Hello everyone,
I currently have a Minilogue xD and a Volca Keys running on my Octatrack.
The Volca Keys weren’t bad to begin with, but I would now like to replace them with something “better”…
In terms of music, I would like to produce something in the direction of techno, here is an example of what I have done so far if you are interested:
The new Synth should:
-Be at least 4 consistent Polyphonie
-A desktop version wouldn’t be bad in terms of space, but it’s not a must
-The important parameters should be controllable via Midi cc
-The synth should be versatile and preferably dark in sound
-Many direct access to the important parameters can be programmed without diving into too long a menu
-I wouldn’t care about analogue or something elese
I saved about 1500 on the price and am thinking about getting a used Access Virus Ti because I’ve heard a lot of good things about it (There is one being sold used near me), but I’m not sure whether it’s suitable for producing techno.
Maybe you have a few ideas about which synthesizers would work well or you can tell me what you think about the Virus Ti in my setup.
Also going to be super controversial but you might wanna think Push 3 as a synth. I’m just thinking nothing can beat Ableton as a ‘synth’. Push 3 is literally a hardware synth with Ableton in it.
Digitone can be good cc’ed with the 4 mod destinations, is multitimbral, has 8 voices, has superior computer integration if you’re into it, and is cheap like nothing else to get. You kinda know the workflow too.
It’s no loss if you get a used one and sell it again if you want to upgrade to Digitone 2.
Other good option would be Arturia Freak (smol or big…), Hydrasynth.
Digitone is a decent suggestion - I’d suggest checking out @Jeanne 's stuff for inspiration.
However for techno I think you have a lot of interesting options available - a Moog Labyrinth is pretty killer for techno IMO - an Arturia Microfreak would also give you a lot for a small budget. Soma Enner is another great option and very tactile.
I’d be looking for something with a lot of personality that you can evolve and shape over time and is quite hands on.
The only real benefit of a Digitone here is that you get 4 tracks (so can do bass etc too) and can easily move from project to project - so could be an easier choice to manage for a set that has more ‘distinct’ tracks - but if you’re more into live improvised stuff then I think the Moog would be my pick - you could jam on that for hours and the rythmic variety you’d get out of it is much more interesting than a 'tone.
Edit: I missed the second half of your post - none of these are polyphonic
An Access Virus would be great, but for your money the 'tone is probably a better buy tbh.
I am going to be this guy who says you don’t need anything else right now. Especially with an octatrack you can sample and use whatever your two synths provide already.
The Digitone seems to be very popular here, I had previously ruled it out, but I would watch it again. However, I could only use one track on the Digitone; I don’t have more tracks available on the Octatrack because I use 6 MIDI tracks for my drums.
I’m also not entirely sure whether direct access via the 8 encoders is enough for me. I would prefer to have my own potentiometer for the important parameters, I say.
Additionally, no Digitone is currently sold near me.
A Hydrasynth Explorer is currently being sold around the corner from me for 450. But I’m not sure about it because I’ve read bad things about the sound, otherwise it would be interesting for me too.
The Virus Ti2 that I could get for 1000 is not that good for techno or is it generally too outdated to get the Digitone?
In terms of the form factor and the directly accessible parameters, it looked quite good to me at first glance. Or could most people not say much about the box because they don’t know it?
What other good synthesizers are there for the genre?
a virus ti2 is incredible in terms of horsepower and flexibility. it’s super deep and near limitless – in theory you could play up to 16 different synth patches at once with it, one per midi channel.
with that and the octatrack alone you’d already have enough to make techno releases for the rest of your life.
a friend of mine uses the Virus + OT for his livesets and swears by it (plus a drum machine, would be too much for me personally but he’s a performer through and through)
the virus ticks all of your boxes you listed in your initial post as well.
this being an elektron forum, of course people are going to suggest the digitone but i don’t know if running an extra elektron sequencer is what you have in mind. it’s certainly menu-divey, even the older one.
You don’t NEED to control the Digitone with Midi tracks from the OT. One of the many many beautiful things about pairing another Elektron device is that you already share the same sequencer, so once you’re connected and sending start/stop and pattern change info, you’re off to the races.
Hell, you don’t even NEED to sacrifice a track for a Thru machine, you can just run the DN ( or Minilogue, or Volca) direct from the inputs.
You can also run the Volca and/or the Minilogue through the Digitone, accessing its effects and overdrive, opening up more input space on the Octatrack in the process
As for “reading bad things about the sound” of the Hydrasynth… what do you ears tell you? Do you like what you hear? That should matter most. Not what other people wrote about it.
You have an extremely powerful tool in your hands with the Octatrack. Congratulations!
The world of possibilities is wide open, my friend.
A virus TI2 for $1000 is an auto-buy IMO. That’s a great price.
I went through this same conundrum and landed on a virus TI2 (for quite a bit more than that) that will be here tomorrow. Can’t comment on how it sounds directly, but from what I’ve seen it will make just about anything.
But be careful - I used this same logic and ended up selling my Octatrack a couple weeks after getting Push.
@Octav, Arturia Micro or Minifreak could be solid choices for a poly synth. Minifreak is sort of ugly, but sounds pretty amazing. Microfreak is a nice size and price and sounds really good.
Sequential Rev2 module is a great entry to pro analog sound if you’re interested in a knobby synth with lots of modulation. You should still be able to get it used for around 1.200€ for the 8 voices. It’s multitimbral and has two pairs of stereo outputs that could go into your OT.
Probably in general a good idea to look for multitimbral synths with multiple outputs, there’s a thread on these on here.
You could also look into something from Dreadbox if you’re interested in synths with character. Nymphes is a steal and has lots of sliders, controls can still get a bit tricky. The upcoming Artemis is more of that.
Virus Ti, 16× multi trimbral, every part with its set of fx, wavetable, 3 OSC + Sub, 2 filters with flexible routing options, deep modulation matrix, 3 freely assignable performance knobs.
And it sounds great!
Using this combo myself, works like a charm
Edit: Because you asked if it great for techno, yes it is!
Then the multimbrality of a Virus TI wouldn’t make a lot of sense and the proposed digitone with it’s own sequencer probably will. Different beasts tho.
The Virus would offer a lot more power, if thats desirable for OP then he might consider shiftinga things around. If he’s fine with using only 2 parts of the virus (which is plenty imho) he’d also have a great sound design and sample creation tool for the OT.
A synth with it’s own sequncer and less timbrality may make more sense of all that virus would feel like a waste of capacity and a Digitone or A4 may be better options.
I would say a Virus snow and a Hydrasynth…
The second respond your specification the first, very smal form factor, will bring 4 more tracks of sound. Less direct for programmation but once understood, maybe more efficient for deep programming than the destop ti. I already use it with OT for live, very efficient combo.
For Hydrasynth, ask to @sezare56 or @Jeanne, they could insure you about its sound quality.
