Korg Mono/Poly vs SCI Pro One

[axelmc]

Hi,

I am looking to get a vintage analog mono synth with lots of hands on modulation, fat sound for bass and leads and having a sequencer or arpeggiator.

I am looking at the Monopoly or Pro one, what would be the pros and cons for these two bad boys...?

[samuraipizzacat29]

well m/p has four oscs to pro one's two. m/p is also usable in polyphonic mode, to pro one's mono only. the m/p has an additional modulation generator (but doesn't route all over the place). The m/p has that "effects" section for some pretty cool osc sync effects. Also chord hold as well was strange duophony and misc weirdness that is only available on mono/poly. m/p also worth just a hair more.

long story short -> more osc's equal more power (imho) so unless you know up front you definitely want the pro one sound, I'd def go mono/poly. All the crazy extra features of it make it a ton of fun to program long term.

pm me if you want one

[space6oy]

sales pitch!

[samuraipizzacat29]

is there an emoticon for "bashfully caught shamefully red-handed"?

Contrarily, I'd like to hear a sales pitch for the pro one if we're comparing the two. Just saying....

[Z]

Contrarily, I'd like to hear a sales pitch for the pro one if we're comparing the two. Just saying....

ProOne has a sequencer in it.

I'd still take the MP-4, though.

I need to work on my sales pitch since I'll be selling three Pro Ones soon.

[samuraipizzacat29]

I would say "sell me one!" pero no quiero. lo siento.....

[CfNorENa]

Mono/Poly has the edge in features, Pro-One has the edge in "bread and butter" mono sounds. Mono/Poly makes a great second analog mono, but isn't as good an option as your one-and-only mono. Also, you say you want "fat bass." In that all-important monosynth category, the Pro-One DESTROYS the Mono/Poly.

But they're both great for hands-on tweaking in real time...

[CfNorENa]

Contrarily, I'd like to hear a sales pitch for the pro one if we're comparing the two. Just saying....

Finest incarnation of "CEM" sound ever made. Deep, punchy, window-rattling bass; hypnotic PWM arps; screaming leads; punchy analog percussion. Hugely flexible modulation matrix. Lightning-fast envelopes. Classic look.

[Solderman]

M/P= 4 cheap synths in 1 ; better filter resonance of the two(imo) ; effects and poly are decent bonuses
P1= Snappier, meaner, rounder(w/no resonance), spacy

[Automatic Gainsay]

f**k this s**t. Anyone who thinks the MonoPoly isn't fat can kiss my a*s.
It doesn't f**k matter if Samurai is selling one, every goddamned thing he said about the M/P was true.
The Pro One definitely has merit, but the MonoPoly is one of the most powerful vintage non-modular synthesizers ever made, and also has a great sound.

As a person who owns the the synths that DEFINED analog monosynth sound, I guarantee that the M/P provides that sound.

[GuyaGuy]

I just sold my MonoPoly to re-purchase a Prophet 600. That might be grounds for dismissal from this forum. But it just goes to show you it's all about what you want out of a synth. I just needed polyphony, a brasher tone, memory, MIDI, and a simpler interface more. Actually, if the MP had patches I'd probably still have it. YMMV, FWIW, FBI, BBC, BB King and all that.

[OntarioHydro]

The correct answer is they are both good. To trade one for the other would be a fair trade and owning both is totally justifiable.

I can confidently say the Pro~One's sound quality is thicker and more punchy, this is not debatable. You can run audio through the filter which is good sounding and almost any audio source can open the envelopes with ease. The envelopes are faster then the Mono/Poly's and the noise sounds better to my ears. I don't know what VCAs these machines use but I would bet the Pro~One's is of higher quality. The Pro~One's use of oscillator 2 as a modulation source is very powerful and can do a bunch of sounds a stock Mono/Poly cannot. The sequencer is useful and you can buy an upgraded cpu chip that makes it even more useful.

I prefer the Mono/Poly over all as it is more unique, is of better build quality, and handles better. I like that it has two LFO's (so does the Pro~One but you have to sacrifice a VCO), you can set the range of the pitch and mod wheels, you're given chord-mode, the keyboard has last note priority and more keys so it is more playable, the portamento is better, you have a CV in for slave VCO, better arpeggiator (poly mode ftw), am I missing anything??

In conclusion I feel the Mono/Poly would be much harder to replicate in modular then the Pro~One would.

hope this helps

[CfNorENa]

Just sold my Mono/Poly. Had bought it to complement my Pro-One -- largely on the basis of advice I received here!! -- but found that I much preferred the Polysix for SSM tone. I did like it. If money, time, and space weren't factors, I would have kept it for sure. That said, my favorite feature, running the arp in poly mode, while great fun, wasn't helping me AT ALL to make music. I also thought the oscillators were a bit weak and lifeless. But yes, filter resonance is very, very nice on it.

@AG: why did you sell yours? Not calling you out, just curious...

[Psy_Free]

f**k this s**t. Anyone who thinks the MonoPoly isn't fat can kiss my a*s.
It doesn't f**k matter if Samurai is selling one, every goddamned thing he said about the M/P was true.

Well said. I can never understand it when people say the M/P sounds thin or weak. They must have a dud one or are listening to it through a 1 Watt system with 1 inch woofers. It is not thin or weak, it can shake the putty from your windows at 10 paces.

[ninja6485]

f**k this s**t. Anyone who thinks the MonoPoly isn't fat can kiss my a*s.
It doesn't f**k matter if Samurai is selling one, every goddamned thing he said about the M/P was true.

Well said. I can never understand it when people say the M/P sounds thin or weak. They must have a dud one or are listening to it through a 1 Watt system with 1 inch woofers. It is not thin or weak, it can shake the putty from your windows at 10 paces.

and yet at 50 paces it's a pleasent jamboree