That last synth

The Lounge Other Gear
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Hey guys,

I know this topic has been beaten to death. I did read most of the discussions but still can’t decide with a synth, so maybe this wonderful community can guide me in the right direction.

First is the kind of music I do - it’s mostly electronic along the lines of Makeup and Vanity Set, Patternshift, Maximum Love, Com Truise. So synthwavewy kind of music, I guess.

My workflow is that I don’t multitrack. I’m still at the very beginning of my music journey, but would love to do live shows at some point. I compose mostly using Elektron gear, where Octatrack is the main arranger that controls everything, including other Elektron boxes and synths.

Here is what I have:
ASM Hydrasynth Keyboard - this is bread and butter synth. I just love it to death and I’m almost thinking of maybe getting a module version, but have big doubts. When I play an instrument - it’s this one, while everything else is sequenced.

Moog Mother 32 - love the sound. It’s very easy to mix, and I use it mostly for leads or arpeggios (I use a lot of those)

Digitone is mostly used for occasional effects and interesting textures sprinkled here and there.

Analog Rytm is the drummer

Analog Four is sort of interchangeable with Hydrasynth. If I get Hydra to do pads, then A4 is doing melody or something like that. So it’s sort of does what the second Hydra would have done in a sense.

I used to have Moog Grandmother, but had to return it as it take too much space, which I don’t have. This was really sad, as I loved how it did bass lines. It is really warm and lovely synth, albeit is hard to fit into the mix.

Finally what synths am I looking at at the moment.

Moog One is a dream of course, but way outside of my budget. I’m looking at something around $1500 more or less. In the ideal world I would get this. It’s has everything I want, except the price tag.

Another Hydra but in form of a desktop module. My doubts are mainly because I think it’s better to get something else and have access to a different sound palette. I’m really comfortable with Hydra and it’s very diverse by itself.

Novation Peak is another choice. It’s different from Hydra in a good way. It’s much warmer, which I like. But so haven’t played it myself.

Sequential Rev 2. I really like that it’s multi-timbral. I read a lot of complaints about the filter and every comparison with Peak makes Peak a winner.

Overall I think I want something warmer with good bottom end. I also want polyphonic synth. I know that I already have Hydra, but I like versatility. Sometimes I’d use Hydrasynth in mono mode, just because I love the patch and at that point I’m left with A4.

So that’s my story. I’m really open to suggestions and other synths.

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Nord Lead A1, you can find them used for cheap!

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That’s the synth I am reaching for more and more. The synth engine is just very broad, and more and more I am finding the sounds that work for me. Also the sequencer just keeps getting better with updates.

I keep gassing for a hydra synth, but I’m pretty sure I will survive.

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Get a Summit dude the reality is that you will love it and you’ll be stoked for many years. Years of stoke. Probably 30 years at least.

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So I started looking into Nord Lead, and it looks like it’s the whole area where I’ve not looked at all. I found a few interesting performances, but very little tutorials and walkthroughs for some reason. I love that it can play 4 parts. The interface is a bit confusing and trying to understand different models doesn’t make decision easier. I found that there are modules, which I like - particularly Nord 2X Rack. But overall there are so many models that it’s really hard to understand which one I want.

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I know. This thought visits me everyday. Perhaps I just need to save some more and get the Summit. It is actually perfect and checks all my boxes except that it’s huge. I have one really comfortable spot in my room where I can play full size keys and right now that spot is for Hydra.

I know some people swap keys, as it’s impossible to arrange many full sized synths so that it’s comfortable to play all of them without moving them back and forth to a shelf.

Having Nord Lead A1 in the play confuses situation a little bit, but Summit has a much more comfortable interface in my opinion, which is a big deal. You can have an all-mighty synth, but if it’s not fun to use it - it just stays untouched.

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I’d love a matriarch to death with a Bricasti but i’d much prefer a Prophet rev2 and a Helix. However easy that may sound.

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Honestly - just spend couple hours with it - you will not regret. I was in the same situation. I watched a ton of videos and thought - “yes it’s a great synth, I guess I should try it”. Maximum what I’ll lose is shipping cost. But man - it’s so different when you use it yourself. It’s so much more and it is so fun and intuitive and just sounds really beautiful.

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Synthwave you gotta get Oberheim OB6, or a Juno, or shhhh an underrated synth the JX-10.

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sounds like you like want a Peak.
Also sounds like the good old search for the last piece of the puzzles… you have quite a nice of choice of different flavors already.

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Peak/Summit is a great synth to use, flexible and sounds wonderful.

For synthwave sounds the vintage Roland thing is very useful to have, so the Roland System-8 might be worth checking out. The ACB engine doesn’t sound digital at all.

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If you need great bass in small form factor - there is Moog Minitaur.

And the last ultimate synth is modular;)

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If you are at the start of your music journey like you said, my bet is you have already more than what you need…

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I would also recommend, since desk space is an issue, to look into Roland System 1m.
Factory synth engine can be 4 voices, but also pimped with another Plug-Out to a great sounding monosynth (with the Plugs Outs Roland System 100, SH-2, SH101 or Promars).

Also…a smaller companion like Roland Boutique SH01a or Juno 06A that offer 4 voice polyphony might be ideal as bread´n´butter deliverer.

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I’m with LFO, you already have a complete and diverse set of synths for sound generation. Think about what you need to be “musical” and productive. Possibilities might include, a creative partner to work with, learning more about what makes up the music you want to create, really learning the synths you already have, generative equipment and methods that work well with your equipment and your musical goals.

If you are thinking live performance too, decide what gear you take to a gig, are you solo or with others, what sorts of things you perform, how that gear then works together, and how you can change the gear around across your performance to create variety and flow.

You might be thinking of generative pieces too, specifically around the synth gear you have, things that let you work at a more meta level, so that the generative pieces you assemble help to embody the music that you create. I don’t want to distort your process with a specific suggestion, but I see you’re a Hydra-Nut so how about dropping $50 on the HydraMorph software, (you need a Mac or a Windows 10 computer for that) and create a bunch of parts to morph between with that.

The Hydrasynth is a great generative synth btw, you don’t even need to touch the arpeggiator, with the LFOs themselves and some tricks and you’re off. (The arpeggiators with the controls are amazing too.)

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Hi !
It looks like you already have a “professionnal” home studio : OT, DT, Analog Rythm, Analog 4 + 2 others synths…
You could do a lot of crazy things with that, without spending more and more money, especially if you’re “at the very beginning of (your) music journey”.
I will suggest to keep your money man and try to master the gears you have - especially with that kind of gear : top quality and insane amounts of tricks and magic :slight_smile:

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Recently bought a patch collection for the SH01a


which is great for bread and butter synth wavey davey gravey

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I agree the ACB stuff is well worth checking out, they definitely won’t blow your socks off with brand new never heard sounds, but for those classic synthwave and 80’s style sounds they cannot be bettered. IMHO.

The boutique versions are only 4 voice poly, but you can chain them to get 8 voice, they are fairly inexpensive, take up little space, you can buy aftermarket stands to hold a few.

Downsides are some of them are a little fiddly, but SH-01a, JX-03, and the JU-06/06a are fine to edit from the panel.

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would have bought one already if you could dim the lights as on the system 8

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I can only repeat, what others have said … you have a couple of excellent gear already.

My suggestion would be to ask yourself, which sound or role of a sound do you miss in your setup?

Is it:

  • a deep warm bass or deeper sub-bass?
  • an aggressiv gnarly sound?
  • something particular creamy?
  • a particular lead voice?
  • a particular pad sound with some “pixie-dust” or “sugar-coating”?
  • a long evolving pad sound as used in ambient music?
  • a big polysynth sound
  • others?

It would be good idea to check out, what sounds can be done with your gear. I guess, there is much possible already. But if you need more voices in parallel than available, an additional synth would make sense, indeed.

An affordable multi-timbral polysynth would be the Blofeld. Peak would be a good choise and if the budget was not the limitation, I would recommend to check out the new Polybrute.