analog synths under $700

[Xandre]

Looking for a vintage analog synth keyboard so I can get busy on keys, map samples, and create new sounds. Extensive sound modeling, expressiveness Z(velocity, aftertouth), and variety (fat bass and lush strings in the same unit if possible?) is what I'm looking for. Also open to digital synths that emulate analog (VA).

Must have:

MIDI or MIDI-CV/Gate interface option
Pitch bend/modulation wheels
Polyphony
Oscillators
Patch memory

Considered these thus far:

Sequential Circuits Pro-One/ Prophet 600/ Split-8
Oberheim OB-X /OB-Xa (under $700?)
Korg Polysix/ Mono/poly

Clavia Nord Lead (under $700?)
Alesis Ion

I have an affinity for vintage sounds and old school features, so what would you say about what I'm considering now or what do you recommend?

 

[altitude909]

pro one: No patch memory, velocity, aftertouch, poliphony, or midi. It's a simple but awsome sounding monosynth

P600: Midi, patch memory, good analog sounds. One osc oer voice but a decent analog synth

Split8: I would avoid it, not very programmable and I'm not a big fan of curtis based synths (think 80's stand up arcade machines)

OB-X/A I seriously doubt you will find one for $700.

Korg Polysix or mono/poly: Have not use personally but have heard them and they are very nice also. No midi however

Nord/ion: Good modern non-analogs. Probably your best bet seeing that vintage synth prices are goind through the roof these days

 

[jpmorris]

Here's a few MIDI rack modules to consider:

*Oberheim Matrix 1000. A 6-voice analogue polysynth based on the Curtis. Not programmable by default, although I believe there are PC editors for it. There's also the Matrix 6 which is programmable but probably via the numeric pad. There's also a keyboard version of the Matrix 6.

*Cheetah MS6. The same basic architecture as the Oberheim Matrix. Programmable in octal through the front panel, but a PC editor is best. I use mine for basslines mostly, but also Oberheim-like brass and strings. Made in Wales, so I'm not sure how easy it would be to obtain in the US. Cheetah were more famous for their joysticks and other peripherals for the Sinclair computers (Timex in the US).

*Waldorf Pulse. A cheap real analogue synth with 3 oscillators. Editable via the front panel rather like the MicroWave series. I didn't need an editor although it could be more intuitive. Monophonic, but with the V2 OS it is possible to chain them via MIDI so that each note of the chord is sent to a different unit. I've seen an 8-voice stack of them but I only have one myself.

*Waldorf MicroWave. Hybrid synthesizer based on the PPG Wave and almost compatible with it (the filters are different and it has no arpeggiator). The oscillators are based on digital wave playback, but fed into Curtis VCA/VCF chips. 8-voices. The MicroWave 2 and XT were all-digital. It can make most of your normal analogue polysynth sounds, but it can also do very strange metallic noises by sweeping through the wave cycles under envelope or LFO control.

 

[Troutster]

Love my Prophet 600. I practically stole it 18 years ago for $130 at a music store clearance sale. Sent it off to Winecountry for a checkup and a system upgrade a few years ago and it's good as new........

I'm pretty sure it too is Curtis Based (?). It does have a unison (monophonic) mode that assigns both oscillators to each voice and fattens things up. I feel it really shines for organ-type sounds.

 

[sizzlemeister]

pro one: No patch memory, velocity, aftertouch, poliphony, or midi. It's a simple but awsome sounding monosynth

P600: Midi, patch memory, good analog sounds. One osc oer voice but a decent analog synth

Split8: I would avoid it, not very programmable and I'm not a big fan of curtis based synths (think 80's stand up arcade machines)

The Pro One has CV/gate in. That would allow for MIDI via a CV interface. It is ALL CEM chip nature.

The P600 has 2 oscillators per voice and, again, is all CEM except for the sluggish software envelopes.

The Split 8 is highly programmable - it's basically a revised Six Trak. Uses the same CEM chips as the Six Trak, the Akai AX60 (and AX73), and Matrix 1000 uses the wide-body version of the same CEM.

Most of the polyphonic OBs use CEM chips, so does the Memory Moog, the V3 SCI Prophet 5, and a host of other synths. It's foolish to say "all CEM synths sound like early 80s video games" - which in itself is not a bad thing, either.

As for the original poster - you're basically looking for a recommendation from ALL analog and/or VA synths, which is a huge area to try and pull suggestions from. You're not going to map samples to an analog or VA, unless you get a sampler with analog filters.

 

[noisewreck]

I've got a Juno-106 with an Ultimate case, wouldn't mind selling for around $350