RE: What synthesizers do you own?
Hah, I was wondering when this side of the community was going to rear its head again  I should probably update my signature, it's quite a bit out-of-date... - Roland D-50: Gorgeous, inimitable early digital timbres and lush effects. I'd sell a kidney sooner than get rid of it.
- Roland JX-10: Something about the sound on this one - no matter what you have it do, it comes out classy and well-mannered, like a fine grand piano. The character of the sound is also very reminiscent of the D-50, despite one being analog and the other digital.
- Roland SH-09: For a teeny little single-oscillator budget synth, this thing is surprisingly beefy. I love the filter on it; the resonance really engages with the sound in a way that a lot of Roland's later filters don't.
- Roland MT-32: Okay, it's no D-50, but it's a charming little box with a lot of fun sounds and a reasonably capable engine, even if you're not a classic point-'n-click adventure-game junkie.
- Roland SC-55k: Okay, the Sound Canvas line spawned that hideous GM.DLS soundfont, but in fairness, the actual hardware implementations are quite a bit nicer less awful okay-er. Plus, it's the de facto standard for listening to old shareware MIDIs spawned in the depths of some long-forgotten BBS.
- Yamaha DX7-IIFD: The more full-featured version of the One True Classic Digital Synthesizer. It lacks a little bit of the magic, but offers some neat tricks of its own (the unison mode is incredible, even before you combine it with layered patches.)
- Yamaha TX7: The module version of the Mk. 1 DX7, because as nice as the DX7-II is, you just need That Sound.
- Yamaha V50: Two TX81Zs stuffed into a keyboard with a better multimbral MIDI implementation, a basic sequencer, a cheapass drum machine, and some basic effects - and, thank God, more patch memory.
- Yamaha SY22: Cheesy but interesting "vector synthesis" - gritty, simplistic samples plus basic FM voices, with sequenced balance-control between those elements. Bizarre. Sounds better than it has any right to. Needs the main audio outs fixed so I can sell it.
- Yamaha TG33: The expanded module version of the SY22. What was the deal with people making weird, un-rackable desktop modules in the '90s?
- Yamaha RX15: Basic digital drum machine. Needs new buttons and sliders.
- Yamaha FB-01: Simple 4-operator FM module; it's basically eight Sega Genesis voices in a half-rack.
- Korg DW-8000: Gloriously weird hybrid synthesizer (digital oscillators, analog filters.) Gorgeously dark and spacey digital delay/single-line chorus; it turns even the simplest patches into a trip through the cosmos on the back of a witch's broom. Tragically, it suffered a power-supply failure and needs to be repaired.
- Korg X5DR: Expanded half-rack version of the X5 keyboard, a couple generations down the line from the M1. Some lovely sounds, although it's yet another '90s ROMpler that decided nobody would ever need resonant filters again.
- Korg MS-20 Mini: Lovely little recreation. The MS-20 is an amazingly versatile little piece of gear; you'd never mistake it for anything else, but it can do just about anything if you put your mind to it.
- (Korg) ARP Odyssey: An affordable recreation of an all-time classic. Does pretty much everything that the MS-20 doesn't, and does it well; the only thing I really don't like is the weird pressure pads.
- (ARP) Rhodes Chroma Polaris: Not currently in a working state, sadly; really need to dig into this and get it fixed.
- Behringer Model D: Another affordable recreation of an all-time classic. It's not 100% there compared to the Minimoog, but for ~10% of the going rate, I'll take it.
- Clavia Nord Rack 2: The first virtual-analog I've owned in a long time. Not as distinctive as the Microkorg, but not remotely as bland and lifeless as most of Roland's VA offerings. Could really have used some built-in effects, though.
- Ensoniq SQ-80: Another weird hybrid synthesizer. Between the great gritty 8-bit samples and the Curtis filters, this thing is like instant synthwave-in-a-box.
- E-mu Proteus/2: And this thing is like instant '90s TV soundtrack-in-a-box. Needs a new backup battery, though.
- E-mu Proteus MPS: The keyboard version of the Proteus/1. Tragically, the battery died and I screwed up one of the holes in the PCB while desoldering it. I think it's possible to salvage it, but I need to brush up on my soldering skills.
- Akai MPC-2000: I don't really know why I have this thing; I stupidly traded a Mirage rack version for it. I need to stop doing things like that.
- DK Synergy: It's like the mirror-universe version where Spock has to build a DX7 out of TTL logic and bearskins. The downside is, the envelope generator circuit is currently malfunctioning. The upside is, that's constructed entirely out of commodity parts and only needs me to take the time to sit down and pinpoint the issue with the aid of copious documentation and a mailing list frequented by the guys who actually designed and built it.
I... think that's everything...? Though I'm probably going to end up buying back my old Mk. 1 DX7 from the guy I traded it to. And it won't be the first time, either. I should probably stop getting rid of it.
Computers: Amiga 1200, DEC VAXStation 4000/60, DEC MicroPDP-11/73
Synthesizers: Roland JX-10/SH-09/MT-32/D-50, Yamaha DX7-II/V50/TX7/TG33/FB-01, Korg MS-20 Mini/ARP Odyssey/DW-8000/X5DR, Ensoniq SQ-80, E-mu Proteus/2, Nord Lead 2, Behringer Model D
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