Can anyone that has experience with an old Minimoog and other synths tell me if there is another synth out there whether vintage or otherwise, that sounds better? I have never heard another with the same rawness and beauty as the old D. I have experience with analog processors like preamps, compressors, etc. and it seems discrete circuits with quality components always trumps the super clean digital and IC based gear, depending on the context of course. I usually use a Neve 1073 preamp for the mini, and unless I want sonorities, I like using one oscillator for bass and leads. The Neve makes anything sound huge, and the purity of the one oscillator create a wonderful sound. Add to that a space echo on an aux bus of a mixer (the amp circuit on the space echo is inferior to the neve) and you have an extremely delicious vibrational energy flowing into the countless beyond. Ladies and gentlemen, life is so good! Every breath, it’s like orgasmic buttered bacon, but then add the spice music to it, and you have heaven. For those of you with only softsynths or DX-7’s, you can be happy too, but it might be a little more tricky.
the minimoog is very oke
other synth’s with different , but good soundquality also exsist.
i have experience with b.e. :
korg 800 dv ( espec in the high range i love it )
roland sh5 ( clean/ hifi like )
ems synthi-a ( different , espec for soundeffects )
roland jp8 ( overall balanced sound, one of the fastest tweaking polyfonic too )
there are so many good synth’s once you start looking ,
however the mini is indeed one of the very good ones and regarding full, warm sounds, big sweetspot , ease of tweaking and layout , it might well be the best
Arp Odessy or 2600. I had a Univox from the era that also had this killer sound, but it was very limited compared to the D or the ARP.
There is a reason the D, Ody and 2600 are so popular.
Since the last post, I had the pleasure to record my model D onto an Ampex ATR 102, half inch 2 track, arguably the best recorder ever made. The sound was the purest, most punchy, analog fatness I have EVER experienced. It was almost digital clarity but with the wonderful warmth of tape. They are making new repro electronics for tape machines, and the ampex had Aria electronics, which are super audiophile quality. The sound was like nothing less than making love to a beautiful woman. I might sell a couple of my instruments to get one. I didn’t use any other processors or anything, I usually use a compressor for synths, but the wide tape can be so hard, it has so much headroom that once you get in the red, the sound is compressed quite a bit , but very naturally, especially the high end, leaving the fattest, most beautiful sound, even out of regular studio monitors.
If you think about it, most vintage gear, especially the minimoog were made for tape. You can almost be certain the the designers of old school gear were working with recorded signals when tweaking their circuits. Tape has a certain frequency, dynamic, and transient response that, in its best form, makes a more natural reproduction medium that had to be taken into account when designing audio processors. So I would say those using digital should use at least tape emulation plug ins when using analog gear. Universal audio has the new Studer A80 plug in, but it’s mad expensive, like $400 not including hardware.
I would assume that the odyssey and the 2600 sound similar depending on the model, but the EMS- I have never heard on played like a traditional instrument, so I wouldn’t know, but is it worth the money? I am looking for something new and different, but tend not to use sequencer, and play mostly rhythmically and melodically. I’m leaning towards an odyssey or an oberheim 2 voice. The oberheim is similar to the mini, I thought, but no pitch wheel, could be a deal breaker.
Been playing a Mini since 1974, while I wouldn’t use the term “better”, the old Moog modulars do have an edge over the model D in some ways. Probably the only synthesizer I own, that has more girth than the model D. Super bass and that vintage Moog sound, it puts a smile on your face every time you play it. Something about those 901 oscillators sound even more Moogy than the model D. Only things missing on the modular, were the upgrades the model D got in the way of pitch and mod wheel and the red noise mod source. I use a Voyager to control my Moog, and having a pitch wheel makes a big difference.
A non Moog with huge vintage sound is the Oberheim SEM. The two voice has everything, with two SEM’s and some extras like a noise source routed to both SEM’s via ext audio input 2. SEM #2 ext audio input 1 is the output of the first SEM for a double chained sound, and both have the S&H routed to the filter ext mod input. Plus a mini sequencer, very nice. Would have been a great synthesizer had it come with a proper pitch wheel and a mod wheel and an extra LFO mod source. There was an aftermarket bender someone made back in the day. But with a mods like that, the two-voice is a great contender, while covering different sounds from the Mini. The SEM has that girth in the bass register that many synthesizers just can’t muster.
no doubt the korg/ univox types were not as developed in possibilities as the more “modern” synth’s like arp2600.
I tried the 800dv, sold it as I thought it could be easily replaced by one ( or two ) 700s types. however found out very quickly that the 700s sounds familiar but has far less possibilities then the 800dv. so sold the 700s and bought me an 800dv again.
the 800dv sounds a bit more polite then the 700s i had , although that difference can be due to calibration differences b.e. in my case. the possibilities are big, certainly big enough to make it an interesting enough synthesizer. with it’s 2 complete voices + 2 subosc plus 2 times hp/lp. it’s a bit finding your way around as everything works a bit upside down or by sideways. but it’s certainly a special , elaborate, very good sounding synth , so i just wanted to say : if you get the chance and want to take it , go for the 800dv, it’s the one that stands out in the early korg range ( to mho afcourse)
by the way it’s strange nobody already mentioned the yamaha cs30 or anything from sequential yet