I’ve never actually tried that - good idea.
…most?..mini…?..powerful…?..synth…?
aaaaaand fx…full fledged tweakable anyways…and expandable in varieties of next new little algorithm for further fx and soundengines…ongoing…for…EVER…
THIS…
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Anyma Phi.
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ContinuuMini.
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Most Powerful : it depends largely on the Hands/Head that control the device.
When i opened this thread, i tried to get a clearer idea of what “minisynth” means exactly. That was what Synthtopia was suggesting about the Hydrasynth Explorer — “the most powerful minisynth ever”.
Collectively here we’ve worked at what “minisynth” and “powerful” means and what that means with the two together. Reading through everyones thoughtful posts i have a better sense what that all means, and certainly what it doesn’t.
There is a difficult balance to strike between power and mini-ness.
I’ll try to summarize, but if this steps on a toe, speak up.
It doesn’t have to be the smallest ( see this thread for that ), in fact smallest works against being most powerful.
It does need to be easily transportable to be a “minisynth”. Batteries not essential but quite important.
Why the Take 5 is NOT a minisynth:
Though it is too soon to completely evaluate the Take 5, it is only a few inches larger in length and width, and has more full sized keys than the Explorer. But it is AC powered only and weighs 17 pounds, stretching even the idea of portable let alone minisynth.
As to powerful, we seem to think the user interface is very important, and synthesis horsepower in the form of polyphony — that also can work mono — and complex voices seems essential. Also it must have a very wide range of voices. A keyboard goes a long way, as a part of user interface, important enough to knock out a synth otherwise qualified unless it has some other very strong features.
More modulation sources and options, filter alternatives, on board effects, multiple oscillators with more advanced waveform generation are all important.
An advanced arpeggiator just seems de riguer for any synth now days.
Powerful and transportable probably also means can work standalone. ( External battery detracts from standalone, marginal but is still OK. )
Other considerations, important but NOT essential. Multitimbrality. A built in sequencer, or as substitute having patterned complexity in held notes. ( No sequencer plus no keyboard and you’re out, i’d say. ) Being able to sound design and create your own patches seems very important.
Not mattering for this discussion, analog/digital, in production/historic.
My thoughts, hope this sharpens the discussion.
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Mouth Harp. Resonator and Karplus Strong…in your mouth! Craft melodies basically by talking, and so easy to hide that even David Blaine will think you are a real magician.
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…master of all eso and deep ambient ceremonies…
well, aaand also master in pricetag…especially if u expect it to give u some kind of same feel as it’s big brother, when actually playin’ it…which is absolutely NOT the case…
actually, no matter how nice it still translates movement into parameters, the feel of it is damned cheap…not even near to any half way better argument to pay almost 1000 bux for this anyways…
Also potentially the most damaging instrument! I have a chip in a tooth still from uninformed use of a jaw harp when I was young. Damn you Snoopy!
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Did anyone say iPad? If not I’ll do it I swear.
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IPad only showed up three other times in this thread with search.
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Fair enough. Withdrawn.
I’d vote PreenFM for polyphonic, probably Typhon, Evolver, or Shruthi for monophonic.
Edit: More of a groovebox than just a synth but for all-around most powerful and usable in proportion to footprint I’d say Deluge reigns supreme.
Did someone mentioned Iphone SE. it’s smaller then ipad 
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I think the solution lies in looking at outcomes rather than inputs.
The status quo in the '90s was a rompler without any front panel knobs. VAs were probably a step back in expressive power from the DX7 series, but they were easy to program so were effectively much more powerful than DX7s.
The core wavetable engines in the Virus and Blofeld are powerful, but its easy to get lost in the modulations. Hydrasynth’s modulation UI seems like it would make very complex patches easy. The modulations are tied to sources and destinations in the signal graph and there are no wires obscuring anything.
I’d suggest that the anti-Hydrasynth is the Yamaha FS1r. It does have eight operators, and there is a formant sequencing engine, but none of it is usable from the front panel. Even with great software editors, I haven’t heard anything out of an FS1r that couldn’t have been produced with FM8 or a Monomachine more easily. While the Hydrasynth seems like a powerfully responsive instrument, the FS1r is a conundrum.
The most powerful minisynth is a laptoppable synth that clearly has more expressive power than the status quo at the time.
In my opinion, the HSE, Lyra-8 and MC-101 all meet that criteria, and the “most” powerful depends on what you want to achieve. The only downside to a golden age is the embarrassment of riches to pick from.
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totally depends how you define “powerful” doesn’t it ? Im not really interested in specifications. Powerful to me means how it sounds.
Having played my Buchla 208C through a proper PA system for the first time at a little festival a few weeks ago, I’m going to to say this. Holy hell. Just electrifying.
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ASM only has one device, which it sure took it’s own time to develop and launch. A very polished and great product it has, I have an Explorer myself. However, to title it most powerful ever… not only subjective, but will change rather quickly over time, especially if hardware specs would be the only realistic form of comparison (and not sound). I think even a Roland Jupiter-XM is more powerful than ASM’s offering.
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I think for simplicity on this occasion we should categorise ‘minisynth’ as one with minikeys. It’s a gross simplification/massive assumption but as he’s talking about the minikey version of the HS I’m saying thats what they meant😉.
So, most powerful minikey synth?..
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I did not received mine yet but I think the new Roland Sh-4d could be a valid candidate;
4 part Synth, 1 part drum, 60 voiced polyphony, mini keyboard and a sequencer.
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For me, minisynth is something that can fit in a backpack. With HSE that’s doable, Microfreak definitely, while something like Opsix is already too big.
For a desktop synth to be considered mini it needs to fit in a backpack with 2 octave mini keys controller. Blofeld, Virus Snow, SH-4d or Boutiques could fit the bill, Micromonsta and Volcas definitely, while Virus Ti Desktop Or Hydra desktop are too big. I also consider grooveboxes with programmable synth engines like MC-101 with latest update or Digitone here.
iPad is computer. If we go there, then laptop with a few heavyweight softsynths is the obvious winner and we can close this debate…
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