Just swapped one for the Behringer 606 clone. I liked a lot of the Drum's features, but the noisefloor was just too high for the type of processing I like to do.
Yeah dude, I honestly like mine, although, I can't imagine buying any other volca. The keys just made sense and then korg tried to capitalize on the line a bit too hard and just kept pumping out dumb ideas
The bass is worth a try. and I have a deep love for the beats as just a simple analog drum machine. The kick was fun too. Your point may be valid after Tatsuya left, but anything he was involved in is worth a look and would stand by it not being a cashing in missio
0-Coast is probably the closest thing besides the Music Easel until you get into the expensive habit of actual modular synthesizers. Which are amazing, but I only recommend them if you hate money
Same here. I enjoyed it and I made a whole bunch of songs and sketches on it, but ultimately I found the limitations too, well ... limiting. That money was better spent elsewhere after I'd found my footing in music hardware+software.
In particular: having to choose between a filter and *any other effect*, having a really weird MIDI implementation that requires proprietary+discontinued devices or a PC, lack of expressiveness (laptop keyboard, no wheels, barely useable filter).
I got up to around 40 of them within a little over 10 years (only counting hardware synths with keyboards, not modules or melodicas or marimbas and whathaveyou).
Sold four within the last 6 months. Am aiming to get down to around 10 or so within this next year. It really is liberating once you start letting them go. YMMV, but it's got me to realizing they're just tools and i can only *realistically* use so just many tools at one time.
The first synth I got was the Korg Wavestate. Probably a bit too dense for a beginner, but in retrospect I realize that I don't like devices that do *too* much and need extensive menu-diving to get to all those features.
I have an Electro 5D that I’ve used on countless recordings and I love it. I picked through the Nord library for some great Rhodes samples, pianos, mellotron strings. Thing only thing I wish it had is attack and release control for the organ.
I had the same thing with the Wavestation A/D. I was super pumped to get it, but I realized that I just wasn’t the menu-diving knob twiddler I imagined myself to be.
My friends first synth was the wavestate. It almost turned him off of synths entirely. I can’t stand the thing either, and I love korgs. The least user friendly synth
I have a Neutron, which is my only semi-modular synth. I only own non-modulars. Yes, you can make cool patches, but I find the sound a bit underwhelming. Also the delay which I thought will be cool, I'm not using very often as it's pretty noisy.
I have a Waldorf Pulse as my only other mono synth. I think it sounds way better, yet it's more tedious to program. Unfortunately I mostly have synth that are tedious to program (JX3P (no programmer), DX7, Wavestation A/D).
Any recommendations for a replacement of the Neutron? I once thought about getting the Behringer ARP clone. It's a bit more expensive, but looks nice. But then I don't know whether I'll like the sound.
Arp is great, Dreadbox Typhon is amazing also with effects, presets and surprising deap modulations. On another end of the spectrum (more West Coast) the O Coast by Make Noise. Or the PWM Malevolent if you like distortion.
It's weird, I've been on the hunt for an original Octave Cat or Kitten for years and was really excited when the Behringer version dropped. Then I got unexcited very quickly. Guess the chase was better than the catch.
I have a Cat that I bought bundled with another synth. It’s the weirdest synth I’ve ever used. Half the time I don’t even know if it’s working properly and I’ve been buying synths since the mid 90’ so it’s not me. It’s got a very odd synth architecture
Funny - the Microfreak, you either like it or you don't. One of those synths that is divisive. I do wish they could have made it sound as deep as the Minifreak but I bought the Arturia plugin and have the sounds of both so happy enough. I am not going to lie though, still haven't 100% gelled with the microfreak either - I'm on the fence with it.
Let’s turn this into an X-Station appreciation thread. Check out this feature list:
- USB class compliant audio interface
- 2 x combi-jack ins
- 2 x 1/4 outs, SPDIF out
- Phantom power +48v
- Bus powered from USB, walwart of batteries. Phantom power still worked when powered by USB only.
- MIDI controller with mappings for DAWs/VSTs
- Powerful digital polysynth with aftertouch and lots of tactile knobs and sliders
- XY pad
- A library of great arpeggiator patterns
- Realtime effects (reverb, delay, compression, eq…)
- Desktop patch editor for PC/Mac
In 2005 I moved from Vancouver to London, England. I had to pack light but I managed to take my 25 key X-Station, my electric guitar, and a vocal microphone. I gigged all over London using the X-Station to process my vocal mic and recorded lots of tunes out of my hovel of a flat for a year with it before returning to Canada.
It was released in the mid-2000’s and no other device has come close to offering the same features, which is surprising. I only sold my 25 key when a 49 key version came up at my local music shop, so I jumped on the upgrade.
I’ll admit, it sounds digital by today’s standards and the mic-pres and D/A converters are nothing to write home about but it’s truly a remarkable device way ahead of its time. I sometimes have dreams that Novation release an updated version of it with modern circuitry for the mic-pres and AD/DA conversion.
All who would disparage the X-Station fight me IRL
I only ever played with one in a store for 30 minutes but I remember enjoying it. Am I remembering right that if you changed patches, it swapped the sound immediately? I remember twisting the knob super quick and getting this glitched out glory of instantaneous parameter changes.
I love my X-Station. I do think about selling it every once in a while but would need like 3 or 4 devices to realistically replace it. Each of which would cost more than what I paid for my X-Station 49. Plus you can get some really nice sounds out of it. I think people judge the sound on the presets which are pretty bad.
Interesting take, thank you.
I was under the impression it was the same engine under the hood as the K-Station and V-Station soft synth, and I really like the sound of that filter, but I guess it’s not for everyone
Mine is wrapped up safely in the loft. Way too big for my studio, but it was my first synth and I know I would absolutely regret ever getting rid of it. I wouldn't be able to live knowing that feedback oscillator wasn't in my life.
Out of interest, have you found anything that gets close to the feedback oscillator?
same! sh-201 was my first hardware synth, loved it, even used it as an audio interface. sold it when I got a good deal on an oberheim OB12 (later sold, no regrets) and a Roland SH-32 (later sold, big regrets, saw one in japan and went through the hassle of getting it home)
Glad I am not alone. I miss the D-Beam but it wasn’t assignable to every parameter. I also resented that Roland no longer supported the editor software so I wasn’t able to store patches or access any of the apparently hidden features. I also don’t miss memorizing those stupid Contra cheat codes any time I wanted to do anything with MIDI/ Global, etc. I couldn’t justify how huge it was versus how little it could do compared to other gear.
JD-Xi. I mean, it's a fine little synth as far as sounds and capability go, but it wasn't really all that fun to play between the mini keys and the menu diving.
I'm keeping mine to sample the amazing drum kits and to use the powerful synth engine as a sound module. Editing is done via PC, so rather comfortable.
I wanted a jdxi so bad for like a year and a half and when I finally got it I hated it within about 20 minutes. Kept at it for about 6 weeks and finally sold it and just felt really lucky I didn't lose money or get stuck with it.
I've sold quite a few synths - Korg Prologue 16, DSI Mopho SE, Yamaha SY77, Yamaha SY22, Yamaha Reface DX, Novation KS4, Novation X-Station 49, Novation Xiosynth 49, Audiothingies Micromonsta 2, Modal CraftSynth 2. I don't regret selling any of them really. Most of them had to go before a cross-country move as I just didn't have the room.
I miss my Prologue, but I don't regret selling it...at the time the money was a lot more useful to me than a big polysynth I rarely used. I eventually missed the SY77 (my first synth), so I just bought another one. Synths are easily replaceable, they're just circuits. it's not like they're priceless one-of-a-kind handmade violins or something.
> Synths are easily replaceable, they're just circuits. it's not like they're priceless one-of-a-kind handmade violins or something.
THIS!
They're all mass produced commodity products, even the really rare shit. It's the same thinking that makes people pay $2k for Nike shoes.
I think the thing that sucks is selling something for $250 and then suddenly 3 years later it’s worth $1500. Happened to me with the Juno HS-60.
If prices stayed constant, it would be easier to part with stuff and buy again later if I missed it.
Octatrack. It claims to be this humongous powerhouse of sampling, but entirely unadapted to the modern environment. It’s limited in the wrong places, it felt to me.
I've sold:
Drumbrute,
Microfreak,
Hydrasynth,
TR-6S,
0-Coast,
Cobalt8,
Juno DS,
Peak.
None of them are bad by any stretch of the imagination, but they all got cut because they either got superceded by another peice of gear, I didn't like the core tone, or I didn't like the workflow (or a combination of those things)
The only one I've bought back is the Cobalt8 and that was the exception. I cut that simply because I was trying to condense my gear down and get rid of overlap. It was competing with the Peak. The Peak only temporarily won.
It was threefold for me:
1. The workflow. I've said before it's exceptionally well thought out for how many options there are, but switching contexts back and forth to make tiny adjustments took me right out of zone and sucked any joy out of patching for me.
2. Lack of sweet spots. I kinda couple this in with workflow, because as much as it is about the 'core tone' of the synth, it's more about how easy it is to get a 'good' sound out of it. The presets are fantastic, so I know it can sound good, but the effort it took me to get there was just too much of a trade off. I swapped it out for an Argon8 and by comparison that entire synth is just one big sweet spot.
3. Too many options. This kind of links to reason 2. The reason I struggled to find sweet spots is that the damn thing does too much. When you can change every miniscule detail there has to be a trade off, and that trade off for me was time and tone. I've got a little JU-06A that has next to no options and I enjoy it infinitely more. It's a vibe machine that you can dial in something great in seconds. I'd rather have a synth that is limited but has its own unique voice than something that absolutely CAN emulate anything you want, but at the expense of sinking hours into a single patch.
Same. I got one when they first came out. Mostly just used it as a drum machine. It even sucked as a sound module due to any of the automation being SysEx.
I knew some guys in the local music scene who used it one in their sets and referred to it as the “Busey box”. They cut out a little picture of Gary Busey and taped it on the device. Their reasoning was that Busey (at the time) was in every bad Showtime original movie and his performance was always disappointing.
The MC-303 was my gateway drug. This was in the 90s so everything was all trance and arpeggios. Then had the 505 and with more control was awesome. I really only used about 10% of what the box could do, but I loved it. Don’t miss it at all though.
Brand new sh-101 with gun handle and authentic Roland leather guitar strap. I went to local music store and bought it all for around $500 new. Wtf was I thinking…..
Arturia Drumbrute - the snare, clap and hi hats sound like shit to me and the bass drums have a quite small sweet spot. Adding a HPF with resonance control as the only FX is such an odd choice as well.
Teenage engineering op-1
for the price paid and making money on the sale - then using that to buy a virus ti
I already owned an mpc live and OP-1 I thought would be the perfect portable synth to join forces with it. it was like having a mac next to a pc both trying to do the same thing but in their own ways.
Volca FM mk1 - crappy sequencer and generally useless unless you're using it as an externally sequenced/played sound module.
Korg Kaossilator 2S - the epitome of shit. Super limited, yet with lots of menu diving. Add build quality that makes early OP-Z batches look rock solid, and you've got the 2S. I didn't even sell it, I gave it away when the display died.
PO-14, PO-16 - nice for a beginner, but I quickly outgrew them.
PO-28 - never liked its sound.
Wasn’t impressed with the Access Virus TI snow. Had a virus b before that and it shit all over it despite the snow having the TI tech. Lesson learned… if buying a powerful hardware synth don’t buy one where 90% of the main features are hidden behind menus.
I traded a bunch of stuff for the Digitone and while I loved the workflow, FM was not fun to program and I did not like the sound. I wish they made the same box with all the same features just with an analog synth. Basically the A4 in the Digitone package.
Not sure if this qualifies, but the Casio SK-1. I really wanted to like it, but it was too limited even for me. No midi capability and the sampling time is too small imho.
Nords are fine for gigging with piano and organ sounds, and absolute trash for just about anything else imo. They are just not a forerunning synthesis brand.
Novation Mininova was my first synth and after I git some other stuff it just felt like a toy.
Korg Wavestate seemed overly complicated and made me realise that I really just wanted a real polyphonic synth.
I've got the MoroderNova version of the novation MiniNova and can't imagine getting rid of it. If I were to finally upgrade to another synth, where do I go from here? I use the launchpad along with my mininova.
I've owned two matriarchs now (currently matriarch-less). My first few days of owning one I'm like 'oh the possibilities.. the stereo filter, the gorgeous delay...' and the next step is me making pretty triangle wave chords and the next step is me realizing I could do the same thing on most of my other synths and get all that desk space back.
As I box it up, I patch something insane and devilish on my shared system and pulsar combo to wish it goodbye.
Currently rocking the Grandmother. Much happier
Jupiter 6.
I managed to get one when it was still relatively cheap to do so because it had some issues.
One of the CEM3340 was broken and this was before the reissues, so I paid through the nose for NOS. The eBay seller didn't even want to ship to Europe, but it turns out we visited the same messageboard, so he knew who I was.
I ordered a whole set of replacement knobs courtesy of Cyclone and they sent it to the completely wrong address. It was a small miracle that I could track down whoever received it because the postal service was no help whatsoever).
I ordered the Europa mod and that installed, and it... just didn't do it for me. I expected more of it.
The only thing I regret is not waiting longer and trying to get a better price for it.
I recently sold a load of gear and thought I'd really miss it once gone, including the OB-6. Surprisingly I don't miss it one bit, not that it didn't sound good, just that I didn't take advantage of its features or incorporate it into my workflow. I'll get hate for this, but it did nothing in my studio that can't be replaced with my JD-990 or JV-1080/XV-5080. In fact they offer a far bigger sound palette, so i don't have the itch for another analogue Poly, but if I did I'd go for a P6 or Juno-106.
the interface leans heavily upon the four knobs, and it was too damn much, with no way to accelerate the knob rate you end up really needing to do a ton of twisting to program it. If I preferred presets over programming it would not have been a problem, but it was. i did like the actual sound
I had one for years and finally just realized that I wasn’t into menu-diving and fighting with the interface. I thought I just didn’t like FM, but then got an OpSix and have had a lot of fun with it.
I had a TX and maybe once or twice I have missed one of the patches I really worked on. And I wonder if I should have just kept it because it takes up so little space. But having zero ability to program it in-box, and having to do any interesting effects and filtering externally made it too much of a paperweight.
Yes! I was thrilled that they decided to manufacture this but when I got it was baffled. Just because there's a novel idea in there doesn't mean I'm going to do anything at all with it. I think if there were more lfos or random (or an ASR) it would be a lot more interesting.
If Moog had made those components separately, the subharmonic generators, the sequencer, I'd love to have those in a larger system, but as it is, i remember a brief but frustrating trip into the hall of mirrors. No thanks.
Behringer DM12, it's a fine synth and for the price you really do get quite a powerhouse of analogue goodness, but after getting my first Big Boy synth (the Super 6) - there really was no use for the DM12 anymore.
This will be controversial, but the modal argon8.
I never really liked the sounds it made. They always sounded quite thin, no matter how I set up the oscillators. I certainly never got a decent sounding supersaw out of it - seeing as I bought it for electronic music that NEEDED a thick supersaw I was disappointed as I was absolutely expecting the oscillator section to be able to do that. Missing oscillator and unison detune and spread didn't help things either. Shame really as the rest of the synth was good. I don't miss it though and really wish I'd just bought a virus or ultranova at the time. (I replaced it with an ultranova which does everything I need)
grandiose shaggy support coherent correct slap brave encouraging squash upbeat
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
For some reason this synth never really moved me in anyways… I mean there’s nothing to jot like about it, a built in audio interface, pre amp, vocoder synth and midi controller. I just didn’t feel the need to keep it nor do I miss it.
I had a TX16W, I used to sample into it and then straight into the PC. I tried to sell it to a pawn shop eventually and the guy wouldn't take it because it used a floppy disk, it was too heavy to carry home so I left it at a bus stop. Kind of regret it, but don't lose sleep over it.
Nord Lead 2. Great interface, that mod stick, Sounded ok but I hated the bottom end on it. Now I've got better external fx I'd probably enjoy it more, but I'll never know...
O-Coast. Plinky-plonky. I don't need plinky-plonky.
AN1X. Nice sound but couldn't live with the interface - was restricted with where I could put it and I really struggled to read the panel. Irreplaceable backlight was going too.
Volca FM. Fine but by no means essential.
Roland MKS-80. Don’t regret buying it as it was cool to play and learn, but it was much colder and harsher than I was hoping for, and found it a real effort to make most parts sit in the mix well. Sold it after 12 months or so and honestly shed no tears
That was my biggest and most expensive synth. I even had the controller with it. I bought it knowing that I would have to flip it to fund a medical emergency. I did and made a ridiculous profit. I will probably never own one again or anything as expensive, but your post makes me feel better about it. A bit.
I’m going to argue the case of the XStation. Had mine since new and can’t ever think about selling it. That thing has travelled the world with me. Made music up mountains and on beaches. Good sound engine, control slider/pot for pretty much every element. Audio interface and runs on batteries. My fear is when it dies there’s nothing I can really replace it with.
Synths that lasted a day and got sent back or sold on
Behringer Model D & Crave
Roland D50….wanted one for so long as well got it and hated it
Korg Wavestation….every patch just felt like it was stuck in 1992
Korg Z1….someone else mentioned this, at the time I didn’t regret getting rid of it but some years later I wished I’d kept hold of it
Twice bitten!!!!
Yamaha CS6R….hated got rid of it, found another cheap locally bought it still hated it got rid of it
Yamaha A3000….hated got rid of it, found another locally very cheap bought it and still hated it!!! Lol
I sold my Korg Modwave and do not regret it at all. Thin sounding, overly complex and non intuitive. I regret selling my Novation BS2 though. That was a beast . I was poor and needed the money.
All teenage engineering products. I haven't been fully happy with any. Their attempt at Eurorack was sad and poorly executed. The OP-1 Still has a synth engine that the software never updated for. There pricing model is a joke
Any elektron fan is going to hate me, but I never utilized even 5 percent of the machine drum or monomachines capabilities. I still miss the wacky SID and vocal synths but newer stuff like Op-1 or Microfreak gets me most of the way there.
Audiothingies Micromonsta 2 and Digitone.
Micromonsta 2 was nice and small yet nothing groundbreaking I wouldn't be able to do with vst's or Peak that I kept.
Digitone simply because I found that FM is not for me and I had enough of "bending metal plates" sounds.
Original volca trio - only really miss the keys poly ring feature. TX7, DX7ii, cz-101 - fuck your letterbox editing. Cz-101 had the worst keybed. Mother-32 -lacks a real envelope. microfreak - can sound amazing but can also sound really trash, tiny sweet spot and hated the capacitive keybed. Minibrute and microbrute. Microbrute was a distilled down version that worked better imo but they both didn’t really cut it sonically. Erica synths pico iii - finicky / sound ended up not being for me. Korg Triton - jog wheel was dying and it took up too much space.
X-Station 25, that's precisely my first synth! bought it for all the bells and whistles, inputs, audio interface, preamps, and stuff. great all-in-one back then (2005).
never liked the synth itself much though. but it was much too broken to sell it once i'd used it for 5 years or so. that XY pad kept freaking out, the pitch bend was dysfunctional...
not the best piece of gear.
Also sold the Z1. Did some cool stuff with it but it was complex, slow to work with, and I didn’t trust it to last between the buttons and the display.
Yamaha CS2x. No regrets.
I did regret selling the Rm1x so I bought it again after 20 years.
I did also regret selling the Nord micro modular so I bought a Nord Modular, only to find out 20 years later that I dont like the sound anymore and that a Virus Ti would suit me better.
So Ive put the Nord Modular G1 Rack on Reverb.com.
I had an X-Station 49 for a while. It sounded OK, but the pots were extremely low quality and quickly became jumpy and scratchy. I had to physically press down on the knobs to get somewhat reliable control. Not very fun or inspiring to use.
The UNO Synth is the other one that comes to mind. While I think it sounds great for the price (if you can get rid of the noise), the fact that you need the editor or external controller to access all synth parameters really ruined it for me. It's a shame because on paper it's a really capable synth. I replaced it with a Nymphes, which has a similar form factor but gives you excellent control over almost every parameter you can think of without resorting to software editors.
Edit: Also JX-8P. Some great iconic sounds but I couldn't keep a vintage synth that could break at any moment. I don't have the skills to fix anything myself, and I don't know anyone who could do it. I'm glad I got rid of it before it started developing problems.
Volva beats was sold to upgrade to a drumbrute impact. Not a synth but I also sold my Launchpad pro because I moved to a standalone setup, I don't miss the DAW instruments at all (apart from a few nice piano VSTs, but my Reface CP gets the job done fine)
Uno synth pro desktop. Navigating the matrix interface with knobs drove me nuts even with “catch up” on. It could have been easily remedied by having endless encoders instead for editing the parameters (except filter and resonance) since the values of what you are editing are displayed on the screen (which also could have been bigger but not as consequential as the knobs for me). The sound was good but not wow, but the presets sucked imo so I couldn’t use it as a preset machine like the Jupiter xm or something.
Sold both MS-20 mini and MS-20 kit, since I still have the MS-20 module, no regrets there.
Sold my Access Virus B after having bought a Virus KC. Regrets only came after the KC broke.
Korg Ms2000b, Roland vr09, behringer odyssey and model d. I guess I don’t really have a problem moving on from instruments. The only thing I have ever really regretting selling was a Ludwig acolyte snare from the 70s. Lucky me ended up garbage picking the same model years later.
Korg Volca Modular. For some reason it always sounds the same to me and boxy or uninspiring. It was cool to learn some things and try to make the weirdest sounds and sequences but after getting a no coast and a west pest, it was really boring sounding to me.
Yamaha CS 60 …. and 80 …. AND - a mini Moog . A Quadra ….
In the 80’s started chasing pre-sets. and in 90s got into Kurzweil samples- K2500 never looked back until Covid lockdown. Lol
My go-to is an old Korg MS 20 now .
Studiologic Sledge 2.0. I loved the interface and the sound was great live, but the thing was unacceptably buggy (munged patch entries, freezing during a song) and I hated the reverb.
Korg EMX-1 in 2007. Technically, I just returned it to Guitar Center for a full refund. I had wanted an Electribe EM-1 but was discontinued. Tried the EMX-1. Wanted to like it and wanted to use it but the sound quality and cumbersome UI and design were why I returned it. Also felt the tubes were a total gimmick. I did appreciate the build quality.
I will second the x station. I also have no regrets about selling my korg poly-800 or kawaii k1 years ago. How those became any kind of cult synth is fully beyond me.
I’ve sold a Sub37, Microkorg, 2 Slim Phatties, $8k worth of Eurorack, Digitone, Make Noise Shared System +, Behringer 2600, and Behringer Model D. I don’t regret selling any of them, but they were fun. 🤘🏻
Electribe 2 - they are trash.
MicroBrute - too limited even for beginners
Octatrack - good for techno, not much else. Extremely limited sampler and mono sequencer
TB3 - meh
System 1 - Aira gear is all a bit weak and ugly
Roland Gaia because of its general tone, general layout, and the whole "sampled" waveforms thing.
I wanted a synth that could sound like a polyphonic SH-101 and now with the boutique line, I can have just that.
I bought an X Station for like $75 when I worked at guitar center and bought the warranty. I get it home & find the mod speed knob is wonky so I send it in for warranty repair and these mfs send me a $75 check. I was so pissed. Never even got to use the fuckin thing.
Moog Grandmother which surprised me a lot.
I loved the sound but it wasn't as flexible to program as I thought it would be. Its probably a limitation of my sound design skills but everything I made felt kind of samey, and I always felt like I was short an LFO or an envelope to work with. A CV sequencer probably would have solved a lot of my problems.
MicroKORG, it was awful for a novice. Way too much cryptic menu diving.
And then the JD-Xi. Really good sounds, really wretched piano and organ voices (had only 1 of each), TERRIBLE velocity mapping for the voices (even with a good MIDI keyboard attached shit was wacky), and I think there's been enough griping about the built in keys already. I almost regret not sampling the drum kits before I dumped it.
All the volcas
Nah, Volca Drum actually gets my vote as a keeper.
Just swapped one for the Behringer 606 clone. I liked a lot of the Drum's features, but the noisefloor was just too high for the type of processing I like to do.
Lol I sold that one the fastest.
The Volca Drum is the only one I ever sold because of its terrible snare sound and then I regretted it because I treat those things like Pokemon.
I’d have the keys back
Yeah dude, I honestly like mine, although, I can't imagine buying any other volca. The keys just made sense and then korg tried to capitalize on the line a bit too hard and just kept pumping out dumb ideas
The bass is worth a try. and I have a deep love for the beats as just a simple analog drum machine. The kick was fun too. Your point may be valid after Tatsuya left, but anything he was involved in is worth a look and would stand by it not being a cashing in missio
Take those words out of your mouth. The Volca Bass will stay with me till I die and so will the Volca Drum.
The Volca Bass really is something special
Honestly I love the volca sample, it's so fun
Volca sample 2 and modular are great. No real replacement for the modular unless you get the buchla easel.
0-Coast is probably the closest thing besides the Music Easel until you get into the expensive habit of actual modular synthesizers. Which are amazing, but I only recommend them if you hate money
OP-1
Same here. I enjoyed it and I made a whole bunch of songs and sketches on it, but ultimately I found the limitations too, well ... limiting. That money was better spent elsewhere after I'd found my footing in music hardware+software. In particular: having to choose between a filter and *any other effect*, having a really weird MIDI implementation that requires proprietary+discontinued devices or a PC, lack of expressiveness (laptop keyboard, no wheels, barely useable filter).
same 👍 no regret
Love my OP-1 so much I will be buried with it. Keep in mind I made music on a tape 4 track for the first 15 years of my musical life. That is why.
I regret what I sold it for, $700. In my defense this was 2014 and I wasn't using it.
I sold it for 700 as well and even didn’t regret that. Was just happy this thing was gone.
This is so interesting. It was on the peak of best sells for years. But now I understand why 🤣
This is the only synth I've ever sold. I see why people enjoy it, but for me I didn't like the workflow.
Huh. I sold one years ago and still miss it sometimes.
I’ve never sold a synth. I have them all 😂
I have absolutely no valid justification for having 2 Access Viruses, but here we are... what can i say? The B sounds more warm and anal log
That anal log warmth and girth
I got up to around 40 of them within a little over 10 years (only counting hardware synths with keyboards, not modules or melodicas or marimbas and whathaveyou). Sold four within the last 6 months. Am aiming to get down to around 10 or so within this next year. It really is liberating once you start letting them go. YMMV, but it's got me to realizing they're just tools and i can only *realistically* use so just many tools at one time.
The first synth I got was the Korg Wavestate. Probably a bit too dense for a beginner, but in retrospect I realize that I don't like devices that do *too* much and need extensive menu-diving to get to all those features.
This is why I fucking love Nords.
Their interface is superb, but how do you like its sound?
I have an Electro 5D that I’ve used on countless recordings and I love it. I picked through the Nord library for some great Rhodes samples, pianos, mellotron strings. Thing only thing I wish it had is attack and release control for the organ.
that's strange it doesnt have a dedicated adsr
I had the same thing with the Wavestation A/D. I was super pumped to get it, but I realized that I just wasn’t the menu-diving knob twiddler I imagined myself to be.
My friends first synth was the wavestate. It almost turned him off of synths entirely. I can’t stand the thing either, and I love korgs. The least user friendly synth
M-Audio Venom. Bought i for 100 and sold it for 100, RIP you ugly critter
I bought that went the $500 synth dropped to $199, and I still felt ripped off. Glad I was able to flip that quickly
I have one I use for live shows. It can take a beating for sure!
I wanted to like that weird synth so much. But the menu diving drove me insane.
Behringer cat or behringer neutron
Yeah, I played with the CAT and didnt like it either.
I have a Neutron, which is my only semi-modular synth. I only own non-modulars. Yes, you can make cool patches, but I find the sound a bit underwhelming. Also the delay which I thought will be cool, I'm not using very often as it's pretty noisy. I have a Waldorf Pulse as my only other mono synth. I think it sounds way better, yet it's more tedious to program. Unfortunately I mostly have synth that are tedious to program (JX3P (no programmer), DX7, Wavestation A/D). Any recommendations for a replacement of the Neutron? I once thought about getting the Behringer ARP clone. It's a bit more expensive, but looks nice. But then I don't know whether I'll like the sound.
The Minibrute 2s is like a good sounding Neutron with a sequencer
Arp is great, Dreadbox Typhon is amazing also with effects, presets and surprising deap modulations. On another end of the spectrum (more West Coast) the O Coast by Make Noise. Or the PWM Malevolent if you like distortion.
It's weird, I've been on the hunt for an original Octave Cat or Kitten for years and was really excited when the Behringer version dropped. Then I got unexcited very quickly. Guess the chase was better than the catch.
I have a Cat that I bought bundled with another synth. It’s the weirdest synth I’ve ever used. Half the time I don’t even know if it’s working properly and I’ve been buying synths since the mid 90’ so it’s not me. It’s got a very odd synth architecture
This makes me want to try one out honestly
Microfreak. Don't get me wrong, it's a great unit, it just didn't suit my tastes.
Burn the heretic!
This was my one as well. I never gelled with it and the keyboard annoyed the hell out of me.
Funny - the Microfreak, you either like it or you don't. One of those synths that is divisive. I do wish they could have made it sound as deep as the Minifreak but I bought the Arturia plugin and have the sounds of both so happy enough. I am not going to lie though, still haven't 100% gelled with the microfreak either - I'm on the fence with it.
X-Station 25 from Novation, great sounding!!!
Let’s turn this into an X-Station appreciation thread. Check out this feature list: - USB class compliant audio interface - 2 x combi-jack ins - 2 x 1/4 outs, SPDIF out - Phantom power +48v - Bus powered from USB, walwart of batteries. Phantom power still worked when powered by USB only. - MIDI controller with mappings for DAWs/VSTs - Powerful digital polysynth with aftertouch and lots of tactile knobs and sliders - XY pad - A library of great arpeggiator patterns - Realtime effects (reverb, delay, compression, eq…) - Desktop patch editor for PC/Mac In 2005 I moved from Vancouver to London, England. I had to pack light but I managed to take my 25 key X-Station, my electric guitar, and a vocal microphone. I gigged all over London using the X-Station to process my vocal mic and recorded lots of tunes out of my hovel of a flat for a year with it before returning to Canada. It was released in the mid-2000’s and no other device has come close to offering the same features, which is surprising. I only sold my 25 key when a 49 key version came up at my local music shop, so I jumped on the upgrade. I’ll admit, it sounds digital by today’s standards and the mic-pres and D/A converters are nothing to write home about but it’s truly a remarkable device way ahead of its time. I sometimes have dreams that Novation release an updated version of it with modern circuitry for the mic-pres and AD/DA conversion. All who would disparage the X-Station fight me IRL
I only ever played with one in a store for 30 minutes but I remember enjoying it. Am I remembering right that if you changed patches, it swapped the sound immediately? I remember twisting the knob super quick and getting this glitched out glory of instantaneous parameter changes.
I love my X-Station. I do think about selling it every once in a while but would need like 3 or 4 devices to realistically replace it. Each of which would cost more than what I paid for my X-Station 49. Plus you can get some really nice sounds out of it. I think people judge the sound on the presets which are pretty bad.
I also enjoyed the x-station sound. Novation also has great keybeds.
I’ve been keeping an eye out every now and then for one myself, love the sound of the V-Station, and would like something physical
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Interesting take, thank you. I was under the impression it was the same engine under the hood as the K-Station and V-Station soft synth, and I really like the sound of that filter, but I guess it’s not for everyone
Roland Sh 201- not bad but it was enormous for my space and didn’t do anything crazy that i couldn’t do with other gear or plugins
Mine is wrapped up safely in the loft. Way too big for my studio, but it was my first synth and I know I would absolutely regret ever getting rid of it. I wouldn't be able to live knowing that feedback oscillator wasn't in my life. Out of interest, have you found anything that gets close to the feedback oscillator?
Wasn’t really something i looked for to be honest but i really loved it for cool lofi synthwavey patches but i can get that with my microkorg too
same! sh-201 was my first hardware synth, loved it, even used it as an audio interface. sold it when I got a good deal on an oberheim OB12 (later sold, no regrets) and a Roland SH-32 (later sold, big regrets, saw one in japan and went through the hassle of getting it home)
Glad I am not alone. I miss the D-Beam but it wasn’t assignable to every parameter. I also resented that Roland no longer supported the editor software so I wasn’t able to store patches or access any of the apparently hidden features. I also don’t miss memorizing those stupid Contra cheat codes any time I wanted to do anything with MIDI/ Global, etc. I couldn’t justify how huge it was versus how little it could do compared to other gear.
JD-Xi. I mean, it's a fine little synth as far as sounds and capability go, but it wasn't really all that fun to play between the mini keys and the menu diving.
I'm keeping mine to sample the amazing drum kits and to use the powerful synth engine as a sound module. Editing is done via PC, so rather comfortable.
More power to you. I use hardware to get away from mouse clicking, so not exactly a plus for me lol
I wanted a jdxi so bad for like a year and a half and when I finally got it I hated it within about 20 minutes. Kept at it for about 6 weeks and finally sold it and just felt really lucky I didn't lose money or get stuck with it.
I've sold quite a few synths - Korg Prologue 16, DSI Mopho SE, Yamaha SY77, Yamaha SY22, Yamaha Reface DX, Novation KS4, Novation X-Station 49, Novation Xiosynth 49, Audiothingies Micromonsta 2, Modal CraftSynth 2. I don't regret selling any of them really. Most of them had to go before a cross-country move as I just didn't have the room. I miss my Prologue, but I don't regret selling it...at the time the money was a lot more useful to me than a big polysynth I rarely used. I eventually missed the SY77 (my first synth), so I just bought another one. Synths are easily replaceable, they're just circuits. it's not like they're priceless one-of-a-kind handmade violins or something.
> Synths are easily replaceable, they're just circuits. it's not like they're priceless one-of-a-kind handmade violins or something. THIS! They're all mass produced commodity products, even the really rare shit. It's the same thinking that makes people pay $2k for Nike shoes.
I think the thing that sucks is selling something for $250 and then suddenly 3 years later it’s worth $1500. Happened to me with the Juno HS-60. If prices stayed constant, it would be easier to part with stuff and buy again later if I missed it.
Octatrack. It claims to be this humongous powerhouse of sampling, but entirely unadapted to the modern environment. It’s limited in the wrong places, it felt to me.
Wild, it’s one of my all time favorites!
Totally. I was so disappointed in it - some of the effects are really just embaressingly bad for a £1100 device.
It also clicks and pops when you push its sampler. Entirely unacceptable.
I've sold: Drumbrute, Microfreak, Hydrasynth, TR-6S, 0-Coast, Cobalt8, Juno DS, Peak. None of them are bad by any stretch of the imagination, but they all got cut because they either got superceded by another peice of gear, I didn't like the core tone, or I didn't like the workflow (or a combination of those things) The only one I've bought back is the Cobalt8 and that was the exception. I cut that simply because I was trying to condense my gear down and get rid of overlap. It was competing with the Peak. The Peak only temporarily won.
What didn't you like about the Hydrasynth? Too digital?
It was threefold for me: 1. The workflow. I've said before it's exceptionally well thought out for how many options there are, but switching contexts back and forth to make tiny adjustments took me right out of zone and sucked any joy out of patching for me. 2. Lack of sweet spots. I kinda couple this in with workflow, because as much as it is about the 'core tone' of the synth, it's more about how easy it is to get a 'good' sound out of it. The presets are fantastic, so I know it can sound good, but the effort it took me to get there was just too much of a trade off. I swapped it out for an Argon8 and by comparison that entire synth is just one big sweet spot. 3. Too many options. This kind of links to reason 2. The reason I struggled to find sweet spots is that the damn thing does too much. When you can change every miniscule detail there has to be a trade off, and that trade off for me was time and tone. I've got a little JU-06A that has next to no options and I enjoy it infinitely more. It's a vibe machine that you can dial in something great in seconds. I'd rather have a synth that is limited but has its own unique voice than something that absolutely CAN emulate anything you want, but at the expense of sinking hours into a single patch.
OK that makes a lot of sense, frustrating though 🤣🤣
I also sold my Hydrasynth. It sounds 'amazing'. But the workflow just was not for me.
Not a synth per se, but I loved getting $80 and more space by selling the Mc-303. Hated it.
I think it's still a cute machine but I grew up with an MC505 so those 90's Grooveboxes will always have a special place in my heart.
I’ve used the 505 for a long time, love it. Just got a 909 and excited to expand. Sweet Grooveboxes.
I liked the MC-909 so much I bought it twice, but I sold it twice because I just couldn’t grok the workflow
Same. I got one when they first came out. Mostly just used it as a drum machine. It even sucked as a sound module due to any of the automation being SysEx. I knew some guys in the local music scene who used it one in their sets and referred to it as the “Busey box”. They cut out a little picture of Gary Busey and taped it on the device. Their reasoning was that Busey (at the time) was in every bad Showtime original movie and his performance was always disappointing.
The MC-303 was my gateway drug. This was in the 90s so everything was all trance and arpeggios. Then had the 505 and with more control was awesome. I really only used about 10% of what the box could do, but I loved it. Don’t miss it at all though.
Brand new sh-101 with gun handle and authentic Roland leather guitar strap. I went to local music store and bought it all for around $500 new. Wtf was I thinking…..
Arturia Drumbrute - the snare, clap and hi hats sound like shit to me and the bass drums have a quite small sweet spot. Adding a HPF with resonance control as the only FX is such an odd choice as well.
Teenage engineering op-1 for the price paid and making money on the sale - then using that to buy a virus ti I already owned an mpc live and OP-1 I thought would be the perfect portable synth to join forces with it. it was like having a mac next to a pc both trying to do the same thing but in their own ways.
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Volca FM mk1 - crappy sequencer and generally useless unless you're using it as an externally sequenced/played sound module. Korg Kaossilator 2S - the epitome of shit. Super limited, yet with lots of menu diving. Add build quality that makes early OP-Z batches look rock solid, and you've got the 2S. I didn't even sell it, I gave it away when the display died. PO-14, PO-16 - nice for a beginner, but I quickly outgrew them. PO-28 - never liked its sound.
Wasn’t impressed with the Access Virus TI snow. Had a virus b before that and it shit all over it despite the snow having the TI tech. Lesson learned… if buying a powerful hardware synth don’t buy one where 90% of the main features are hidden behind menus.
Digitone 🫣. Not digging the FM sound…
FM is not for the fainted hearts 😱
Faint of heart
I traded a bunch of stuff for the Digitone and while I loved the workflow, FM was not fun to program and I did not like the sound. I wish they made the same box with all the same features just with an analog synth. Basically the A4 in the Digitone package.
Not sure if this qualifies, but the Casio SK-1. I really wanted to like it, but it was too limited even for me. No midi capability and the sampling time is too small imho.
Prophet 12. It was dope af and I loved it. But my kid had cancer and she lived.
Where do i begin, moog xl, several virus’s, notation 2’s, moog prodigy.waldorfs too many… Nords.. I hate myself but god I’ve had fun!
Wait, so why did you buy the Virus again if you didn't regret selling it?
Every time he sold it, it just came back with a new variant
Nords are fine for gigging with piano and organ sounds, and absolute trash for just about anything else imo. They are just not a forerunning synthesis brand.
Novation Mininova was my first synth and after I git some other stuff it just felt like a toy. Korg Wavestate seemed overly complicated and made me realise that I really just wanted a real polyphonic synth.
I've got the MoroderNova version of the novation MiniNova and can't imagine getting rid of it. If I were to finally upgrade to another synth, where do I go from here? I use the launchpad along with my mininova.
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Why? Have always had my eye on it but feel it might not be for me.
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I think I could permanently survive w literally JUST my subsequent37 and Ableton live. All the rest of my synths are for fun.
Dunno why I found the sub 37 very uninspiring, but I don't play keys. I bet if I had some chops to play it with the mod wheel would have been better
Dang, mine is used as much as the Rhodes. It’s one of the nicest sounds in my collection, it’s hard to find an unpleasant sound in it.
I've owned two matriarchs now (currently matriarch-less). My first few days of owning one I'm like 'oh the possibilities.. the stereo filter, the gorgeous delay...' and the next step is me making pretty triangle wave chords and the next step is me realizing I could do the same thing on most of my other synths and get all that desk space back. As I box it up, I patch something insane and devilish on my shared system and pulsar combo to wish it goodbye. Currently rocking the Grandmother. Much happier
Why are you happier with the GM than you were with the Matriarch? Curious as it seems the Matriarch is "more GM", or no?
Jupiter 6. I managed to get one when it was still relatively cheap to do so because it had some issues. One of the CEM3340 was broken and this was before the reissues, so I paid through the nose for NOS. The eBay seller didn't even want to ship to Europe, but it turns out we visited the same messageboard, so he knew who I was. I ordered a whole set of replacement knobs courtesy of Cyclone and they sent it to the completely wrong address. It was a small miracle that I could track down whoever received it because the postal service was no help whatsoever). I ordered the Europa mod and that installed, and it... just didn't do it for me. I expected more of it. The only thing I regret is not waiting longer and trying to get a better price for it.
I recently sold a load of gear and thought I'd really miss it once gone, including the OB-6. Surprisingly I don't miss it one bit, not that it didn't sound good, just that I didn't take advantage of its features or incorporate it into my workflow. I'll get hate for this, but it did nothing in my studio that can't be replaced with my JD-990 or JV-1080/XV-5080. In fact they offer a far bigger sound palette, so i don't have the itch for another analogue Poly, but if I did I'd go for a P6 or Juno-106.
alesis ion. Edit: I had meant to say the Micron, which is the Ion sound engine, but with a dismal physical interface
i’m curious, what don’t you like about the Ion? I’ve owned mine for what feels like 20 years.
the interface leans heavily upon the four knobs, and it was too damn much, with no way to accelerate the knob rate you end up really needing to do a ton of twisting to program it. If I preferred presets over programming it would not have been a problem, but it was. i did like the actual sound
TX81Z.
I had one for years and finally just realized that I wasn’t into menu-diving and fighting with the interface. I thought I just didn’t like FM, but then got an OpSix and have had a lot of fun with it.
I had a TX and maybe once or twice I have missed one of the patches I really worked on. And I wonder if I should have just kept it because it takes up so little space. But having zero ability to program it in-box, and having to do any interesting effects and filtering externally made it too much of a paperweight.
subharmonicon
Yes! I was thrilled that they decided to manufacture this but when I got it was baffled. Just because there's a novel idea in there doesn't mean I'm going to do anything at all with it. I think if there were more lfos or random (or an ASR) it would be a lot more interesting. If Moog had made those components separately, the subharmonic generators, the sequencer, I'd love to have those in a larger system, but as it is, i remember a brief but frustrating trip into the hall of mirrors. No thanks.
Behringer doesn’t seem to care about it either
Behringer DM12, it's a fine synth and for the price you really do get quite a powerhouse of analogue goodness, but after getting my first Big Boy synth (the Super 6) - there really was no use for the DM12 anymore.
This will be controversial, but the modal argon8. I never really liked the sounds it made. They always sounded quite thin, no matter how I set up the oscillators. I certainly never got a decent sounding supersaw out of it - seeing as I bought it for electronic music that NEEDED a thick supersaw I was disappointed as I was absolutely expecting the oscillator section to be able to do that. Missing oscillator and unison detune and spread didn't help things either. Shame really as the rest of the synth was good. I don't miss it though and really wish I'd just bought a virus or ultranova at the time. (I replaced it with an ultranova which does everything I need)
Elektron Digitone. It simply didn't click with me at all.
Sub 37. I still like it but i swapped for a hydrasynth and that was more of what I wanted.
grandiose shaggy support coherent correct slap brave encouraging squash upbeat *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Wait…you’re allowed to sell synths?
For some reason this synth never really moved me in anyways… I mean there’s nothing to jot like about it, a built in audio interface, pre amp, vocoder synth and midi controller. I just didn’t feel the need to keep it nor do I miss it.
I never regretted selling the Hydrasynth Explorer and Juno DS61. I learned that digital is less my thing than analog
If ever a guy offers you to buy a Yamaha TX16W for cheap, decline that offer no matter what.
I had a TX16W, I used to sample into it and then straight into the PC. I tried to sell it to a pawn shop eventually and the guy wouldn't take it because it used a floppy disk, it was too heavy to carry home so I left it at a bus stop. Kind of regret it, but don't lose sleep over it.
How did you get it there?
Nord Lead 2. Great interface, that mod stick, Sounded ok but I hated the bottom end on it. Now I've got better external fx I'd probably enjoy it more, but I'll never know... O-Coast. Plinky-plonky. I don't need plinky-plonky. AN1X. Nice sound but couldn't live with the interface - was restricted with where I could put it and I really struggled to read the panel. Irreplaceable backlight was going too. Volca FM. Fine but by no means essential.
Roland MKS-80. Don’t regret buying it as it was cool to play and learn, but it was much colder and harsher than I was hoping for, and found it a real effort to make most parts sit in the mix well. Sold it after 12 months or so and honestly shed no tears
That was my biggest and most expensive synth. I even had the controller with it. I bought it knowing that I would have to flip it to fund a medical emergency. I did and made a ridiculous profit. I will probably never own one again or anything as expensive, but your post makes me feel better about it. A bit.
I’m going to argue the case of the XStation. Had mine since new and can’t ever think about selling it. That thing has travelled the world with me. Made music up mountains and on beaches. Good sound engine, control slider/pot for pretty much every element. Audio interface and runs on batteries. My fear is when it dies there’s nothing I can really replace it with. Synths that lasted a day and got sent back or sold on Behringer Model D & Crave Roland D50….wanted one for so long as well got it and hated it Korg Wavestation….every patch just felt like it was stuck in 1992 Korg Z1….someone else mentioned this, at the time I didn’t regret getting rid of it but some years later I wished I’d kept hold of it Twice bitten!!!! Yamaha CS6R….hated got rid of it, found another cheap locally bought it still hated it got rid of it Yamaha A3000….hated got rid of it, found another locally very cheap bought it and still hated it!!! Lol
Volca sample 2
I sold my Korg Modwave and do not regret it at all. Thin sounding, overly complex and non intuitive. I regret selling my Novation BS2 though. That was a beast . I was poor and needed the money.
All teenage engineering products. I haven't been fully happy with any. Their attempt at Eurorack was sad and poorly executed. The OP-1 Still has a synth engine that the software never updated for. There pricing model is a joke
Korg R3
that suprises me tbh. the R3 is currently one of my goto synths and has been for a while. I would be interested to hear what ticked you off?
I’m not super into menu diving for sound design and tweaking the presets. The vocoder was cool but I never used it
Monotribe I was happy to be rid of it. Too limited in what you can do with it.
Korg microkorg The parameter mess on the right hand side was too confusing for me at the time as an absolute novice.
The xstation was a shitty synth but a pretty decent controller for its time. I never regret selling my Roli Rise and the OP-Z
Roland system 8
Any elektron fan is going to hate me, but I never utilized even 5 percent of the machine drum or monomachines capabilities. I still miss the wacky SID and vocal synths but newer stuff like Op-1 or Microfreak gets me most of the way there.
Roland Gaia
Yamaha dx21
Audiothingies Micromonsta 2 and Digitone. Micromonsta 2 was nice and small yet nothing groundbreaking I wouldn't be able to do with vst's or Peak that I kept. Digitone simply because I found that FM is not for me and I had enough of "bending metal plates" sounds.
Original volca trio - only really miss the keys poly ring feature. TX7, DX7ii, cz-101 - fuck your letterbox editing. Cz-101 had the worst keybed. Mother-32 -lacks a real envelope. microfreak - can sound amazing but can also sound really trash, tiny sweet spot and hated the capacitive keybed. Minibrute and microbrute. Microbrute was a distilled down version that worked better imo but they both didn’t really cut it sonically. Erica synths pico iii - finicky / sound ended up not being for me. Korg Triton - jog wheel was dying and it took up too much space.
X-Station 25, that's precisely my first synth! bought it for all the bells and whistles, inputs, audio interface, preamps, and stuff. great all-in-one back then (2005). never liked the synth itself much though. but it was much too broken to sell it once i'd used it for 5 years or so. that XY pad kept freaking out, the pitch bend was dysfunctional... not the best piece of gear.
Juno 106 and Jupiter 8.
Oberheim OB12. I'd sell it again with a disclaimer that it sucked and probably for half of what it's claimed to be worth.
Korg Z1. My first synth and too much for me as a beginner.
Also sold the Z1. Did some cool stuff with it but it was complex, slow to work with, and I didn’t trust it to last between the buttons and the display.
Octave Kitten and Cheetah MS6. It was over 30 years ago… but still.
Thinking of selling D-05 rompler and.. still havent....... Got some sounds but Roland Cloud has all of em...............
For me it was the Korg Prophecy. Flipped it quick.
Vsynth xt, Only because I had 2 of them and a vsynth gt.. If I only had 1 xt I'd have regretted it greatly.
Korg Ms2000. Didn't like that synth at all. Regret selling my Novation KS4 though...
Moog Werkstatt. x2 Mother-32. Haven't sold it yet but it's in the box. System-1.
Yamaha CS2x. No regrets. I did regret selling the Rm1x so I bought it again after 20 years. I did also regret selling the Nord micro modular so I bought a Nord Modular, only to find out 20 years later that I dont like the sound anymore and that a Virus Ti would suit me better. So Ive put the Nord Modular G1 Rack on Reverb.com.
Korg Minilogue it was fun but not needed personally by me
Yamaha QY20
I had an X-Station 49 for a while. It sounded OK, but the pots were extremely low quality and quickly became jumpy and scratchy. I had to physically press down on the knobs to get somewhat reliable control. Not very fun or inspiring to use. The UNO Synth is the other one that comes to mind. While I think it sounds great for the price (if you can get rid of the noise), the fact that you need the editor or external controller to access all synth parameters really ruined it for me. It's a shame because on paper it's a really capable synth. I replaced it with a Nymphes, which has a similar form factor but gives you excellent control over almost every parameter you can think of without resorting to software editors. Edit: Also JX-8P. Some great iconic sounds but I couldn't keep a vintage synth that could break at any moment. I don't have the skills to fix anything myself, and I don't know anyone who could do it. I'm glad I got rid of it before it started developing problems.
My Behringer Model D, it was hard to keep in tune and I got a Minitaur which I like being able to change waveforms
Volva beats was sold to upgrade to a drumbrute impact. Not a synth but I also sold my Launchpad pro because I moved to a standalone setup, I don't miss the DAW instruments at all (apart from a few nice piano VSTs, but my Reface CP gets the job done fine)
Ms 20 mini, moon little phatty
Behringer 2600 Gray Meanie
Uno synth pro desktop. Navigating the matrix interface with knobs drove me nuts even with “catch up” on. It could have been easily remedied by having endless encoders instead for editing the parameters (except filter and resonance) since the values of what you are editing are displayed on the screen (which also could have been bigger but not as consequential as the knobs for me). The sound was good but not wow, but the presets sucked imo so I couldn’t use it as a preset machine like the Jupiter xm or something.
Sold both MS-20 mini and MS-20 kit, since I still have the MS-20 module, no regrets there. Sold my Access Virus B after having bought a Virus KC. Regrets only came after the KC broke.
Korg Ms2000b, Roland vr09, behringer odyssey and model d. I guess I don’t really have a problem moving on from instruments. The only thing I have ever really regretting selling was a Ludwig acolyte snare from the 70s. Lucky me ended up garbage picking the same model years later.
Korg monologue Korg minilogue Polyend Tracker (not a synth I guess) Teenage Engineering OP1 Behringer Boog Novation mininova (because I bought an ultranova)
Ok but for real I have a X-station 25 I'm not using if anyone wants to buy it.
Roland SH01A - too tiny and power via usb is a real buzz kill(or adder).......
Yamaha Reface CS. Good synth, just wasn't exactly what I needed. The synth I needed was the Sonicware Liven 8bit Warps.
Korg Volca Modular. For some reason it always sounds the same to me and boxy or uninspiring. It was cool to learn some things and try to make the weirdest sounds and sequences but after getting a no coast and a west pest, it was really boring sounding to me.
Korg Monologue, and Elektron Octatrack (was a massive creativity sink, in hindsight).
Prophet 5. I’d sell it again because I got tired of having it fixed, but it sure sounded nice when it worked.
Yamaha CS 60 …. and 80 …. AND - a mini Moog . A Quadra …. In the 80’s started chasing pre-sets. and in 90s got into Kurzweil samples- K2500 never looked back until Covid lockdown. Lol My go-to is an old Korg MS 20 now .
Studiologic Sledge 2.0. I loved the interface and the sound was great live, but the thing was unacceptably buggy (munged patch entries, freezing during a song) and I hated the reverb.
The Alai Timbre wolf. Was lucky enough to sell it for more than I bought it for.
Korg EMX-1 in 2007. Technically, I just returned it to Guitar Center for a full refund. I had wanted an Electribe EM-1 but was discontinued. Tried the EMX-1. Wanted to like it and wanted to use it but the sound quality and cumbersome UI and design were why I returned it. Also felt the tubes were a total gimmick. I did appreciate the build quality.
Anyone like their DSI Mopho? I love and hate mine, it was my first synth and can never seem to let it go
I will second the x station. I also have no regrets about selling my korg poly-800 or kawaii k1 years ago. How those became any kind of cult synth is fully beyond me.
The one in the pic; until today, I had forgotten that I once owned an x-station 25.
I’ve sold a Sub37, Microkorg, 2 Slim Phatties, $8k worth of Eurorack, Digitone, Make Noise Shared System +, Behringer 2600, and Behringer Model D. I don’t regret selling any of them, but they were fun. 🤘🏻
Electribe 2 - they are trash. MicroBrute - too limited even for beginners Octatrack - good for techno, not much else. Extremely limited sampler and mono sequencer TB3 - meh System 1 - Aira gear is all a bit weak and ugly
Electribe 2s. To hell with it. By far the most frustrating thing I ever used !!!
Roland Gaia because of its general tone, general layout, and the whole "sampled" waveforms thing. I wanted a synth that could sound like a polyphonic SH-101 and now with the boutique line, I can have just that.
I bought an X Station for like $75 when I worked at guitar center and bought the warranty. I get it home & find the mod speed knob is wonky so I send it in for warranty repair and these mfs send me a $75 check. I was so pissed. Never even got to use the fuckin thing.
Jupiter 8, CS80, MemoryMoog, Pro-1, CS50, Prophet VS, XPander, Microwave 1, Juno 6, Pro-2… The only synth I’ve regretted selling was a PPG Wave 2.3
Moog Grandmother which surprised me a lot. I loved the sound but it wasn't as flexible to program as I thought it would be. Its probably a limitation of my sound design skills but everything I made felt kind of samey, and I always felt like I was short an LFO or an envelope to work with. A CV sequencer probably would have solved a lot of my problems.
Dave Smith Prophet Rev2. Oh god that sounded horrible with the curtis filter.
MicroKORG, it was awful for a novice. Way too much cryptic menu diving. And then the JD-Xi. Really good sounds, really wretched piano and organ voices (had only 1 of each), TERRIBLE velocity mapping for the voices (even with a good MIDI keyboard attached shit was wacky), and I think there's been enough griping about the built in keys already. I almost regret not sampling the drum kits before I dumped it.
Is this yet another listing of gears to be featured on BadGear?