access music Virus TI Desktop

First: the access virus is a great synthesier for all kind of sounds: Pads, Basses, Leads, Sequences. Everything is possible at high quality. It sounds a little bit digital for a VA. There is also an excellent effects engine on board. The complete synth can be programmed and managed via USB (audio and Midi) via an additional VST. So it integrates into a DAW like a usual plugin, also with total recall. Another goal of this synth is the great and over the years growing preset library with tons of ideas, available on the access website. Unfortunately there is no more software support by access music since 2021.

4 of 5 stars

Alesis Micron

The Alesis Micron is is a small but powerful synthesizer. 8 voices with maximum 8 parts, deep end drums, a nice sequencer plus some great effects, all in a small, well built case. The keyboard feels not so nice but together with the knobs and sliders You have a lot of fun plying. The Micron can also act as a vocoder. The sound is virtual analog. It´s not a Nord Lead 4, Virus or Radias, but it has  a very dynamic sound. It´s always present in the mix. The filters are great. Especially the drums are fantastic. A lot of synth for the money.

3 of 5 stars

Arturia Drumbrute

2/2019: The Drumbrute is a nice and warm sounding analog drumcomputer. It has a lot of great sequencer features like polyrhythmic and microtuning. Both let Your drums groove. Its a specialist for analog drums, apart from 808 or 909. It´s easy to programm and extremely well built for the price. I don not like the sound at all.

1 of 5 stars

Arturia Matrixbrute

1-2023: The Matrixbrute is a huge monster. With 3 VCOs and 2 suboscillators it has a lot of deep power. The two filters (Steiner Parker plus Moog Ladder) sound great. The sequenzer is very intuitive. Also the modulation matrix. The Matrixbrute can also be used in mono, paraphonic and dual mode. But: It takes much too long to change presets. Also the effects are not the best. In sum the Matrixbrute sounds pretty well, but I know analog synths with more power and possibilities (like the Pro 2).... 3 months later: I tried (for fun) the loopback by jacking the headphone output into the audio-in and suddenly I get that angry character that I loved from the Minibrute.

4/5 stars

Arturia Microfreak

The Microfreak has a sound apart from the usual subtractive synthesizers. It´s a hybrid machine, cause it has digital oszillators with an analog filter. It has great modulation possibilities and some really interesting oscialltor-models. The little electronic keybed hat polyphonic aftertouch and it sends Midi. You get a lot of synth power for the money. But: Lights are much too bright. Additional sequencer buttons are hard to see. No effects, and this synth needs effects. Sticky pots after 3 years (same on Matrixbrute). No studio-on/off-mode for external power. Tiny display.

2 of 5 stars

Arturia Minibrute

The Minibrute is a characterfull analog synthesizer. It´s different from other subtractive synths, because of the strange oscillator section, where You can mix several signals together. I am a big fan of the Minibrute, because the sound is extremely rich of harmonics and the filter sound excellent: Brutal, warm, rich and characterful.

4 of 5 stars

Arturia MiniBrute 2S

The Minibrute 2s is a dignified successor of the Ur-Minubrute. He has a lot more of sound-possibilities. The patchfeld is exellent for Eurorack-integration. The Sequenzer is also another highlight.

3 of 5 stars

ASM Hydrasynth Keyboard

The Hydrasynth is an extremely feature-rich synthesizer. It delivers a lot of synth-power: VA, Wavetable, simple FM, several filters, mutators and nice effects. It´s fully digital and that´s OK. Cause it sounds lovely. My personal best synth in 2020.

4/5 stars

ASM Hydrasynth Deluxe

The Hydrasynth Deluxe is the most feature-rich synthesizer I know. It delivers a lot of synth-power and doubles the power of the Hydrasynth Keyboard.The keybed is the best I ever played, not only because of the polyphon aftertouch and the 73 keys. The Hydrasynth Deluxe sounds lovely and this also twise as the "normal" Hydrasynth. So far the best synth I ever played.

5/5 stars

Behringer DeepMind 12 (Desktop)

Behringer´s DeepMind is a characterful analog synthesizer with not less than 12 voices polyphony. The Deepmind has a extremely warm and kind sound and is a specialist for pads and evolving sequences. The FX engine inside is one of the best that I know. I own both desktop and keyboard-version for some time and decided for the keyboard. It´s more fun to programm sounds while having the keyboards directly beneath the faders. I miss a sub and a "full" second VCO.

3 of 5 stars

Behringer K-2

The K-2 is a reproduction of the Korg MS-20. This synth sounds great and has a very special, angry character. I personally love the filter(s) of the K-2. Also the additional features (ENV follower, audio processing) are very nice to have. BUT: It was not 100% compatible with Eurorack and it´s a cheap copy of an iconic synthesizer. I also get lost in creating patches that I will never use.

2 of 5 stars

Behringer Neutron

The Neutron is a clever and all in one patchable Eurorack Synthesizer. It sounds fresh and angry. It has a lot of features und the hood, including some specials like the overdrive and BBD delay. The buitl quality is OK. The price is good. Excellent choice for all Eurorack newbies and people, who don´t like to pay too much money for their gear. But can I store a great patch? NO!

3 of 5 stars

Behringer Odyssey

The Behringer Odyssey is a reincarnation of the original ARP Odyssey. It sounds deep and rich. The worflow is very diffrent from standard subtractive synths. Instead of knobs the Odyssey works with sliders. Unusual but refreshing. Besides lead, basses and paraphonic textures her generates a lot of excellent efefct sounds. The Odyssey is well built, has a good implemented sequencer and arp plus a dedicated effects-unit. Nevertheless, it is and remains a cheap copy.

2 of 5 stars

Behringer Pro-1

The Pro-1 is a clone of the original Sequential Circuits Pro-One from the early 80th. It sounds deep, rich and has the very special 80th vibe. Brassy, clean (but not too clean) and very different to a MS-20 and, of course, the Moog Model D. Behringers built quality is OK for the price. The new Pro-1 is also paraphonic and has a simply, but effectiv built-in sequencer and arp. Its easy to program the synth, not only because of the modulation matrix. What You see is what You hear. I like the deep pluc ky sounds from the Pro-1 very much. It´s a great instrument for sequences, basses, some simple hooks and also, belive it or not, for synthetic effect-sounds. Nevertheless, it is and remains a cheap copy. And: I prefer the Dave Smiths AS-1.

2 of 5 stars

Behringer Pro-800

The Pro-800 is a 8-voice clone of the Sequential Pro-600. It has 8 analoge voices plus additional noise-OSC and the GliGli extension. The synth sounds rich, warm and has that special vintage 80s character. The price is excellent for such a synth. But on the negative side it has only one mono output, no effects (which are definately needed) and a complicated workflow. So I personally don´t like the Pro-800.

2/5 stars

Behringer Model D

The Model D from Behringer ist reproduction of the Minimoog. It´s OK built and sounds a bit like the good old moog. It has a some patchpoints, which makes it even more interesting. Nevertheless, it is and remains a cheap copy. And You will definately and directly hear die difference to a real Moog.

2 of 5 star

Behringer TD-3

The TD-3 is a good sounding clone of Rolands TB-303. The complete analog emulation is done pretty well. The TD-3 inclusdes Midi and USB plus an included  analog distortion circuit. On the other side there is the real complicated, un-intuitiv oldschool sequenzer and the poor built quality. Both like the original. I don´t need that. Nevertheless, it is and remains a cheap copy.

2/5 stars

Behringer TD-3-MO

The Behringer TD-3-MO is a replica of the Roland TB-303 with Devil Fish modification. Thus it is a 303 with extended sound possibilities. Significantly more bass - even at high resonance, sub-oscillator, overdrive, second envelope, compressor and many other tools includes the modification. The sequencer is unfortunately again useless , cause it´s like with the TD-3 a 1 to 1 copy of the original 303. Nevertheless, it is and remains a cheap copy.

2/5 stars

Behringer The Cat

The Cat is another cheap clone of the original Octave The Cat. It´s a nice and deep sounding synth with a lot of possibilities like the mixing of different waveforms for the oscillators. The Behringer has some strange behavior when using sync-sounds. Also there is no last-note priority and manual in the first charge. It is a good and nice-looking synth, which can produce deep bases and unusual FX sounds. Nevertheless, it is and remains a cheap copy. As always.

2 of 5 stars

Boss DR-202 Dr. Groove

The Boss DR-202 is a drum computer with many classic, electronic percussion sounds. It uses many classic 90s/00s samples that always sound very crisp, dirty and lo-fi. There is one effect (reverb or delay) plus a digital filter per track, plus a flanger and a one-knob EQ for the master signal. All tracks can be mixed within the machine in stereo panorama. It also has a tonally playable bass track and one morer track for controlling external devices. Modulations can also be recorded. Performance has also been taken into consideration: with this little box, you can quickly and easily create the foundation for a track. It is a little noisy, but OK.  
2 of 5 stars

Clavia Nord Drum

The Nord Drum is a tiny and punchy drumsynthesizer. I use it as an additional percussion synth for the Arturia Drumbrute.It has only one mono output, but with some additional effects You can do a lot of interesting sounds with it. I love the sub basses and kick drums. But You can also use it for some unusual electronic percussionsounds. The workflow is excellent for such a tiny machine.

3 of 5 stars

Clavia Nord Drum 3P

The Nord Drum 3P is a tiny, but powerful "modeling percussion synthesizer". You can create kits with 6 different or nearly equal sounds and play them with sticks or by hand. The synthengine is extremely flexibel and gives You a huge bandwidth of possibilities. Programming is too complicated. The machine has also some good effects built in. But: Only one stereo output, no editor, no sequenzer, hand-playing is not so easy...

2 of 5 stars

Clavia Nord Lead 4r

The Nord Lead 4 is a very precise synthesizer. He sounds very "HiFi" and clear and has some interesting possibilities with the oscillators. The user interface is on the one hand very intuitive, but on the other hand there are too many double clicks necessary to reach any parameter. You need two hans to program this synth. And I hate that! I love the randomice feature to create unusual sounds. BUT: After some years I get bored an frustrated by the NL4: Too many compromises like Reverb OR Delay, no Chorus (!!), arpeggiator OR LFO1, no patch-names, no categories and so on... Good bye!

2 of 5 stars

Dave Smith Instruments / Sequential Evolver Desktop

The Evolver/Mopho/Prohet 08 has the hard and rasping DSI-sound. I don´t like it at all. I tried out several machines from DSI with this Curtis chip over the years, but no one of them satisfied me. The matrix programming of the Evolver is like a trip to hell. You need good eyes (if not buy an magnifier) to read the panel lettering,

2 of 5 stars

Dave Smith Instruments / Sequential Mopho

The Evolver/Mopho/Prohet 08 has the hard and rasping DSI-sound. I don´t like it at all. I tried out several machines from DSI with this Curtis chip over the years, but no one of them satisfied me. The Mopho is a nice synth for the money. Lot of features but the programming is extremely clumsy. So if You want to programm directly with the machine, buy another one.

2 of 5 stars

Dave Smith Instruments / Sequential Prophet 08

The Evolver/Mopho/Prohet 08 has the hard and rasping DSI-sound. I don´t like it at all. I tried out several machines from DSI with this Curtis chip over the years, but no one of them satisfied me. The programming of the Prophet 08 makes a lot of fun. There is a bunch of knobs and buttons. Also the polyphony of 8 voice is a good choice for pad sounds. Keep in mind: You need additional external effects to make it sound pretty well.

2 of 5 stars

Dave Smith Instruments / Sequential Rev2 Desktop

The Rev2 is a polyphonic, 2x multitimbral analog synthesizer. It creates a wide range of excellent analog sounds, has a lot of modulations, some effects. additionally You can stack or split two different layers. Its build like a tank and looks very oldschool. The sounds character ist warn, organic and very wide.

4 of 5 stars

Dave Smith Instruments / Sequential Pro-2

The Pro-2 is the best monophon analog synthesizer I know. It has the most features of all. The sound is warm, rich and has the most bottom end of all my synths. A bit more than the Moog Sub 37. If You like to fiddle around and find new, never heared sounds this is the right synthesizer.

5 of 5 stars

Dreadbox NYX

The Dreadbox NXY is a warm an rich sounding synth. It´s paraphonic and so You can play extremely nice dual sounds with it, One voice for the bass, the other for the soli on top. It offers a lot of different routings, which are noch so easy to handle. The envelops are not slow and not fast enough. The built in reverb is in mono only. The NYX has some patchpoints in Erorack format. But in sum it´s not the perfect for me.

3 of 5 stars

Dreadbox Typhon

The Typhon from Dreadbox is a small but extremely powerfull monophonic, analog Synthesizer with a digital control. It has a lot of clever integrated features, which I didn´t except from such a tiny unit. Many LFOs, envelopes, great effects, audio-in, a sequencer, storage for presets plus a huge sound all in a well built case. The workfloq is as clever as the reduced panel. Also I love the price...

4 of 5 stars

Elektron Analog Keys

The 4 voices of the Analog Keys sound very modern and aggressive. The presets on this machine are boring for my kind of music. The sequencer has lot and lot of possibilities. More than any other synth on the market. But it´s hard to learn the complicated structure of this machine. Absolutely not intuitive. So it´s not a synth for anyone. Also not for me.

3 of 5 stars

Eurorack

A few years ago, the Eurorack hype began. It sounded interesting. So it was time to build my own rack. I bought modules, tinkered around and familiarized myself with the material. After about 2 years, I realized that Eurorack was not for me. You can't save anything and are more concerned with unknotting patch cords or finding errors. In addition, there was never that special A-Ha moment. That's why I got rid of all Eurorack stuff and at the same time sold all my synthesizers without preset memories.

0 of 5 stars

Eventide H9 Max

The H9 max is already a true classic. It combines pretty much all Eventide effects in one device. The operation of the device itself takes some getting used to. With the iPad app, however, you quickly reach your goal. The effects sound really good. However, they sometimes lack that certain something extra. In addition, you may be paying for effect algorithms that you never need.

3 of 5 stars

Jomox T-Resonator MK2

The Jomox T-Resonator is a very different kind of effect. It generates delays, reverbs, flanger wich You can feedback to itself. It can also act as a great filter. There are additional modulation possibilities like an envelope follower and a LFO. Addtionally You can use FM and a kind of crossmodulating between the two channels of the T-Resonator. It´s a little bit noisy and it can extremely feedback itself to extremely resonances. So be careful.

2/5 stars

Kawai K5000W

This additive synthesizer has a different soundengine and so it sounds very different from other synths. The sound of the K5000 can be extremely cold and digital but the synth can also sound warm and smooth. For my ears it sounds too brittle and a bit cheesy in a lot of moments. But I am in general no fan of the late 90th sound of digital synths. I heard this sound too often....

1 of 5 stars

Korg Electribe MX

The electribe MX is a dynamic and powerful groovemachine. It has not many but very inspiring possibilities. It has an absolut present and a bit dirty sound, also it´s digital. Also it´s not the most intuitive machine, I liked it very much and I have regrets, cause I sold it.

4 of 5 stars

Korg M3

The Korg M3 is a great workstation with good natural and synthetic sounds. It offers a lot of effects and possibilities. It´s also a great machine for arpeggios and sequences. The KARMA engine is interesting and generates a lot of ideas. But it is a workstation and always sounds like a workstation.

3 of 5 stars

Korg NTS-1

The NTS-1 is a very small synth with one voice of Korgs digital engine. It has also a LFO, envelope, a digital filter plus 3 pretty good effects. It´s a little bit hard to programm, but thats OK. My problem: The synth makes a lot of noise, hiss and data-crackles, especially at the extrenal input. Also there are, from my point of view, no usefull and fine working free engines for that synth. So for me it´s more a toy than a usefull synth.

1 of 5 stars

Korg Prologue

The Korg Prologue is a fresh, deep&epic sounding synthesizer. It contains with the so called "Muti Engine" a programmable oscillator and effects. The sound-possibilities are theortically endless. With 2 analog and harmonic-rich VCOs You can also do a lot of the standard analog stuff. The prologue contains only one LFO. So it has less modulation possibilities. The structure is not very pleasing, so the workflow is not the fastest and in some parts very confusing.

2 of 5 stars

Korg Radias

The Radias is a good sounding VA synthesizer with great effects, a perfect user interface and a good vocoder. Anything sound very clear and analytic. The Radias has a powerful synthengine with a lot of possibilities. Maybe the most for an VA. The sound is a bit cold and digital, but in a positive sense. I am a big fan of the Radias!

5 of 5 stars

Korg Volca Bass

The Korg Volca Bass is a real synthesizer in a tiny case. The build quality is OK for the price. The sound is extremely fat and bright. Lots of bass plus a real and raw anaolog sound. The internal sequencer is not the best but it delivers a lot of inspiration by reducation. The filter sounds excellent.

2/5 stars

Korg Wavestation

The Wavestation was developed by Dave Smith and is an interesting digital Synthesizer. It can produce complex pads and textures. It has also some surprising bottom end. The sound of the instruments is rich of harmonics and creates a special mood. Also the hardware sound much brighter and deeper than the VST-version. Finally it has a good portion of the 90th digital sound, but with a special note.

3 of 5 stars

Kurzweil K2000

I owned a lot of samplers over the years, but never a K2000 until 2016. This machine sounds incredibly warm and organic. I don´t know what it is, but inside this machine something magical happens. No matter what sample You load in, the result is not static or boring. So I bought a lot of sample libraries and collect sounds for the K2000. I use it for any track on my album "Schwarzmond". The Kurzweil became an important part of my studio and musical work.

5 of 5 stars

M-Audio Venom

The Venom ist a good sounding synth for beginners. It offers a good "plasty" soundengine, keyboard, controller and audio interface. For the money You get a lot of synth. Some say the Venom sound like cheesy plastic. I agree, but in some productions this sound is very interesting as a contrast. So give it a chance. It makes a lot of fun!

2 of 5 stars

Modal Argon 8M

The Argon 8 is a modern sounding wavetable synth. It can also sound very analog. I love the clear HiFi sound of the Modal synths. The Argon hardware is hard to programm cause there are a lot of shift-functions and a confusing workflow. So You have to work very concentrate with it. Or use the free editor ;o) It´s well built and has a fresh and lovely sound.

4/5 stars

Modal Cobalt 8M

The Cobalt 8 is a modern sounding virtual analoge synthesizer. I love the clear HiFi sound of the Modal synths. The Cobalt hardware is hard to programm cause there are a lot of shift-functions and a confusing workflow. So You have to work very concentrate with it. Or use the free editor ;o) It´s well built and has a fresh and lovely deep sound.

4/5 stars

Mode Machines ADX1

The ADX1 is a drumsynthesizer. It creates a lot of self-modulating percussion sounds at high quality. The sound is a bit weired but in content with other drumsounds very interesting. There is NO built-in sequencer.

2 of 5 stars

Mode Machines x0xb0x

The x0xb0x is another TB-303 clone. But for me it´s one the most interesting ones. It has a great sequencer. It also sounds very analog and have a special TB-303 feel. Means it doesn´t exactly sound like a three-O-three and that in a positive way. Plus: The integrated sequencer is excellent and way beyond the original TB-303.

5 of 5 stars

Mooer Ocean Machine

The idea of the Mooer Ocean Machine is actually not a bad one: two delays paired with a reverb. The order and type of delay and reverb can be chosen from a wide range of options. There are a bunch of knobs and a great coloured display. The whole thing then has to be tamed, which is not always easy. The putre hardware is designed and built excellently. The device also processes stereo signals. It can't do anything with MIDI sync. Unfortunately, the sound of the Ocean Machine is not convincing. Delays are OK. But teh reverb sounds  cheap, and I miss the epic moments.

2 of 5 stars

Moog Sub 37

If You want the oldschool Moog-sound, than this is the right synthesizer. It includes the oldschool sound and parameters in a modern instrument with preset storage, digital contoller, sequencer and more. The Sub 37 is the perfect synth for basses and leads in a contemporary Moog style. But: The Sub 37 misses some high frequencies.And the built-quality is very poor (yellow keys, sticky Mod-Pitchwheels, broken cutoff-poti).

3 of 5 stars

Native Instruments Maschine (MK2 plus Jam)

OK the NI Machine is no synthesizer. It´s a huge Midi controller, which needs a computer. I use the MK2 together with the Machine Jam. An excellent Pair. For me these machines are an instrument. You can intuatively arrange songs, create drums/sequences and use it like a real instrument.

5 of 5 stars

Novation Bass Station 2

The Bass Station 2 is an excellent analog synth for beginners. You can easily learn the subtractive synthesis with this machine. It sounds a bit hard and crispy for my ears. The filters are great but also very aggresive. In all a pretty good synthesizer, but I don´t like the sound.

3 of 5 stars

Novation Mininova

Little plastic synth with some good sounds and an interesting vocoder. It´s a synth with a lot of possibilities under the hood. But: If You know a VA like a Virus, Nord Lead or Radias You will properly not like the Mininova. Less dynamic, less of anything. So better save some money and buy another machine.

2 of 5 stars

Novation Peak

The Novation Peak is a great and powerful sounding synthesizer with 8 voices, a lot of knobs and a pretty design. It´s extremely well built and gives a lot of possibilities. It has an also powerfull and well sounding effectsgenerator built in. The reverb is one of the best I ever heard in a synth. Also the whole sound is fresh ans so far new. The only problem is that the synths is extremely present in the mix.

4/5 stars

Novation Summit

The Summit is two Peaks in one machine. Additionally it has a good 61 Keybed. It also doubles the polyphony to 16 voices, which can be split, layered or use seperately. I love the Summit, cause it gives me directly control over 99% of it´s parameters. Its extremely easy to create a new sound or to change a preset. I has the best effects, I ever heared in a synth. Also I don´t know any other hybrid synth that has so many possibilities. The summit can sound lush, agressive, rich and poor, cheesy and epic. I simply love this synth.

5/5 stars

Pioneer DJ DSI Toraiz AS-1

The Toraiz AS-1 is an excellent sounding little synthesizer with one voice of the Prophet 6. It has a deep, warm and very detailed sound. Excellent for basses. My fisrt choice. The little box is full of nice and inspirational features. A lot of the famouse big sound for the money. But I miss some more control.

4 of 5 stars

Pittsburgh Modular Lifeforms SV-1

The SV-1 is an all-in-one modular synth not only for beginners. It includes all basic modules You need to start. The sound is rough and beefy. This is the first Eurorack synth I own (beginning 2018) and I think that modular synthesists will become more and mor interesting to me. Must see... 2 years later: I sold all my Eurorack stuff. It´s not the way I like to make music.

4 of 5 stars

Roland D 50

I heared so much from this famous topseller synthesizer, that I impulsively bought it some years ago. After some hours of playing around, I thought: Thats all? Ok it creates a lot of cool pads and have a charecterful digital sound. But it´s not the magical instrument for me (also like the JD-800).

2 of 5 stars

Roland Fantom-06

This is a nice sounding workstation. It has a lot of features, like a built-in sampler, arpeggiator, vocoder, sequencer, VA, scenes and more. Expansions are too expensive. Built quality is bad. I also miss some control over arps and sequences. And: I simply prefer Yamaha.

2 of 5 stars

Roland JV-2080

Same story as for the D 50. Some interesting synth-sounds but the natural instruments sound awful. Same for the effects.I found some rarely interesting and inspiring preset in it. I don´t think that I will try to program it. It´s a rompler.

2 of 5 stars

Roland MC-505

The MC-505 is an oldschool groovebox. It contains a lot of good drumkits. It also contains a huge library of sampled electronic sounds of the 90th tekno/house/hiphop age. At the moment this sounds are not interesting for me. But I thing it will become an interesting machine in future. Cause You can also use it as a soundexpander.

3 of 5 stars

Roland System 8

The Roland System 8 is a very inspiering VA-Synth, delivering all the analog-classic Roland sounds in one synth. It´s easy to programm and it makes a lot of fun, cause all parameters have direct access. The sound is fat and warm but not very detailed. Effects are very poor. The buit quality is cheap. Too less preset storage. And at all You can can have the exactly same sound using the Vst-plugins... hmmm?

3 of 5 stars

Roland TB-03

Nice little clone of Rolands iconic TB-303. It´s all digital but sound extremely similar to the original. Well built-quality and additional features like effects, USB and an easier sequencer-mode. I love this machines, cause it delievers a very similar feel I can remember from my TB-303 in the early 90th.

2 of 5 stars

Roland V-Synth

The V-Synth is a great sample based synthesizer with lot of possibilities. It has a warm, present, rich and bombastic sound. I like the filters (also the are digital) and the effects. It´s an imposing machine with a lot of controllers and an excellent keyboard. Besides the K2000 it´s a great sampler/synthesizer.

5 of 5 stars

Strymon Big Sky

Strymon´s Big Sky is an effect machine primarily buitl for guitars. But it can also be used for synthesizers. The Big Sky has the most powerful effect engine for reverbs ever (until this day). It sound so wonderful and epic that You have to listen to it, to understand what I mean. Besides the standards there are a lot of unusual reverbs like shimmer, bloom, or cloud in this machine. You can transform a cheesy buzzer into an majestic soundscape with it. It´s a magical machine...

5 of 5 stars

Strymon Nightsky

The Nighsky is a very different reverb pedal. It´s perfect for synthes because of the stereo input with switchable line level. It´s more like a reverb synthesizer. It contains a LFO, a low/highpass filter with highpass resonance plus a customizeable shimmer and a 8 step sequencer. It´s a little bit hard to understand how the different parts interact. But You can create lovely sounds with it. It´s by far no alternative to the BigSky. The panel is a little bit too small. Also I miss some features like syncing the LFO, more resonance, a faster LFO and time devision for the sequencer.

2/5 stars

Strymon Timeline

The Timeline is a nice delay pedal. It gives you the complete range of known delay effects in one unit at highest sound qualtity and with a lot of controls. But it´s hard to let it groove and interact with sequences. Also I had problems to sync it.

3 of 5 stars

Waldorf Blofeld

The Waldorf Blofeld is a constant part of my productions. It has a crisp warm digital character. If You search for a synth which can deliver the known "Waldorf-Sound" the Blofeld is the right machine. It can generate both, the oldschool and modern sound. The matrix is easy to handle and the synth is very well built. It´s also an interesting machine for synthetic drums.

4 of 5 stars

Waldorf IRIDIUM

The Waldorf Iridium is the most comprehensive and complex synthesizer I've ever had under my fingers. It is a real monster. Great effects, sampling, VA, wavetables, FM. And all this in one machine. I am thrilled.

5 of 5 stars

Waldorf Rocket

The Rocket is a nice second synthesizer. For basses and lead sounds it does a good job. The possibilities are limited. But there is a lot of sound in this tiny synth. I liked the polyphonic functionality within the oscillators. It sounds warm and modern with a special mood.

2 of 5 stars

Waldorf Streichfett

The Streichfett is a modern, digital string synthesizer. It can emulate a lot of different string ensemble sounds and has an additinal solo part. Both parts are well done by the synth. It´s difficult to mix the Streichfett, cause there are always some resonant peaks within the signal. I sold it some years ago and I missed it. Now it´s again part of my studio.

4 of 5 stars

Yamaha CS1x

I still own the CS1x because I did a lot of demos with in in the 90th. Also I bought it at Sythesizer Studio Bonn and I was one of the last customers ;o) The sound is digital and rough. For sure the instrument has it´s own character but this character is what I no longer want from a synthesizer.

3 of 5 stars

Yamaha EX5

Interesting monster synthesizer with differnt synthesist like AWM2 (Advanced Wave Memory) Synthesis, AN (Analog Physical Modeling) Synthesis, FDSP (Formulated Digital Sound Processing) Synthesis and Virtual Acoustic (VL) Synthesis. Lots of interesting and fat sounds. Very big case. Sounds digital and oldschool. Very slow data transfer from disc or SCSI. It´s hard to understand the synth and the user interface is not intuitive. It produces a lot of warning messages. After all, absolutely not my synthesizer.

2 of 5 stars

Yamaha Motif 7

The Motif sound is my favorit sound of workstations. Some like Roland Fantom, some Korg Kronos. I would prefer the Yamaha sound, cause its more Hifi and present and much less GM. The Motif 7 is a heavy built machine with a lot of inspiration.

3 of 5 stars

Yamaha MOX6

The Yamaha MOX6 is a good sounding workstation. It delivers both, the natural sounds and the synth ones, in pretty good quality. It´s also a good synthesizer. You can stack up to 64 (!) voices together to ONE. The filters are not the best. The sound of the MOX is more crisp and present than the Korg and Roland workstations. As a former owner of the Motif 7 I must say that the MOX6 has a wider and more detailed sound, but the old MOTIF has a bit more character.

4 of 5 stars

Yamaha MOXF6

The Yamaha MOXF6 is a great sounding and very portable workstation. It delivers both, the natural sounds and the synth ones, in pretty good quality. It´s also a good synthesizer and sample player. I love the built in arpeggios and seqeunces. I recommend You to buy a MOXF with built in sample ram. I owned the older MOX for years and exchanged it with the MOXF. Best investment for a long time. Disadvantage: Still stepping controller pots and some lacks of midi functionality.

4/5 stars

Yamaha MODX

The MODX is a great performance syntehsizer for studio and stage. It offers a lot of great but most digital sounds. The built in FM synthesizer is definitely not my kind of thing. It hat a great arpeggiator/sequencer and it´s a lot of fun to jam with it. On the other side I cannot find enough sounds on it for my own music. It doesn´t inspire me. And if there was an inspiring sound, I gues I will hear it in 100 other compositions. But after all, it´s a good and portable synth with a lot of potential.

3 of 5 stars

Yamaha RM1x

The RM1x is a cool sequencer/groovebox. The sound is OK (low quality 90th PCM smples), but You can also use it to trigger external devices. In this case You get a great machine with lot of live features and a great realtime control.

3 of 5 stars

Yamaha SY22

The SY22 is a "special" synth: Like the SY77 it combines AWM synthesis with FM. Additionally You can blend (not morph) between the 4 elements of a voice. The AWM samples sound different to the SY77, so if You like the SY77 You´ll probably like the SY22. The SY22 has a very good keybed with a hard aftertouch. It´s not comfortable to program. It has buit-in effects but no sequencer and a poor panel. If You add some new effects to it, the SY22 can sound very modern and big.

3 of 5 stars

Yamaha SY77

The SY77 was my first "big" synthesizer. It has a characterful, bright, digital sound. There are a lot of famous samples inside. You can also use it as a FM synthesizer (DX7 inside) and combine this sounds with PCM. There are alot of user presets out there for free. After all the years it still suprises me every time I start programming a sound...

4 of 5 stars