The MC-101 would be a nice preset machine.
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This is exactly me. I just couldn’t bond synths for the longest time and worked almost exclusively with samples.
I would second the Moog Grandmother as the perfect gateway synth for what you are looking for. It sounds amazing even with no patch cables, the patch bay is a good gateway into deepening your knowledge of synthesis, the spring reverb is really cool, and the keyboard is still the best I’ve used. It’s easy to get a good sound of it right away and the arpeggiator is fantastic and musical.
The Grandmother opened me up to synths for the first time and that resulted in me getting my other favorite synth of all time, the Sequential Take 5, which is like the perfect peanut butter/chocolate combo for me, and has everything I’m missing on the Grandmother (polyphony, presets, effects, etc).
I still think the Grandmother has a more pleasing raw sound though. Sometimes I just listen to arpeggios through headphones on it and it feels like sonic therapy. Just a beautiful organic, earthy sound. I would start with the Grandmother for that reason, and because it’s so simple to use. The Grandmother is also a timeless sound that I think you will never get bored with even if you add other synths in the future.
PS: I love this description I found on YouTube of the difference between the Sequential and Moog sounds
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IMO the best options for varied but accessible sound design that won’t break the bank and will give you the widest possible palette and flexibility are:
- ASM Hydrasynth
- Arturia Minifreak
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Dreadbox Erebus v2
Amazing sound, no matter what you do, simple knob per function layout, still fairly versatile for its size. -
Moog Grandmother
Amazing sound, lovely spring reverb, fairly simple layout.
Both synths are semi-modulars but you can happily ignore that and still get a lot out of either synth
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@Thespa do you need mono or poly synth ?
Patch is important or you want the knob to reflect only what the synth is doing ?
For me this is the first thing to look.
It look like you are seeking for really few parameters and lots of sound variations, so macro knob might be possible ?
Poly. Patches preferred provided there is an effective way of seeing the current settings…
I suggest a used Nord lead A1. The simplified preset oscillator section makes for a great starting point. Choosing what to do with the oscillator part of a synth was always the hardest decision making part for me. The nord helps with this.
i think sequential synths are the best for simple sound design and amazing results. the behringer pro 1 is good for basic subtractive and learning how to extract crazy sounds from a simple interface. the take-5 is the most powerful analog poly you can get, with a straight forward interface and a mod matrix for further insanely deep exploration with fm and whatnot.
analog four also puts a lot of power into a simple to understand interface. but its a little harder because you have to really learn its unique ins and outs to make anything sound musical before you start doing crazy am and fm & cross-track things. but two filters is nice, overdrive is nice, one button functionality for am/hard sync/ring mod-all modulatable is nice, esp tied to the sequencer. the qper knob is very useful for trying out experimental mod mappings on a macro potentiometer
i learned a lot of what i know on a digitone, which spoiled me a little. the opsix is a more powerful version of that without some of the nice elektron specific stuff. also very very powerful, maybe not as straight forward as you want, but deep for sound design.
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I’m surprised nobody mentioned the Syntakt yet? If your first wish is an easy to use synth with lots of sweet spots, then it’s a very good option. Even simpler is the Model:Cycle.
If you want a more “regular” synth, then the SH-01a (or S-1) is a very good choice: simple architecture, knob per function, poly and good range of sounds.
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Any Nord Lead/Rack, especially the 2x onwards since there’s less messing around with expansion cards. Can work as super simple Prophet-style polysynths or get more complex and mutable once you dig into morph groups, FM, timbre layering, drum maps, etc.
So I also have an Octatrack. Has anyone had any luck using sample chains of single notes? If I create a library of sample chains with interesting tones, slicing those up for melodic lines could be a pretty quick and straightforward workflow. Not too much to tweak (AMP, filter, FX) and with the flexibility of the OT sequencer…
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Microbrute is probably my all-time fave in this category of synth…
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Due this is the Elektron forum, so why not just get a Digitone and maybe buy some additional Sound Packs so you dont need to friggle with FM sounddesign too much.
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I’m in the same boat, looking at SH-4d / Minifreak.
had the Grandmother for a while and miss it a lot but it’s quite expensive these days.
A sub-1000 dollar-euros poly synth that is simple and fast to use is pretty rare.
Essentially your only options for on-the-market synths are the Korg Minilogue and Minilogue XD.
The XD has some pretty decent onboard effects and a bass booster for the ladder filter. You’ll notice synths with ladder filters will lose some low end when you turn up the resonance, sorta ruining your bass lines. The original Minilogue is like this, but the XD added a secret digital bass boost EQ in the signal chain to compensate, making it the more versatile of the two, but it is slightly more complex to use due to it having a third digital oscillator besides the two analog ones. But both synths are incredibly simple yet have a very wide variety of tones that you can quickly dial in.
I guess you could always get a Behringer knock-off like their MonoPoly or one of their other poly synths as long as… you know… you’re ok with your synth being built by slaves in camps…
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What about a Streichfett? Obviously it’s got a limited sound palette, but will it give me enough to make some techno bangers?
I got rid of my Streichfett after less than 3 months of owning it…it was simply too little control over the sound I could get. Not a huge fan, but some people swear by that particular string sound and the morphing effects it gives you.
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System-1(m) or System-8 are perfect. Almost one knob per function, easy lay-out and instant gratification. Also very versatile, despite lacking a proper mod matrix or even a second LFO (except if you load in the System-100 plug-out). The oscillator section of the native engine is really awesome and will give you a lot of variety.
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+1 for the System-1 en Minilogue. Both are excellent hands on 4 voice affordable polys. As said earlier: The System-1 is very versatile because of its oscillator section, but the Minilogue is definitely no slouch either with the osc shape section. The XD even more I guess but I don’t have any experience with it.