So many analog monos to pick from. Based on your desires I’d get a monologue cause it meets all your demands. Great little sequencer, mostly knob-per-function, and a pretty cool character if you ask me.
If you want something more fancy, like an ‘ultimate mono’, Id save up and get a Matriarch or Pro2/3.
Mono overkill.
Hard to choose.
I think you have to specify your needs even more.
Otherwise there will be another 20 suggestions.
I would echo the advice of those above who mentioned the Norand Mono. It’s an absolute cracker with a great sequencer, immense modulation, and character by the bucket load.
Many times I start with a good drum loop and then add the mono into the mix and I am off…
It’s a great piece of kit.
I too like the Grandmother. There is something to be said for getting the instrument that makes you excited to make music when you see it sitting in your studio.
Much like the nerdy, but sexy, quirky girl you liked in high school. Sure, she wasn’t the most popular, didn’t run with all the cool kids, wasn’t the prom Queen… but every time you saw her she made your blood boil and got your motor running.
I would strongly consider marrying the nerdy Grandmother. In the long run, you’ll be happy waking up to her every morning and tucking her in safely every night.
Actually I often end up using it as a drum machine because of the cool sequencer. But it can also take care of mono melodies, pads and blips and blops equally. I paired it with a looper and it has become my main sound source.
Yeah, it certainly smashes drums too. It’s such a versatile piece of kit.
Sequence a Blue Marvin with an Orange Crave and SQ1(or)keystep and spend the rest of your green on cables and toothpaste for that big grin you’ll soon be sporting
MS20 has the best character filter - the mini is great, but not nearly as well put together as the behringer stuff which is more than fine
Blue Marvin is an incredible ‘mono’ (you can sequence two oscillator pitches independently) - it is a great version of a peerless synth with nice additions and a great footprint (best upright within an 8u rack) - sounds incredible and is a self contained playground for synthing with the addition of keys/seq and cables although you can noodle effectively with the onboard clock driving its gates - just add cables
kudos to ARP for an amazing design, it’s far more flexible than an MS20 - but they both have their own mojo
reasons to avoid tke korg are the headaches of a shrinking pool of gear that slots in nicely with Hz/Volt - it can’t always come to the party - but it’s pretty self contained to cover plenty of ground and has the bonus of keys and an iconic form factor
both are sweetspot synths - for sure there are tonnes of others in that price range - but a wysiwyg semi modular synth with lots of patching potential built on top of solid oscillators / filters will keep you hooked - you can’t beat the 2600 for sound/spec/cost ratio imho- but it pays to be into sound design to get the most from it - otherwise an oddysey might make more sense if you keep it straight
WTF??? : )
Synth erotica? : )
That’s some creepy shit.
Moog vs Arp vs MS20 … IMO they don’t really compare and give us very different timbres. Having those myself, I would like to encourage you to think about your use cases and/or your personal liking of the tones.
I would characterize them like:
Just as an example … I compared the sync between a Moog Voyager and an ARP Odyssey. The Moog always stayed melodic, very civilized and more on the beauty side of timbres, while the Odyssey could freak out, angry like a very heavy distorted guitar.
Some great suggestions listed above.
A little OT but for around your budget you could look at the Take 5… okay , it’s a poly but is has got unison mode with the option of how may voices you stack. 2 oscillators and a sub and It’s got a cool little sequencer and arp, a deep mod matrix, almost knob for function, decent FX and it’s sounds good. Obviously the Pro 3 is the more focussed mono but it’s also a chunk more expensive.
But yeah, there’s a huge choice of mono’s available at the mo. Been impressed with all the B synths from monopoly to the eurorack clones, Blue Marvin included.
BassStation 2 is a cracking synth and one I suggest to non synth folks as a good starting point while being something you won’t grow out of in a hurry.
Minibrute 2s is also a bit of a sleeper. I’ve always fancied the keyboard version too. Looks a classy bit of kit but I opted for the more advanced sequencer of the 2s
Been using the Neutron for 3 years with no issues of durability, got the Poly D around 10 months ago and is built like a tank, 10 kgs! Some point about it:
The keybed is light, AT is steppy (I don’t know if intend to use AT, but is like a on/off switch, not really expressive). The velocity is nice though and you can calibrate it to your taste.
Now to the sound…Good Lord those OSCs and Filter really pack a punch! If you are looking for bass, leads or 4 note pads this thing rocks!
If you are interested in the sequencer and arp they are quite nice and straight forward.
The Chorus section is stereo and that paired with a Reverb makes for a fantastic option.
Needless to say, everything is right there in the panel and that is a relief sometime, just make the sound you want and you’re good to go.
FM, using noise or an external Mod source are very useful for sound design.
Overall I think it might be a very good choice
Thanks. Any issues with tuning stability of the poly D?
Another unpopular suggestion: Waldorf Pulse 2. It has a great sound, but the matrix UI doesn’t meet your criteria. But it offers a lot of synth for the money.
Or another unpopular suggestion, and my secret weapon tip: Pioneer Toraiz AS1. Also misses the one knob per function criteria, but also fantastic sound and a lot of synth for the money. The AS1 is a single voice from the Prophet 6.
How come that no one has suggested the Polyend Medusa yet?
Typhon.
I have a typhon. Nice sound but the menu diving doesn’t jive with me unfortunately.
I like Mono Lancet 
Even though it’s small, it’s still more versatile than a Minitaur.
Has an overall great sound. Maybe not as caracteristic as Moog. Still it goes in that direction in terms of sound.
The filter gets caracter with res at around 1-2 o’clock.
Has no sequencer though.
Is that really true though? I feel like most respectable sequencers with CV/gate outputs have the option to switch between V/oct and Hz/oct.
My Pyramid can do it, my Keystep can do it. Looking at some other gear specs (Squid, A4, Arturia gear in general, etc.) it doesn’t look that uncommon. And of course there’s Korg’s own stuff, the SQ-64 and the SQ-1.
I don’t have an MS-20 but I wouldn’t let CV standards deter me from getting one.
EDIT: I guess interfacing with euro is another story, but that wasn’t the vibe I got from the OP.
Though it does have most functions up front it also has key combo menu/parameter changes for functions so that may not be something he want’s in a synth. I chose a minibrute at the time just to avoid any menu’s on my first analog mono-synth.
Nothing to add here other than, MS20 is brilliant. Get a full size one.
Sub37 is pretty damn good too.
BS2 also a good choice. Pitsburgh SV1 though… its like… another realm.