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Analog Lead Synth suggestions


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have to say.....Behringer deepmind 6..........this keyboard surprised me with the fat sounding bass and some really nice pads. just got mine along with the behringer poly d, didn't really need them at all since I have a ton of plug-ins but I just wanted them....especially the poly d, brings back memories of my original minimoog.
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My only problem with software (which I use almost exclusively in a mainstage rig), is that I realize that I rarely link modulators to more than a few controls, and don"t really have a dynamic sound. When I play my Mojo, I"m always working the drawbars. I just don"t do that with software. I don"t think I"d do that on a big workstation either. But I could see with a simpler vintage subtractive with a dedicated nob for each parameter, I would tweak the nobs and create some dynamicism on the fly a lot more. I hear it in many of the greats from the 70s. Don"t get me wrong, I still love software and for most things it"s actually better, but there"s a 'set it and forget it' workflow that while being extremely useful for most things, doesn"t promote artistic tweaking, unless I plan for it beforehand.

 

Does that make sense?

 

PS: the DeepMind 6 is looking more and more like my best option each day. It ain"t sexy, the 'B' name may put some hipsters off, but they"ve got a really fine product that checks off a lot of my needs. I really like the DSI sound, and see a Rev2 as my dream synth, but I don"t know if it makes sense for my current needs... it would probably be wasted.

Puck Funk! :)

 

Equipment: Laptop running lots of nerdy software, some keyboards, noise makersâ¦yada yada yadaâ¦maybe a cat?

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It"s a Juno 106 with nice digital effects. It"s kind of neat. If I had your wants and needs I would want something off the Prophet 8 lineage. (P8 or Rev2). I"m a DSI fanboy. The mod matrix is cool and I like the Curtis filter sound for leads. And it serves a dual role. For me that makes it space efficient. But that"s me and there is only one me. Thank God because I"m not right.

"It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne

 

"A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!!

So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt

 

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Since you've opened up VA as a possibility, I'd say the answer is Nord Lead 3.

 

49 keys with aftertouch, 24 voice polyphony, a real one-knob-per-function design where all the knobs are rotary encoders with LED rings, which means that while it has presets like you want, recalling one instantly puts every real knob in its "correct" position for further editing/tweaking, or just to give you visual context of the sound's design by virtue of being able to instantly see all the settings at once. (Except to the extent that the Nord does give you the option of layering up to 4 sounds at once, and the panel can only reflect one of those 4 sounds at a time.) Another nice perk is that your patchnames are displayed in a 16-character alphanumeric display, as opposed to some synths which only display, say, a 2 or 3 digit patch number, requiring you to know what number equates to which sound.

 

Bonus - it sounds great.

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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Yeah... I think the Nord Lead is a bit more than I can justify at this point, unfortunately. I do sorta like the idea of encoders with collars, but I also sorta don"t. From a feel standpoint, I"m getting a little too far away from that visceral analog feel. Maybe I"m just being hippy-dippy.

 

I should mention, this began with me eyeballing something like a Behringer Model-D, and thinking 'that would be fun to play around with', and then factoring in how I could really use it. I half want a 'toy', something that could play with and add some raw vintage color to my performance. I want to hold back from throwing everything and the kitchen sink into the mix. Back to basics.

 

A little sorry to hear the DeepMind really is like a Juno. I too am more of a Curtis fan. I heard the Behringer was modeled more on the Jupiter/Juno, but I also had heard it had taken on a new life of its own, though to what end I don"t know.

 

I dunno man, this is all making my head spin, gonna have to let it simmer for a while and assess my wants. On the end, I may go back to just nabbing a Boog, and hooking it up to a controller in the studio, see what falls out.

Puck Funk! :)

 

Equipment: Laptop running lots of nerdy software, some keyboards, noise makersâ¦yada yada yadaâ¦maybe a cat?

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Yeah... I think the Nord Lead is a bit more than I can justify at this point, unfortunately.

If you keep your eyes open, it looks like you could likely pick one up with your $1k budget, based on this page of sold listings:

 

https://reverb.com/marketplace?query=nord%20lead%203&show_only_sold=true

 

I do sorta like the idea of encoders with collars, but I also sorta don"t. From a feel standpoint, I"m getting a little too far away from that visceral analog feel. Maybe I"m just being hippy-dippy.

I get that "fixed" knobs may be best viscerally, but you also said you want a board with presets, and as soon as you use presets, "fixed" knobs are all in the wrong places. But I guess if you're fine with them being "wrong" when you use a preset, but want a "live panel mode" where the sound is what the knobs say it is, that's viable too.

 

I may go back to just nabbing a Boog, and hooking it up to a controller in the studio, see what falls out.

Or a Boog with presets is pretty close to a Roland SE-02. Smaller knobs, though. It's always something.

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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If you are willing to stretch your budget just a bit, the ASM Hydrasynth might be worth taking a look at. It not only has aftertouch, but PolyAT. I've seen a lot of reviews and demos where it goes off the wall with the sound design, but I feel like there are some strong leads to be had with a little work. The specs are outstanding. It's 49 keys, so that's a plus. It has a lot of real-time control it seems, but could require some menu-diving if you wanted to go deep. I def don't see a "one-knob per function" scenario. I don't know, but may be worth a look. Everyone that has gotten one seems to love them. Plus, it looks like a lot of fun! Just my two shiny pennies worth.

Hardware:
Yamaha
: MODX7 | Korg: Kronos 88, Wavestate | ASM: Hydrasynth Deluxe | Roland: Jupiter-Xm, Cloud Pro, TD-9K V-Drums | Alesis: StrikePad Pro|
Behringer: Crave, Poly D, XR-18, RX1602 | CPS: SpaceStation SSv2 | 
Controllers: ROLI RISE 49 | Arturia KeyLab Essentials 88, KeyLab 61, MiniLab | M-Audio KeyStation 88 & 49 | Akai EWI USB |
Novation LaunchPad Mini, |
Guitars & Such: Line 6 Variax, Helix LT, POD X3 Live, Martin Acoustic, DG Strat Copy, LP Sunburst Copy, Natural Tele Copy|
Squier Precision 5-String Bass | Mandolin | Banjo | Ukulele

Software:
Recording
: MacBook Pro | Mac Mini | Logic Pro X | Mainstage | Cubase Pro 12 | Ableton Live 11 | Monitors: M-Audio BX8 | Presonus Eris 3.5BT Monitors | Slate Digital VSX Headphones & ML-1 Mic | Behringer XR-18 & RX1602 Mixers | Beyerdynamics DT-770 & DT-240
Arturia: V-Collection 9 | Native Instruments: Komplete 1 Standard | Spectrasonics: Omnisphere 2, Keyscape, Trilian | Korg: Legacy Collection 4 | Roland: Cloud Pro | GForce: Most all of their plugins | u-he: Diva, Hive 2, Repro, Zebra Legacy | AAS: Most of their VSTs |
IK Multimedia: SampleTank 4 Max, Sonik Synth, MODO Drums & Bass | Cherry Audio: Most of their VSTs |

 

 

 

 

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If you can afford a bit more, I'd suggest the Pro2. With the release of the Pro3 now, the Pro2 is coming down in price on the used market.

 

Also, if you're not stuck on 'real analog', the Hydrasynth can do leads all day long and the AT is second to none.

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+1 to the Hydrasynth.

Got mine a week ago, and started digging into it today.

At first glance (and with factory patches), it was a bit to much blip blop and arpeggiators. Bought the first Ignition bank from Major OSC, rewired and got my FC7 to work as exp pedal, and this opened my eyes and ears. Lot of great starting sounds for further tweaking, so I am now into rolling my own.

Somewhat menu driven, but logical and fast user interface, and the knobs that you think you gonna tweak in a patch could be set up on the 'frontpage' and with text, so you don"t have to remember what are where.

/Bjørn - old gearjunkie, still with lot of GAS
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Today I finally broke into U-he Diva, and man, it"s become clear that software really can sound analogue and gorgeous. The only hurdle is a good hands-on approach. If someone packaged up Diva into a nice hardware controller with pots, switches, and faders all hardwired in intuitive blocks, I"d buy it in a heartbeat.

 

Otherwise, it"s a question of going through, selecting which controls you wanna map beforehand, and re-doing that mapping on every project.

Puck Funk! :)

 

Equipment: Laptop running lots of nerdy software, some keyboards, noise makersâ¦yada yada yadaâ¦maybe a cat?

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Check out the Nektar T6, with the included Nektarine sfw. The benefit is that you can assign your eight knobs to control VST parameters and the display next to those knobs will show you what each does, on a per-patch basis. This was always my main problem with complex setups, I don"t remember what each knob does.
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Hoping your plague doesn't get worse, Eric... scary stuff!

 

And a big up from a fellow AT addict. My favorite synths from the 1970s were the ones that had pressure sensors but no velocity, like the Moog Liberation/Minitmoog/Multimoog, ARP Soloist/Pro-Soloist/Pro-DGX.

 

No added suggestions to the above, but I'll think about it.

Dr. Mike Metlay (PhD in nuclear physics, golly gosh) :D

Musician, Author, Editor, Educator, Impresario, Online Radio Guy, Cut-Rate Polymath, and Kindly Pedant

Editor-in-Chief, Bjooks ~ Author of SYNTH GEMS 1

 

clicky!:  more about me ~ my radio station (and my fam) ~ my local tribe ~ my day job ~ my bookmy music

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That Diva control layover looks like a FANTASTIC idea... too bad the project is probably not going to happen, they're less than 24 hours out and it's only about 10% of goal. This looks like something I would do, and that no one else would care enough to make profitable (why I'm not a business person).

 

Folks, at this point I think I'm going to stick with my original plan... save up and get a Prophet Rev2 (8 voice). It's really been my dream synth for years, and I don't see why I shouldn't have it. I looked at my finances, and it's really not in the cards right now. I'll probably be moving in 6 months, so I think I'll try to make it a homecoming gift to myself when I get back to Alaska. While there are a lot of advantages to having a very small portable synth, I just don't see anything on the market that really captivates me.

Puck Funk! :)

 

Equipment: Laptop running lots of nerdy software, some keyboards, noise makersâ¦yada yada yadaâ¦maybe a cat?

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