If its a swiss army knife to do all sorts of things:
cant go wrong with a Virus Ti (i know you mentioned no digital but with 16 part multi timbrality, effects, arpeggiators, waves etc etc… i sometimes wish i kept mine).
If its all about the raw sound and filter… and you like a vintagey tone… forget everything and buy an OB-6. dont mind the 1 LFO. the sweet spot is enormous…
I would add the SUPER 6 as has been mentioned is incredible - friend has it and when i heard this binaural science fiction shit i was really impressed in the flesh.
Also, if you run into some extra money for pure tone check out Abstrakt Instruments VS-1 which is a clone of the legendary OB-X… or Black Corperation’s Deckards Dream MK1, clone of the CS-80
Don’t forget to check out some Nord options. I’ve been mightily impressed with my old, battered Lead 2X. I totally forget that it’s digital. It’s an incredibly warm sounding synth, and it looks like the latest iteration (the A1) has had a few improvements added (such as effects) too.
Thanks, all! Looks like I was able to snag a Summit for under $2k, so I’m probably going to do that. I really appreciate all the input, and while I still think the Polybrute looks great, buying an untested synth that costs $500 more than the Summit doesn’t seem to make much sense.
I appreciate all the other suggestions as well. In terms of my “style,” I do a variety of different kinds of things, from house to post-rock to electro-pop, so I’m looking for an all-rounder. Sounds like the Summit is a good fit!
I actually used to have an A1 (which I won in a contest–the only time I ever won anything!). It was nice, but ultimately I sold it a while back. Good synth, though.
I thought pretty hard about the summit/peak, but I found the filter too polite, just always seemed too clean. I also wasnt that impressed with demos I heard of the drive circuit. I wanted to get a board as a master keyboard/controller but it seemed like due to the resolution of the knobs it does crazy stuff split across cc’s.
I’d still love to get play with one irl, that was just going off other ppls demos, I am not really sure what synth I would go for these days, prolly still a sequential rev2
Ah dude you should use one in person, the filter is very far from polite, it can scream. Also, the three drive circuits are all very distinct and sound excellent. Reevaluate for sure.
You seriously won’t regret the Summit; I think it is, in many ways, the consummate polysynth in terms of flexibility. Does that mean the eye won’t wander from time to time? Well, we are all only human.
Haha. I think that’s how everyone is. This gets worse when you break the 2k price tag because there’s always the fear of missing out. I love my Kyra but I look at those iridium threads like I’ve never owned a nice synth before.
If you practice playing chords and scales on just one synth you will realize that you get more mileage from practicing than gawking at the next flagship synth. In reality any synth or desktop above the 2000 mark will definitely define your tracks just by playing presets and using effects in your chain.
Enough about this nonsense I need to preorder something. (I’m joking)
