I see the Peak mentioned a few times here. Tried it in my local store and have to say, amazing and very immediate, very hands on. Maybe one day!
For me I always find myself reaching for my Micromonsta, so easy to use yet sounds great!
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My 106 and 101 are the most immediate synths I have ever had. It’s impossible to make bad sounds on them and I could never be without.
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I’m a big fan of the Nord lead A1. It’s super easy to program & sounds fantastic. Bass sounds are a bit weak IMO and limited FM but everything else is superb. The last time I jammed on a Juno 106 I remember saying to myself “This sounds a lot like my A1”.
Enjoy the journey 
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I will throw in both desktop versions of waldorfs blofeld and pulse 2. They are just incredible and I spent hours of fun designing patches from the scratch on those two. The pulse always surprises me with it’s absolute pressure, the blofeld does sounds from another world :)… Paired with my DN and DT I am just totally happy, because I get that out of this small setup what I like the most and what I like to listen to :)…
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The waldorfs are great (I own both) but far from immediate.
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Depends on your point of view, for me they are. But I really understand if some people think that they are not immediate.
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Do you think it’s immediate because your starting with a preset or do you actually find it immediate when making sounds from scratch?
I got good at messin with the presets, easy to shape them into what I want, but making my own sounds on it, I struggle a bit. I’m still learning sound design tho (from scratch). Could be immediate for a more advanced user.
& of course immediate for everyone is different :o)
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I never use presets, I always start with a blank init patch. That is the joy for me, always a journey to design new sounds :)…
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I owned one for years – one of the least immediate synths I’ve ever played – hands down
Still got my eyes on the Malekko Manther.
The shared single envelope generator with 1 OSC + Sub with waveform faders scheme is so effective (106, 202, 101, Atlantis).
One can traverse between two polar opposite ends of a sonic spectrum with just a couple fader movements. And the Manther kicks that up a notch with an incredibly deep sequencer.
That said, my Korg Monologue makes me happy every time I touch it. About to finish a track I made from just jamming out on a Monologue internal sequence, and cutting out some interesting bits and layering them on top of each other.
I used to think that the 16 step sequencer was too limiting, even with those great motion sequence lanes, but once I made sure to be recording while just changing simple things live, like wave shape and envelope parameters, it opened right up. The envelope generator on the Monologue might be my favorite thing about it. So expressive and snappy.
The raw sound isn’t anything spectacular. It’s still a $299 synth. But it takes EQ and FX well, and it also makes a great DAW controller.
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If I were pressed to define ‘immediacy’, or at least to specify some necessary conditions, I would say the following are essential:
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One knob per function, or close to it.
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Fantastic raw tone. i.e. it doesn’t take much work to make it sound great. Wide sweet spot.
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Relatively uncomplicated architecture.
I just got myself a Behringer Model D and I have to say it fits the brief perfectly.
+1
I wouldn’t say least immediate. Least immediate synth I’ve owned was an Alesis Micron…try it
One push button knob for everything, the other 3 plus sliders are performance controls.
Blofeld is 100x better
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Korg Volca boxes come to mind as they are dead basic. The Dreadbox synths as well and the ability to do Eurorack style patching is fun. I was at an event recently and one guy performed with just a Korg Volca Bass and Korg Volca FM and sounded amazing.
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I love that approach as well especially on the Analog 4- tons of LFO and OSC options to craft sound. Same for the OT.
I remember this was my second synth I ever owned. Programming it was a pain. Looking back had I bought the Ion I think I would like it more .
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thanks for helping out here
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I wanted the ion but couldn’t afford one at the time. Would have been a better choice. It sounded really good though (the micron). I still sold it and it goes down in my book as the least immediate synth I’ve owned.
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Have you tried the shape function with some of the Osc? That’s were the sweet spots for NLA1 bass sounds can be found.
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Jupiter 8