Poly Synth reviews from Reddit
Summary
We analyzed 168 Reddit reviews across 4 subreddits and 49 posts to rank the best Poly Synth brands recommended by redditors, including communities like r/synthesizers, r/WeAreTheMusicMakers, r/synthesizercirclejerk, r/synthdiy. Top-rated brands include Korg (4.4/5), Behringer (4.6/5), Sequential (4.6/5).
Stats
Reviews168
Subreddits4
Posts49
Brands39
Products91
168 reviews from
and
By Brand
/By Product
#1
Korg
4.4
(33)
"Synth: Korg Minilogue, or Minilogue XD if you can spend a little more."
"Korg Prologue. Knob per function mostly, very little menu diving."
"I’d vote Prologue 16. That’s the next one I’ll get."
"I vote prologue. At any price."
"I know the minilogue XD gets recommended a lot, but that’s for good reason."
"I’d throw in another vote for the Korg Minilogue, absolutely stellar synth."
"The Minilogue/Minilogue XD are hard to beat for beginning synthesis."
"Just sounds best to my ears."
"Nothing comes close to its features or popularity."
"Omg the King Korg kicks soo much ass, highly recommend."
#2
Behringer
4.6
(17)
"I literally got the Behringer Deepmind 12D two days ago and am floored by it."
"Otherwise, the Behringer Model D is my go-to."
"Model d or behringer cat. It will not be different coming years."
"Behringer Poly D"
"Deepmind 12 may give you the most bang for the buck in that price range."
"Behringer deepmind 6 or minilogue is your best bet for analogue."
"I own one myself and it's a fantastic synth!"
"I third (fourth?) The deepmind."
"It's great for pads but I do also get cool keys sounds out of it."
"DeepMind 12 is pretty fantastic and the price is well in your budget."
#3
Sequential
4.6
(16)
"I’d wait a bit to save up for a nice poly like a Prophet 6 desktop used and use VSTs in the meantime."
"Incredible bang for buck. sounds REALLY good."
"The amount of sounds you can get out of it is insane"
"Take 5. Overall sound, features, build quality."
"I have to put my vote in for the OB-6."
"The Prophet 6 is money."
"Pretty much gonna echo what everyone else is saying: Prophet is probably the way to go."
"Nord Lead A1R, OB6 module, Roland JP-08/JX-03/JU-06."
"DSI Prophet 8."
"Prophet 08."
#4
Novation
4.7
(15)
"I own one and it's great."
"Novation peak is such a great piece of gear."
"The novation peak is amazing for the price."
"Easily the novation summit"
"Can recommend the mininova. Awesome little poly for like $200 to $300 used."
"Have you considered a Peak? You might be able to get one used with that budget."
"Try out a Peak or Summit."
"Yeah I played a Peak the other day."
"I would highly recommend doing everything possible to get a Novation Peak."
"Novation Circuit is pretty incredible."
#5
Hydrasynth
4.8
(10)
"Hydrasynth Deluxe or Desktop."
"I sold it and bought hydrasynth - and it’s much better synth overall in every aspect."
"I’d also add Hydrasynth Desktop to your list of synths to consider."
"Get the hydra. the polyafter touch will blow you mind."
"The Hydrasynth explorer fits into your budget."
"I would recommend the hydra synth or a virus."
"Hydrasynth explorer (cheaper than the desktop right now); argon8, cobatl8, deepmind12d."
"The Hydrasynth explorer is an amazing deal."
"I always like to pair an analog mono with a digital poly so my suggestion would be either the Hydrasynth or Microfreak."
"Check out these Hydrasynth, Novation peak, Behringer deepmind 12D."
#6
Roland
4.2
(11)
"Roland SH-4D. Massive polyphony, 4 synth parts plus a drum part."
"I'd go for a Roland D-50 with a PG-1000 programmer."
"Nord Lead A1R, OB6 module, Roland JP-08/JX-03/JU-06."
"An Alpha Juno 1 or 2 for 350-400 classic synth."
"Roland has you covered in both counts, and in fact have a whole series of devices that work together to make music: AIRA Compacts."
"The GAIA 2 and the Deepmind 12 are the two I'm most interested in."
"I think the Roland Gaia 2 which is currently around 700 might be it for you."
"Elegant, simple, and sounds lovely."
"For other options you could go with a Roland JU-06, Streichfett, or hold off for the DM12 rack."
"I'd recommend a roland gaia over a roland system 1."
#7
Yamaha
4.6
(7)
"Yamaha DX7"
"Yamaha TX816 (8x DX7 in rack blade from with 16 voice polyphony and 32 patches each)"
"I would recommend the yamaha reface cs, and a lot of modulation guitar pedals."
"Reface cs. tank-like, well suited for live use."
"I'd go with either a Reface CS, or a Novation Peak, depending on your budget."
"Buy a new AN1x on Ebay."
"Yamaha DX7."
#8
ASM
4.3
(6)
"I would recommend HydraSynth"
"If I were starting over today the Summit is the first thing I'd buy."
"Hydrasynth Deluxe is also very good option."
"Value: Hydrasynth Explorer"
"Yeah, I still go to my Peak more often then my Hydra even if getting under the hood takes a bit more work."
"What I love about the Peak is how much modulation it can do just with the front panel."
#9
Waldorf
4.2
(5)
"The Blofeld would be great for both roles and many more."
"For practicality and pretty amazing sound, get a Blofeld."
"The Blofeld is a terrific synth out of the box."
"Micromonsta, Tetra, DSI P6/P12 module, Blofeld."
"Waldorf pulse 2 is a bit over that, around 800? and desktop and more paraphonic than poly, but analogue and should sound great."
#10
Nord
4.5
(4)
"These are the best I’ve played under $2k: 2. Nord Wave 2"
"Nord Lead A1R, OB6 module, Roland JP-08/JX-03/JU-06."
"Nord Wave 2."
"Nord rack 1/2 or Virus A/B/C rack would be smart moves."
#11
Modal
4.5
(4)
"Modwave would be an excellent choice regarding versatility."
"If I could keep just one it would probably be the Modal. I think it is a sleeper that eventually the synth world will wake up to."
"The Modal 8's may be a tad big but you could opt for the module version."
"Modal skulpt is the only decent synth that seems to fit your requirements."
#12
Novation Summit
5.0
(3)
"If looking to spend more, the Novation Summit cannot be beat."
"This. Summit is my go-to everything synth now."
"The most feature packed synth at that price that isn’t purely digital."
#13
Dave Smith Instruments
5.0
(3)
"These are the best I’ve played under $2k: 3. Prophet 12"
"People seem to like the hydra synth I love my og prophet 08 if you can get a good deal on it I also would recommend taking a look at that one"
"It’s pretty a pretty crazy synth for how much it costs and I really like the sound."
#14
Arturia
4.3
(3)
"Polybrute"
"Arturia Polybrute should be around 2k."
"Nord is the correct answer but the polybrute is my answer"
#15
u-he
4.3
(3)
"Diva is a workhorse. You’ll get a ton of use out of it and it works in so many situations."
"Repro is really great and is the best Prophet soft synth out there, but it’s a much more specific sound."
"Uh-e Diva can cover most bases."
#16
Korg Minilogue
4.0
(3)
"You can get some Moog style sounds out of the Minilogue and Minilogue XD."
"The original minilogue, minilogue xd, and minifreak are all great."
"My only hardware analog poly is the Minilogue so I’d guess I’d say Minilogue for brassy analog pads."
#17
Udo
4.5
(2)
"These are the best I’ve played under $2k: 1. Udo Super 6"
"On the higher budget end, have you seen the UDO super6?"
#18
Alesis
4.0
(2)
"Super deep and sounds great."
"Alesis Microns are great synths and dirt cheap."
#19
Melbourne Instruments
5.0
(1)
"Save some more and go for the Nina 12 voice analog motorised epic."
#20
Korg Prologue 16
5.0
(1)
"If you want a really phat low end, the Prologue 16 w/ low frequency compressor in mono mode can kick pretty hard."
#21
Sequential Trigon 6
5.0
(1)
"Sequential Trigon Six is a candidate. It has them ladder filters."
#22
Access
5.0
(1)
"The most versatile synth you can get for ~$1000 would be an access virus (TI2 Desktop)."
#23
Sledge
5.0
(1)
"Most enjoyable synth i have had, i liked it more than the rev2."
#24
Erica Synths
5.0
(1)
"Erica Synths DB-01 is easily my meanest bass synth."
#25
Micromonsta
5.0
(1)
"Five votes for the Micromonsta."
#26
DSI
4.0
(1)
"DSI P6/P12 module, Blofeld."
#27
Polyevolver
4.0
(1)
"Polyevolver module? they arent selling too often these days."
#28
Cheetah
4.0
(1)
"Roland mks 80, mks70, matrix 1000, cheetah ms6"
#29
Dave Smith
4.0
(1)
"The Prophet 08 isn't bad."
#30
Dreadbox
4.0
(1)
"+1 Nymphes is great, deceptively versatile little synth with loads of modulation."
#31
Isla Instruments
4.0
(1)
"Isla instruments Caladan has all of that for $1200 still in preorder phase tho"
#32
Mutable Instruments
4.0
(1)
"Was headed to the comments to suggest the Ambika. Have one and love it."
#33
Novation Peak
4.0
(1)
"There is of course also the Peak, for which you'd need to get a separate keyboard."
#34
Michigan
4.0
(1)
"Under $1K, I'd check out Michigan Xena, Korg Multipoly or Modwave."
#35
Bastl and Casper
4.0
(1)
"The SoftPop2 by Bastl and Casper looks pretty fun."
#36
PWM
4.0
(1)
"Check out the PWM Malevolent. It’s buzzy as fuck."
#37
Minifreak
4.0
(1)
"How about a Minifreak, with the extra budget spent on a pedal?"
#38
Sunrizer
4.0
(1)
"Sunrizer was awesome when I was doing the iPad music thing."
#39
AudioThingies
4.0
(1)
"If you are looking for something desktop with a lot of bang per the buck, check out AudioThingies MicroMonsta 2."
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