What analog synth?

The Lounge Other Gear
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Budget under £1000 but happy saving bit more too for right thing.

Want: no menu diving, fairly compact (Take 5 is fine).

Don’t care: mono / poly as more about using it as its own instrument with character than filling a hole in current set up.

Why asking for help? Just don’t have knowledge of non-budget synths or potential used stuff as I’ve just ignored things out of my previous price range (just sold a load of stuff.) Have been looking at online shops, searching forum etc.

Moog Grandmother and Sequential Take 5 are leading contenders so far.

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+1 for the Grandmother, probably the best mono in it’s price range in my opinion.

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That’s every analog synth basically. Excluding Elektron, hah.

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how will you be using the synth? Pretty open ended question as it is. But, for under 1K the Norand Mono synth is a beast. Easily my favorite mono synth rn and I think they are still around $850 USD

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You’ll be hard pressed to find something with more bang for buck than the T5 imo. It sounds brilliant too

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I think both the Grandmother and Take 5 are great synths. I always say, get the one that just sounds best to you. Beyond that, there are some other things to consider. Is saving patches important to you, then maybe Take 5. Are you looking to get into eurorack, or maybe expand with another semi modular, then maybe Grandmother.

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Do you definitely want keys?

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No, have a midi keyboard so flexible on that.

I guess I’d prefer something that sounds good easily too. I had a Behringer Crave briefly and struggled a bit with that thinking about it! Not looking to get into eurorack but that spring reverb is pretty cool on the Grandmother.

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take-5, no question

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Norand Mono does indeed look a beast but a bit bass / sequence orientated - not that I said this wasn’t in the brief!

So it is down to a Take 5 vs Grandmother showdown then…

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Vermona Perfourmer is Analogue Heaven.

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I think with Take 5 you’ll be able to do more, and as a poly synth, I prefer its sound.

But GM does the Moog thing – which some people don’t miss – and has the modular panel.

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Not the same as owning a GM clearly but the Model D has got the Moog sound in spades. Sweet spots all over and can be had for Fairly cheap second hand. Then you’ve got the balance to cover another base :sunglasses:

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Nymphes might also be worth a look depending on you needs. Grandmother and P5 can get weirder, though.

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Used prices on Roland SE-02s still seem like a steal to me. There is menu diving, but you can ignore it and end up with a minature minimoog. Diving is optional. Even if you buy new, you should have plenty of money left over for a keyboard and mixer.

Minibrute 2s: You get a small patch bay and a great sequencer in addition to some very west coast sound shaping options. Both the MB2s and SE-02 together should fit within your budget and give you wide sonic variety.

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GrandMother for sure. Or 2nd hand REV2 8 voices module.

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I think Norand Mono is brilliant but it’s not what I would have thought of in response to the original post.

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The Boog is pretty amazing, really kind of astonishing value for what you get. I bought it and a Keystep as my first pieces of electronic music gear, and just running those through an ancient POD effects pedal entertained me for hours on end. It’s a bummer Behringer is generally such a bad actor as a company…because it really is a fine bit of kit.

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I’ve got quite a few B synths and I’ve been happy with all of them.

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The SE-02 does look good for a cheeky ebay bid at some point.

Still looking at Grandma and the T5. Like comparing an apple and a bunch of grapes. At least I’m down to fruit I guess…

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