Not fully stand alone, but Dreadbox Telepathy bundle is 6 analog voices that can be configured as needed. Nice stereo spread mixer/fx included in 70hp. MM has a nice video
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the FM is dope. lot’s of weird stuff you can do. percussion patches are amazingly good. explore those. i love nords.
Mostly true, yes. The GS E7 is one such analog multitimbral.
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Fred’s Lab Buzzzy! module. Four MIDI channels, 16 voices polyphony. Sweet! Will not EVER sell it. BTW Reverb has one for sale now:
https://reverb.com/item/78929594-fred-s-lab-buzzy-buzzzy-open-box
A little late to the game, but Korg Multi/Poly just launched. It doesn’t have poly aftertouch on board, but is capable of it (which is silly).
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Dave Smith Tempest?
Only 6 voices (2 analog oscillators, a sub and 2 digital oscillators/samples per voice) but a beat/pattern can have up to 32 sounds sequenced and it has 6 individual stereo outs.
A program has 16 beats, so you could compose something using up to 512 sounds if you really wanted to.
More of a groovebox but is definitely a synth - it can also be played as a 6 voice synth externally.
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Aside from the Vermona P4mer and maybe Udo Super Gemini, are there any other multi-timbral synths that have a UI where you can tweak multiple parts simultaneously?
I’ve been debating between a Prophet Rev2 or Multipoly recently, but I need to research how cumbersome it may or may not be to jump between parts on those. I want to be able to tweak parameters at least a little bit, almost simultaneously or at least nimbly.
On Digitone II you can tweak all 16 parts simultaneously with control all.
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Analog Four mk2 has performance mode, up to 10 macro knobs at once with up to 5 destinations each. Same with Analog Keys. Not sure about Mk1 (but Mk1 doesn’t have the individual outs)
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As far as I understand the Prologue 16 is not truly bi-timbral, in the sense that you cannot play two different parts at the same time, you can only stack patches and play the same thing.
I’m looking for something where I can control/play both/multi parts separately i.e. bass line or pad and a lead on top.
Fred’s Lab Manatee. Mentioned only once before in this thread, but it’s out now, and it’s good. Has separate outs too which is big. Special sound.
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The SG is only two part (upper and lower layers). It’s still an amazing instrument though!
I feel obligated to give Virus TI2 yet another plug. Just got mine a few months ago and it may be the last digital synth I buy for a long, long time; and the catalyst for selling many of my other synths.
There’s a lot of “WOW, that sounds incredible” every time I boot it up, and especially lately, as I’ve been diving into multi parts for the first time w/ my Keystep Pro.
Looking forward to using it as a sort of super-powered groove box, when I pair it with a Deluge, using its 16 assignable CC modulations per midi track,“p-locks” and mod designers to get the most out of TI2’s multitimbrality.
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If you can live with “only” analog and wavetables, Melbourne Nina is probably the most usable of these. If you can’t afford it or need keys, Melbourne’s Delia is a good alternative you can add to the list, it’s 2 part multitimbral with layers and splits. Delia is only virtual analog though, but has an analog filter.
I find multitimbrality almost useless on knobby knob per function synths like Rev2 if you do more than using presets without tweaking anything. The knobs will not show you what the engine is set to, which is already a problem when only using one patch. It soon becomes a nightmare if there’s several patches involved. Things become worse if the synth doesn’t provide a catch value function for the knobs and the knobs aren’t endless encoders (looking at Roland SH 4-D).
Melbourne Nina solves this problem with the motorized knobs. They will always show you what the patch values actually are. And you can quickly jump between its four layers with the knobs jumping to the value of the other patch. It also has four outputs that you can assign the patches on different layers to flexibly. And you can flexibly allocate the 12 voices that are available in total to the four patches.
Both Nina and Delia also have an A/B morph knob, so you can basically load two presets in one and gradually morph between them (with the knobs following your changes).
Melbourne has also teased a new MIDI controller they’ll announce in January. I’m sure it will have motorized knobs and/or faders, could be interesting to add hands on control to multitimbral synths like Elektrons that don’t have many knobs.
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It may not work as well as other synths since is not a scaled catch, but the Sh-4d does support catch mode for the knobs.
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It seems the new Redshift 6 was not mentioned yet. Seems interesting, though.
(Has multiple outs!)
I own Nina and XD and also prefer the look and sound of XD. Can’t speak to Delia. Nina sounds way beefier than XD though to my ears, the oscillators are much more alive. I’d say overall you mostly pay for the unique workflow on Melbourne’s instruments, if you don’t want that, there’s no reason to buy them.
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Yes, I also really love the sound of the Minilogues and Prologues. Almost all sweetspot and easy to mix as it’s not as fat as other synths. The on board effects on XD and Prologues are also among the best I know. It’s a shame that various versions are a bit crippled (like XD not having ADSR on filter envelope or Prologue 8 not having a compressor and missing something from XD I can’t remember).
Nina is my main synth for sound design and analogue. XD is only for my band, as I don’t need as much knob control there and appreciate that it’s not as fat and complex. Besides that, I only have Elektrons. And an SH 01a, which I love for its sweetspot sound and control scheme, but rarely use due to overlap with other gear.
So “favorite” depends on what it’s about:
- sound: SH 01a (but limited)
- control: Nina
- Overall workflow and package: ST and DN II
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I find that a multitimbral synth needs to have endless encoders. Even my old Novation Nova with its knob pickup workaround is a pain.
But maybe it’s just the way my brain works!
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In production?
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