The Pro One is perhaps the most flexible small vintage monosynth but also look at the MS20, SH2, maybe some of the mid level Yamaha CS synths. As for new stuff, the Little Phatty, the DSI MoPho and the upcoming Minibrute. These are all monosynths of course, and if you want to replace your Rhodes for...

Thanks nathan for that great answer, just the era I was interested in too! Yep those Akai's were pricey as h**l back then, and it cost nearly as much upgrading them with Akai's proprietary ram and fitting a hard drive than it did for the sampler itself. Just wondering how the h**l a D10 managed to s...

I'm a big fan of The Shamen's En-Tact and Boss Drum albums but I'm having trouble finding info about their gear. Boss Drum obviously has a lot of 303, as well as 808/909 (though I think I read that they got their 808/909 sounds from a Roland R8m, if that's the case I'm very impressed). Some big cros...

Like it, the Fenix definitely has a very definable character, as heard both here and in RDJ's Fenix Funk tracks

Never owned one, but it has a place in my heart as it was the first synth I ever ever played, music teacher in high school (also a session player for a few famous folks) had one. I played a nice string pad whilst the rest of the class played along on the casiotones. I felt the power beneath my finge...

I'm a fan as well, very well built and reliable little poly. It doesn't sound as big as a Juno 60 (I had both sitting beside each other for a few years) but it has a far more unique sonic character I've never really heard replicated in other synths. It was never a synth I turned to for basses, but i...

Everytime I hear Lore I feel the need to pee...

I'll happily stride through the irony to defend the JX1, it was a decent little synth for lots of people, for a young kid playing in a band wanting easy access to sounds, instant layers, a few sliders to wiggle, no multitimbralism and a handy little input to save you a mixer channel or plug in a dru...

I remember as a schoolkid going to a Roland demo held at a local hotel where they were demonstrating the JD800, JV80 and JV30, and gear of that era. Conspicuous by it's absence was the D70, I think by 1992 even Roland had given up on that. I remember the demonstrator trying to convince the crowd tha...

though like I said, never spent any time with a Jupiter 8...

or an SH5, or a JD990, or any of the modulars, or a Jupe 4, or an MKS80, and I've only spun through the presets on a V-synth, so I'm probably missing a good half dozen of Roland's best..

Ok, so had a think about this today and this is my top 10 of their synths that I've used, if it was about gear rather than synths I would have definitely have included the 808, 909 and Space Echo as well... 1. JD 800 2. Juno 60 3. SH2 4. Jupiter 6 5. JX10 6. TB 303 7. D50 8. SH101 9. JV1080 10. Alph...

Has this ever been a topic before? Hard to believe if not but I couldn't find it in a search. Just thinking about the 20 or so Roland's I've spent a decent amount if time with and trying to figure out my favourite, anyone else have an opinion. Never used a Jupiter 8 so I can't choose that, tho I'm s...

Midifying a 6 is just as easy as a midifying a 60. Not sure I agree with that either, adding MIDI to a Juno 60 can be as simple as adding a MIDI-DCB converter. Adding MIDI to a Juno 6 is a different and much more expensive prospect. You either get a full MIDI retrofit (expensive) or get a DCB retro...

I think the MS2000 would be nice for you, you can process your guitar through it, and use its signal as just another waveform to throw through it's mod-sequencer, which is just instant cool. Great synth to learn subtractive on too...

Roland JP8000, it's easily within your price range, does decent CS80 impressions, which you'll like if you're into Vangelis.

Also a very good synth for learning basic subtractive synthesis...