A4 has its own sound but so do a load of other synths. A4 can’t cover every base (excuse the pun)
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I’d recommend the Roland SH-01A boutique.
- Battery or USB powered
- Sounds pretty close to the OG
- MIDI CC’s
- Program Change
- Preset Memory
- Sequencer (up to 100 steps)
- Can do acid with Portamento set to auto
- Mono, Unison or 4-voice Poly modes
- Chord Memory
Mutable Instruments Shruthi XT 
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Take a look at the Analog Solutions Leipzig V3. It is beefy and old school sounding, and has an interesting sequencer.
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Moog Is a good choice for giant analog bass. I rock a korg monologue too, very affordable and has a built in sequencer. I’d pick that over the minitaur any day.
Not in budget but if you can get a vermona perfourmer, you have 4 analog osc stacked and panned to make a MASSIVE bass (and they can do sine wave for sub)
To stay in budget, I will go to vermona mono lancet. (Yeah I love Vermona)
But tbh you already have the stuff to make insane bassline. A4 or DN can do what you are looking for, especially if you stack voices.
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And if your going Sub25, then your close to a Grandmother.
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Never messed with a GM but if it sounds anything like my Matriarch then you won’t go far wrong. That thing sounds so huge and the sound has a ‘presence’ and heft I can’t put into words
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A man of taste!
I got the matriarch as well, and she is wonderful. Especially with all four oscillators in unison.
I just love the Grandmother a bit more. Probably the more streamlined workflow.
Plus the paraphony and round robin still bites me sometimes. I know I just need more time with her. I love the Matriarch for the arpeggiator and the stereo delay with the round robin firing a different oscillator every time. !
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GM is prob a bit more manageable in terms of physical size too. I love big synths with non fiddly well spaced controls but the Matriarch is a behemoth for a mono. In a good way tho!
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You talking about the Norand Mono? How does it sound? Can it get as bassy and mean as the DB-01?
You don’t need one.
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I just got myself a Behringer 303 clone, and well - it sounds really good, the distortion was also very usable, the sequencer was absolutly awful - only editing when the box isnt running. But i did sequence it from the Octatrack, so that was a non issue.
I personally still would love to try out a norand mono, i believe its sequencer could be programmed while its running.
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If you want moog sound for cheap prices, A second hand sub37…
You won’t regret it
Very different flavour to your other gear and very much instant gratification, no real learning curve, and almost knob per function so no menue diving. And many presets.
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Yes, the Norand Mono. The basic sound of the oscillators is sweet; I like pulling the modulation back for a break and just doing a slow sweep of the waveshapes. The TZFM implementation is impressive, with good pitch stability and many sweet spots. Digital tuning of the analog oscillators helps to avoid too much noise (of course detuning is possible).
No, it cannot get as bassy and mean as the DB-01. When you throw in the DB-01’s sub, drive, and Polivoks-inspired filter, it is tops for that particular sound. The Mono’s filter is quite good, and I think it does acid well. Its sequencer has more features that are usable in real time compared to the DB-01, and more are promised in the 2.0 firmware (currently in beta). When you add in the considerable ease of modulation (literally an LFO and/or envelope for every knob, without menu-diving), Mono wins for me, much as I like my DB-01.
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Another point: the DB-01’s FM knob is largely useless. You can get a subtle vibrato, or you can get noise. If you want to make your riff unrecognizable for a bar, fine. With Mono’s TZFM, on the other hand, you can get usable timbres that you actually want to listen to at length.
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I’m debating whether I want to get a Minitaur (had one in the past and loved it - only sold it to get a Sirin which I ended up getting offered silly money for) or a Sub Phatty.
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And she’s great for always having something to discover just out of reach!
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He’s not wrong!
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