I just picked up an Erica synths db-01 and it’s sequencer is a lot of fun. It’s really easy to program and the randomize feature is a great idea generator. Although not as comprehensive or fully featured as my Elektron boxes, this sequencer could be my favourite so far. In the past I’ve also enjoyed programming the microbrute - I guess I enjoy simple and immediate. So what are your favourite sequencers and why?
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I really really love the roulette sequencer on the Fors Superberry. I love pattern variation especially for melodic elements so the transpose/sequence length/active steps etc all make finding something new and nice both fun and fast. I love it.
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That’s hard to narrow down. I’ve owned dozens over the years. However, there have been some standouts.
Synthesisers.com Q960+Q961/Q962/Q963
This suite of 5U modules is my first port of call for sequencing most of my hardware. Based on Moog’s famous 960 series, it offers a limited number of steps, but a world of real-time interaction. This is how Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, and Richard Pinhas did it back in the mid-1970s, and it’s still inspiring today. And I’m going to count it as a ‘built-in’ sequencer since a Moog 55 has one included. 
Elektron Analog Four/Keys
My other first choice. I love everything about it - parameter locks, ease of use, CV and MIDI outputs, audio inputs. Despite the AK’s truncated keyboard and lack of polyphonic aftertouch, it is my master keyboard and all around studio hub.
Honourable Mention (‘cause I’ve just realized you meant a built-in sequencer) Five12 Numerology
The current holiday upgrade pricing gave me a good reason to open this one up again, and I instantly remembered why I liked it so much when I first bought it all those years ago. I left it by the wayside when I drifted away from software synths, but that was a mistake. It’s just as vital and enjoyable with hardware instruments.
Honourable mention: Scott Stites Klee
I have a pair of these, as yet unbuilt. However, I have used the software clone to great effect. The Klee was designed by one of my closest friends, fellow Kansas resident, Scott Stites. More than a sequencer, more an interactive inspiration generator. I noticed in a video of his studio that CEvin Key of Skinny Puppy has a pair of them, too.
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Analog Keys for the reasons given above followed closely by Digitone. For me nothing beats Elektron sequencers.
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Elektron stuff is the obvious answer in terms of absolute power… but that’s obvious 
Not quite a sequencer maybe, but I’m enjoying the step LFOs on the Hydrasynth a lot right now. Draw in your own sequence from 2 up to 64 steps, with nice options like smooth, semitone locking, etc then assign it to whatever combination of parameters you like in the 32-slot mod matrix. With 5 LFOs available, you can get into “sequencer” territory pretty fast, especially as you can retrigger any of the 5 envelopes based on the LFO clock rate (or even, as I discovered the other day, route the LFO out of the Mod output and back in, to use the step LFO “high points” as a trigger for the envelope, i.e. a CV gate signal). Really powerful stuff!
I also really enjoy the SH01a’s sequencer. Just really simple but effective, jam in a load of notes at random with rests and glides and octave up/down using the toggle switch, and boom, techno. I find it especially fun with the ribbon input on the device, because you can lock it to a scale and totally remove any thought of notes/scales from your mind!
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I don’t have one of these, but I have owned the SH-101 and I always loved the ease with which one could get a pattern going. I bought the Keystep because it offered a similar method of note-entry.
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The MonoTribe sequencer is super immediate and just right for its form factor. Sometimes less is actually more, although it’s quite deep given how little there is to utilise. Makes it fun and it sounds terrific.
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Was never a massive fan of sequencers until I got a Digitone as they just weren’t full featured enough to do what I wanted.
So Elektron has to win the top spot, however…
Korg MS2000 - a full row of 16 knobs, one for each step makes it ridiculously easy to get going. Obviously it’s fairly limited after that though.
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Circuit Mono Station.
but i don’t own A4 yet …
sh-101: so easy and fun to get something going with, plus advancing the sequencer from a drum machine can take you to really neat places.
mc-202: so cryptic! basically a good random sequence generator unless you take the time to learn it
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I’ve got a circuit monostation but I’ve never gelled with their way of sequencing.
I suspect I’m in a minority of one 
I love how you can program gate length per step. In doing so, you can come up with some pretty organic sequences.
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Monotribe. Limited, immediate, fun. Lots of mileage out of very little.
Anything that can have its sequencer steps advanced by external trigger ( SH101, DFAM etc) doesnt matter where the external trigger comes from, this way of doing things is timeless.
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I feel kind of vanilla saying the elektron sequencer is my favorite. Who would have seen that coming? Honorable mentions go to SH-101a and Superberry’s Asymmetric Roulette Sequencer, which are great for a change of pace.
But seriously, the OT’s arranger is becoming something I use all the time. I used to feel limited by the 64 steps per track, but over time it’s just become a patterned tile and the Arranger is the mosaic.
Just to turn this into another GAS thread, I would love to see how elektron could update and extend the OT’s arranger with a full blown tracker interface like the polyend device.
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There’s nothing vanilla about Elektron’s sequencer. Though I might use the Q960/Q961/Q962/Q963 combo more, I consider the Elektron sequencer to be the best step sequencer made. It has it’s drawbacks, sure, but few sequencers allow such a fast workflow for me. More than that, the results are nearly always interesting. And thanks to Elektron’s continual updates over the years, these sequencers get better and better. Conditional trigs in the Octatrack, MIDI support in the Analog Rhythm and Analog Keys have given them abilities I never dreamed they’d have when I bought them.
If these are vanilla sequencers, they’ve been topped with chocolate, sprinkles, and a great big cherry on top. 
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It’s a hard task to out sequence Elektron. It’s everything I’ve ever wanted in a sequencer. Fast, hands on, intuitive, and inspiring. Some have trouble with Elektron devices and struggle to wrap their heads around it, but from the very moment I turned my first Elektron device on everything clicked. It all just seemed logically planned out.
I also love the Dfam’s sequencer that demands to be tweaker and explored. They work so well with my Euro case and It’s why I own two.
I too have a Klee that I pieced together myself. Only reason its not higher on the lost is because I accidentally shorted a 1/3rd of it’s functioning and haven’t had time to fix it. However, as previously said, it’s more than a sequencer. It’s an exploration.
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Nanoloop. “Parameter locks” before Elektron. There’s something about using gameboy (or gameboy style) buttons to edit a 4x4 grid that I find super fast, comfortable and inspiring. Just the right amount of little tricks and shortcuts to remember without it being overwhelming. And I think the somewhat limited control over the sound, in terms of parameter resolution, makes it a lot faster to use.
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A couple of good ones mentioned already so I’ll throw out the Zaquencer firmware for the Behringer BCR2000.
I’m still a little confused about how to navigate the menus and sub-menus, but sequencing on it is a lot of fun and a lot to work with - clock divide, start, length, swing, direction, and 2 CC automation lates, all per-track, with notes, chords, velocity, length, delay, repeat, skip, and mute, per-step. With a good multitimbral synth you can get some pretty great results.
I haven’t fired it up in a while and I think I should.
Edit: Just realized I totally missed the criteria of it being a synth first… I guess for me it’s the DN for melodic material, and the OT for percussion. I feel like the Nord G2 is sort of cheating…
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Yeah, I was going to mention zaquencer. I rarely use it, but it’s a lot of fun.
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Elektron.
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