for that price, i would deifniately say the Waldorf Pulse. Awesome synthesizer, especially for bass and fx. It is only monophonic though. It would definately be worth checking into the Oberheim Matrix as well.

In that price range, your best bets are going to be monophonic - I agree with dannib that the Pulse would be a good choice if you're primarily interested in leads/basses. You could also pick up a Roland JX8P or Juno 106 in that price range.

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check out some of the synths by novation - some good bargains to be had on ebay :0)

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quote:

Originally posted by IainS check out some of the synths by novation - some good bargains to be had on ebay :0)

Yeah, Novation makes some great synths (I love my Supernova), but none of them are analog.

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You should check out some sound demos.

Juno-106 sounds quite different from Pulse. Pulse has a very aggressive sound, while Juno represents more what I consider "warm".

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quote:

Originally posted by Chronosis You should check out some sound demos. Juno-106 sounds quite different from Pulse. Pulse has a very aggressive sound, while Juno represents more what I consider "warm".

Be vary wary of cheap juno 106s- which is definitely what you have if you find one for $400.... might have a fried chip which will hamper its capabilities.


What sort of sound are you after? All round capabilities? Certain sounds? Multi timbral? Multi output? MIDI? CV/GATE?
None of the following are analog...but as most people seem to have forgotten the meaning of the word nowadays, who gives a crap- they will all do a fine job for you.
Hugely under-rated and a bargain- yamaha An1x
My personal current favourite- novation nova

Ah fuck it...there are thousands of competent synths- plenty of demos and sounds on line- just do your research so you know the common potential problems with a particular model.... getting vintage gear serviced, fixed or put back together is a bit of a mission (he says looking at his poor battered Alpha Juno 2 )

quote:

Originally posted by cryophonik Yeah, Novation makes some great synths (I love my Supernova), but none of them are analog.

I thought the bass station was analogue? That would be a good option in this price range IMO. Otherwise, have a look at a roland sh 101, I think they're not too pricey.

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quote:

Originally posted by kitphillips I thought the bass station was analogue?

Now that you mention it, I believe the rack version of the bass station is analogue.

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quote:

Originally posted by cryophonik Now that you mention it, I believe the rack version of the bass station is analogue.

http://www.vintagesynth.com/novation/nvbs.shtml

they say it has VCOs, but the "VCOs" use ASM. ASM is the DSP code for the oscs in all their digital stuff (Nova, etc.).

pretty confusing? i don't know what to make of it heh.

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Originally posted by floyd741 i think echosystm is a pretty cool guy. eh pwns robby rox and doesn't afraid of anything.

quote:

Originally posted by echosystm http://www.vintagesynth.com/novation/nvbs.shtml they say it has VCOs, but the "VCOs" use ASM. ASM is the DSP code for the oscs in all their digital stuff (Nova, etc.). pretty confusing? i don't know what to make of it heh.

Yeah that is confusing. Even more confusing is what they say about the keyboard version:

quote:

www.vintagesynth.com Basically a 2-octave keyboard with a BassStation rack built-in. This synthesizer uses analog sound emulation to reproduce the sounds of a monophonic 2-VCO analog synthesizer with the same simple and intuitive controls via 17 knobs, 10 switches and 2 Moog-style pitch/mod wheels.[/url]

I always thought that the keyboard version was digital only, which the bold text seems to confirm, but it also says that it is the same as a Bass Station rack, which they say is analogue.

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quote:

Originally posted by Freak Be vary wary of cheap juno 106s- which is definitely what you have if you find one for $400.... might have a fried chip which will hamper its capabilities. What sort of sound are you after? All round capabilities? Certain sounds? Multi timbral? Multi output? MIDI? CV/GATE? None of the following are analog...but as most people seem to have forgotten the meaning of the word nowadays, who gives a crap- they will all do a fine job for you. Hugely under-rated and a bargain- yamaha An1x My personal current favourite- novation nova Ah fuck it...there are thousands of competent synths- plenty of demos and sounds on line- just do your research so you know the common potential problems with a particular model.... getting vintage gear serviced, fixed or put back together is a bit of a mission (he says looking at his poor battered Alpha Juno 2 )

More than anything I'm looking to get 2 things that I feel I'm lacking:

1) A nice, round, rolling bassline. I know that just buying a synth won't achieve this, but I would rather mess with knobs than clicking my mouse for hours at a time.

2) Plunky percussive sounds with hard snaps.

Again, I know I'll need to spend months, years, lifetimes learning the gear, but this is what I'm looking for. The end result will be tech house/techno kinda stuff. I'll look into the synth sounds online myself, but I do appreciate the suggestions thusfar.

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