Deal
This week’s Synth Deals features three superb, classic analog synths with significant discounts so you might just be able to afford one after all!
Hey there! Rob here, standing in for Julian as he takes a well-earned summer break. He told me to find some great deals for you and I hope I haven’t let him, or you, down. I’ve been diving deeper into my analog synths of late so I decided to see if I could find some great savings. Let’s take a look at what I found.
Moog Minimoog Model D 2022
When it comes to classic analog synths, they do not get any more classic than the Moog Minimoog. You know this, I know this and Moog knows this. And because of this, Moog Music decided to reissue the undisputed heavywieght champ of the analog synth world in 2022.
Built with the same love and attention as many other Minimoogs over the last 50+ years, it seeks to deliver the exact same experience that we have come to know and love. However they added a few subtle tricks up its sleeve in the 2016 reissue to deliver a bit more of a modern feel to it. These all remain.
There’s even a spring-loaded pitch bend wheel which upset a handful of purists, but that fuss soon blew over. The Minimoog Model D remains the absolute epitome of the perfect synthesizer in 2024 and now, you can have it for €500 less!
Arturia MatrixBrute Noir
Taking more than just a few cues from the Minimoog Model D, Arturia staked their claim to producing a classic analog synth when they launched the MatrixBrute back in 2017. With the same ‘sit-up-and-beg’ style chassis, the MatrixBrute took their Brute oscillators and gave them a shot of steroids.
So successful was this approach, that they ended up making not one, but two polyphonic synths that share the MatrixBrute DNA. Clocking in at much less than a Model D, the MatrixBrute goes way beyond Dr Bob’s original concept and adds a raft of superb sound-sculpting features.
There’s the superb Steiner-Parker filter as well as the more traditional (and Minimoog-esque) ladder filter. There are three VCOs, three LFOs, three envelope generators and a BBD-based analog effects section. And then there’s the matrix, from which the since derives its name. A brilliant and ingenious routing matrix that allows almost limitless modulation routings.
The original MatrixBrute was replaced by the Noir edition and at seven years old, may well be coming to the end of its own life soon. So there’s no better time to treat yourself to a modern classic analog synth that will sound like nothing else in your sonic arsenal.
Oberheim OB-X8
Oberheim surprised us all when they announced the OB-X8. Not only was it great to have Tom Oberheim’s name back in the fray, but now we had a brand new Oberheim polysynth! Once was a day when the Oberheim name was synonymous with classic analog synths, especially polyphonic ones.
The OB-X8 can be considered an ‘Oberheim Greatest Hits’ as it sports all the factory patches from the OB-X, OB-Xa and OB-8. Built using discrete SEM VCOs, SEM VCFs and the gorgeous Curtis filter, the OB-X8 is both nostalgic and contemporary.
You can split and layer patches and now, with the free v2.0 firmware, you can employ the binaural feature to give those sounds real width. And if you want depth, the Unison mode has real clout too. All of this is controlled by a high quality, velocity-sensitive Fatar keyboard with the classic Oberheim pitch and modulation paddles.
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