In an already hugely congested market its getting harder to bring something unique to the market. But where can improvements be made. Are we seeing the zenith and its now a steep descent back to the lowlands, or can new polys be just as enticing as they always have? Any thoughts?
The hardware synth market is very different now from what it was in the past. People are buying synths just because they want shiny toys. Its a hobby, not a neccesity. People don’t care that as far as functionality goes they’re all mostly the same.
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Out of curiosity, is there a specific poly on the market right now you’d consider to be the zenith, @sabana?
Personally, the polys I love the most are the ones which have pretty much the same insides as polys from the 70s and early 80s. Maybe with the exception of the Prophet 12. It’s crazy how deep that synth is and I know there are others that are equally deep. Other than that I’m not that well in-the-know as regards the more modern take on a poly synth.
Only the Reissued Prophet 10. Its an improvement but only in stability. Tbh i cant think of any but if its just about reissues then youve only got so many clones you can do. Eventually they will dry up. And were not far off that.
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is it possible for an Analog synth to be multitimbral? because I dont really get why there’s so few multitimbral synths. Blofeld / digitone are recommended a lot.
Also; I think creative approaches like the PerFourMer will be forced (even tho thats been out for a while)
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Isn’t this what Sequential has been hinting at with the Prophet 10? Prophet 10 definitely gets my stamp of approval, as well as the Perfourmer.
I agree. Not enough mulit timberal, key split, voice selection synths out there. I would love to be able to use the extra voices that aren’t being used for other parts of a track. Thinking something like the Six-Trak or Multi-Trak sequencer. Additionally, poly aftertouch supported keyboards synths. These all would be incredibly complex but surface mount would allow them to be much smaller than the vintage stuff. There are a few four voice synths (A4) that do this, but not the much larger poly synths.
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Atm the Perfourmer is on my radar. Just with the OT seems like great compositional set up. Yes maybe these sort of ideas need to be pushed.
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Moog One is three part multi-timbral.
one area I would love to see develop: a lower cost Moog poly synth, that’s similar in functionality to the Korg Polysix, Roland Juno 106/60, etc… likewise with Sequential. would love to see them do a six voice poly with one ADSR, one VCO + sub-VCO, basic effects and modulation routing, and priced at sub-$1500.
so my outlook would be: we may see two lines development on the poly synth front. “flagship” style products like the Moog One and Waldorf Quantum. and more wallet-friendly products. highly likely that Sequential has the OB8 re-do on the horizon, and that’ll be pricey. so that’s their next year, and no wallet-friendly product for them.
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Certainly. My AR plays 8 different sounds at once with analog voices.
But you’re talking about polys: Rev2, -Summit-, Moog One - all bi or tri-timbral. I think the old Jupiter 8 was bi-timbral too.
Making an analog poly multi-timbral basically means including one complete signal chain + modulations per timbre. The main limits are cost/market, size and heat. Look how big the Moog One and the Yammy CS80 (which is basically two polys in parallel, times 3 for the “memories”) are! The Moog One has a fan inside!!
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only Summit’s filters are analog.
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You’re right! I forgot.
Seems like this discussion is mostly about analog polys … but when I saw the title, first thing I thought of was the Osmose.
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Tough to say. I’m still waiting on the Korg Modwave and/or the SFC-8 programmer. Both of which have been announced but delayed manufacturing due to chip shortage.
But I think Modwave has a lot of potential. PCM seems to have slowly come back into fashion (Nord Wave1/2, NL4, Wavestate, Prophet X, Modwave). Perhaps that gets adopted/developed further?
For poly synths I definitely prefer the bitimbral setup. With all those voices, it’s just easier to manage. Especially when companies like Roland and Waldorf refuse to modernize their multi-timbral organization schemes. So if multi-timbral comes back in fashion, they better get their heads straight and do it right, the way Nord, Elektron, Audiothingies, etc. have.
Roland lost my Jupiter X money by sticking to the same archaic tone/scene crap that my 35 year old MKS-70 has.
I don’t necessarily want new polys to be enticing, either. Between my Pro 2’s paraphonic mode, and Repro-5/OB-Xa V, I’m covered. Already enticed by Modwave and SFC-8, yet trying to save money and retire early.
Consumption is a drag. But we all want that dopamine hit.
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Even sub-$1000. Call me crazy, and I admittedly have NOT done the requisite market research, but it seems like a 4/6 voice, 37/49-key synth to compete with the Minilogue XD from any or all of the East/West coast folks would sell like mad. Or just desktop modules!
I was just looking at the Toraiz AS-1 yesterday. Something like that, but polyphonic and 100% Sequential or Moog for like, $800? Incontheivable.
Do you know what chips are short. The Isla S2400 has ceased production after next batch because of a certain chip shortage.(he gave a number cant recall it at the moment).
“most of them” The ripple effects are staggering. Just about every industry that relies on silicon is feeling it, and it doesn’t unwind itself speedily. It makes the Evergreen/Evergiven crisis look like a single bad day. Think of it like a pandemic of externalities. This will last into 2022.
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The Andromeda was 16 voice and 16 part multitimbral!
only ÂŁ2599 back in 2001!
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Yes. Ive just watched his instagram upload. Hes been quoted as a delay of 42 weeks!!! before chips are available again.
And that’s with the assumption that there will be no other delays… while the things that caused the chip shortage (pandemic and extreme weather) have not gone away. And demand will only ramp up, as well.
So a conservative estimate, really.
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