Hi there - anyone have any good recommendations for a good rompler synth. Like a Korg M1 or something like that. Maybe an M1 isn’t a rompler
Thanks!
Korg microX. Cheap, loads of waveforms. A bitch to program though, like most romplers.
Roland MV-30 if you want a sequencer built in (and a good one at that) excellent filters and good selection of classic Roland waveforms, also takes D70 and U220/U110 cards, pretty good and simple editing yet flexible.
Kawai K4r is great too, Roland JV-1080 (but getting pricey, might be a boutique version coming?) or if you want a modern one Roland D-05.
There are toms of other good ones, wavestation, m1r, m3r, emu proteus range, emu vintage keys, etc.
+1 for the wavestation. Takes some time with programming but a really classic synth designwise. There’s nothing else that is streamlined like it (optics). Quite cheap at the moment.
If your budget can handle it, the Roland Integra 7 is an amazing rompler and synth, and pairs well with Elektron gear. And you’ll have a bajillion sounds.
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Personally I’m a fan of the E-Mu’s Proteus range; Proteus, Orbit3, XL1 etc.
Get a “Turbo” model; i.e. Proteus 2000, Orbit-3, Turbo XL1 or a Turbo-Phatt_ and you 128 voices, 32 midi channels, 6 outs, s/pdif, dual midi; and can accept up to 4 ROM cards.
Standard models will give you 64 voices, 16 midi channels, 2 outs, s/pdif, single midi; and can accept only 2 ROM cards.
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I am a huge fan of Roland´s JV series. The JV 2080 offers a lot of synthesis features and a nice rom set that is great for electronic music. Each patch can have four tones and from there your possibilities are endless. I often sample sounds and import them into Omnisphere or the Analog Rytm. This stellar soundset from Don Solaris shows the potential of the synth.
The 2080 has six outputs, Overbridge will be ready soon.
[edit] To clarify: The JV1080, 2080, 1010 and 5080 use the same sound engine and rom set. The 2080 has a nice and big display and is much easier to program than the 1080. The 1010 is a non-editable preset-machine in half-size format and the 5080 the much more expansive top of the line model with added sampler support. I´d recommend the 2080, they sell for around 200€ these days. The 1080 is not much cheaper but not so cool since the display has only two lines of text instead of the graphics.
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Kurzweil K-2000. It certainly isn’t limited to rompler duties as even the non sampling version does sample playback. They are criminally undervalued at the moment, IMHO.
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Everyone should own a montage.
Otherwise I’d highlyrecommend the korg M3m. Always thought those Kurz rompers with VAST looked like an interesting rabbit hole to get lost in too.
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It is a glorious rabbit hole and an easy recommendation for fellow Elektron users. You won’t struggle to find tens of thousands of patches online for free.
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What about the Korg M3R?
Emu Command Station could be a good find. Nice knobby panel w/ Quick Edit mode for tweaking away without fear of messing up a favorite preset. Unique (to Emu) Z-plane filters. Powerful Patch Cord modulation matrix, plenty of LFOs, - lots of possibilities for breathing life into those ROM samples. The arpeggiator system is also very powerful.
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YMMV, I found it a nightmare to program and the sounds pretty uninspiring. I’m sure it’s a powerful engine but it’s one of the least intuitive synths I’ve ever laid hands on. JV-2080 miles better IMO.
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Judging from the type of music you make you’ll want an M1 or a D-50.
I’d get a D-05 because it has all the extension cards built-in as well as a fun bank of new patches made by Legowelt.
I’ve been checking out the D-05 and all the sounds seem so Blade Runner-ish - LOL 
!
Or remember that 80’s movie, Cat People?
Does the D-05 have those old school house and techno vibes?
Those sounds are obvious with the M1. But clearly the original M1 is 9 billion times bigger than the D-05. Curious
I rather enjoy my kawai k4.
Pretty sure it’s considered a rompler.
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Oh yeah. The D-05 is effectively the other M1.
If you do use a computer occasionally, you could also check out Korg’s M1 plugin, or get their iM1 app on an iPad.
EDIT: One nice thing about the D-05 is of course its arp and step sequencer. Oh, and don’t overlook the weird Chase feature.
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I have a Emu Proteus 2000 & Emu Mo-Phatt…love them both & great value. Each came with around 1,000 sounds & have a lot of sound shaping features (tons of filters, effects, arps). I mainly make hip hop, all though I think they could be used for any genre, I’ve used them for trip hop & other techno genre’s as well. They’re older, but I think they can still hold their own.
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I, on the other hand, find it straight forward and logical. I can’t think of another synth that has been used to recreate an entire song with just a single patch all without sequencing, I should add.
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I have the M01D app for Nintendo 3DS. It turns the 3DS into a pocket Korg M1. Practically no sound editing capability to speak of - it’s a ROMpler in the strictest, most barebones sense of the word. I could see though why the M1 was such a big hit in its time - the sequencer is easy to learn to use, and the samples were pretty decent for their time (1988 or thereabouts).
D-50 and its mini-clone the D-05 have more real synthesis capability. Thought about the D-05 for a while but I figured I’d spend more time fighting it to get sounds that I’d like. I’m sure there are happy D-05 owners though.