Desktop Synth/Sample player alternatives to Blofeld?

[lyford]

I am looking for a desktop synth module that can also load custom samples for live performance. I know the Blofeld can do this with the SL option, but I haven't been able to find something similar - all the desktop units seem more drum machine based, rather than polyphonic chromatic synth based. I don't really need one shot samples or another drum machine....

I mostly use the retro Jarre - Kraftwerk - Synergy style sounds, but want to be able to take some of my old synth patches with me for shows without having to schlep everything to the gig. So sample playback seems to be the solution.

Any recommendations? I may just go with the Blofeld, but would love to have options to choose from.

[Ashe37]

You'd need the desktop version of a workstation synth, if one exists. Sample playback units have really gone over to softsynths.

Offhand- Korg M3, Roland Fantom (there was a rack version that did sample storage)

yeah i know these are a few years old, but alas there is no Kronos module

[meatballfulton]

The Korg M3 would be the most recent Korg option.

The Roland Fantoms are rack modules, not desktops.

Yamaha always removed the sampling (and sequencing) from their workstation modules of the last 20 years.

BTW, even though they would be used, an M3 or Fantom module will cost you a lot more than a brand new Blofeld desktop.

[lyford]

Wow you are right about the M3 - even used it's almost twice the cost of a new Blofeld!

I am just trying to get a small rig together for playing live - just one synth and a desktop unit so I could carry most of it in one trip.

I want to program as much as I can in a single synth or two, so I feel getting a full sampler would be "cheating." I also don't want to depend on a laptop either.

Thanks for the suggestions, I hadn't been paying attention to the market in some time. I may just go with the Waldorf but I'll keep researching.

Or am I approaching this thing all wrong?

[Ashe37]

A lot of bands just run a laptop , a controller or controllers, and an audio interface. Or used to, that setup is very 2010-ish. A lot of the bands i see are gradually leaking hardware back into their stage rigs.

[zaphod betamax]

I'd stay away from the Blofeld for sample playback.
The polyphony drops like a lead zeppelin with samples.