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I've become a bit bored of playing guitar lately, and thought I'd like to pick up a synth to get those creative man juices flowing again. I have a major hard on for the Analogue Solutions Leipzig-SK, but was wondering if any of you know of another (cheaper) synth that can do that thick, nasty sound that the Analogue Solutions stuff does so well. I'm just hoping I can avoid having to sell my wife's backup Yamaha CP-70, my Orange 2x12, Mesa 2x15, and like $800 worth of peds

Having a built in sequencer would be crucial, or recommendations of a nice outboard sequencer, since that's a big part of the sound I'm going for. I could probably get by with the non-keyboard version, and bypass the need to sell the pedals... or sell the pedals + more stuff and get the Leipzig-S and the Telemark/Semblance... or ....

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoSy0J1K03g[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uihzNuqHjds[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogr_ip466E4[/youtube]

Uuugh, they sound soooo good!!!

if you haven't yet check out the arturia minibrute. their softsynths blow IMO, but it's analog hardware and some people are finding it as an alternative to shelling out for an SH-101. a LOT less expensive. has an arpeggiator instead of a sequencer, but a one-track internal sequencer isn't that much different aside from pattern length and octave scaling.

There's not really anything else like the Leipzig out there... If you don't need keys I would look at a Dave Smith Evolver or Tetra, Moog Slim Phatty or Minitaur, or a small Modular like Doepfer Dark Energy or the Analog Solutions Semblance... I have the Future Retro Revolution in BST which is an Analog Mono Synth with a built in Sequencer and Effects...

Do you wanna play songs or just make noise and stuff??? Polyphonic are gonna cost a lot more if you need more than one note at a time...

There are so many great Synths out now so it's hard to recommend just one...

* oh yeah Minibrutes are AWESOME...

it's been discontinued but there are plenty of used mono evolver keyboards out there as well.

sonidero wrote:Do you wanna play songs or just make noise and stuff??? Polyphonic are gonna cost a lot more if you need more than one note at a time...

I'm looking to do both. In my mind I'm looking to use this synth to lay down some sonic foundations (not so much pads), and maybe add some synth bass and possibly lead. Perhaps the reason I have such a hard on for the Analogue Solution stuff is because when I watch their demos I think "that's it! That's the feel of what I'm going for." Not really the 3rd video I posted... more so the first 2.

I was so set on getting the Moog Little Phatty and Minitaur (and I could still see myself using them), but nothing I've seen/heard can come close to the AS stuff... but I don't really know a lot when it comes to synths... hence my need for help.

I should also say that I'm not looking to mess with menus, and submenus, and a crazy deep interface. I want "what I see is what I get". That's a big appeal with Moog and the Dark Energy.

Spacey, I agree with you about Arturia's softsynths. That MiniBrute looks pretty cool though. I might have to do a little more research on it.

noisebug.net has a used Leipzig for $1199.

http://www.noisebug.net/used.cfm

personally i haven't cared about the minibrute because i already have an SH-101 and way too many other synths. junkie. plus if a synth has keys it annoys me to not have at least 3 octaves in front of me. still do think that's a good bang for the bucks though. if you have any other questions / comparisons, bring 'em.

also right off the bat, beginning of that first video, it's sequenced and running through delay & reverb, that isn't just the synth. couple minutes into it there's more than one synth added along w/ the drum machine. i'd try to find something that's more of a demo of the leipzig alone before craving one.

different people use synths in different ways. there are some people who hate having keys at all.

it all depends on what you are going to use it for.

some people love soft pads and other sounds like that, which to me, why wouldnt get some bull shit you can download as a VST for? other people hate on the minibrute because they say you can get any synth to sound that way.

having a filter section that can get that harsh and also mellowed out is something i find useful. theres some bullshit worship that extends to guitars, basses, and everything else you can think of when it comes to instruments.


its all about what you need it to do, in whatever situation its called for.

oh i'm 90% sequencing vs. 10% playing keys, at least since i quit the band i played MS-20 basslines in. so yeah, i agree, just like w/ pedals & damn near everything for that matter, to each their own & all that.

I didn't install my Keyboard yet since i rebuild my stuff. Synth is for me somehow a straight sequencer thing....

I would definitely check out the minibrute. affordable, no menus, cv in/out so you could use an external analog seq if you wanted to, really good heavy sound cause you can mix waveforms together and there's a sub osc.

Other than that I would prolly go modular but that can open up another money pit so..it's tough. The thing with modular (specifically euro) there is just a ridiculous amount of possibilities out there now, a well planned full 6U (like the second video, but with more of a variety. You could get asol oscillators and filters if that's the sound you want) could produce a crazy amount of variety beyond simple sequencing.

mc202 is like a mix of an sh101 and a tb303

also, u could always look into an old moog...like a rogue or prodigy or concermate

ive always been partial to ARP's too

Juno? Jupiter? jp3x?

space6oy wrote:also right off the bat, beginning of that first video, it's sequenced and running through delay & reverb, that isn't just the synth. couple minutes into it there's more than one synth added along w/ the drum machine. i'd try to find something that's more of a demo of the leipzig alone before craving one.

The other synth in that video is the Telemark, another beast of a synth. I've watched pretty much every video on Youtube of the Leipzig. I'm not too worried about the fx, since I'm pretty loaded in that area. As an audio engineer I am much more interested in how an instrument sits in a mix which is why I gravitated towards those demos. No point buying something that sounds awesome by itself, and then sounds like shit when you try to use it in the context of a song, amirite?... unless you're a bedroom rockstar and only plan on goofing around by yourself. Plus if you were checking out a new guitar, wouldn't you want to hear how it interacts with pedals or different amps, and how it sounds alongside other instruments? I think that is the biggest failure of the gear demo scene. +90% of the people that do demos never demo the piece of gear alongside other tracks, let alone use it in any musical manner. Who wants to hear bluez wankery on a ringmod or bitcrusher demo? :turning away from rabbit trail:

I can see myself using the same 90%/10% ratio when it comes to sequencers and keys. If I need some keyboarding done I will more than likely just have my wife do it since she is much more capable in that area.

shred wrote:Other than that I would prolly go modular but that can open up another money pit so..it's tough. The thing with modular (specifically euro) there is just a ridiculous amount of possibilities out there now, a well planned full 6U (like the second video, but with more of a variety. You could get asol oscillators and filters if that's the sound you want) could produce a crazy amount of variety beyond simple sequencing.

Believe me, I've considered that option. I see it a lot like building up a pedalboard. It would be nice to get a few pieces here and there. I'm just afraid I would waste a lot of money trying to figure out what I like and what I would actually use. I'm sure we all could relate to that here.

Dr. Sherman Sticks M.D. wrote:also, u could always look into an old moog...like a rogue or prodigy or concermate

ive always been partial to ARP's too

Juno? Jupiter? jp3x?

I'm going to have to look into those options. How is the reliability with the vintage stuff... especially the Moogs? I'm sure it's fine. I am leery about going vintage... even with the "classics." I want something modern sounding... I don't want to end up thinking "oh, that kinda sounds like that one Pink Floyd song." or "this is ripped straight out of some early 80's B-horror movie." You know what I mean?

modernage wrote:I want something modern sounding... I don't want to end up thinking "oh, that kinda sounds like that one Pink Floyd song." or "this is ripped straight out of some early 80's B-horror movie." You know what I mean?

Analog is Analog and they can sound all the same or all different... Don't think Vintage = Old Sounds or vice versa...

I can do Pink Floyd on a Minibrute as easily as I can do Dead Mou5e/Skrillex with a Juno...