What synth do you wish you once owned?

dgcampbell · Post by **dgcampbell** » Sun Oct 16, 2011 12:55 am

PPG Waveterm

jeremykeys · Post by **jeremykeys** » Sun Oct 16, 2011 3:10 pm

Have to admit I've always wanted a MiniMoog model D. Now I'd prefer the XL but I think that will be quite a while yet.
In the early 70's, a friend of mine took me to York University here in Toronto to hear an ARP 2500. I was around 15 or 16 and had never even imagined anything like this.

http://www.vintagesynth.com/arp/2500.php

Just freakin' blew me away!
Would have liked one of these too.

SeedyLee · Post by **SeedyLee** » Wed Nov 09, 2011 2:42 am

Ondes Martenot
Farfisa Compact Duo
Arp Solina
And some form of Kurzweil...

That is all.

RiotNrrd · Post by **RiotNrrd** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 11:36 pm

DX-7.

In the mid-80's, that was THE synth that Keyboard Magazine featured article after article about. My Juno-6 was starting to look a bit long in the tooth as I read about the DX-7. It was "FM", whatever that was. New.

That was all I knew about it. I'd never even heard one; just seen the endless keyboard porn featured in the glossy pages of Keyboard. And man did it look good. All science-fictioney and "digital" and modern. Eno supposedly had one, and if Eno was into it, I was too. Even if I didn't know anything about it.

I really, really, really wanted one. But... never did get one.

By now I've played with the software emulations, and I DID have an SY-77 (still do, actually - it's got a broken disk drive and has been sitting untended in my garage for the last eight years). So, nowadays I'm less impressed. But back then, the DX-7 was the stuff of dreams, baby...

If I knew how hard they were to program, I think I probably would have been more content with my Juno-6. I wish I'd never gotten rid of THAT thing. That was a great synth.

jeremykeys · Post by **jeremykeys** » Sun Dec 11, 2011 1:09 am

In my wild teen-age fantasies about synthes, I wanted an Arp 2500. A friend who worked at York University a few miles from my home took me one night to hear this guy who used it in the electronic music lab. He had it hooked up to a huge quadraphonic sound system Just blew me away.
This is just a minor example of what it could do and the one in this video only has about half of the modules compared to the one I saw. It also had another cabinet of modules on top of it. Sheer madness!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52IvtAwNIkg

bsr2002 · Post by **bsr2002** » Sun Dec 11, 2011 2:53 pm

I wanted a DX7, but couldn't afford one. I wound up getting a DX21 and TX81Z rack... I still have them both.

michelkeijzers · Post by **michelkeijzers** » Sun Dec 11, 2011 10:04 pm

bsr2002 wrote:I wanted a DX7, but couldn't afford one. I wound up getting a DX21 and TX81Z rack... I still have them both.

About a month ago a DX7 was for sale for E 250 (but since the Kronos has one inside, I don't need it).

jeremykeys · Post by **jeremykeys** » Mon Dec 12, 2011 2:57 am

I had a DX-7 many years ago. I really likes it. For an unweighted keyboard it had one of the most precise feels I had ever played. I think that might even carry over to today. I could just fly on it. I also was one of those mad people who actually programmed it. Mind you, a lot of it was hit and miss. I realize that Korg does have synthes with a lot of knobs on them but I would really like to see one that has a one function per knob layout like the Polysix had. One of the things that truly bugged me about the DX-7 was the data entry slider. Not good for live tweaking. Fortunately our kronos' have lots of controls. I'm happy about that.

phattbuzz · Post by **phattbuzz** » Fri Dec 23, 2011 3:48 pm

The RMI Keyboard Computer http://www.synthmuseum.com/rmi/rmikc201.html

Lusted after this baby back in high school. I wrote to them and they sent me a flyer/spec sheet. Way too expensive for my budget back then.

EXer · Post by **EXer** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 10:24 pm

jeremykeys wrote:I had a DX-7 many years ago. I really likes it. For an unweighted keyboard it had one of the most precise feels I had ever played. I think that might even carry over to today.

The DX7 had the famous Yamaha FS keyboard, which also equipped the EX5, the Motif, and the Korg Trinity, Triton and Oasys 76.

Imo it's the best semi weighted synth action type keyboard ever: when you depress a key you have to overcome a certain resistance first, then it becomes lighter, giving the sensation of "throwing" the key, a bit like on a piano. That's a very pleasant sensation, very different from the "springy" sensation of ordinary synth keyboards on which the resistance is simply proportional to the depressing of the key, hence the unpleasant and cheap "plasticky" sensation you can feel e.g. on a M3 61...

BruceL · Post by **BruceL** » Fri Dec 30, 2011 6:24 pm

The pressure sensitive keys on my yamaha W-7 are perfect , it got sweet sounds for days which compliments my Triton!!!

axxim · Post by **axxim** » Sat Dec 31, 2011 3:31 pm

The Roland VP-330. Never heard or read about it until the VP-770 was announced (I was about 15 years away from music gear and surely there was a time where those were not so expensive)

But some day I will catch one and then, actually having it's schematics, I will make some enhancements to it.

Mutiny in Jonestown · Post by **Mutiny in Jonestown** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 5:59 pm

I always wanted a giant Moog modular system like Keith Emerson's and miles and miles of patch cords.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XnfoWIgZ8fo/S ... ular04.jpg

jeremykeys · Post by **jeremykeys** » Sat Feb 04, 2012 3:11 am

You really need to see the last page of keyboard magazine. It has a somewhat detailed description of Keith Emerson's modular monster. It's very cool!

Mutiny in Jonestown · Post by **Mutiny in Jonestown** » Sat Feb 04, 2012 8:43 pm

jeremykeys wrote:You really need to see the last page of keyboard magazine. It has a somewhat detailed description of Keith Emerson's modular monster. It's very cool!

Actually I have a super cool book called Vintage Synthesizers that has a whole chapter devoted to it. The chapter is called, "Keith Emersons Moog, The Worlds Most Dangerous Synth"