I really love my Nord A1, it totally lives in the 80’s. Blends really well in a live band situation it’s definitely a players board (which I’m not).
Also the simplified layout makes it easy to hang in that sonic sweet spot.
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My suggestion if you really want hardware :
The MS20 as been used in a lot of new wave band in the past (DAF, Liaisons Dangereuses, kas product, Ceramic Hello etc… also lots of german new wave bands ) You can get one cheap today (reissue from Korg or Behringer) I have one and its one of my favorite analog mono.
EDIT : Added the PRO 1 a Vince Clarke favorite.
The reissue by Behringer. Very punchy, nice filters and used by Depeche Mode.
Poly : The Ob6 is really nice but its a little expensive. Sounds very melancholic.
The Ambika with SMR4 filters (analog hybrid) is incredible and with the Roland filters it can sounds alot like the Juno 106 with the help of some chorus. It can also be used to get PPG wave-ish sounds, its very versatile and IMO much much better than the DSI P12 and also cheaper. IMO very underrated.
SQ80 is really great too and kinda cheap. Very warm and vintage sounding when well programed.
Vintage FX or FX with character. Sometime its more important than synth imo.
The Ensoniq DP4 can do wonders. Its kinda low fi but warm at the same time. My Nord Modular sounds almost analog when processed with it.
Amazing Chorus, flangers , Phasers. I like the reverb too.
I also use the OTO BIM for chorus because its one of the best chorus i’ve ever used and very controllable. Of course the delay are amazing too.
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Have you seen the INHALT comparison between the Pro-One and Toraiz AS-1? It’s a Prophet-6 one voice. I picked one up after seeing that! But apparently the midi program changing is buggy.
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Less than 4k i recommend just like Scot Solida told a Waldorf Blofelt to get a bit of PPG karakter.
Plus a Elektron Digitone for FM sounds and the Roland Jupiter Xm to get on budget for JP8 sounds and for some more analog dirt a Elektron Analog Heat. One more for drums a Nord Drum 2 to get some Simmons drum synth sounds.
ps. my music style is also heavy based on new wave from the '80s
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