I’m looking for a new synth to replace my Minilogue XD. I loved my XD as a first synth, but there are a few limitations that bother me, (mainly the 12dB filter).
I gave the Hydrasynth Explorer a go, but the workflow really doesn’t gel with me - I like a hands on approach with minimal menu diving. I didn’t like having to visit a menu just to adjust ADSR.
I also tried the Behringer Deepmind, but it has lots of background noise, the main scroll wheel works intermittently, and it has no triangle oscillator wave which I sadly failed to realise. I also prefer having knobs than faders, though this isn’t a dealbreaker.
My eye currently is on the Behringer Pro-800, the only thing holding me back is hearing complaints of the preset system. But here’s a list of what I’m ideally looking for, if anyone can recommend anything I’d really appreciate it!
24dB filter
Polyphonic (at least 4 voices)
Can be desktop or keyboard
As little menu diving as possible
Ability to save presets
Triangle, saw and square wave
Analog is preferable
Can be used or new under £500
A good sound! (I found the Hydrasynth to be quite thin).
Pro 800 is a solid choice plus it’s got cc control so can be integrated with a DAW or other synth/controller should you wish in the future. It sounds great and has loads of hands on control. Not sure of any issues with mine regarding patch saving etc. maybe you could elaborate?
Multi/poly module can be found used for that price on a good day and sounds superb. If not the other Korg range definitely can be worth a look as well.
The Audiothingies MicroMonsta 2 might be worth a look:
MicroMonsta 2 is a dual polyphonic synthesizer featuring :
2 x 6 voices of polyphony
3 oscillators, 1 multimode filter, 3 envelopes, 3 LFOs, 10 modulation slots and 2 operators per voice (lag and mult)
12 « analog » oscillator types + 4 FM-able oscillators for OSC1
12 « analog » oscillator types + 8 multisampled wavetables for OSC2 and OSC3 (FM source)
8 filter types with FM
Per voice and per oscillator detuning options for analog character
Deep modulation matrix
Delay + reverb (per program)
It’s a digital synth and some menu action is required. It’s currently sold out, but maybe you can find a used one in nice condition. It’s a nice synth and there is a cool orange ant on the casing.
Another cool synth is the 1010 music nanobox | fireball with 8 voice polyphony, it’s a very small digital wavetable synth and it sounds glorious.
Minifreak is definitely a consideration, I like it from a sound design perspective, but I think generally when I sit down to write music I tend to want to create sounds quite quickly. My XD let me do this pretty intuitively and I worry the Minifreak still might be a bit tedious with some things. Not sure yet tho.
Regarding patch saving I’ve heard from people that didn’t like the way it worked? It looks like a very bare bones implementation but that may not be a bad thing. What’s your experience been like with saving and finding patches?
No problem to be honest. It’s like everything, once you’ve done it a couple of times it becomes second nature. Although it’s only got a small led display you do get visual feedback (which is more than I can say for my SuperGemini)
A bigger display would obv give you more info in terms of naming patches etc but I’ve not found it much of a draw back
Another idea would be to look out for an Access Virus A or B in nice condition on the used market. All the Virus synths sound great. Virtual analog, polyphonic, multitimbral, lots of knobs. If you want an old-school, raw, unrefined 1997 techno crunch, the Virus A is definitely charming.
For under 500, it will be hard to get something as nice as the minilogue xd.
Nymphes → very narrow sweet spot, horrible controls.
Virus → sounds great, but better as a VST (many options, not many controls). And it has a very characteristic sound.
Nord → Really intuitive, for people who just want to play and not worry about the synth
Behringer → Probably OK, did not try, maybe their P5 clone?
Or, if you can go up a bit in price, the Bree6 sounds amazing (but I have not tried it). The Take5 here in Switzerland is 820GBP (module), but I see that in the UK it is way more expensive.
Yeah T5 is outside of the quoted budget (even pre owned) but a used Fourm is closer. I’d say the P800 is a step up from the XD with twice the voices, bigger sequencer and a 4 pole filter albeit at the expense of the digital and FX sections of the Korg
Minifreak is great and can sound much better than Microfreak (which is also thin), but I still wouldn’t say it’s particularly fat (but from what I’ve heard from demos at least fatter than Hydra). If you can get Multi/Poly for such price it could be a great option, other than that maybe some analog Behringer with presets…
I also suggest Cobalt8. It is almost knob per function and is very cleverly laid out usability wise. I have the module version which was a lot less than 500 used. Even keys version go for less than 500 used. I owned XD, DM12 and Pro800 and didnt much care of them, but Cobalt is very good and fun to use.
It also sounds very analogue for a digital synth due to multiple selectable saturation stages. Tons of filters (i think around 40?), tons of sweepable oscillator algos (over 30), 3 LFOs, 3 envelopes, joystick, good arp, very good FX that you can modulate.
I also rate Opsix highly, but it is a different flavour for sure with serious menu diving.
Thanks everyone for all the replies, didn’t expect so many! After reading through them all I think I’m still leaning towards the Pro-800, especially as it can be found for under £200. Hard part is finding one for sale!
