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Favorite mono synth

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StillLife

Senior Member
I have been enjoying the Polybrute a lot lately, and still can’t stop thinking about pairing it with a hardware monosynth. So, what are your favorite hardware mono synths? Preferably with patch memory.
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My dream monosynth is my favorite one: Studio Electronics SE-3X. Now priced at $2400. Patch memory, multiple filters, and more.

After that:
Pro3
Leipzig v3 (no patch memory)
SE-02 + ExtBox <--- the mono I actually have
DB-01 (no patch memory, which is the #1 reason I don't have this instead/in addition)

I think Studio Electronics is better at being Moog-y than Moog now; I have no interest in any Moog synths, plus I personally can't stand modular/semi-modular due to the mess of cables required on the front of devices.

I find the Model D to be fairly pedestrian.
 
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vitocorleone123 said:
My dream monosynth is my favorite one: Studio Electronics SE-3X. Now priced at $2400. Patch memory, multiple filters, and more.

After that:
Pro3
Leipzig v3 (no patch memory)
SE-02 + ExtBox <--- the mono I have
DB-01 (no patch memory)

I think Studio Electronics is better at being Moog-y than Moog now; I have no interest in any Moog synths, plus I personally can't stand modular/semi-modular due to the mess of cables required on the front of devices.
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Totally agree with you on the modular / semi-modular thing. I am trying to hide cables in my small studio, not add them!
 
StillLife said:
Totally agree with you on the modular / semi-modular thing. I am trying to hide cables in my small studio, not add them!
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I have a seemingly-huge amount of cables I can barely manage, and I have 3 hardware synths (all but one stereo and all with MIDI cables), 5fx (all stereo and all with at least one MIDI cable), and a small drum machine I just added (using 3 outputs plus MIDI), along with some MIDI boxes (merge, tru, etc. etc.). Plus power cables.

MASSIVE amounts of cable just for those, consolidated in a very small area since they're all desktop stuff.

Cables required in front would literally drive me to sell things before I lost my mind.
 
For me, Moog is the all-time champion of monophonic synths. The Model D reigns supreme, but the Sub37 and Little Phatty are honestly pretty wonderful.

You can make great mono sounds with Dave Smith and Oberheim synths, for sure, but there's something extra-special about a real Moog.
 
StillLife said:
Yeah, it is tempting considering its sound and its price, but no way to save patches...
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Yeah but it's not that bad tbh. Once you've got your head around it you're really quick setting up patches since it's a really basic synth. If I had found some really cool patch that I wanted to keep I made a picture. Super oldschool but works.
 
StillLife said:
Yeah, it is tempting considering its sound and its price, but no way to save patches...
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If going more retro, B's Pro1 is far better to me. But, again, no way to save patches. I'd get a DB-01 over a B. Model D, myself, if I was to stop caring about patches.

The SE-02, and even SE-3X to some extent, are based on or inspired by the D, but modernized, and are far more interesting. If I really wanted that D sound, I'd look at the SE MidiMini v30. But the easiest way to get the D sound with patches is to just buy a software synth of it.

Depends on the type of music you want to make, though. And budget, of course!

(goes without saying, but I'll reiterate, that these are my views and I'm not trying to claim they're right for everyone)
 
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Minimoog D gets used on everything. It’s just musical in a way that other synths can’t touch. I had a Voyager and didn’t love it. Actually I have a Midimoog which is the SE rack box around a vintage Moog. It’s so easy to use you won’t care about patch memories. The SE1 sounds good though, probably the closest you can get. I haven’t heard the latest SE Midimini but that might be worth a look.
 
If I were on a budget I'd probably get the Roland/Studio Electronics SE-02. By all accounts, that little thing is a total beast, with a cool vibe of its own.

Personally, I'm totally satisfied with Omnisphere and Arturia for my synth modeling needs, and I NEVER gig with analog synths. So... no hardware like that for me anytime soon, I'm afraid!
 
Alchemedia said:
+1
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Apart from anything else, it blows my mind that Don Buchla designed the Easel in 1972 with a hardware based preset system (using patch cards, which you attach resistors to)

Such forward thinking then meant once wifi had been invented (1997, 25 years later) you can add a preset card that uses wifi to your iPad to store presets. And such forward thinking has also meant at least a dozen or more developers have since made cards, which expands it in many ways eg adding a second sequencer, adding EMS Synthi oscillators, delays, filters etc...

Genius!


Also own & love many monosynths with no patch memory.
Roland SH101, MC202, Cat SRM, Korg MS10/20, SC Pro One, CS Deep Bass 9, CS01, MB33
 
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