With the A4, if you want 4 voice polyphony, it’s monotimbral. Sure, with the 2 oscillators and sub osc per part you can do “pseudo” polyphony
Only because he said
Buzzy is even more limited than the Tooro, no ?
Nice overview. A few remarks:
- Micromonsta 2 in 2-part (MM 1 in your list monotimbral)
- SH-4d has additional drum part, which can also be used as (limited) synth
- MC-707 is 8-part
- Deluge is polyphonic
- Blofeld is 16-part (although not easily achievable due to limited polyphony)
- Opsix, while not officially being multitimbral, can simulate this due to it’s modular design using keysplits. I’d say up to 3 parts, if you only use single oscillators+filters, but easily 2 parts with either 2op FM, dual oscillators or dedicated insert effect per part.
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It’s a little more complicated than that, though I agree that it’s limited compared to even the DN (8 voices, 4 parts). On the A4, one can choose which voices are available for polyphony, and there is an option to use track sounds, the effect of which is not monotimbral. I think this is quite different from Syntakt, but of course it doesn’t compare to the powerhouses on your list.
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No mention of the Novation Supernova yet?
Also the Mutable Instruments Ambika - 6 voices that can be 6 x mono multitimbral or 6 voice poly monotimbral or any combination. Small footprint too but really wants a midi controller (BCR2000 or MF Twister for exanple) to get the hands on control you’ll probs want.
Edit - missed the ‘in production’ criteria! My bad.
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@Skypainter Sorry to insist but where is the essence fm in your list ?
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Added.
Nord Stage 4 is 6 parts multitimbral, Korg Nautilus 16 parts and Yamaha MODX also 16 parts. The NS4 is a performance synth, while the workstations can additionally do elaborate MIDI sequencing and sometimes even sampling & audio recording.
Isn’t the Virus TI out of production?
waldorf m is the best synth ive ever owned. i think ive held onto it longer than any other synth ive bought in my life. hardly use the mutli-timbral side of it, but the newest beta fw makes it much more stable than it was before. you can only use 1 modern mode preset and 3 og ones, but that isnt a huge deal really. the multi timbral (part) options are really good (keymapping, velocity mapping, option to have master filter functionality across all 4 parts, etc)
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Not according to the Access website; new units are available.
Can you comment on this?
Novation Circuit and Circuit Tracks are both bitimbral.
Kodamo Mask1 is 4 part multitimbral, 10 voice polyphony.
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Roland MC-707 is a great multitimbral one.
i wouldn’t use it for percussion
the manual isnt very exhaustive at all, esp since all of vlad’s fw updates
you can use any envelope for anything though. so you can use the extremely malleable wave and free envelopes for shaping the filter, the digital filters, or the amp env, as well as mixer levels and wave positions. also there is now a slow/fast/normal setting for the main vcf & amp envelopes in the env menu
you can also recursively modulate each stage of the amp & filter envelopes by assigning vcf env to vcf envelope decay, for example., in the negative or positive direction, which gives either an exponential or logarithmic shape to the stage
the envelope response in general is not my favorite though. not as bad as something like the hydrasynth, but not as good as something like the sequential take-5. the wave and free envelopes are some of my favorite aspects of the M though. but i just find it a little difficult to really clamp down on the filter in a way that juxtaposes nicely with the amp envelope. i have gotten some very nice results with the free envelope on the filter cutoff though. with the free & wave envelopes, you can set a “time” mod, and a “level” mod. so you can recursively modulate the entire envelope by using itself on the time, or you can use a static “max” setting and when you increase the value, it makes the envelope slower, while decreasing into negative values makes it much, much faster
since the m uses a lot of the original microwave code by design, iit feels like they just dont have a strong natural control over the feel. i cant put my finger on it. the hydrasynth was very similar in a way, but i prefer the envelopes here to that. the filter here doesnt have an extremely wide spectrum either for dialing in bouncy drum-skin resonators the way you can by pinging a filter on the rytm, or a phaser on the es-1
anyway, the timbres you get here would be very nice for using as source material for short percussive bursts to then snap down on with an lpg or something. and you could use the 4 part multi setting for that, but i would much prefer something like the syntakt for that. if you want multi-timbral/percussive synthesis, either the analog four or the syntakt are your best options
the only thing i dislike about the m is that the envelopes arent like the ones im used to. the 2 multistage ones are incredible for complex rhythmic movement. but i used to be a drummer, and i build songs much more easily when layering percussive sort of melodic (stabby) rhythms. and the best sounds i make on the M are more detailed incredibly unique and interesting textures that sort of swim around and decay and throb while morphing into digital ether and all of this dusty particulate. i hope someday they can add functionality that makes the envelopes respond more like some of the sequential analog synths i love so much, or even the elektron synths
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If you want multi-timbrality and versatility and you’ve already got a Nord G2, you should probably set your aesthetic concerns aside for a time and consider the Roland, Yamaha and Korg workstations.
I’m not quite sure what you’re referring to with the Virus’ “core sound” as I’d take that to mean any number of things, but if you’re referring to the core sound use-cases within the trance/ progressive house etc. that are the most referenced sonics of it, I’d emphasise not to get drawn into that as a negative as it’s capable of so much more. If you’re referring to the general characteristic of the chip sound I’d be keen to know why you feel that way as for me it’s such a warm sound for a digital synth if you want it to be. The 16 part multi is ridiculous too enough to allow for individual instruments, and layers to add complexity to those sounds in abundance.
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Thanks for the very informative reply.
Given all the mentions of the MC-707, it seems fair to mention the MPC One+ too. (At least) 8 part timbrality, lots of soft synths included, plus sample keygroups pushing you beyond “just” 8 parts. Is it a synth though? Debatable. But I’d say it’s debatable for the MC-x0x too.