Top 3 are UDO Super 6, Polyvera, Redshift 6.
Of the many polysynths I played at both SB and Schneidersladen in May, the two that impressed me most were Magnolia and Redshift 6.
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I played the Bree6 keyboard version at Superbooth this year, and liked it a lot. It seems simplistic with its single-oscillator design, but it felt well designed, easy to use and versatile for what it is.
From the Superbooth crop I also really liked the Trigon6. A lot of money for sure, but a superb sound.
I also find the Korg Multi/Poly interesting for its wavefolding and filtering options, but it’s definitely in the opposite end of the spectrum of the Bree6 - complex and super deep. Probably not what you’re looking for.
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Also, the GS Music Bree6, the Morphor Echon 6 and the UDO DMNO.
Since you have the Sequential Rev2 desktop, couldn’t you play that one with a midi keyboard? Seems like a big analog synth to me…
If I had that one and the sub37 I would go for a digital poly like the Groove Synthesis 3rd Wave 8M (desktop) and use a midi splitter after the keyboard.
Another very smooth analog poly is the Oberheim OB-X8.
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The demos absolutely slap. Incredible range from what I’ve heard.
Do you jive with the UI?
I own the Trigon 6 desktop and it does wonders when adding reverb and delay effects. Absolutely love the sound of it and have been rediscovering it a lot lately.
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Oh man what a golden age we live in today with so many awesome choices for poly synths. I love my Oberheim OB X8 and Virus TI2 but looking eventually for another analog poly synth to add something unique to my setup that is missing. What would you recommend besides the uber expensive Waldorf Quantum that is less expensive? I am looking at stuff like the Sequential Trigon, Magnolia and Black Corporation Xerxes or Kimjii.
If Korg had put the multipoly on a 61 key polytouch they would be selling a lot more of them imo. It deserves a much bigger and nicer keyboard than they gave it and I think people aren’t able to see how deep it goes until they play it with one.
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You have a lot of bases covered it seems. Dn2 for fm, hydra for wavetable, etc. I’d go for something with a different type of filter than your rev2 if you want to keep things analog or hybrid.
Can’t go wrong with any of the sequential 6 series if you want to go classic with a bit of flexibility. Obx8 or prophet 5/10 if you just want simple and great. I like everything about the Moog muse as well for this type of synth aside from the quality control / bugginess which seems to be highly inconsistent.
For something a little different / modern, I can personally vouch for udo. The s6 is my only poly i have and didn’t get rid of after owning a few others
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Korgs approach to this so far, is to decouple. They make the Multi/Poly ( and their other synths in this class ) as desktops ( or software ), with a MIDI 2.0 interface, and also offer the Korg Keystage poly-aftertouch controller ( 49 and 61 ) also with MIDI 2.0.
This approach is good, though falls a little short so far in implementation. They need to ( and probably will ) add a little more zip to the Keystage.
To me, given the advantages of decoupling in general, the requirement for a keyboard with a synth is becoming less of an issue.
That’s why i think for this thread, any desktop polysynth with MPE or better ( MIDI 2.0 is significantly better ) plus a top notch poly-aftertouch controller capable of controlling it is, if done right, a better approach, than having a separate keyboard on each polysynth.
Unfortunately so far these high end controllers ( from Korg, Native Instruments, Studiologic, Expressive E, and some others ) haven’t quite been that break out product. That seems to be changing. ( Topic for another thread. )
In the meantime advanced keyboard synths fit the bill. Three of the four analog synths i listed have poly-aftertouch keybeds, with the Arturia adding a ribbon and their Morphée to that.
It’s worth mentioning (I know you know this) that the Polybrute 12 (not the 6) has the FullTouch keyboard, which goes beyond poly-aftertouch (or, arguably, is a more elaborate version of poly-aftertouch). This made it the most expressive of the keyboards on the polysynths I tried in May, but I didn’t like the UI as much as Magnolia’s. I’m sure Arturia has contemplated a FullTouch controller, but whether it makes commercial sense for them to release one, now or in the future, is unclear.
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Waldorf M! Probably my favorite sounding poly ever. It’s hard to explain, neither the wavetables nor the filter on their own are particularly remarkable and the interface is unpleasant to program. Something about this synth just sounds amazing.
If there’s got to be keys, I’m going to go with Prophet x. So powerful and covers so much sonic ground. Don’t ask me how to put my own samples on here, I don’t think anyone’s ever figured out how to do that. You can frequency modulate one sample with another! I wind up with some amazing alien sounds. Just layer up some horn and string samples, plot some distortion on there, you got yourself a symphony! Shame the partnership fell apart and the synth is abandoned.
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I do use the Rev2 with a keystep 37. Although, I’m starting to lose interest in the sound of that synth. I would probably sell it to help fund the new one.
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Apart from DNII … Anyma Omega if it gets released.
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Redshift 6, the analog GAS killer equivalent to Virus TI for digital.
Join the movement 
Edit: Morphor Echon 6 has got me excited too, but am nowhere near affording it after recent venture into Eurorack.
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I went to Superbooth hyped for the UDO DMNO and while it is wonderful, the Polyvera stole my affection. It just sounds so good so easily and is really fun to tweak while performing.
I was also interested in the Bree6 Keyboard. Looks wise is lovely, size wise it’s perfect, the build quality and knob feel is excellent. But the Polyvera spoiled me with the ease it moves between etherial pads and dirty gritty bass and lead parts. After that the Bree6 sounded a little clean. It’s a lovely synth but I’m not in the market for its core capabilities at the moment.
The Polyvera however needs to fall in my shopping cart soon! I’d love to have the DMNO too, but it’s a stretch as it is and I really can’t justify both.
The TAKE-5 is also really interesting to me.
As a performance oriented synth (with sound design happening in the app) the Modal Element One is a lot of fun. Although I did find it lacked a couple of controls that I would probably get frustrated without. ARP hold being the most notable.
(I thought I’d love the Waldorf Protein, but it just didn’t inspire me to use. The Redshift 6 certainly has the specs, but the UI isn’t for me and the sound demo they did sounded pristine which also isn’t for me. )
Yep. UI seems a bit funky at first (hexagonal button shape was an interesting design decision) but it is very well built and in practice it is a very logical and simple design. There is almost no menu diving. Every core function has its own button. I think I read the manual maybe once and from then on it was all completely intuitive.
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Pro A5
https://audiokitpro.com/proa5/
I have a physical Prophet 5 desktop but a virtual P5 to play with on my phone for $5 is an easy sell
Will probably get these too as they’re also on sale
Yes, but as remarked elsewhere on this site:
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