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Favourite HW monosynth?

Price doesn't seem to be an issue for you; I've been maintaining my gear-wishlist for the last few years and at some point decided that I have no business buying a mono-synth that's over 500 euros. As such, my choices are:

Circuit Mono Station (Bass Station 2)
Toraiz AS-1 (Dave Smith collab, Prophet 6 voice)
Roland SE-02 (nuff said)

All of these have Patch Memory.

The CMS is a weird version of the BS2 with a sequencer and patch-flipping, as opposed to a keybed. I love my Circuit so it feels like a reasonable expansion to me.

The other two synths have built-in sequencers, but you really need an external keyboard for 'em. A Keystep would do the job nicely.
 
Fer me, the moog sub37 is good. What I like about it is that if I have a sound in my head, I can ‘get there’ really fast. It doesn’t matter what the sound is. This synth excels at anything monophonic where you want some movement in the sound. It has depth, but is approachable.
Especially good for bass lines, lead lines, those outer space retro fx ( surprisingly used by moi far more than I would admit, mostly due to there accessibility) Any arpeggio, especially with lfo, filter movements.

It’s something you can walk up to, turn a few knobs on the right starting patch, and you can get into surprisingly original territory very fast.

But it won’t replace a Pro3. I would use them in tandem.
 
Thanks @dgburns. Aswell as bass I'm looking for pulses, mellow, warm, resonating rhythmic lines, if that makes sense? Suptle sound, but with character. I'm thinking the Sub 25/37 lends itself to this. Could Pro 3 or Se02 do this well enough? Keep watching youtube videos but not heard enough to totally convince me yet. And as much as I'd like more than one, I don't have unlimited budget.
 
Thanks @dgburns. Aswell as bass I'm looking for pulses, mellow, warm, resonating rhythmic lines, if that makes sense? Suptle sound, but with character. I'm thinking the Sub 25/37 lends itself to this. Could Pro 3 or Se02 do this well enough? Keep watching youtube videos but not heard enough to totally convince me yet. And as much as I'd like more than one, I don't have unlimited budget.
The SE-02 can do mellow and warm (I've had one for 2+ years), but it's not it's sweet spot - it likes to be more cutting and clear. Given that, I'd file it away as a close but not quite.

The Pro3 can do largely anything, I think (except lots of polyphony!). It has a lot of features and a lot of sonic possibilities. And, while I'd take this one in a heartbeat, it sounds like, for your likes/wants/needs...

Try a Moog. If you can swing the expense, I think the Sub37 would make you the happiest out of all the bunch. If you can't, I'd poke around to see if you could find a used Moog Siren (discontinued product) vs. the 25, as something in the neighborhood but maybe less expensive, more portable as it has no keys, and may allow you to save up and get the 37 faster if you want.

At $1600 USD retail for a paraphonic synth, that's also within $600 of a new Prophet6 desktop......

Not sure what the used market for either is like.
 
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Not sure what the used market for either is like.
Moog Sirin £600 used
Moog Subsequent 25 £750 new
Moog Sub 37 £900 used
Moog Subsequent 37 £1300 new
Sequential Pro £1400 new

I thought the Subsequent 25 was priced favourably but without any hands on experience I don't really know for sure. Not in any rush as this Summit is pretty deep - still gone through only a fraction of the presets as so many just call out to be tweaked and played... Got to crack on with project so will find out what's lacking in the next few weeks.
 
Moog Sirin £600 used
Moog Subsequent 25 £750 new
Moog Sub 37 £900 used
Moog Subsequent 37 £1300 new
Sequential Pro £1400 new

I thought the Subsequent 25 was priced favourably but without any hands on experience I don't really know for sure. Not in any rush as this Summit is pretty deep - still gone through only a fraction of the presets as so many just call out to be tweaked and played... Got to crack on with project so will find out what's lacking in the next few weeks.
Since you have a great synth already that can be used as a controller (presumably), I think a used Siren is a real option if looking to get "that sound", but also not spend "that money" :grin: Limited presets, etc., but I'd think you could use the Summit to drive it. The Sub25 gives up a lot of functionality vs. the 37, but, maybe you don't need that functionality for the uses you want it for?
 
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I've got both the Sub 37 and the Matrix Brute. I prefer the Brute in most situations and its matrix layout means that mod routing and sequencing are more flexible and accessible.
 
Moog Sirin £600 used
Moog Subsequent 25 £750 new
Moog Sub 37 £900 used
Moog Subsequent 37 £1300 new
Sequential Pro £1400 new

I thought the Subsequent 25 was priced favourably but without any hands on experience I don't really know for sure. Not in any rush as this Summit is pretty deep - still gone through only a fraction of the presets as so many just call out to be tweaked and played... Got to crack on with project so will find out what's lacking in the next few weeks.
I don't know what you want in term of synth capabilities but the sub25 and 37 are pretty different. Sure they have both duo paraphonic and have the multidrive but the sub 37 is far more complete. It has a way more save presets (256 - only 15 for the sub 25), 2 LFO and better routing options. The sub 37 have a little screen to dive into options that is very handy when you have to.
I like moogs products but it's a pain to dive into options when there is no screen. and you have to look to the manual every time to not loosing...
So If if you have not the budget choose the sub 25, but i think for the price difference you'll get a lot more with the sub 37 in term of synth capabilities.

I've got both the Sub 37 and the Matrix Brute. I prefer the Brute in most situations and its matrix layout means that mod routing and sequencing are more flexible and accessible.
Yes Matrixbrute and Polybrute are great too. They have both plenty of hands control and have a nice warm sound.
 
5 minutes hands on on each would make it alot quicker to choose, oh well... Slight rethink following all your helpful feedback.(yeah, I know I should be doing this over gearslutz but you guys are a nicer bunch, right? 🤓 )

So choice of Pro 3, Sub 37, MatrixBrute.

Desirables are: keyboard, arp/seq, presets, direct knob control, inspires creativity, sufficiently different to the Summit. I'm thinking all 3 sufficiently tick these boxes?
 
I recently got the Pro 3, very happy with it so far. Definitely an inspiring and fun synth with an intuitive, easy to use interface. Highly versatile, and plenty of knobs for quick, hands on control. Great sequencer. It can certainly sound warm, but doesn't really sound like a minimoog (nor is it trying to) if that's what you're actually looking for.

For live use weight could potentially be a consideration as well. The Matrixbrute is quite heavy at 20kg, with the Sub 37 at around 10kg and the Pro 3 at just over 7kg.
 
For live use weight could potentially be a consideration as well. The Matrixbrute is quite heavy at 20kg, with the Sub 37 at around 10kg and the Pro 3 at just over 7kg.
Yes, I'm with you on that. I'm not getting any younger and hauling round an RD2000 at 20kg is not much fun so the thought of adding another backbreaker... its the main downer for the Matrixbrute I can see.

It's not so much that I'm after a Moog synth per se, it's just that what I suspect I'll be needing is going to work better with a warmer tone so if the Pro 3 is fine in this territory then it's still a contender. There's just not alot of videos out there showing this.
 
I only own one analog mono synth, so with that: I really like my Roland/Studio Electronics SE-02. It sounds fantastic, has great companion software, good midi, and is an "enhanced" model D. By "enhanced" I mean that there are features, modulation, etc. not found on a Moog. It worth a look.
 
Yes, I'm with you on that. I'm not getting any younger and hauling round an RD2000 at 20kg is not much fun so the thought of adding another backbreaker... its the main downer for the Matrixbrute I can see.

It's not so much that I'm after a Moog synth per se, it's just that what I suspect I'll be needing is going to work better with a warmer tone so if the Pro 3 is fine in this territory then it's still a contender. There's just not alot of videos out there showing this.
As you say spending some time with these synths would answer a lot of questions, but not the easiest to arrange at the moment :) (All music stores currently closed around my parts at least).

I hear you, quite a few of the presets, and as a result typically a lot of the early demos, tend to focus on the unique features and extended possibilities rather than more traditional/basic sounds.

As for the minimoog it's just hard to ignore in a conversation about warm sounding monosynths :)
(For that kind of thing I have a Midimini V30, which sounds absolutely stellar, but it's rack format with no presets or sequencer so it doesn't fit your criteria in any other respects than sound).

I haven't tried it myself, but as @AllanH, @wst3 and @Shiirai mentions, an SE-02 (with a separate midi keyboard/sequencer) could be a good option as well.
 
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The Bass Station 2 is a killer synth
Thx, will check it out. Having a Novation Summit, I guess I was looking to try a different manufacturer for a different 'sound', if that makes sense? Of course, I could be wrong in this approach.
 
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Apologies for keep harping on about a warm tone but I've come across this SonicState Friday Jam video of the Behringer Poly D and I really do love the tone of this instrument in Nick's play through, particularly around the 9:00 mark. (Shame there're no presets on the Poly D - not sure if the patches can be stored to PC?) Is this a unique Moog sound or is this sort of mellow tone possible on the MatrixBrute or even Pro 3? I assume this is Sub 37 territory too?

 
Yes, I’d still suggest a Moog based on what you’ve been responding to. I’d you can swing it, go big and get the best you can. Ideally, a sub37. Get it from somewhere you could return it if you really are unhappy for some reason.

when I heard the ob-6 I immediately knew it was probably the one. As soon as I used it in person I got chills. I’d set out to get a Minilogue XD and ended up ordering the OB-6 desktop instead!
 
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