To be fair, Reaper is not free. You can download a free evaluation version that is not crippled or does not cut out. But if you do enjoy the DAW you should spend the $60 to buy the full version. Support the software developers.
I love Reaper. Reaper is like roadside fruit stall with a honesty box. Reaper has integrity. One has the security that reaper will always work and by the very nature of how it works it can never be used as ransom ware. I happily payed $60 for Reaper.
If I started in 2024, I’d still get a nice treated room built for critical listening, a versatile and clean sounding converter, and a 3-way flat speaker that sounds as I like. Rest of anything can be in the box, controlled by polyAT capable midi keyboard and drumpads. Nothing else should be necessary. Rest of items are only inspiring toys for a lot of extra money. If you have extra money.
I'd love the Quantum myself but I find it a bit overpriced compared to the Iridium keyboard I have. I find the OS a bit clunky in its current configuration.. especially for sample management. Still it is damn sexy!
@@neilloughran4437my quantum mk1 is great, I really love how easily it sits in a mix. Selling most of my gear but keeping that, matriarch, the analog rytm and getting a muse.
Great video! Thanks for reminding people about the depth of sound and the depth of what the 3rd Wave is capable of, especially for analog, the new sampling feature, and 4 part sequencing to play those drum samples. I love the OB6 and OBX8 too. And the Meris pedal has great reverb.
Thanks Bob! We are spoiled for synth choice these days, reverb too! But your 3rd Wave certainly stands out above the rest! The combo with the OB-X8 is pretty phenomenal
I just rebuilt my studio. I picked prophet rev2 desktop, hydrasynth desktop, sub37, drumbrute impact, tr8s, mini nova, and native instruments s88 for midi keybed. Motu midi express 128 to sync. I run a Mac Studio m2 max with an Apollo 8. Protools. I am Very happy. 😃 best time to rebuild.
Wow. You nailed it. I looked over and saw the same setup for the same reasons. The Meris reverb is the only one I don't have, so that is on the list now. I have two of the Empress reverbs for a reason. Two great reverbs in a live setup to switch between is essential. Thank you for taking your time to think this through. A subscriber for life!
For a high-end hybrid poly-synth, I‘d go for the UDO SuperGemini. It has poly-aftertouch and an amazing sound quality. It‘s a very inspirational and extremely well built instrument.
I think that a lot of it depends on the style of music you want to create. If you’re preference is for EDM and sampling, then an entry level poly synth, drum sequencer/sampler and a DAW you’re comfortable with is probably all that you need, but if you’re into cinematic synth wave compositions for tv, film or games then I think that you’re higher budget options are ideal, if not essential.
I have a Yamaha Grand piano, Rhodes, Prophet 5, Matriarch, Arp Odyssey, Arp 2600, Waldorf Iridium keyboard, Nord Electro, Pro 3 SE, Akai MPC X and much more I can't even list... yet I still look at modern keyboards and feel GAS... I think sometimes you gotta just be happy with what you have... seems like having more and more gear is a bit disabling at times. About the Matriarch, I actually prefer the sound of that to the Minimoog... and I've owned 3 Minis in my time. I think I might even prefer it to the Muse as it has a bit of a weirdness to it I like...
btw agree on the 3rd Wave. I absolutely adore the utility of creating wavetables on my Iridium... can't imagine what it must be like on 3rd wave and those beautiful filters. I sampled Arp ProSoloist flute sounds from the Cherry Audio plug in and made beautiful brassy (not flute like at all!) wavetables...
Agreed! Sometimes we gotta resist the gas. If something doesn't inspire me I trade or sell it. That's a great setup you have there, and I am excited to hear you love the Matriarch too!
A synth is a control surface with components (which may be virtual/digital) that produce a range of sounds. At the $1000 budget a 9th gen iPad, selection of apps, and 5 octave Keystage is a massive amount of "go" juice. If you do not care about/use full size keys a great condition Keystep Pro could save you $350 off that.
I'm going to stay with the my push 3 and vst's. Mapping parameters to my push in ableton 12.1 is next level and tons of fun. Maybe i'll get a synth next year.
I got my ARP Oddysey in 1974. Had it rebuilt 10 years ago. Use Ableton and many wonderful software synths. Looking to bring new gear as my poor ARP is really worn out. Yet, where do I find my ARP out in the synth world?
Dudes I just lost half my studio due to the job market. But I finally am employed again. Def gonna get back my Nord (upgrade from stage 2 to 4) my Oberheim OB-X8, and the new muse from Moog.
@@MilesAwayOfficial yeah i kind of learned the value of buying used. Sometimes I just want new gear but you can save 1500 bucks plus sometimes on perfect but slightly used gear. Never heard of a person who trashes their gear really, most people treat it better than their kids.
How about a Nord Stage 4 88, OBX-8, 3rd Wave, TEO-5, Subsequent 37, Novation BassStation, Minibrute 2, and Moog Muse? Nord Stage 4 88 and 3rd Wave are the centerpieces & cover large spans - a weighted keybed and anything piano, organ, etc. on the Nord and anything synth on the 3rd wave. For the Oberheim characters, you have the TEO-5 (more modern) and OBX-8 (classic). For Moog character, you have the Subsequent 37 and Moog Muse (which is said to have Matriach sounds as well). Then throw in the Novation BassStation for small versatile portable monosynth and Minibrute 2 for a small portable and extendable Euro modular-compat. synth.
I used Cakewalk for many years, from when the company was called 12 Tone Systems, up until Cakewalk Sonar Producer Version 2. As far as I know after changing hands many times it became free. Now I'm looking to change and I'm eyeing Bitwig. I used to have Cubase even longer ago on the Amiga, but swapped that for Music-X. Pigments is an absolute no-brainer. It does pretty much everything and it's interface is very intuitive. You missed out on a lot of things I would recommend, but I won't go there 😉 Some of your choices surprised me. I totally agree with your choice of audio interface. I have one, along with the ADA8200 which gives a total of 16 ins and outs with Midas preamps on every input. What's not to love there? One thing you neglected to mention is a patch bay and mixing desk, essential for me, but for a beginner perhaps not. I'd certainly include them in the higher budget range. If I were to start from scratch, I would probably go with Poly: Deepmind 12 Mono: either Neutron, Barp 2600 or Bodyssey Drum machine: RD-6 (my first one was the TR606) DAW: Probably Bitwig or Reaper Interface: UMC1820. Hardware sequencer: Retrokits (the one that looks like an old desktop calculator). Cheers buddy ✌️
Your channel, your rules. My comments are, that going to a store to find out the price of 3 favourite instruments and then calling it $3600 budget is highly arbitrary. And the $10000 budget is not a budget if effectively there is no financial constraint on purchasing any synth. I do agree that one's personal tastes and desires to create particular sonic output are (and should be) the main driver in making selections for hardware setup. Had I had it my way with 10 grand, I know the big suitcase version of KARP 2600(FS) would be there with MS-20FS sidekick. However the more I think about it, the more I am convinced that I would have started diffrently. I think I would have gotten a workstation with graded weighted keys 1st (like Fanton 8EX, Montage M8x, Nautilus) and live with it for while to see what else I'd need. Or maybe even go more fundamental and just get something like Roland RD-2000 or Korg Grandstage or Yamaha whatever-they've-got, cos I've noticed as I get older the simplicity and immediacy of expression of weighted piano keys just doesn't age - and I am not even a pianist, nor keyboardist for that matter.
Those are great options too! And yea these lists are always very subjective but I get asked these questions a lot, so this is my fully honest feedback, divorced from any sponsored content or free units etc. I truly think there are so many good synth options it is hard to go wrong these days!
What a Fantastic Video 👌 Glad I had my headphones 🎧 on 😊 you made $100 - $10000 sound Incredible 💯 awesome demo tracks and I think the outro has some miles to go 🎶 🤩🤩😻🙌
For unlimited budget, I'd definitely go for Waldorf Quantum MK2. It definitely on the top of spaceshipness list and also offers my kind of sounds. For less than unlimited, the Iridium would do.
You forgot to mention you can make the minifreak a 12 voice if you change the voice type to Para. So you have a much larger range for compositions especially if you have a larger midi controller laying around. It uses the 2nd osc engine though so youll be missing out on that, but having the option regardless is wonderful.
I'm actually culling a bit of gear, waiting on the 3rd Wave to arrive, recently got a PEAK, might get another, waiting on another synth to be released and will be moving stuff round to accommodate the new crew. Rev 2 might need to go back in its box. Still fun times, was actually speaking to someone about the 3rd Wave today as they're an importer, and the stories they had to tell were amazeballz. I was only listening to Eurogliders last night, Heaven must be there, low and behold on the vid, a PPG 2.2. Sounds glorious and I was told it was like one of the 1st presets on the 2.2 lol. Bands using presets is hilarious.
Great story! Its always funny when you hear presets come up, sometimes they are just so inspiring. The opening to my song "Back To Sleep" is 100% the OB-6 preset 007 (my fave preset ever)
For $10k, or any other budget, I'd squeeze in as many top-tier MIDI controllers as I can, and leave a bunch of synths to run on the computer as VSTs... So, let's say, $10k gives me the Linnstrument (overall top tier MPE controller), the Osmose (one of the best polyphonic aftertouch / MPE controllers), and a Nord Grand 2 (a great traditional weighted keys controller). That's already $8k or so. The remaining $2k is for the software, an audio interface, and a pair of headphones. The Osmose and the Grand will also have a bunch of built-in sounds on them, as a nice bonus - it's good to occasionally be able to play around without the computer. No room for the Haken Continuum or the Polybrute 12 in this setup, but potentially with increased budget the Osmose could be switched for one of those. Or maybe not. I don't know maybe at $20k or $30k it would make sense to grab some desktop synths as well to complement the MIDI controller zoo and the computer.
you can! Seriously, I am a mediocre piano player, I am mainly a composer/producer, but I've self taught basic piano for synths. It's not as bad as it seems, and synths are more forgiving that traditional piano!
Dude, you don't need to be able to play piano. Just a sense of rhythm and know which note is which on the keyboard. There are only 12 cos they repeat in octaves however big the keyboard is. Also, synth style keys are much easier to play than piano keys. Cheers ✌️
Oberheim is truly epic and inspiring. My favorite poly analog synth. Access Virus TI2 is another masterpiece that can do it all from drums, bass, trance to more. I am downsizing my gear as my needs require only a few synths.
My suggestion for a medium budget and limited space: Hydrasynth 49 (€1,300) + Prophet-6 module (€2,400). The HS is a versatility monster, has even got poly AT, but sounds very digital, which isn’t a bad thing per se. Here the P6 with its super-warm analog sound kicks in. As a single synth I also would slightly prefer the OB-6, but at the end of the day the P6 is a better jack of all trades.
it CAN sound digital but CAN also sound very "warm" and analogue. There are several sweetspots ranging digital and analogue. Great synth, well laid out controls and knobs. The touch strip is very CS80, more should have Poly AT and this.
You forgot to budget for cables and peripherals, monitors, headphones, that replacement wall wart, power strips, etc etc. that stuff adds up. Also, if you're really on a budget, the "evil" B is going to be part of your life.
Yea fair! I left out cables same reason as I left out audio interfaces/DAWs, I wanted this video to specialize in just synths! Regarding Behringer, I have no hat in the ring, I owned and loved a Neutron and TB-3, and I am very intrigued by some of their clones, but they literally cut ties with both my local music stores Tom Lee and Long and Mcquade, so I can't even try out their synths before buying them. So I rarely purchase B synths for that reason.
@@MilesAwayOfficial I hear ya. The synths are more fun. I totally get that. Absolutely no shade & I hope it didn't come off that way. When I was in LA in the 90s, going into WestLA music and playing with an Andromeda A6 or a Fizmo, was something I took for granted. Now I live nowhere near any useful stores. That said, I am grateful for the multitude of channels like yours that at least help me make a largely informed "blind" purchase.
Some great choices, but the jump from $100 to $1000 is silly and crazy and will leave a lot of people shrugging and deciding not to bother if they only have, say, $400 or $500 available.
Summit is absolutely the best value flagship I’m aware of. Now I said I would never sell my Matriarch, but I just sold that for a Muse. The Take 5 and Teo 5 are also top notch choices.
Absolutely agreed! The Take5/TEO 5 is a great option, I considered it in the Summit tier but gave it to the Summit for value. I will be doing a TEO 5 video and sound pack when it arrives, stay tuned!
@@MilesAwayOfficial You might have looked at it at some point, but Hyperion is an insane synthesizer. The quality and breadth of its sound capabilities is probably the best I’ve heard in a software synth. Worth checking it out if you haven’t. I wonder what you think of The Legend HZ? Does sound very good to me. And the new Korg ARP 2600 VST also extremely good.
@@aquaticborealis4877 I've never even heard of that! Will check out this Hyperion asap. I don't use the Legend but I am sure its great. I honestly just like Diva still LOL. But the G-force folks sent me their Minimonsta and that's probably objectively closer to a Minimoog than Diva. But Diva is still my go to softsynth for analog stuff.
Good recommendations. I use the Waldorf Microwave 1, GS-E7, Behringer Model D and some Arturia Plugs like CS-80 V. Always wanted the OB-6 but decided for the E7
@@MadelnMachines The Model D has faster envelopes, is more mid driven, gnarly, and sounds more like a Mini Moog. The E7 sounds brighter, more modern (80s), more „Californian“ (Studio Electronics), more like a polyphone Moog Module or a Memory Moog. All in all their Basic characteristics are quite similar. The E7 can do very good PWM string sounds.
Completely agree about the 3rd Wave, it has effectively killed my GAS for anything else. I am interested in adding a polyanalog synth at some point, but 1) Muse- no polyAT is a complete dealkiller, 2) very interested in the Polybrute 12, but I think I'll wait for a Noir version, 3) OB-6 desktop is interesting, but I would want at least 8 voices, 4) OB-XA desktop is appealing, but its sound is a bit too idiomatic- you gotta really want/love THAT sound, 5) NINA- I need to actually play one to make an educated choice. But I guess my wish would be for an updated Andromeda A6 with all of the flaws corrected!
All great choices! I don't know who owns Alesis now, but that idea of yours for an Andromeda re-issue has me fired up. Imagine it but with a really good MPE keyboard, game changing!
@@MilesAwayOfficial Numark owns Alesis, but the original A6 engineering team are long, long gone. Basically, I want someone to make a 16-voice, 2-VCO polysynth with 24 dB and 12 dB (multimode) filters that be configured series or parallel, with a 61-key polyAT keybed. Polybrute 12 is the closest to it. No rush, because I am still learning my 3rd Wave, it continues to surprise me after all this time...!
All great choices! I love my 37, and I have thoroughly enjoyed the Virus and BS2 anytime I play them. I tried to keep this list only to synths in production.
@@MilesAwayOfficial I understand, sometimes I wish could have more synths! haha 🤣 Now I have the Summit, Virus B, Nord Rack 2, JP8080, Virus Ti Polar, Bass Station 2, Cobalt8, Argon8, WaveState, Subsequent 37, and the Mini Nova.
Yes, absolutely! I am most likely going to get either a PB12, Muse, or Super Gemini for the studio/channel but I can’t decide. They all look amazing. Unfortunately I haven’t played them yet which is why I just included them in that note
@@MilesAwayOfficialI’m in the same boat. I played all 3 side by side yesterday. The P12 had the strongest and fullest oscillator output through headphones imho. I’m still undecided but am leaning towards the P12 and S Gemini for polyphony reasons as well. The one thing that has me leaning away from the S Gemini is the lack of a screen and as a live performer it may get a bit confusing on stage esp tour.
@@ryanmanning1185 I think that’s a wise move. But then you waste the money on something else 🤣 I don’t really think I need more than one poly though. Definitely not 3. For house and techno polyphony is often not too essential. I actually like the idea of a Nina - I could really use the 4 timbres so much better without getting lost/confused or frustrated with motorised pot synths.
You have a great taste in synths but I would go for the 10.000$ + budget, much money but cheap compared to what you would have to pay to get the originals. 3rd wave, Moog muse, Prophet 10, Jupiter X, oberheim OBX8, Moog matriarch, Prophet 6, Sequential pro 3, Waldorf M and a couple of good ol samlers like the Akai S3000 and maybe the equally good ol Roland D50. I think this will cover most things, from cheesy Roland strings and brass to heavy metallic PPG roars. You even get the awsome sounds of the Prophet vs with the 3rd wave. More is more, is my philosophy.
@@rachelar This is less compared what I had in the 80s and 90s. Unfortunately I sold it all off in the late 90s but its nice that all of their sounds can be recreated just as good or even better with modern equipment. Still waiting for a new version of Prophet VS even if the 3rd wave sounds very close.
Currently, I have a Moog Matriarch on top, 3rd Wave in the middle and a System8 on the bottom. If you want cheesy Roland strings then the System8 is the real deal. I make loads of videos and it seems like the System8 always brings in the goods. I also have an Ob6, WaveXT, D50, Matrix6, Prophet8, Arp Axxe, MicroBrute, Erebus, K2, ModelD, JU-06, Yamaha SK-15, Casio PX-5S, and MicroQ. I leave the Matriarch, 3rd Wave and System 8 permanently in the studio rack. My main setup is a wall of modular synths. The keyboards are for jamming while the modular is pounding out a sequential rhythm. Many a night in the studio over the years.
Why no Hydrasynth Explorer? It seemed to be on everyone else's lists for the last couple years. I'm buying one soon and am stuck between Hydrasynth and Minifreak
I own a polybrute 6, a matriarch and a TEO-5. Still lacking the no compromise mothership but I'll have to fill my bank account for that. Pigments will fill that role for now
I don't think I share your musical tastes...but...I've chosen almost the exact same synths, which says a lot about their versatility...and big props for playing the algo game so well, just a really simple and well presented piece with a great title. Really enjoyed the watch, thanks!
@@MilesAwayOfficial dayjob is really dull sound design for exhibitions and content...funtime is Reznor farts and RDJ Aphexian spasms :) I should add that I also rebought a Matriarch recently so we're trudging a very, very similar path 😂
Awesome video. Thank you for the show and info. I am looking for a 37 or less key synthesizer that is small enough to play standing up and not a key tar ,but some thing I can hang around my shoulder and play on my thigh like a suitcase and run scenes or under tracks of mine and play a part like bass etc… so I can sing with a headworm mic.I have no idea of anything that has the memory to do this but I do have a Korg Nautilis to makes sounds and tracks to load onto it. Any ideas. I would probably mostly play bass and synth leads and tweak around as needed and control the rest of the tracks volumes and triggers somehow? I would love a small synth with a real-time recorder and large memory even if it could be modified to use in this fashion, and dump the Nautilus. Any Reccommendations?
not sure about what synths mount as keytars sorry! But all the new korg stuff (modwave, wavestate etc) are really light 37 key synths that would be easy to hold
Im really happy with my Minifreak. Just wish it had 4 octaves and full sized keys, but im thinking about picking up a Polybrute, so that should be resolved. I tend to like having a physical synth, but the truth is that the VST synths are just as good. If you want to be frugal, get a good midi keyboard and call it a day.
Great video! I was holding out for the "perfect analog poly" but I don't know if it exists for me, so I'm sticking with plugins for poly and a couple analog mono synths for that character. If I played more live I'd probably get a Rev-2 again, but when I owned one the filter didn't really excited me enough to justify the price and space for home studio use only. I also own Repro -5 and Diva (which sound just a good if not better). Maybe I'd like a more aggressive yet warm analog poly like the OB-6 or TE0-5, though the Gforce OB-X sounds great..
@@duleyws that’s definitely a great option! Poly synths are certainly easier to replace with plugins. A good mono synth with lots of character is a great investment.
Thank you for this. I’m curious as to the no limit budget choices if you were creating a studio and had an unlimited budget. Fun to think about and would be curious to see your picks. Cheers!
Everything in the 10k tier + Perkons for drums, OB-X8 for big lush chords. Then if we are really adding infinite money I would get a Prophet 10, Moog Muse, Arturia Polybrute 12, and Waldorf Quantum Mk2. Those are what I think are the best of the best synths.
Hey thanks for posting great videos, Its very inspiring to watch you play. I love my Minifreak. It's so much fun to use in my songs. I don't enjoy mini-keys that much so I route it to my DX7. Tyrell, Vital and Dexed are some of the best low budget VSTs for beginners. Also, Plugmon makes a wonderful skin for Tyrell that adds a nicer workflow when using it.
Fun concept for a video, and cool reccomendations! Ive settled on something close to your third reccomendation, (slightly stripped down) with a Novation Peak and a Moog sub25, versatile polly and fat mono. Always a good combo! 🎶
Thanks for watching dude! That's a killer combo. Peak/Summit + some sort of characterful analog synth is easily my fave recommendation, you cover so many possible bases
I am a bit of a sequencer freak in that I want to try as many as possible and am very obsessed with the influence of sequencer functions on the composing workflows that are easy to do in that set up. Of the more expensive ones I used Deluge, Oxi One and Squarp Hapax. All of these are fantastic sequencers with lots of support for generative music as well, and each with different characters: Delige being the portable daw that also does synths and audio, Oxi being very focused on live improvisation with a lot of generative support and Hapax just being incredibly powerful and deep. If I had to start from scratch and would only use 1 sequencer I definitely would pick the Hapax. It is just so feature rich and ergonomic, very suited for live jamming but also for composing long and highly structured pieces. You could write a classical symphony on that one.
I really need to try the Hapax! I owned a Deluge for a couple years, it is an amazing machine. If I was full dawless I would totally have kept it. But the Play is a good middle ground for me that can do the weird generative stuff but its more immediate for making stuff to re-sample in my songs quickly.
I feel like really must get a 3rd wave although I already have a Quantum mk 1 which I find absolutely amazing. What’s your opinion on the crossover with the 3rd wave and Quantum ? They seem very similar.Would I be better with the Moog muse instead?
Full transparency I have only played the Iridium not the Quantum, but the Quantum seems like an absolute beast of a synth. I would love to buy one, as it goes way deeper than the 3W, but here in Canada the price is truly insane for them. I think you probably would get more milage out of the Muse, since imho no digital filter is going to do the Minimoog snarl or lush ladder brass that a real Moog can. But, the 3W can emulate Prophet sounds perfectly and I tend to prefer that for Polysynths over Ladder sounds.
I have the Quantum MK2 and Moog One. Quantum is very flexible but it cannot replicate the analog sound of the Moog. However it can make other types of sound.
For a 100 dollar budget, it is bold to assume that the person would already have a PC... As the phones and tablets are becoming more powerful by the day, I'd love for them to have more choices with DAW's, VST's and just simple midi sequencers.
@@MilesAwayOfficial I sold my Kurzweil K2000 from over 3 decades ago and am selling my Korg Modwave, I do not have space to fit the keybeds anymore. Only hardware left is Eurorack and some semi-modulars, plus grid controllers.
Never selling my summit. Maybe will sell hydradynth as vital and serum can pretty much replace them. Any moog like subsequent 37 can be replaced by Diva sad to say. Argue with me ,
Blasphemy! haha only kidding. I think almost every synth has a relatively software replacement now. But I still find it really hard to get plugins to sound as good as my OB-X8 going into Meraki analog delay. It just sounds perfect to me, and would require fiddling and eq'ing for ages.
The OB-X8 paired with a 3rd Wave. Ultimate setup!!!!!! Those two along with a Muse are my dream synths right now. Considering the synths I already have, those three would most likely be the last big synths I would ever buy, "IF" I could afford them. For the sake of space, I'd probably go with the desktop version of the OB-X8 and the keyboard versions of the other two.
Summit is a great choice. I love mine, but the Hydrasynth Deluxe is a good alternative too. One extra octave, ribbon contoller., polytouch keyboard. I have both, but I’d recommend your listeners who can only afford one try both they sound different, but owning both is ideal.
It's odd that you excluded any kind of workstation. A Kronos, Montage or Fantom would offer many acoustic sounds, including pianos, and still give you a wide range of synth sounds. It would also provide an integrated way of sequencing and building songs. Some workstations, like the MODX or Fantom 0 are even fairly cheap. If you're looking at a Smmit, you should also look at a Peak. This lacks a keyboard and is basiclly only half of a Summit, but it's much cheaper and does most of what a Summit can do. Honestly, iif you get used to working wih VSTs, there is very little reason to regress to hardware synths. You might be better off getting something like Komplete, Omnisphere/Keyscape or the Arturia V-Collection. These will gove you more capailities and beter sound than most hardware synths and work better in your DAW. Better still, you can cheaply add VSTs from companies like Cherry Audio, giving you a museum quality selection of synths to choose from.
@@geoffk777 great feedback! Peak should definitely be in consideration. I didn’t include workstations as I wanted to focus just on synth sounds , and specifically programmable synths, and unless you spend big on workstations I find a lot of them have menu dive-y synth engines which is not a workflow I would recommend to beginners looking to learn personally. But for the working musician, a Montage or Fantom is pretty much all you need!
This was a great video to get some ideas going! I think I like the $3600 Summit/Grandmother combo you made the most because it’s the perfect example of how far we’ve come as far as what you can get for your money. That’s really an amazing combo. I think I’d use that as a basis and then add a Sequential Pro 3 and an OB-6. Two monos and two polys with lots of character. Don’t sleep on the MK1 Quantum. With the release of the MK2 you can find the MK1 for $2500. Also a Hydrasynth with its polyaftertouch is quite a steal too!
That's a crazy price for a Mk1, where are you seeing that? I'd love to find a Mk1 even to review for a bit, but they are still rare and pricy in Canada!
@@MilesAwayOfficial I’m definitely talking about the resell market. I should’ve mentioned that. But right now on Reverb, literally looking as I type, $2249, $2250, $2799. There’s even one $2000 flat. The one from eBay is gone though.
@@MilesAwayOfficial I already have a Matriarch Black Edition and a UB-Xa than I prefer than the OB6 (I kept it for only 6 months) and I placed an order 15 days ago for the Muse and the 3rd Wave Deskop. ;-) In any case, congratulations for your super interesting videos, even exciting I would say ! It's the ones about music equipment that I like to watch the most ! 🙂
Assuming you already have an iPhone/iPad* for a hundred you can get an mpe play surface, a great mixer/recorder (aum), and a couple of superb synth emulations eg animoog , twin 3, Nerd , model D etc. Patience and waiting for sales could get you even more. Add a second hand key step 37 (sequencer/arp/velocity/aftertouch) and you are pretty much set for a couple of hundred. *Ios apps identical to Mac/pc ones are generally a minimum of half the price or much less but this is slowly changing since the M.
Love the video thanks! Question for you … I have push 3 and I am looking for an amazing desk top synth with mpe support. What do you recommend? Current setup: Digitone Juno106 Korg monologue Pittsburgh Sv-1b Behringer TD-3 Push 3
@@colemancahill8695 late reply sorry! I like Gs E7 the most bang for buck, but if you have money to burn the OB-X8, 3rd Wave or Deckard’s Dream sound just incredible . I have videos on all 4!
While the hardware advice you give is good, honestly I would just stop in the $1k tier with a good MIDI controller, Bitwig Studio (to get everything incl The Grid), a solid "everything synth" (something like Phase Plant, Pigments, Falcon, Dune, VPS Avenger or Synthmaster), a versatile drum VST like Microtonic, and then some specific virtual analog synths on top for flavor (any of Diva, RePro, or GForce's new OB-1.) This should end up right around $1k and you're basically done at this point. Also in the Free tier don't sleep on Surge.
Cobalt5S Perfect first synth!! Dynamic, Vintage and experimental sounds are all possible and it has a fun randomizer preset option for those unfamiliar how to design sounds. It is the best budget synth I have tried. Way better than microfreak, minilogue and roland boutiques which are all popular budget options but Cobalt5s blows all these options out the water. It is the best affordable synth I have tried since I am into vintage and new generation sounds.
I love my Roland’s but if I started over, I may do things differently because you can get all the Roland sounds in VSTs but you can’t get all the Yamaha sounds in VSTs unless you buy a hardware Yamaha Synth, so maybe I’d buy a Montage and a nice Native Instruments S series MIDI controller and Komplete 15 Ultimate and Arturia V Collection X. Then maybe a smallish battery powered synth that could double as a MIDI controller and a good all-around synth to carry around when I needed to travel light.
Hmm good choices but left out some good budget models like hydrosynth and modal Cobalt 8. If you can find a novation k station used, you can do really well budget wise. For reverb surprisingly you leave out Strymon and Elektron
This is all way too mellow for me to get any idea what I would prefer. Which ones of these are spiky demented and really scream? Which can you twist and follow down mad rabbit holes you would never have considered? I have a Waldorf Pulse and a Korg Prophecy. Something with "freak" in the title sounds like it should be what I would want. Also are hardware effects a whole load better than DAW? Have I missed a trick not using all my guitar FX?
Kept this list a bit vanilla on purpose. Check out my videos on the PWM Malevolent, Moog DFAM, Erica Synths Perkons and Motorsynth MK II. All of those scream and can get really aggressive! DAW is fine for effects if you don't mind being on a computer
Maybe it’s stretching DAWless but in the second tier, a used MPC, MC-101, or Digitone could take you far (and meet the “must have sequencer” requirement).
Of the quick sound samples, the OB6 and Moog Matriarch both stood out as most transparent, and musically pleasing. Lots of good picks. I'd vote for the 3rd Wave (desktop ok too) and the OB6.
I can't say that your choices are wrong, but I can say there are better choices out there for practically everything you suggested. Casio CTS500 gives you a bit of everything You can substitute the drum sounds with samples. 3 seconds samples can very useful. With so many sample spots you can sample notes and have very complex songs and arrangements It has lots of good sounds and it's easy to control its sound effects
@@MilesAwayOfficial It has programmable synth sections thus, it is ideal within the context of "if I started electronic music in 2024" Gives you a great starting point to create backing tracks as well as various things for leads. It also works great as a bedroom stereo system was vastly high quality than my Bluetooth speakers
Most of these high end synths end up with people that don’t even know what a 7th chord is. I have no issues with that but there is far too much attention to sound possibilities rather than creativity. I could easily buy a 3rd wave or any of the other top tier monster synths. But I would need to spend tons of time getting to know them and explore them, taking away from actually making music.
While I think your approach is great (I started with learning music theory, then using only VSTs for years), I think we have to remember that being a sound designer is a totally valid creative passion. Not everyone needs to write traditional diatonic songs!
Gone for a 3rd Wave, Melbourne Instruments Nina, Waldorf Iridium, Gamechanger Motor Synth, Sub 37, UDO super Gemini and a SH-101 in my studio at the moment, it’s got a bit mad! Don’t even get me started on the drum machines! Waiting on a SYNTRX mk2 to finish it off.
Absolutely brilliant, not quite like anything else and being able to use the layering in the way it’s setup makes it really versatile whilst still sounding fresh and unique. Hoping to add an OB-X8 and a Prophet 10 someday and then the collection is complete, just trying to find a buyer for the other kidney!
I have 4 of the synths you mentioned, Hydrasynth, Miniloguexd, Minifreak, and Matriarch. I'm looking to add another synth. Its between the. Muse, Oberheim TEO-5, Sequential Rev2 and Arturia Polybrute 6. I play jazz fusion and solo ambient/electronic music.
Virus Ti2 is discontinued. The problem with the virus is now the "Total Integration" part not working on Macs anymore because of Kemper GmbH doesn't want to update their software for years now, even when they where still selling the Virus Ti2. I have the Virus Ti Polar and still love the synth to this day.
I would agree with the Virus Ti2 sounding way better. I should consider myself one of the lucky ones to buy a new virus as they had the very last shipment circle circulate across the world and I was able to buy the last brand new Virus Ti2 in America on 8-1-2024.
Virus is a sweet synth for sure but I only included currently in production synths! My bro Vulture Culture has the vintage/used synth market recommendations, he knows much more than me, I focus this channel only on modern synths!
@@life-is-inspiring3953 Perfect circuit got the last shipment of three brand new virus TI2 on July 30th. Guitar center also received a shipment and sold out within one hour. Perfect circuit had the last available Virus for sale in America for sale on 8-1-2024 and I ordered a new credit card just to buy it 🫨🫨
Agree with Top Tier 100%! That said, I'm thinking about the 3rd Wave desktop paired with my Roli Seaboard or Osmose. The expressive capabilities of the Roli paired with that 3rd Wave should be incredible. Curious if the UDO Super Gemini is tempting you. Future classic IMO. Love your channel by the way. It's always a "go to" on UA-cam!
That's an awesome idea! I play the 3rd Wave with my Seaboard and it sounds amazing! Super Gemini is so tempting, it looks amazing. I think if the Polybrute 12 didn't exist I would go for it, but if I buy a new synth to review it will probably be the PB12
Sadly the 3rd wave hasn't had any tech support yet. Bugs have been reported. Needs more firmware updates. I'd go with udo , oberhime, or the upcoming Caladan from Isla instruments. Also super critical redshift is looking nice.
That's a great video. Thank you very much! What do you think about workstation synths like the Yamaha Montage M or the Roland Fantom? Especially in terms of sound (not so much workflow which is apples vs oranges!). Do they compare with the Summit or are they inferior for similar sounds?
Thank you! I owned a Montage for a long time and its a great synth if you mainly play live and or don't mind screens for editing. I sold mine however as I didn't like the UI for editing synth patches, and the sampled sounds are inferior to Kontakt and a computer with AAA banks from Spitfire/Native Instruments etc. Sound wise the virtual analog is really nice but you don't get real analog filters which is important to me (moreso than analog oscillators).
For that price it would be wiser to buy quality studio monitors, quality interface and do serious room treatment. And then buy a DAW and few plugins and you’re on your way
While I do agree with your suggestions, things still look different for me as I often take out my synths to play in live setups. Which brings a whole bunch of other factors into play. Weight and size, numbers of keys, SAVEABLE PATCHES, a display that shows patch names (talking to you, sequential!) to name a few of them. So definitely no matriarch but YES to Sub37 here. Even though i hate bringing extra pedals when playing live, so maybe the Muse - but i haven't tried if it rocks mono sounds and it could use a few more effects. So.... 3rd wave only, I guess.
Fair! I definitely geared this list more towards the hobbyist jammer/producer vs live musicians. But the Sub 37 is one of my top 5 boards of all time, its on like all of my songs! Glad you enjoyed my picks!
Got 2K? KingKorg (5 octave), Jupiter 50 and a drummachine of some sorts (TR6/8s, SH-4d) and a no nonsense mixer. You could go cheaper (MC-101) but that is a nightmare in disguise... At least one 3-5 octave synth, rest can be modules, grooveboxes etc.
My Studio: Groove 3rd Wave, ARP 2600, Moog Model D, and if the 3rd didn't have such a great State Variable filter I'd throw in the OB-X8 module. So yes, I agree with your $10k + budget. Best to you.
@@Station2Station-du2gh jealous! killer monosynth collection. I still love my Sub 37, whereas I didn't like the Arp 2600 as much as most do, I think monosynths are incredibly personal choices
@@MilesAwayOfficial thanks. The SE with the EXT Box, having both presets and such amazing gain staging is just amazing. I've owned most of the modern monos, BS2, Monologue, grandmother, etc... and the only legitimate complaint I hear is that the knobs are too small and I think that's an issue for some, but it's never bothered me. My Matriarch is the opposite, lots of space, but at 4x the price, it still can't get as gritty. But the Matriarch does these amazing pads that are unbeatable for a mono. However, I think that the Muse is a better buy than the Matriarch and can probably cover that ground and more relatively easily. But the Muse can't match the SE for what it does best, even tho I'm sure that in the mix no one can tell anyway. Sometimes it's more about just doing the most you can with the great you've got. So the great bands in history had very limited gear and they did fine. :)
Thanks for the video, I have a Sub 37, and use a big 88 key Yamaha for midi. I keep looking at the market of Polys, they're a little expensive for me currently, and honestly this kind of confirmed my uncertainty around current offerings. I just feel like Arturia Pigments or similar pretty much covers Third Wave, it's a gorgeous synth if you can easily afford it, but wow it's expensive for what it is. Oberheim would be nice, but the ob-6 does feel a little long in the tooth as a modern synth compared to current offerings, and the ob-x8 sounds great but has a more vintage workflow. The GForce Oberheim synths are maybe not quite the hardware but sound fantastic for software. I guess that to say, hardware does have the soul, charm, and tactility that I appreciate, but man it's just so hard to justify these monster expensive synths given what I already have. Not really feeling the sound of the Polybrute either, Muse maybe but I haven't been totally blown away by it either yet. Not a fan of how dark the summit is.
You are totally good to go with VSTs like g force and diva if you like the sound! I also think the sub 37 is one of my forever synths since the way it growls and breaks up with drive is really hard to get right in a plug-in. If you do go for a budget polysynth check out my video on dreadbox nymphes. It sounds absolutely incredible, and is really basic but retro sounding. For the price it’s a great vst combo
Great video. Thank you for this - exactly what I've been looking for. I was wondering when it comes to reverb whether instead of getting a dedicated reverb effect whether the Eventide h9 offers an equally nice reverb options, plus other effects too - actually x 2 with the newer release now. Any thoughts on that?
I don't use eventide myself but they make great stuff! I think it would depend on if your synth had any built in effects or not. Because usually, most polysynths have pretty solid delay, tremolo, chorus etc, but then the reverb is just awful (any Sequential synth). So, my go-to recommendation is always to get at least one really good reverb effect. If you love the eventide reverb, then fantastic! The multi-effects would be super useful on dry-only synths like OB-X8
@@MilesAwayOfficial yes absolutely! I wish more would be given to effects on synths sometimes - they seem like an afterthought for some. I find the distortion on some can be as tragic as the reverb - more like a stomp box. I have an Andromeda A6 and that’s a fine example. Hard to find analogue distortion rather than digital!
Hey Miles. Do you have a video with your synth setup? I can sort out the audio but just wondering if all the boards are good to go with midi clock sync throughout and if you prefer to trigger everything from the computer or from a sequencer/drum machine/hardware source? I'm so tired of the computer. I run a sub 37 and prophet 6 combo BTW.
@@allenleclerc7878 its a record all about going back to my roots, and has the most personal/nostalgic sound of any work I've done. OBX8 is the main synth this time around, less digital sounds!
I'd skip everything listed in the $1000 category to go with a Take-5 or TEO-5. I get that the video would have been essentially a Sequential/Moog buying guide if you did though.
@@n.l.541 fair question! I tend to prefer dedicated keyboards and sequencers so you can play both synths at the same time, but when you get to more expensive tiers and can afford master sequencers like the Play or master keyboards that’s great too
You are the reason á lot of people including me bought the 3rd wave, I got the desktop version for $3150 new. I pair it with a korg Kronos 2 88 and osmose expressive e, both Meris X pedals, and an Empress zoia to fill in the blanks and add granular and add some extra light voices, the red panda tensor is fun for DJ style effects, and a chase bliss generation loss MKII for any imperfections or vintage fx. All runs through an RME audio interface (cause rme is objectively the best), flux mentor amplifier for Mod House Tungsten DS headphones, and performance samples orchestral vsts + noire piano and strikeforce 2 cinematic percussion vsts all come together for ultimate flexibility. Recording and composing on Cubase. Going to sell my montage 7 to just get the montage m plugin and buy a really good digital piano for a top notch piano keybed, which will be a flagship yamaha or kawai or Roland (got to research more). Even though the Korg Kronos is all digital, the HD-1 Sampling engine is the best synth sampler in hardware format plus the live set feature makes live play a breeze (3rd wave will add it eventually too), and upgrade the internals for an extra gigabite of ram and upgrades to 200 voices total on all engines (including the HD-1). It's also got the unique Korg DAC flavor for optional sound coloring, lovely midi controller, and better than their new instrument when you upgrade it plus all the hardware controls and ribbon controller they removed too, for a bonus it's got the most complex arpeggiator probably ever made (KARMA). Roland fantom and nord stuff doesn't give me anymore than I already have. 3rd wave on paper is a prophet filtered, better spec'd moog one (more voices, timbrality, wavetables, more envelopes, same amount of lfos, more room for big updates, same oscillators amount and more), best modeled oberheim sem filter probably ever made, and vintage PPG 80s synth all in one with modern features and vastly expanded and revolutionary. But for the filter sound, I am tempted by a moog muse. Polybrute doesn't sound as unique.
Glad I could help inspire you on the 3W and the Meris pedals! How do you like the 3W with your Osmose? I've been having a blast with MPE. Moog muse looks really interesting, let me know if you get one. I've been tempted my Muse and Polybrute, even though I don't need them!
i have a Peak, OB 6 , Subsequent 25 , Cobalt 8 . i had many other synths in the past. try to convince myself that i dont miss too much without 3 rd wave . for me the best sweet spot for money and sound its Peak -Summit vs OB 6 . and i really love even especially for its underrated status a Modal Cobalt 8 , this synth can give a huge handicap for much more expensive polys , i think it has even a some Oberheim flavor whit its nostalgic , melancholic tones .
Yea I think that’s a perfect set up! I don’t think you need the 3W necessarily. I picked the Summit for the 3rd tier for a reason, Peak and Summit are absolutely incredible and they pair so well with OB-6.
To be fair, Reaper is not free. You can download a free evaluation version that is not crippled or does not cut out. But if you do enjoy the DAW you should spend the $60 to buy the full version. Support the software developers.
@@crhkrebs well said!
I love Reaper. Reaper is like roadside fruit stall with a honesty box. Reaper has integrity. One has the security that reaper will always work and by the very nature of how it works it can never be used as ransom ware.
I happily payed $60 for Reaper.
$60 !!! You are joking!
Lots of bang for the buck in the Hydrasynth Deluxe and it also does wavetable and VA synthesis. Love the 10K setup!
@@MattUFO33 Hydra is a great shout! Absolutely awesome synth. You could definitely swap it in for the minifreak or summit and have a great time
You can do almost anything with a Hydrasynth
If I started in 2024, I’d still get a nice treated room built for critical listening, a versatile and clean sounding converter, and a 3-way flat speaker that sounds as I like. Rest of anything can be in the box, controlled by polyAT capable midi keyboard and drumpads. Nothing else should be necessary. Rest of items are only inspiring toys for a lot of extra money. If you have extra money.
If I'm to start over, 3rdwave desktop, MOOG Muse and Quantum mk 2. CUBASE would be my DAW.
That's an amazing setup, you pretty much have all bases covered except for Oberheim sound (though the 3W digital SEM filter is pretty good)
@DorisDay-lw4xsAlso better avoid pianos or acoustic guitars, I bought them and now I hear them everywhere.
I'd love the Quantum myself but I find it a bit overpriced compared to the Iridium keyboard I have. I find the OS a bit clunky in its current configuration.. especially for sample management. Still it is damn sexy!
@@neilloughran4437my quantum mk1 is great, I really love how easily it sits in a mix. Selling most of my gear but keeping that, matriarch, the analog rytm and getting a muse.
AMD 7950X CPU For a custom PC Build.
Great video! Thanks for reminding people about the depth of sound and the depth of what the 3rd Wave is capable of, especially for analog, the new sampling feature, and 4 part sequencing to play those drum samples. I love the OB6 and OBX8 too. And the Meris pedal has great reverb.
Thanks Bob! We are spoiled for synth choice these days, reverb too! But your 3rd Wave certainly stands out above the rest! The combo with the OB-X8 is pretty phenomenal
1000€ budget - Behringer Deepmind12 + Behringer Model D
3600€ budget - Behringer Deepmind12 + Behringer Model D + Behringer UB-Xa D + Behringer 2600 + Behringer Pro-800 + Behringer RD-8 MKII + Behringer RD-9+ Behringer RD-6-SB + Behringer TD-3-MO
10000€ - ALL OF THEM
HA the ultimate Behringer-Pokemon catch em all setup, I love it! I have nothing against Behringer, I loved the Neutron and Poly D especially
Sat down with a spreadsheet and came up with this:
Mixing/Monitoring-----------------------------
Mackie 32-8 $98
Mackie PSU $200
Mackie MR8s $399
Computers -------------------
Mac Pro 5.1 $400
Ferrofish Pulse 16 $1,300
Powerbook G3 With SCSI $240
RMEMadiface HDSPe $500
Logic Pro X $199
Emagic Unitor 8 $75
Samplers---------------------------------------
Akai S3200XL $399
Emu EIV $200
Synths --------------------------------------
Roland Alpha Juno $150
Korg Trition Rack $650
Korg N1R $250
Korg TR rack $200
Sequential Prophet 6 $3,149
Effect Racks -------------------------------------------
Midiverb II $99
Alesis 3630 $99
Midiverb IV 24bit (new) $150
Total: $8757
That's a killer list as well!
I just rebuilt my studio. I picked prophet rev2 desktop, hydrasynth desktop, sub37, drumbrute impact, tr8s, mini nova, and native instruments s88 for midi keybed. Motu midi express 128 to sync. I run a Mac Studio m2 max with an Apollo 8. Protools. I am Very happy. 😃 best time to rebuild.
@@CodyMWI that’s an epic set up congrats!!
@@MilesAwayOfficialthank you.
Wow. You nailed it. I looked over and saw the same setup for the same reasons. The Meris reverb is the only one I don't have, so that is on the list now. I have two of the Empress reverbs for a reason. Two great reverbs in a live setup to switch between is essential. Thank you for taking your time to think this through. A subscriber for life!
Thanks David! Awesome to hear we have the same setup. Empress Reverb is amazing, was my go to for years until the Meris.
For a high-end hybrid poly-synth, I‘d go for the UDO SuperGemini. It has poly-aftertouch and an amazing sound quality. It‘s a very inspirational and extremely well built instrument.
@@underwatersunlight3795 it looks incredible ! I’m dying to play one
@@MilesAwayOfficial Once you start playing one, it’s very difficult to stop. 🙂
For me the jump behaviour of the pots and sliders is a no-go on the UDO synths.
I think that a lot of it depends on the style of music you want to create. If you’re preference is for EDM and sampling, then an entry level poly synth, drum sequencer/sampler and a DAW you’re comfortable with is probably all that you need, but if you’re into cinematic synth wave compositions for tv, film or games then I think that you’re higher budget options are ideal, if not essential.
@@smooth7689 well said I totally agree!
I have a Yamaha Grand piano, Rhodes, Prophet 5, Matriarch, Arp Odyssey, Arp 2600, Waldorf Iridium keyboard, Nord Electro, Pro 3 SE, Akai MPC X and much more I can't even list... yet I still look at modern keyboards and feel GAS...
I think sometimes you gotta just be happy with what you have... seems like having more and more gear is a bit disabling at times.
About the Matriarch, I actually prefer the sound of that to the Minimoog... and I've owned 3 Minis in my time. I think I might even prefer it to the Muse as it has a bit of a weirdness to it I like...
btw agree on the 3rd Wave. I absolutely adore the utility of creating wavetables on my Iridium... can't imagine what it must be like on 3rd wave and those beautiful filters. I sampled Arp ProSoloist flute sounds from the Cherry Audio plug in and made beautiful brassy (not flute like at all!) wavetables...
Agreed! Sometimes we gotta resist the gas. If something doesn't inspire me I trade or sell it. That's a great setup you have there, and I am excited to hear you love the Matriarch too!
A synth is a control surface with components (which may be virtual/digital) that produce a range of sounds. At the $1000 budget a 9th gen iPad, selection of apps, and 5 octave Keystage is a massive amount of "go" juice. If you do not care about/use full size keys a great condition Keystep Pro could save you $350 off that.
I'm going to stay with the my push 3 and vst's. Mapping parameters to my push in ableton 12.1 is next level and tons of fun. Maybe i'll get a synth next year.
@@djelvis1 that’s a great set up! Ableton is the ultimate daw
I got my ARP Oddysey in 1974. Had it rebuilt 10 years ago. Use Ableton and many wonderful software synths. Looking to bring new gear as my poor ARP is really worn out. Yet, where do I find my ARP out in the synth world?
Arp O is a classic! I'd check out a Moog Matriarch or Arp 2600M Reissue if you are after similar vibes
Dudes I just lost half my studio due to the job market. But I finally am employed again. Def gonna get back my Nord (upgrade from stage 2 to 4) my Oberheim OB-X8, and the new muse from Moog.
Damn, I am sorry to hear that! Glad you are back on your feet, great synth choices! I want a Muse too
@@MilesAwayOfficial yeah i kind of learned the value of buying used. Sometimes I just want new gear but you can save 1500 bucks plus sometimes on perfect but slightly used gear. Never heard of a person who trashes their gear really, most people treat it better than their kids.
How about a Nord Stage 4 88, OBX-8, 3rd Wave, TEO-5, Subsequent 37, Novation BassStation, Minibrute 2, and Moog Muse?
Nord Stage 4 88 and 3rd Wave are the centerpieces & cover large spans - a weighted keybed and anything piano, organ, etc. on the Nord and anything synth on the 3rd wave.
For the Oberheim characters, you have the TEO-5 (more modern) and OBX-8 (classic).
For Moog character, you have the Subsequent 37 and Moog Muse (which is said to have Matriach sounds as well).
Then throw in the Novation BassStation for small versatile portable monosynth and Minibrute 2 for a small portable and extendable Euro modular-compat. synth.
Those are all excellent picks! Cover every single bass and sound like that hah
Sub 37 ❤
Maybe missing: Twin3 virtual analog software synth ($130), SE-02 ($450), GS e7 ($1600), SE-3X ($2400) at some different tiers.
I love the GS E7! It's a great option as well.
I used Cakewalk for many years, from when the company was called 12 Tone Systems, up until Cakewalk Sonar Producer Version 2. As far as I know after changing hands many times it became free.
Now I'm looking to change and I'm eyeing Bitwig. I used to have Cubase even longer ago on the Amiga, but swapped that for Music-X.
Pigments is an absolute no-brainer. It does pretty much everything and it's interface is very intuitive.
You missed out on a lot of things I would recommend, but I won't go there 😉
Some of your choices surprised me. I totally agree with your choice of audio interface. I have one, along with the ADA8200 which gives a total of 16 ins and outs with Midas preamps on every input. What's not to love there?
One thing you neglected to mention is a patch bay and mixing desk, essential for me, but for a beginner perhaps not. I'd certainly include them in the higher budget range.
If I were to start from scratch, I would probably go with
Poly: Deepmind 12
Mono: either Neutron, Barp 2600 or Bodyssey
Drum machine: RD-6 (my first one was the TR606)
DAW: Probably Bitwig or Reaper
Interface: UMC1820.
Hardware sequencer: Retrokits (the one that looks like an old desktop calculator).
Cheers buddy ✌️
Your channel, your rules. My comments are, that going to a store to find out the price of 3 favourite instruments and then calling it $3600 budget is highly arbitrary. And the $10000 budget is not a budget if effectively there is no financial constraint on purchasing any synth.
I do agree that one's personal tastes and desires to create particular sonic output are (and should be) the main driver in making selections for hardware setup. Had I had it my way with 10 grand, I know the big suitcase version of KARP 2600(FS) would be there with MS-20FS sidekick. However the more I think about it, the more I am convinced that I would have started diffrently. I think I would have gotten a workstation with graded weighted keys 1st (like Fanton 8EX, Montage M8x, Nautilus) and live with it for while to see what else I'd need. Or maybe even go more fundamental and just get something like Roland RD-2000 or Korg Grandstage or Yamaha whatever-they've-got, cos I've noticed as I get older the simplicity and immediacy of expression of weighted piano keys just doesn't age - and I am not even a pianist, nor keyboardist for that matter.
Those are great options too! And yea these lists are always very subjective but I get asked these questions a lot, so this is my fully honest feedback, divorced from any sponsored content or free units etc. I truly think there are so many good synth options it is hard to go wrong these days!
What a Fantastic Video 👌 Glad I had my headphones 🎧 on 😊 you made $100 - $10000 sound Incredible 💯 awesome demo tracks and I think the outro has some miles to go 🎶 🤩🤩😻🙌
Thank you sir!
@@MilesAwayOfficial Always a pleasure 😊 have a fantastic week 🤩 🙌
For unlimited budget, I'd definitely go for Waldorf Quantum MK2. It definitely on the top of spaceshipness list and also offers my kind of sounds. For less than unlimited, the Iridium would do.
I really want to try the Quantum! The CAD dollar makes it insanely expensive for me though
You forgot to mention you can make the minifreak a 12 voice if you change the voice type to Para. So you have a much larger range for compositions especially if you have a larger midi controller laying around. It uses the 2nd osc engine though so youll be missing out on that, but having the option regardless is wonderful.
Incredible tip! I didn't even know that!
I'm actually culling a bit of gear, waiting on the 3rd Wave to arrive, recently got a PEAK, might get another, waiting on another synth to be released and will be moving stuff round to accommodate the new crew.
Rev 2 might need to go back in its box.
Still fun times, was actually speaking to someone about the 3rd Wave today as they're an importer, and the stories they had to tell were amazeballz.
I was only listening to Eurogliders last night, Heaven must be there, low and behold on the vid, a PPG 2.2.
Sounds glorious and I was told it was like one of the 1st presets on the 2.2 lol.
Bands using presets is hilarious.
Great story! Its always funny when you hear presets come up, sometimes they are just so inspiring. The opening to my song "Back To Sleep" is 100% the OB-6 preset 007 (my fave preset ever)
For $10k, or any other budget, I'd squeeze in as many top-tier MIDI controllers as I can, and leave a bunch of synths to run on the computer as VSTs...
So, let's say, $10k gives me the Linnstrument (overall top tier MPE controller), the Osmose (one of the best polyphonic aftertouch / MPE controllers), and a Nord Grand 2 (a great traditional weighted keys controller). That's already $8k or so. The remaining $2k is for the software, an audio interface, and a pair of headphones. The Osmose and the Grand will also have a bunch of built-in sounds on them, as a nice bonus - it's good to occasionally be able to play around without the computer.
No room for the Haken Continuum or the Polybrute 12 in this setup, but potentially with increased budget the Osmose could be switched for one of those. Or maybe not.
I don't know maybe at $20k or $30k it would make sense to grab some desktop synths as well to complement the MIDI controller zoo and the computer.
Love this philosophy if you are primarily a player!
I wish I could play piano. These keyboards look like so much fun to use.
you can! Seriously, I am a mediocre piano player, I am mainly a composer/producer, but I've self taught basic piano for synths. It's not as bad as it seems, and synths are more forgiving that traditional piano!
Dude, you don't need to be able to play piano. Just a sense of rhythm and know which note is which on the keyboard. There are only 12 cos they repeat in octaves however big the keyboard is. Also, synth style keys are much easier to play than piano keys.
Cheers ✌️
Oberheim is truly epic and inspiring. My favorite poly analog synth. Access Virus TI2 is another masterpiece that can do it all from drums, bass, trance to more. I am downsizing my gear as my needs require only a few synths.
My suggestion for a medium budget and limited space:
Hydrasynth 49 (€1,300) + Prophet-6 module (€2,400).
The HS is a versatility monster, has even got poly AT, but sounds very digital, which isn’t a bad thing per se. Here the P6 with its super-warm analog sound kicks in. As a single synth I also would slightly prefer the OB-6, but at the end of the day the P6 is a better jack of all trades.
it CAN sound digital but CAN also sound very "warm" and analogue. There are several sweetspots ranging digital and analogue. Great synth, well laid out controls and knobs. The touch strip is very CS80, more should have Poly AT and this.
You forgot to budget for cables and peripherals, monitors, headphones, that replacement wall wart, power strips, etc etc. that stuff adds up. Also, if you're really on a budget, the "evil" B is going to be part of your life.
Yea fair! I left out cables same reason as I left out audio interfaces/DAWs, I wanted this video to specialize in just synths! Regarding Behringer, I have no hat in the ring, I owned and loved a Neutron and TB-3, and I am very intrigued by some of their clones, but they literally cut ties with both my local music stores Tom Lee and Long and Mcquade, so I can't even try out their synths before buying them. So I rarely purchase B synths for that reason.
@@MilesAwayOfficial I hear ya. The synths are more fun. I totally get that. Absolutely no shade & I hope it didn't come off that way. When I was in LA in the 90s, going into WestLA music and playing with an Andromeda A6 or a Fizmo, was something I took for granted. Now I live nowhere near any useful stores. That said, I am grateful for the multitude of channels like yours that at least help me make a largely informed "blind" purchase.
Some great choices, but the jump from $100 to $1000 is silly and crazy and will leave a lot of people shrugging and deciding not to bother if they only have, say, $400 or $500 available.
Fair! I might make another one of these and focus only on budget synthesizers.
@@MilesAwayOfficial That would be cool, my dude! Thanks, love your stuff.
Summit is absolutely the best value flagship I’m aware of. Now I said I would never sell my Matriarch, but I just sold that for a Muse. The Take 5 and Teo 5 are also top notch choices.
Absolutely agreed! The Take5/TEO 5 is a great option, I considered it in the Summit tier but gave it to the Summit for value. I will be doing a TEO 5 video and sound pack when it arrives, stay tuned!
@@MilesAwayOfficial You might have looked at it at some point, but Hyperion is an insane synthesizer. The quality and breadth of its sound capabilities is probably the best I’ve heard in a software synth. Worth checking it out if you haven’t. I wonder what you think of The Legend HZ? Does sound very good to me. And the new Korg ARP 2600 VST also extremely good.
@@aquaticborealis4877 I've never even heard of that! Will check out this Hyperion asap. I don't use the Legend but I am sure its great. I honestly just like Diva still LOL. But the G-force folks sent me their Minimonsta and that's probably objectively closer to a Minimoog than Diva. But Diva is still my go to softsynth for analog stuff.
@@MilesAwayOfficial I've recently discovered G-Force, and I am very much in a honeymoon period with them. Everything sounds so good.
Good recommendations. I use the Waldorf Microwave 1, GS-E7, Behringer Model D and some Arturia Plugs like CS-80 V. Always wanted the OB-6 but decided for the E7
@@Claude_van How does the sound of the model D compare to the E7?
@@MadelnMachines The Model D has faster envelopes, is more mid driven, gnarly, and sounds more like a Mini Moog. The E7 sounds brighter, more modern (80s), more „Californian“ (Studio Electronics), more like a polyphone Moog Module or a Memory Moog. All in all their Basic characteristics are quite similar. The E7 can do very good PWM string sounds.
Completely agree about the 3rd Wave, it has effectively killed my GAS for anything else. I am interested in adding a polyanalog synth at some point, but 1) Muse- no polyAT is a complete dealkiller, 2) very interested in the Polybrute 12, but I think I'll wait for a Noir version, 3) OB-6 desktop is interesting, but I would want at least 8 voices, 4) OB-XA desktop is appealing, but its sound is a bit too idiomatic- you gotta really want/love THAT sound, 5) NINA- I need to actually play one to make an educated choice. But I guess my wish would be for an updated Andromeda A6 with all of the flaws corrected!
All great choices! I don't know who owns Alesis now, but that idea of yours for an Andromeda re-issue has me fired up. Imagine it but with a really good MPE keyboard, game changing!
@@MilesAwayOfficial Numark owns Alesis, but the original A6 engineering team are long, long gone. Basically, I want someone to make a 16-voice, 2-VCO polysynth with 24 dB and 12 dB (multimode) filters that be configured series or parallel, with a 61-key polyAT keybed. Polybrute 12 is the closest to it. No rush, because I am still learning my 3rd Wave, it continues to surprise me after all this time...!
Awesome advice. Thank you. Loved hearing your thoughts on the matter
Thanks for watching and glad it helped!
Great video - excellent guidance for beginners.
Personal view:
3w + Push 3 standalone + Live = all bases covered and total flexibility
Thanks for sharing! I totally agree. I use a Seaboard with my 3W, but yea, it is just so versatile with an MPE controller! Live is so good too.
My chose would be getting a second hand Virus Ti/Ti2, Summit, Bass Station2 and Subsequent 37
All great choices! I love my 37, and I have thoroughly enjoyed the Virus and BS2 anytime I play them. I tried to keep this list only to synths in production.
@@MilesAwayOfficial I understand, sometimes I wish could have more synths! haha 🤣 Now I have the Summit, Virus B, Nord Rack 2, JP8080, Virus Ti Polar, Bass Station 2, Cobalt8, Argon8, WaveState, Subsequent 37, and the Mini Nova.
For 10k in £s you could get a Polybrute 12, Muse and 3rd Wave desktop. Good idea?
Yes, absolutely! I am most likely going to get either a PB12, Muse, or Super Gemini for the studio/channel but I can’t decide. They all look amazing. Unfortunately I haven’t played them yet which is why I just included them in that note
@@MilesAwayOfficialI’m in the same boat. I played all 3 side by side yesterday. The P12 had the strongest and fullest oscillator output through headphones imho. I’m still undecided but am leaning towards the P12 and S Gemini for polyphony reasons as well. The one thing that has me leaning away from the S Gemini is the lack of a screen and as a live performer it may get a bit confusing on stage esp tour.
No, don’t buy 3 complex synths at once. Buy one and spend dozens of hours learning the ins and outs and then jump to the next one when you’re ready.
@@ryanmanning1185 I think that’s a wise move. But then you waste the money on something else 🤣 I don’t really think I need more than one poly though. Definitely not 3. For house and techno polyphony is often not too essential. I actually like the idea of a Nina - I could really use the 4 timbres so much better without getting lost/confused or frustrated with motorised pot synths.
@@ryanmanning1185 THIS.
You have a great taste in synths but I would go for the 10.000$ + budget, much money but cheap compared to what you would have to pay to get the originals.
3rd wave, Moog muse, Prophet 10, Jupiter X, oberheim OBX8, Moog matriarch, Prophet 6, Sequential pro 3, Waldorf M and a couple of good ol samlers like the Akai S3000 and maybe the equally good ol Roland D50.
I think this will cover most things, from cheesy Roland strings and brass to heavy metallic PPG roars.
You even get the awsome sounds of the Prophet vs with the 3rd wave.
More is more, is my philosophy.
More is more 🤣 great list though, thanks for watching!
Holy moly you're loaded. Touring with Queen?
I got a D50 tho. For 30 quid off the street recycler! The lord will provide (for me when I lost all in a natural disaster)
@@rachelar This is less compared what I had in the 80s and 90s.
Unfortunately I sold it all off in the late 90s but its nice that all of their sounds can be recreated just as good or even better with modern equipment.
Still waiting for a new version of Prophet VS even if the 3rd wave sounds very close.
Currently, I have a Moog Matriarch on top, 3rd Wave in the middle and a System8 on the bottom. If you want cheesy Roland strings then the System8 is the real deal. I make loads of videos and it seems like the System8 always brings in the goods. I also have an Ob6, WaveXT, D50, Matrix6, Prophet8, Arp Axxe, MicroBrute, Erebus, K2, ModelD, JU-06, Yamaha SK-15, Casio PX-5S, and MicroQ. I leave the Matriarch, 3rd Wave and System 8 permanently in the studio rack. My main setup is a wall of modular synths. The keyboards are for jamming while the modular is pounding out a sequential rhythm. Many a night in the studio over the years.
Great list. Don't sleep on the Korg Prologue 16. Granted, it lacks features. But that sound. You just can't beat it.
@@SmilingCakeSlice-hf1iv I love the Prologue! Check out my videos and custom patch set for it! I only didn’t include it because it is discontinued :/
These are facts
Why no Hydrasynth Explorer? It seemed to be on everyone else's lists for the last couple years. I'm buying one soon and am stuck between Hydrasynth and Minifreak
Check out the Wavestate too
I own a polybrute 6, a matriarch and a TEO-5. Still lacking the no compromise mothership but I'll have to fill my bank account for that. Pigments will fill that role for now
That's a totally killer and well rounded set up!
I don't think I share your musical tastes...but...I've chosen almost the exact same synths, which says a lot about their versatility...and big props for playing the algo game so well, just a really simple and well presented piece with a great title. Really enjoyed the watch, thanks!
@@Farold_Haltermeyer thanks so much! What kind of music do you make?
@@MilesAwayOfficial dayjob is really dull sound design for exhibitions and content...funtime is Reznor farts and RDJ Aphexian spasms :) I should add that I also rebought a Matriarch recently so we're trudging a very, very similar path 😂
Awesome video. Thank you for the show and info. I am looking for a 37 or less key synthesizer that is small enough to play standing up and not a key tar ,but some thing I can hang around my shoulder and play on my thigh like a suitcase and run scenes or under tracks of mine and play a part like bass etc… so I can sing with a headworm mic.I have no idea of anything that has the memory to do this but I do have a Korg Nautilis to makes sounds and tracks to load onto it. Any ideas. I would probably mostly play bass and synth leads and tweak around as needed and control the rest of the tracks volumes and triggers somehow? I would love a small synth with a real-time recorder and large memory even if it could be modified to use in this fashion, and dump the Nautilus. Any Reccommendations?
not sure about what synths mount as keytars sorry! But all the new korg stuff (modwave, wavestate etc) are really light 37 key synths that would be easy to hold
Im really happy with my Minifreak. Just wish it had 4 octaves and full sized keys, but im thinking about picking up a Polybrute, so that should be resolved.
I tend to like having a physical synth, but the truth is that the VST synths are just as good. If you want to be frugal, get a good midi keyboard and call it a day.
well said! Its all about what inspires you
Great video! I was holding out for the "perfect analog poly" but I don't know if it exists for me, so I'm sticking with plugins for poly and a couple analog mono synths for that character. If I played more live I'd probably get a Rev-2 again, but when I owned one the filter didn't really excited me enough to justify the price and space for home studio use only. I also own Repro -5 and Diva (which sound just a good if not better). Maybe I'd like a more aggressive yet warm analog poly like the OB-6 or TE0-5, though the Gforce OB-X sounds great..
@@duleyws that’s definitely a great option! Poly synths are certainly easier to replace with plugins. A good mono synth with lots of character is a great investment.
Thank you for this. I’m curious as to the no limit budget choices if you were creating a studio and had an unlimited budget. Fun to think about and would be curious to see your picks. Cheers!
Everything in the 10k tier + Perkons for drums, OB-X8 for big lush chords.
Then if we are really adding infinite money I would get a Prophet 10, Moog Muse, Arturia Polybrute 12, and Waldorf Quantum Mk2. Those are what I think are the best of the best synths.
The majority of synths sold today are > $100 & < $1000.
Hey thanks for posting great videos, Its very inspiring to watch you play. I love my Minifreak. It's so much fun to use in my songs.
I don't enjoy mini-keys that much so I route it to my DX7. Tyrell, Vital and Dexed are some of the best low budget VSTs for beginners.
Also, Plugmon makes a wonderful skin for Tyrell that adds a nicer workflow when using it.
@@matthewcassette thank you so much and great tips to add on!!
Fun concept for a video, and cool reccomendations!
Ive settled on something close to your third reccomendation, (slightly stripped down) with a Novation Peak and a Moog sub25, versatile polly and fat mono. Always a good combo! 🎶
Thanks for watching dude! That's a killer combo. Peak/Summit + some sort of characterful analog synth is easily my fave recommendation, you cover so many possible bases
I am a bit of a sequencer freak in that I want to try as many as possible and am very obsessed with the influence of sequencer functions on the composing workflows that are easy to do in that set up. Of the more expensive ones I used Deluge, Oxi One and Squarp Hapax. All of these are fantastic sequencers with lots of support for generative music as well, and each with different characters: Delige being the portable daw that also does synths and audio, Oxi being very focused on live improvisation with a lot of generative support and Hapax just being incredibly powerful and deep. If I had to start from scratch and would only use 1 sequencer I definitely would pick the Hapax. It is just so feature rich and ergonomic, very suited for live jamming but also for composing long and highly structured pieces. You could write a classical symphony on that one.
I really need to try the Hapax! I owned a Deluge for a couple years, it is an amazing machine. If I was full dawless I would totally have kept it. But the Play is a good middle ground for me that can do the weird generative stuff but its more immediate for making stuff to re-sample in my songs quickly.
And look at you, you did ! ❤🎉😊
I feel like really must get a 3rd wave although I already have a Quantum mk 1 which I find absolutely amazing. What’s your opinion on the crossover with the 3rd wave and Quantum ? They seem very similar.Would I be better with the Moog muse instead?
Full transparency I have only played the Iridium not the Quantum, but the Quantum seems like an absolute beast of a synth. I would love to buy one, as it goes way deeper than the 3W, but here in Canada the price is truly insane for them. I think you probably would get more milage out of the Muse, since imho no digital filter is going to do the Minimoog snarl or lush ladder brass that a real Moog can. But, the 3W can emulate Prophet sounds perfectly and I tend to prefer that for Polysynths over Ladder sounds.
I have the Quantum MK2 and Moog One. Quantum is very flexible but it cannot replicate the analog sound of the Moog. However it can make other types of sound.
If I started over, I’d always make sure I owned a Hydrasynth, then a Juno 106, OB-6, and finally a Moog Voyager.
excellent synths all of em!
For a 100 dollar budget, it is bold to assume that the person would already have a PC...
As the phones and tablets are becoming more powerful by the day, I'd love for them to have more choices with DAW's, VST's and just simple midi sequencers.
I want them all. Seriously some of those sounds
Glad you enjoyed! Do you use any synths currently?
@@MilesAwayOfficial I sold my Kurzweil K2000 from over 3 decades ago and am selling my Korg Modwave, I do not have space to fit the keybeds anymore. Only hardware left is Eurorack and some semi-modulars, plus grid controllers.
Never selling my summit. Maybe will sell hydradynth as vital and serum can pretty much replace them. Any moog like subsequent 37 can be replaced by Diva sad to say. Argue with me ,
Blasphemy! haha only kidding. I think almost every synth has a relatively software replacement now. But I still find it really hard to get plugins to sound as good as my OB-X8 going into Meraki analog delay. It just sounds perfect to me, and would require fiddling and eq'ing for ages.
The OB-X8 paired with a 3rd Wave. Ultimate setup!!!!!! Those two along with a Muse are my dream synths right now. Considering the synths I already have, those three would most likely be the last big synths I would ever buy, "IF" I could afford them. For the sake of space, I'd probably go with the desktop version of the OB-X8 and the keyboard versions of the other two.
Yep, that's truly the creme de la creme for me too, with a Seaboard or Osmose for MPE! I really would love to review the Muse, it sounds glorious.
@@MilesAwayOfficial ABSOLUTELY!
Summit is a great choice. I love mine, but the Hydrasynth Deluxe is a good alternative too. One extra octave, ribbon contoller., polytouch keyboard. I have both, but I’d recommend your listeners who can only afford one try both they sound different, but owning both is ideal.
@@ktreier great recommendation too! I’d love to review the H DELUXE
It's odd that you excluded any kind of workstation. A Kronos, Montage or Fantom would offer many acoustic sounds, including pianos, and still give you a wide range of synth sounds. It would also provide an integrated way of sequencing and building songs. Some workstations, like the MODX or Fantom 0 are even fairly cheap.
If you're looking at a Smmit, you should also look at a Peak. This lacks a keyboard and is basiclly only half of a Summit, but it's much cheaper and does most of what a Summit can do.
Honestly, iif you get used to working wih VSTs, there is very little reason to regress to hardware synths. You might be better off getting something like Komplete, Omnisphere/Keyscape or the Arturia V-Collection. These will gove you more capailities and beter sound than most hardware synths and work better in your DAW. Better still, you can cheaply add VSTs from companies like Cherry Audio, giving you a museum quality selection of synths to choose from.
@@geoffk777 great feedback! Peak should definitely be in consideration. I didn’t include workstations as I wanted to focus just on synth sounds , and specifically programmable synths, and unless you spend big on workstations I find a lot of them have menu dive-y synth engines which is not a workflow I would recommend to beginners looking to learn personally. But for the working musician, a Montage or Fantom is pretty much all you need!
This was a great video to get some ideas going!
I think I like the $3600 Summit/Grandmother combo you made the most because it’s the perfect example of how far we’ve come as far as what you can get for your money. That’s really an amazing combo. I think I’d use that as a basis and then add a Sequential Pro 3 and an OB-6. Two monos and two polys with lots of character.
Don’t sleep on the MK1 Quantum. With the release of the MK2 you can find the MK1 for $2500. Also a Hydrasynth with its polyaftertouch is quite a steal too!
That's a crazy price for a Mk1, where are you seeing that? I'd love to find a Mk1 even to review for a bit, but they are still rare and pricy in Canada!
@@MilesAwayOfficial I’m definitely talking about the resell market. I should’ve mentioned that. But right now on Reverb, literally looking as I type, $2249, $2250, $2799. There’s even one $2000 flat. The one from eBay is gone though.
And this is US btw
For 10000 Budget, I choose :
- 3rd Wave Deskop
- Moog Matriarch
- Moog Muse
- UB-Xa or Take 5
Excellent choices! Pretty close to my list :)
@@MilesAwayOfficial I already have a Matriarch Black Edition and a UB-Xa than I prefer than the OB6 (I kept it for only 6 months) and I placed an order 15 days ago for the Muse and the 3rd Wave Deskop. ;-)
In any case, congratulations for your super interesting videos, even exciting I would say ! It's the ones about music equipment that I like to watch the most ! 🙂
Assuming you already have an iPhone/iPad* for a hundred you can get an mpe play surface, a great mixer/recorder (aum), and a couple of superb synth emulations eg animoog , twin 3, Nerd , model D etc. Patience and waiting for sales could get you even more. Add a second hand key step 37 (sequencer/arp/velocity/aftertouch) and you are pretty much set for a couple of hundred. *Ios apps identical to Mac/pc ones are generally a minimum of half the price or much less but this is slowly changing since the M.
@@deadpoetlive good call! The Moog iPad apps sound way better than they have any right to. The modular one especially
Love the video thanks! Question for you … I have push 3 and I am looking for an amazing desk top synth with mpe support. What do you recommend?
Current setup:
Digitone
Juno106
Korg monologue
Pittsburgh Sv-1b
Behringer TD-3
Push 3
@@colemancahill8695 late reply sorry! I like Gs E7 the most bang for buck, but if you have money to burn the OB-X8, 3rd Wave or Deckard’s Dream sound just incredible . I have videos on all 4!
While the hardware advice you give is good, honestly I would just stop in the $1k tier with a good MIDI controller, Bitwig Studio (to get everything incl The Grid), a solid "everything synth" (something like Phase Plant, Pigments, Falcon, Dune, VPS Avenger or Synthmaster), a versatile drum VST like Microtonic, and then some specific virtual analog synths on top for flavor (any of Diva, RePro, or GForce's new OB-1.) This should end up right around $1k and you're basically done at this point.
Also in the Free tier don't sleep on Surge.
Cobalt5S Perfect first synth!! Dynamic, Vintage and experimental sounds are all possible and it has a fun randomizer preset option for those unfamiliar how to design sounds. It is the best budget synth I have tried. Way better than microfreak, minilogue and roland boutiques which are all popular budget options but Cobalt5s blows all these options out the water. It is the best affordable synth I have tried since I am into vintage and new generation sounds.
Late reply but great shout! I reviewed the full size cobalt and argon and they are great synths.
I love my Roland’s but if I started over, I may do things differently because you can get all the Roland sounds in VSTs but you can’t get all the Yamaha sounds in VSTs unless you buy a hardware Yamaha Synth, so maybe I’d buy a Montage and a nice Native Instruments S series MIDI controller and Komplete 15 Ultimate and Arturia V Collection X. Then maybe a smallish battery powered synth that could double as a MIDI controller and a good all-around synth to carry around when I needed to travel light.
Hmm good choices but left out some good budget models like hydrosynth and modal Cobalt 8. If you can find a novation k station used, you can do really well budget wise. For reverb surprisingly you leave out Strymon and Elektron
@@marvinlewis2095 fair! Argon and Cobalt and Hydra all are great too.
This is all way too mellow for me to get any idea what I would prefer. Which ones of these are spiky demented and really scream? Which can you twist and follow down mad rabbit holes you would never have considered? I have a Waldorf Pulse and a Korg Prophecy. Something with "freak" in the title sounds like it should be what I would want. Also are hardware effects a whole load better than DAW? Have I missed a trick not using all my guitar FX?
Kept this list a bit vanilla on purpose. Check out my videos on the PWM Malevolent, Moog DFAM, Erica Synths Perkons and Motorsynth MK II. All of those scream and can get really aggressive! DAW is fine for effects if you don't mind being on a computer
@@MilesAwayOfficial thanks man!
@MilesAwayOfficial I was looking into the Waldorf Iridium. All the reviews are so vanilla but I feel sure there must be crazy capability inside that.
@MilesAwayOfficial thanks again man that PMW Malevolent looks like it is well up my street and a good first dip into patching sounds
Maybe it’s stretching DAWless but in the second tier, a used MPC, MC-101, or Digitone could take you far (and meet the “must have sequencer” requirement).
Great recommendation! That would totally work instead of the Play!
Of the quick sound samples, the OB6 and Moog Matriarch both stood out as most transparent, and musically pleasing. Lots of good picks. I'd vote for the 3rd Wave (desktop ok too) and the OB6.
Great choices!
I can't say that your choices are wrong, but I can say there are better choices out there for practically everything you suggested.
Casio CTS500 gives you a bit of everything
You can substitute the drum sounds with samples. 3 seconds samples can very useful.
With so many sample spots you can sample notes and have very complex songs and arrangements
It has lots of good sounds and it's easy to control its sound effects
Correct me if I’m wrong but that’s a keyboard workstation not a fully programmable synth right?
@@MilesAwayOfficial It has programmable synth sections thus, it is ideal within the context of "if I started electronic music in 2024"
Gives you a great starting point to create backing tracks as well as various things for leads.
It also works great as a bedroom stereo system was vastly high quality than my Bluetooth speakers
@@davidrobertson4301 very cool, I learned something new! Will have to check that out.
Most of these high end synths end up with people that don’t even know what a 7th chord is. I have no issues with that but there is far too much attention to sound possibilities rather than creativity. I could easily buy a 3rd wave or any of the other top tier monster synths. But I would need to spend tons of time getting to know them and explore them, taking away from actually making music.
While I think your approach is great (I started with learning music theory, then using only VSTs for years), I think we have to remember that being a sound designer is a totally valid creative passion. Not everyone needs to write traditional diatonic songs!
The title is wrong, it should be:
*If my boss wasn´t greedy, i´d buy these Synthesizers*
@@wudimusic lol truth
Gone for a 3rd Wave, Melbourne Instruments Nina, Waldorf Iridium, Gamechanger Motor Synth, Sub 37, UDO super Gemini and a SH-101 in my studio at the moment, it’s got a bit mad!
Don’t even get me started on the drum machines! Waiting on a SYNTRX mk2 to finish it off.
@@ElCapitanSpace what an epic set up! We have similar tastes. How’s the UDO? I might buy one
Absolutely brilliant, not quite like anything else and being able to use the layering in the way it’s setup makes it really versatile whilst still sounding fresh and unique.
Hoping to add an OB-X8 and a Prophet 10 someday and then the collection is complete, just trying to find a buyer for the other kidney!
I have 4 of the synths you mentioned, Hydrasynth, Miniloguexd, Minifreak, and Matriarch. I'm looking to add another synth. Its between the. Muse, Oberheim TEO-5, Sequential Rev2 and Arturia Polybrute 6. I play jazz fusion and solo ambient/electronic music.
That's a killer set up! I am actually working on a review of the TEO-5 once it arrives, so maybe I can help ya there with a choice :)
IMO Virus Ti2 sounds better than 3rd wave, not to mention it has 16 parts multitimbral each with 8 voices with its own effects and sequencer.
Virus Ti2 is discontinued. The problem with the virus is now the "Total Integration" part not working on Macs anymore because of Kemper GmbH doesn't want to update their software for years now, even when they where still selling the Virus Ti2.
I have the Virus Ti Polar and still love the synth to this day.
I would agree with the Virus Ti2 sounding way better. I should consider myself one of the lucky ones to buy a new virus as they had the very last shipment circle circulate across the world and I was able to buy the last brand new Virus Ti2 in America on 8-1-2024.
@@masonjahncke7844lucky you; where did you get that?
Virus is a sweet synth for sure but I only included currently in production synths!
My bro Vulture Culture has the vintage/used synth market recommendations, he knows much more than me, I focus this channel only on modern synths!
@@life-is-inspiring3953 Perfect circuit got the last shipment of three brand new virus TI2 on July 30th. Guitar center also received a shipment and sold out within one hour. Perfect circuit had the last available Virus for sale in America for sale on 8-1-2024 and I ordered a new credit card just to buy it 🫨🫨
As for free VST's, I should mention 2 that are amazing: Surge XT (also open source) and Valhalla Supermassive.
Awesome recommendations!
Agree with Top Tier 100%! That said, I'm thinking about the 3rd Wave desktop paired with my Roli Seaboard or Osmose. The expressive capabilities of the Roli paired with that 3rd Wave should be incredible. Curious if the UDO Super Gemini is tempting you. Future classic IMO. Love your channel by the way. It's always a "go to" on UA-cam!
That's an awesome idea! I play the 3rd Wave with my Seaboard and it sounds amazing! Super Gemini is so tempting, it looks amazing. I think if the Polybrute 12 didn't exist I would go for it, but if I buy a new synth to review it will probably be the PB12
Sadly the 3rd wave hasn't had any tech support yet. Bugs have been reported. Needs more firmware updates. I'd go with udo , oberhime, or the upcoming Caladan from Isla instruments. Also super critical redshift is looking nice.
Thanks good vid. One thing, Reaper's not free. You have a test period and then pay a very very reasonable rate.
Love your channel huge fan, could you do a video comparing analog VSTs vs the real analog gear? I want your opinion on if there is a real difference.
@@gibsonflyingv2820 I did something similar! Check out my video on “can AI replace analog synths”, it’s Synplant 2 vs the Oberheim
That's a great video. Thank you very much! What do you think about workstation synths like the Yamaha Montage M or the Roland Fantom? Especially in terms of sound (not so much workflow which is apples vs oranges!). Do they compare with the Summit or are they inferior for similar sounds?
Thank you! I owned a Montage for a long time and its a great synth if you mainly play live and or don't mind screens for editing. I sold mine however as I didn't like the UI for editing synth patches, and the sampled sounds are inferior to Kontakt and a computer with AAA banks from Spitfire/Native Instruments etc. Sound wise the virtual analog is really nice but you don't get real analog filters which is important to me (moreso than analog oscillators).
@@MilesAwayOfficial Thank you so much for the response. Really appreciate it
For that price it would be wiser to buy quality studio monitors, quality interface and do serious room treatment. And then buy a DAW and few plugins and you’re on your way
great advice too!
love vital and u-he tyrell vsts. i use the tyrell in almost every track i make.
They are seriously excellent! can't believe they are free.
While I do agree with your suggestions, things still look different for me as I often take out my synths to play in live setups. Which brings a whole bunch of other factors into play. Weight and size, numbers of keys, SAVEABLE PATCHES, a display that shows patch names (talking to you, sequential!) to name a few of them. So definitely no matriarch but YES to Sub37 here. Even though i hate bringing extra pedals when playing live, so maybe the Muse - but i haven't tried if it rocks mono sounds and it could use a few more effects. So.... 3rd wave only, I guess.
Fair! I definitely geared this list more towards the hobbyist jammer/producer vs live musicians. But the Sub 37 is one of my top 5 boards of all time, its on like all of my songs! Glad you enjoyed my picks!
Got 2K? KingKorg (5 octave), Jupiter 50 and a drummachine of some sorts (TR6/8s, SH-4d) and a no nonsense mixer. You could go cheaper (MC-101) but that is a nightmare in disguise...
At least one 3-5 octave synth, rest can be modules, grooveboxes etc.
My Studio: Groove 3rd Wave, ARP 2600, Moog Model D, and if the 3rd didn't have such a great State Variable filter I'd throw in the OB-X8 module. So yes, I agree with your $10k + budget. Best to you.
Incredible studio! Very jealous of your monosynths :D which do you prefer?
@@MilesAwayOfficial Can't pick (forgot the SH-101). Both the 2600 and Model D are soooo musical.
@@Station2Station-du2gh jealous! killer monosynth collection. I still love my Sub 37, whereas I didn't like the Arp 2600 as much as most do, I think monosynths are incredibly personal choices
Arturia's Virtual Synths are pretty impressive
@@102wingnut absolutely! I wanted to shout out Pigments at the end there
Great video, one question, what do you think about Audient EVO 16 interface instead of the Behringer UMC1820?
I've never tried that one sorry!
Awesome video !!!
Thanks!!
SE-02 is one of the best mono analog synth for under $500.
Legit great shout, I love that thing.
@@MilesAwayOfficial thanks. The SE with the EXT Box, having both presets and such amazing gain staging is just amazing. I've owned most of the modern monos, BS2, Monologue, grandmother, etc... and the only legitimate complaint I hear is that the knobs are too small and I think that's an issue for some, but it's never bothered me. My Matriarch is the opposite, lots of space, but at 4x the price, it still can't get as gritty. But the Matriarch does these amazing pads that are unbeatable for a mono. However, I think that the Muse is a better buy than the Matriarch and can probably cover that ground and more relatively easily. But the Muse can't match the SE for what it does best, even tho I'm sure that in the mix no one can tell anyway. Sometimes it's more about just doing the most you can with the great you've got. So the great bands in history had very limited gear and they did fine. :)
Thanks for the video, I have a Sub 37, and use a big 88 key Yamaha for midi. I keep looking at the market of Polys, they're a little expensive for me currently, and honestly this kind of confirmed my uncertainty around current offerings. I just feel like Arturia Pigments or similar pretty much covers Third Wave, it's a gorgeous synth if you can easily afford it, but wow it's expensive for what it is. Oberheim would be nice, but the ob-6 does feel a little long in the tooth as a modern synth compared to current offerings, and the ob-x8 sounds great but has a more vintage workflow. The GForce Oberheim synths are maybe not quite the hardware but sound fantastic for software. I guess that to say, hardware does have the soul, charm, and tactility that I appreciate, but man it's just so hard to justify these monster expensive synths given what I already have. Not really feeling the sound of the Polybrute either, Muse maybe but I haven't been totally blown away by it either yet. Not a fan of how dark the summit is.
You are totally good to go with VSTs like g force and diva if you like the sound! I also think the sub 37 is one of my forever synths since the way it growls and breaks up with drive is really hard to get right in a plug-in. If you do go for a budget polysynth check out my video on dreadbox nymphes. It sounds absolutely incredible, and is really basic but retro sounding. For the price it’s a great vst combo
Great video. Thank you for this - exactly what I've been looking for. I was wondering when it comes to reverb whether instead of getting a dedicated reverb effect whether the Eventide h9 offers an equally nice reverb options, plus other effects too - actually x 2 with the newer release now. Any thoughts on that?
I don't use eventide myself but they make great stuff! I think it would depend on if your synth had any built in effects or not. Because usually, most polysynths have pretty solid delay, tremolo, chorus etc, but then the reverb is just awful (any Sequential synth). So, my go-to recommendation is always to get at least one really good reverb effect. If you love the eventide reverb, then fantastic! The multi-effects would be super useful on dry-only synths like OB-X8
@@MilesAwayOfficial yes absolutely! I wish more would be given to effects on synths sometimes - they seem like an afterthought for some. I find the distortion on some can be as tragic as the reverb - more like a stomp box. I have an Andromeda A6 and that’s a fine example. Hard to find analogue distortion rather than digital!
@@julesr617 yea I would love to pick up an analog heat or OTO Boum one day, stereo analog distortion/saturation is rare!
Hey Miles. Do you have a video with your synth setup? I can sort out the audio but just wondering if all the boards are good to go with midi clock sync throughout and if you prefer to trigger everything from the computer or from a sequencer/drum machine/hardware source? I'm so tired of the computer. I run a sub 37 and prophet 6 combo BTW.
It's coming soon I promise! Just been hard at work finishing my next record, so the video output has been slower!
@@MilesAwayOfficialstoked to hear some tracks. Any hints?
Instrumentals? Working title?
@@allenleclerc7878 its a record all about going back to my roots, and has the most personal/nostalgic sound of any work I've done. OBX8 is the main synth this time around, less digital sounds!
I'd skip everything listed in the $1000 category to go with a Take-5 or TEO-5. I get that the video would have been essentially a Sequential/Moog buying guide if you did though.
Not a bad shout! I just got my TEO-5, working on the review now, so stay tuned there!
great picks! 🎹👌 how about prophet 10? :)
My absolute favourite synth I don't own. I've almost caved and bought one so many times. 🤣 One day I will own one.
Why didnt you choose modules to save on keyboards and space?)
@@n.l.541 fair question! I tend to prefer dedicated keyboards and sequencers so you can play both synths at the same time, but when you get to more expensive tiers and can afford master sequencers like the Play or master keyboards that’s great too
You are the reason á lot of people including me bought the 3rd wave, I got the desktop version for $3150 new. I pair it with a korg Kronos 2 88 and osmose expressive e, both Meris X pedals, and an Empress zoia to fill in the blanks and add granular and add some extra light voices, the red panda tensor is fun for DJ style effects, and a chase bliss generation loss MKII for any imperfections or vintage fx. All runs through an RME audio interface (cause rme is objectively the best), flux mentor amplifier for Mod House Tungsten DS headphones, and performance samples orchestral vsts + noire piano and strikeforce 2 cinematic percussion vsts all come together for ultimate flexibility. Recording and composing on Cubase.
Going to sell my montage 7 to just get the montage m plugin and buy a really good digital piano for a top notch piano keybed, which will be a flagship yamaha or kawai or Roland (got to research more). Even though the Korg Kronos is all digital, the HD-1 Sampling engine is the best synth sampler in hardware format plus the live set feature makes live play a breeze (3rd wave will add it eventually too), and upgrade the internals for an extra gigabite of ram and upgrades to 200 voices total on all engines (including the HD-1). It's also got the unique Korg DAC flavor for optional sound coloring, lovely midi controller, and better than their new instrument when you upgrade it plus all the hardware controls and ribbon controller they removed too, for a bonus it's got the most complex arpeggiator probably ever made (KARMA). Roland fantom and nord stuff doesn't give me anymore than I already have.
3rd wave on paper is a prophet filtered, better spec'd moog one (more voices, timbrality, wavetables, more envelopes, same amount of lfos, more room for big updates, same oscillators amount and more), best modeled oberheim sem filter probably ever made, and vintage PPG 80s synth all in one with modern features and vastly expanded and revolutionary. But for the filter sound, I am tempted by a moog muse. Polybrute doesn't sound as unique.
Glad I could help inspire you on the 3W and the Meris pedals! How do you like the 3W with your Osmose? I've been having a blast with MPE. Moog muse looks really interesting, let me know if you get one. I've been tempted my Muse and Polybrute, even though I don't need them!
1. Monitors on their side THE WRONG WAY.
2. Recommends a moog over a bass station for a monosynth…
Dont take advice from strangers on the internet
great video, would love to have a consultation call with u regarding the 10k set up. Let me know the details. Thanks u cheers
Sure! Email supmilesaway @ gmail . com (no spaces) to discuss coaching / lessons / advice calls etc
i have a Peak, OB 6 , Subsequent 25 , Cobalt 8 . i had many other synths in the past. try to convince myself that i dont miss too much without 3 rd wave . for me the best sweet spot for money and sound its Peak -Summit vs OB 6 . and i really love even especially for its underrated status a Modal Cobalt 8 , this synth can give a huge handicap for much more expensive polys , i think it has even a some Oberheim flavor whit its nostalgic , melancholic tones .
Yea I think that’s a perfect set up! I don’t think you need the 3W necessarily. I picked the Summit for the 3rd tier for a reason, Peak and Summit are absolutely incredible and they pair so well with OB-6.