I began playing with synths when I bought my Waldorf Blofeld last year. I love it to bits and I'm now thinking of getting another type of synth. What would anyone recommend bearing in mind I'd like something that would sound different enough from the Blofeld to be worth having both and I'd like something that would seem likely to keep it's value to some extent? So I suppose quality and character, let's say money no object for the moment but I'm not interested in anything vintage (and probably unreliable and in need of maintenance).

You really want either a good rompler or a good analogue synth. Kurzweil K2600 is (still) a good all rounder. Prophet 08 would be a good modern analogue.

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Veni, Vidi, Aesculi
(I came, I saw, I conkered)

I was looking at the Prophet 08 alright. Looks like the job.

Virus TI.

Awesome synth, but not cheap.

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http://Infekted.org ~ Access Virus news & community

Roland SH-101, Korg MS2000B (Radius if money no object but doubt it will hold it's value as well), KORG MS-20 (kind of old now not sure what maintenance is required on these).

The MS2000 would be my recommendation lovely little synth great with a lot of things. worth checking out and has held its price at roughly £400 for years now it seems!

MS2000 that ended on ebay today

As a contrast a good rompler like a Roland XV or Yamaha Motif would do a great job at giving you different sounds

+1 to the Kurzweil K-series synths. That would add some great S+S chops to your repertiore. I mentioned in another thread that I just moved my old K2000 for 175 pounds, so if that's the going rate I'd say there are obviously bargains to be had!

You seem to feel that vintage gear is automatically bound to be unreliable. The only thing I ever repaired on my MiniMoog is a fuse holder and I've had it for 30 years! I can count on one hand the number of faults I've had on my old analogue gear in the last 10 years (and I have a lot). Interestingly I seem to experience considerably more trouble with newer devices.

I'm not saying to go for vintage gear (you can get much more for your money with modern gear), but don't dismiss it so readily for dubious reasons.

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An Eagle for an Emperor, A Kestrel for a Knave.

Thanks for the advice. I would seriously consider a moog but I live out in the sticks so getting stuff repaired if something does go wrong is a bigger issue. Which vintage models would you recommend? I'd rather get one from somewhere which would give me a warranty of some description as well so Ebay would be out on that count. I see there are new Moogs available, are the older ones better?

'Better' - hmmm... there's that word again!

I wouldn't swap my old Mini for a new Moog. But if anyone asked my advice I'd say to go for a Little Phatty above scratching around for an old Mini. I have a set of Taurus pedals, but it hasn't stopped me ordering a new set.

Which is 'better'? I haven't a clue!

The better one is the one that makes your heart sing and your music sparkle.

Have you looked at stuff like the Roland JD-800?

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An Eagle for an Emperor, A Kestrel for a Knave.

If you wanted an analogue synth then i guess it depends on money. In regards to monosynths i'd reccomend an sh101 for the 350 price range but if you wanted to have something abit more flexible then i'd say a pro-one or ms20 or something.

I haven't had as much experience with polys but yet again it depends on money, if you could stretch out to a jupiter or a prophet 5 or an mks80 then you'd be in for a treat but depends if you want to fork out money for something that isn't under warranty, seeing as you said your abit out in the sticks.

I've heard great things about the virus so it could be worth a look, or even a modular if money isn't an option?

Tigali, You have the Blofeld which is basically a VA synth with a few extras, you said you wanted something different so forget analogues (as both VA and analogue synths do cover some of the same ground) and forget getting another VA like the Virus... You did say you wanted something different!

I know the Blofeld now offers sampling but from a few things I have read, it still has a way to go before it reaches rompler standards so a rompler may be a good idea.

I know they're getting older now but how about an FM synth like the Yamaha DX7, or a phase distortion synth like the Casio CZ series, or maybe something like the additive Kawai K5000 series synths? For something relatively new, but really quite different, how about the Metasonix Wretch machine? Or perhaps something like a Roland V-synth with its mental sample mangling capabilities would be more up your street?

The thing is, without knowing what kind of music you want to do or what kind of sound you're after, it's kinda difficult to make any serious recommendations.

I spent some time recently A/Bing the Virus TI Polar with a DSI Evolver and I have to say sound for sound the Evolver absolutely wipes the floor with the Virus, obviously there are lots of things the Virus can do that the Evolver cant but those sounds which can be compared the Evolver sounded better to my ears every time.

I use a Virus and I love it, but hearing these two synths next to each other really proved it for me that analogue is actually better than digital and even the best of the VA's can't compete...;).

Anybody got any experience with the Studio Electronics stuff? They have some lovely looking (and sounding, obviously) things. The metasonix stuff looks like it might be a bit ahead of me. As I have only used the blofeld I'd like to ease myself into the whole area and Metasonix sell some stuff that I don't even recognise as instruments
I'd like to dip the rest of my foot in rather than end up in over my head if you know what I mean. Thanks for all the advice tho folks, lots of lovely stuff to think about. I'm starting to think this thread may belong more on gearslutz.

Anybody got opinions on the minimoog voyager Old School? I have found one for sale at a decent price and I'm seriously considering it. Any advice appreciated. I'm aware of the lack of midi but wouldn't a Midi to CV converter overcome that?