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I need to pick up a Digitakt again. I sold mine temporarily. I think some of the sounds I get out of the Bassline could easily be made into nice one-shot samples for percussion, effects, and other nonsense. I could see making full tracks out of just sounds that came from it.
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Totally, I’ve been doing a fair bit of that myself lately.
Maybe we need all those many synths, before we understand that creativity rules and collecting gear sucks … TBH … I think that I slowly gravitate to exactly this understanding … 
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As with anything, I think it’s a balance. At least for me, and part of the fun is exploring new things. I just think it’s beneficial to spend enough time with each thing. (which I’ve been guilty of not doing on occasion). Some people can actually make use if a wall of modular for example, while some get lost with all of the options. Those same people may be able to squeeze unimaginable things out of a smaller setup.
I agree that it takes some time and exploration to arrive at a balance that works. It may wind up being something unexpectedly small. 
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I agree that dedicating yourself to an instrument is necessary to get the best (and the rest) out of it.
Yet I must say that going from one to another helped me a lot to have a better understanding of applied sound design theories and for discovering new tricks.
Besides, since sound design is all about ear, taming it with as many different sounds as possible and using uninspired periods in wandering through awkward soundscapes helped me grow my own listening.
Last but not least, I figured recently that I was limited in my sound design on bass frequencies: purchasing a sub was my best move to expand my skills in such area.
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There are some good conversational posts in this thread, but they’re drowned amidst the endlessly repetitive posts that these ‘list your favourite gear’ polls tend to illicit.
Having skimmed through, I still don’t think the important follow-up questions to the OP have been answered:
- what type of sounds are you currently unable to achieve?
- do you know yet what type of workflow really suits your brain / creative process?
Beyond that, much like the photography saying of “the best camera is the one you’ve got with you”, the answer to this thread may well be “the synth you have” or even more likely, “the synth you know best”.
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flexible granular stuff for example
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Try the Tasty Chips GR-1, Max for Live Granulator ii, or Audio Damage Quanta. I’ve been looking at all three this last week. I think the GR-1 looks to be the best for my setup
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yeah, i was talking about hardware in particular. GR-1 seems nice, but can’t say I’m totally sold.
i’ll check quanta. i’m really into grain from reason right now — really simple, has kind of an old school design (which is good and unusual for software granular synths), but powerful.
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My recommendation is the Waldorf Pulse 2.
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Exactly this.
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Definitely capable of some interesting sounds. If you gel with the Waldorf Matrix then these do very nicely.
Because of the more general tone of the thread I think the responses were suitable in that they recommended synths with a wide breadth of ability. Still I agree that to pinpoint exactly what the OP wants, needs, more information was helpful. Now that we’ve arrived at the granular thing, it’s easier to suggest a more narrow scope. That said, I don’t have much to recommend in the granular department, other than being fairly wowed by the GR-1. However, I think the Blackbox will do a bit, and if you’re creative and don’t mind the limitations, the Digitakt may be just enough. Then you could go down the Euro sample/granular hole, and REALLY make some crazy things happen.
to be honest, the way this discussion went was exactly what I wanted. a couple of helpful suggestions and also a general picture of what there is.
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I recall Blofeld being pretty powerful.
I’ve got one coming in the mail now, and I’m intending on it being my one piece of hardware in a primarily ITB setup.
Others are right about Digitone being deep, though
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