A boutique analog synth with Moog Phatty-style pots?

[opg]

I've only tried out the 'Lil Phatty (dammit, I've always hated that name) a few times, but the more I think about the one fancy synth I'd like to have in the next 10 years, the more I like the pots on the Phatty that "are surrounded by a ring of 15 LEDs that show approximately the stored or edited value of the current parameter."

If I'm going to pay big bucks for a boutique analog polysynth (Analogue Solutions, Spectral Audio, Cwejman, etc), I'd love it to have pots that don't have to be "reset" even if it is capable of saving patches. Any ideas?

[HUROLURA]

The Little Phatty being a monosynth, I do not understand if you are looking for a mono or polyphonic analog synth ...

By the way, new polyphonic analog synth are not that numerous on the market, except for the DSI Prophet 08 and Tetra and the Schmidt 8-voices. And none of them provide this ledrings feature.

From what I remember, except for the little Moog, I only saw this feature on Virtual Analog synth like the Nord Lead 3 and Korg R3.

[opg]

Thanks for the reply. I figured that finding ANY analog polysynth would be a long shot, let alone one with those led pots. Looks like I'll need to take another stroll down to the local shop, though they mostly have DS stuff. I'm sure they're fine, but they're much more than I need. I'm really looking for an analog synth that's essentially a new version of of the Prophets with no modern features. Has anyone gotten to try out the Liepzig-K?

http://www.analoguehaven.com/analoguesolutions/leipzig-k/

[jksuperstar]

So MIDI control is ok then? You can add a BCR2000 to a synth back-end. And DSI Tetras can be chained for more polyphony (see the PolyChain output). You can also add a Mopho to a tetra or Prophet for voice expansion.

Evolvers work similarly, and they are a lot more exciting in my mind, sicne they take advantage of both analog and digital (two extra wavetable oscs, and several delays)

Just a thought. Lots of endless LED rings with instant recall. And one knob rules all voices.

From DSI webpage:

[HUROLURA]

Yep, the BCR 2000 is the cheapset way to get theese ledrings. The problem I guess is that Opg is looking for something to show parameter current value on the panel when loading patches previously designed. Then you need to give the BCR some feedback while the opatches are loaded. So you need a synth that:
- have its parameters assigned to fixed CC messages
- send the values of all the parameters through its MIDI OUT connected to the BCR MIDI IN
- then let the BCR modify the values.
The trick there is that you need something to avoid MIDI loop but BCR 2000 S4 mode provide such a feature.

The DSI tetra which is the cheapest analog polysynth currently offers 96 parameters (if you forget the arpeggio and step seq).

The BCR 2000 can provide 32 real ledring encoder but the top 8 encoders actually hide 4 groups of 8 encoders that you can access with one dedicated key to enable each 8 encoders group, while the 24 lower encoders remain just the same. This would mean one BCR 2000 would provide you half of the necessary control elements that you would need.
The nice thing is that you can just chain two of them.

So a Tetra + BCR 2000 combo would be the closest solution to match your specifications.

[jksuperstar]

yeah, but the BCR remembers the status of all 32 presets it has. That means when you change to another preset, then back, and all the knob settings and values are waiting right where you left them, If the synth under control has a command to request a midi dump, you can do custom commands on the BCR...say on 1 button, so at *worst* case you'd have to push 1 button with any preset change. Of course, if the BCR was the machine doing the preset change, you can put the "increment prorgram change, then request midi dump" all in one button press!

[opg]

whoa! i totally forgot about MIDI controllers (and yes, MIDI is great)!
thanks for kicking my brain back online. i'll have even more options.

[HUROLURA]

Not that much as appart from the BCR2000/BCF2000, there are not that much midi controllers (with MIDI IO and not only MIDI other USB) providing such ledrings.

There are also the livid instruments solution like CODE ME, OHM 64 or CNTRL:R, but you always need a computer to allow them to work (no standalone mode for livid instruments gear).

Novation remote SL MK II also provide one set of 8 ledrings encoders with the also nice to have lcd display to show accurate values (ledrings are often limited to 16 leds so not that accurate but providing a rough idea though).

Kenton Killamix mini is also a solution but looks more like a fixed mapping to the CC1 to CC9 midi messages.

Then, there is also the Mackie C4 ...