5 of the Best Analog Polysynths: Tones So Fat You Might Gain Weight
Warm and powerful polys from Behringer, Oberheim, Arturia and more!
Nothing beats the sound of a gorgeous analog synthesizer in full flight. These are the best analog polysynths on the market today – for all budgets!
5 of the Best Analog Polysynths
The Best Analog Polysynths
Analog versus digital. For synthesizer freaks, it’s the endless debate. We’re not here to settle that argument today – personally, I like them both (and hybrid synths too). Rather, let’s focus in on one side of the discussion and talk about the best analog polysynths.
For this list of the five best analog polys, I’ve gone for a selection across the pricing spectrum, from affordable to holy cow. I’ve also restricted the candidates to ones currently on the market. Did I miss your favorite? Let me know in the comments.
The Best Analog Polysynths: Behringer Poly D
Let’s start with perhaps the most classic style of analog synthesizer. Behringer’s Poly D is based on the Moog Minimoog, with circuitry that began with the Model D and expanded into the 37-key Poly D. With four oscillators (that’s one more than the Model D and original Minimoog) and a recreation of that famous 24dB/Oct Ladder filter, it’s very fat indeed and capable of some massive Moogy sounds.
You can play it monophonically like a Minimoog, in two-note unison mode with two oscillators per, or four-voice polyphonic mode. Some of you may be working up a head of steam here so let’s get this out of the way: you may have four notes to play with, with a single oscillator triggered by each key press, but there’s still only one filter and VCA for the lot to share. Some people call that paraphonic, others say paraphonic articulation. Either way, you can play four-note chords.
A Juno-style chorus, distortion circuit, arpeggiator and sequencer round out the package.
Behringer Poly D is available from our affiliate partners Thomann* and Sweetwater*.
The Best Analog Polysynths: Sequential Fourm
Sequential’s Prophet-5 (both the original and the modern recreation) is an amazing analog polysynth and certainly one of the best ever. It’s also very pricey. To keep things financially balanced, I’m choosing the more budget-friendly Fourm instead for this list of the best analog polys. There’s another reason too.
I have a confession to make. Although I respect the Prophet-5 and its place in the pantheon, I don’t think I would ever buy one. As a longtime electronic and industrial music fan, the Pro-One has always meant more to me. Sequential’s Fourm feels like a modern polyphonic take on that synth, an affordable concentration of the power of the Prophet into a budget-friendly package.
In the Fourm you get two oscillators, the famous 4-pole filter, a mod matrix and feedback in the mixer. Bass resonance compensation ensures it’s excellent for bass, something that the Pro-One excelled at, and polyphonic aftertouch means you can express yourself like Madonna too.
And all for less than $1000.
Sequential Fourm is available from our affiliate partners Thomann* and Sweetwater*.
The Best Analog Polysynths: GS Music Bree6
Multiple oscillators aren’t necessarily a better thing. There’s purity and honesty in a single-oscillator synth. Roland’s classic Juno series proved that, and Bree6 from GS Music continues that focused approach.
With a signal path seemingly inspired by those Junos, Bree6 is all killer and no filler. It’s got a single voltage-controlled oscillator with a sub, a 4-pole lowpass Ladder filter and an analog VCA. While the control signals – including two ADSR envelopes and an LFO – are digital, the six-voice audio path remains analog, outside of the stereo chorus and delay at the end.
Simple, yes, and with nowhere to hide. Thankfully, Bree6 doesn’t need to, as it’s gorgeous in sound throughout. And it’s available in both keyboard and dekstop formats.
The Best Analog Polysynths: Arturia PolyBrute 12
It’s time to get aspirational. Arturia has released a number of instruments in its analog Brute line, from monosynths to drum machines, but it has reached its fullest expression with PolyBrute 12, a massive 12-voice instrument and surely one of the best analog polysynths available.
In his review, Rob Puricelli said it was “the most natural successor to the Yamaha CS-80.” The CS-80 gets lauded because of the sound but it was also a player’s machine, and that’s where PolyBrute 12 also excels. Sure, you get the two beefy oscillators, dual filter, three envelopes and LFOs and that great big push-button matrix for modulation assignments. But the real fun comes in the proprietary keyboard with its 61 velocity-sensitive keys and FullTouch MPE technology. And don’t forget the three-axis morphing controller and ribbon strip too.
Not everyone loves the Brute sound. But if you do, the PolyBrute 12 is the best Brute you can get.
Arturia PolyBrute 12 is available from our affiliate partners Thomann* and Sweetwater*.
The Best Analog Polysynths: Oberheim OB-X8
When it comes to big analog polys, there’s really only one manufacturer to consider: Oberheim. Their classic lineup of OB machines ruled the late 1970s and early 1980s thanks to their gargantuan, stadium-filling sound. Not long ago, Tom Oberheim brought that power back in the form of OB-X8, combining the best of the OB-X, OB-Xa and OB-8 into a single machine.
The eight-voice synth delivers two VCOs per voice based on those from the SEM and OB-X machines. Continuing that greatest hits of Oberheim design, you get two sets of filters: SEM multimode as well as Curtis chip-based filters from the OB-Xa and OB-8. There’s even a new 4-pole lowpass filter type with fuller bass at high resonance as introduced in OS version 2.0. In terms of envelopes, there is a selection of shapes from all of those earlier models present and accounted for.
There’s more, of course, lots more, but really, all you need to know is that this is a proper Oberheim poly with the sound that you expect it to have.
Oberheim OB-X8 is available from our affiliate partners Thomann* and Sweetwater*.
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