Arturia MicroFreak(and perhaps Minifreak?) and Novation Bass Station 2 are worth considering too!
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I always get a little nervous when people quote me, 
. I’m like, “Oh god what did I do or say now?”
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add the following to your considerations
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Norand Mono: (It’s amazing) it has so much modulation and 0 thru FM that if you want for sound shaping, it can be a drum synth as well.
Banging On the Norand Mono Just For You - YouTube
Turning the Norand Mono into a Drum Machine, because of course I am. - YouTube -
Pioneer DSI Toraiz AS1: (its a single voice Prophet 6. even shares 98% same midi implementation as the Prophet 6, RIP. Dave Smith)
Pioneer DJ TORAIZ AS-1 Official Introduction - YouTube -
Roland SH01a: (easily the best 101 clone, also a polysynth!)
Roland SH-01a Patches for Ambient, Techno and Electronica "Colors Sound Pack" - YouTube -
Mutable Instruments Shruthi XT (so underrated and customizable with different Filters depending what you like, all sounds are from the Shruthi)
Mutable Instruments Shruthi XT Hybrid Synthesizer (Polivoks Filter) - No Talking Demo - YouTube
Sorry to muddy the waters 
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Doepfer Dark Energy 1/2 + DarkTime or Korg SQ1?
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Microfreak is really versatile, has a huge palette of possible sounds, and it fit’s a small budget too!
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Needs to be a compact 1 box solution so nothing with wires and multiple units.
Another vote for the SH-01A here. The unison mode is devastating for mono basslines. Plus it can convert midi to pitch/gate CV (with glide) for controlling other gear. The sequencer is dead simple: note, rest, tie, etc. But with the trigger input you can totally mess with how a sequence progresses. Poly mode is a nice option too.
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+1 for the Norand Mono and Erica Synths DB-01.
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Also, it can convert incoming midi to CV! a euro rack module that does that is half the price of the SH01a
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Analog Four MkI? Those are mad cheap used at this point and extremely versatile. Especially with the ability to do unison with mono (and poly too if you really need it). That being said I do find the bottom end of the MKII to be a bit fuller, but you can probably just do some EQ on the MKI
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That would probably fall into the category of big and complicated.
I’m thinking like Monologue levels of complexity.
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SH01A. Easy to program, fun sequencer, sounds the business. Can do unison, chord, or 4 note poly. If you have something to trigger it externally you can do some interesting stuff with the sequencer.
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Totally fair
I find the engine not too bad and pretty well laid out especially if you are treating it as a mono, but its definitely a bit on the headier and less immediate side. I mostly mentioned it because we’re on elektronauts so some folks are already use to the universe. Also its my goto mono solution currently and I find it fun
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Minibrute 2s. It’s physically big, but should be fairly cheap used.
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To be fair, a little second hand monologue can’t really be beaten for value for money.
Even though it’s a pretty simple little bugger, the sequencer and microtuning can take it to some pretty wild places.
I sometimes regret selling mine.
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My other options are a Polyend Tracker and an MC-707 so it needs to be something immediate and tweaky with a more “what you see is what you get” vibe compared to those.
I completely failed to get on with a Syntakt so I think the A4 would not suit me at all.
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This was one of my first thoughts. It looks brilliant and really fun, but unfortunately it seems to be massive. It is however pretty much perfect for my use case.
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It’s ALL about that sequencer. And what a fun sequencer it is to play.
Plus, it can process external audio like all mono synths should. It also doubles as a MIDI keyboard controller.
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Minibrute 2S, but like the other person said it’s fairly large but it’s pretty cheap, especially on the used market. Cool sequencer and cool patch point options.
Moog Mother 32 has a pretty neat sequencer and a good sound. Only one Oscillator but with how beefy it is you probably won’t be complaining.
Pittsburgh Modular Taiga just came out. Pretty much combines a lot of the features of the East Beast and West Pest into one package while adding new stuff like an analog bucket brigade delay (BBD). It’s nice to have a Mono synth with a low pass gate, filter, and wave folding per oscillator. The sequencer on this is very basic, you’d probably want more of a CV sequencer like the Oxi one to work with this, depending on how much modulation you want to do.
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I will say that while the Typhon has a lot of immediacy, its actually pretty complicated if you move beyond the onscreen controls. A fair number of menus and sub-menus (e.g. modulation routings, fx).
That being said, you can make some simpler presets and then ignore some of the deeper functionality.
Also the sequencer is definitely not immediate.
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