P.S. last 2 years hearing Rumours that Yamaha are going to produce a modern "CS80". This would definitely grab my attention were it to happen.

DeepMind 12?

I posit Deepmind 12 because it seems like the best 'bank for buck' that fits your criteria. And is good enough that you'll keep it if you then decide to move to something else to scratch the itch that's only satisfied by lushness.

Based on your comments about Gilmour's wonderful sound shaping, I think you're only (so far) holding back your cork sniffing and will inevitably become a synth snob, which means Modular is in your future.

Deepmind is a great entry point, as it punches far above its weight, and might let you skip the one's you've listed, so you can go to the UDO 6 after, and get right into lushness.

My reasons are purely based on desire, and wanting to experience Vintage style, hands-on, Analogue Subtractive Synthesis. The likes of Montage, Fantom and Kronos are off my radar, good as they are. Vintage Analogue is the focus, other ability is a bonus.

Integration with the MODX is a bonus, not a necessity.

I'm not a cork-sniffing snob, I like my music and wish to invest in the best I can afford.

I did look at others... Deepmind, System 8, Super 6, Prologue to name a few. So various research done, I wittled stuff down to the shortlist above.

Musically I like Richard Wright (Pink Floyd), Vangelis, J-M Jarre and a lot of the early Synth Pop that were using old Analogue Synths... that's the sound and experience I'm after.

The MODX is more than capable at providing everything else... Pianos, Organs, Rhodes, Trumpets, Drums etc. But, setting up "Analogue Synth" sounds with just samples of VCOs and the ardour of jumping through menus to adjust ADSR, Filters, LFOs etc takes the wind from the sails.

I will use the New Synth standalone, and progress to triggering from the MODX or vice-versa.

Think you've got a real struggle on your hands. Quite literally.

As a guitarist, you'll love the ASM keyboard's prowesses. Especially release velocity, as you'll likely have the coordination to exploit it. After you get a bit used to its capabilities and what you can program it to do dynamically, it's VERY difficult to look at others in the same light.

Over the next few years, I think every new good synth will have release velocity with polyphonic aftertouch. Game changer.

But it's the most work to get it sounding lush. It can do it, and it's much less work than fighting with the MODX and its horror show envelopes and samples. Hydrasynth sonic palette is enormous, and far less work than a MODX to coax all over the place. If I had to pick only one, for me, this'd be it, as even with my bear claws it's too much fun to play.

Connecting to MODX as its controller keyboard reveals a lag that's annoying, to me. Somehow some time gets lost in the MODX. I've commented on it in these forums a couple of times, but others seem dismissive of it, so perhaps it doesn't bother everyone, or maybe because I'm mostly sound designing and therefore really focusing in a nonmusical sort of manner that it bugs me, as I try to align envelopes and sounds between the two.

And you can't use polyphonic aftertouch as it is, to the MODX, which is a huge pity as it would be super useful for FM dynamics on a per note basis.

Summit is a creme machine. Can't make bad sounds. And the effects section can be used by your MODX!!! And since you love effects, I think this might almost sway you, as it's got a very good effects section, x2! And is plug and play. Fastest UI ever, too. When time constrained, or just want to have fun and not think too much, this is the one that you'll be drawn to, every time. Never sounds wrong, and everything you want to change is right there and the filters...oooh.... argh... lush.

Hydra is head, Summit is heart.

I haven't tried the PolyBrute, but that thing on the left always intrigues, and the mod matrix looks amazing. Plus that step sequencer is mega tempting, since it's right there, all the time.

My commits about sound snobbery are in jest, with a wry smile. You know you want to try Modular. I know you want to.

Do not research MacBeth. You have been warned.

EDIT: Add:

Should add... I have almost no knowledge of the Polybrute. So my comments on the others exist in a vacuum without it as any sort of reference, at all.

And all the professional audio folk I know mock me for buying synths. They reckon plugins are as good, and better, now, for this kind of thing.

I work on computers, so much prefer to not spend time on sound inside a computer, where I ultimately use my sounds... etc.

My advice is to go to the store and play the ones you can afford and pick the one you gravitate to the most. Spend as much time as you can and maybe go in a few different times. It's difficult to develop a sense without some time. There's no goal here to learn the whole board. That comes later. Trust your in-person experience more than reviews or message boards (but don't completely discount them).

Any keyboard with an audio output (that should read plainly "any keyboard" ) will interface with the MODX. You might be able to pair them together at the store if you're lucky - but I wouldn't personally be going this far if I was in a similar situation.

I don't really have any guidance since tastes are so varied and there's no keyboard matchmaker voodoo that anyone has that's any better than your own preferences guiding. Help at stores vary - but see if the sales folks have anything to add to the fray after getting some sense on your own. A good sales associate is going to be asking more questions than telling you things.

My first choice for analog as a complement to my MODX would be the UNO Synth Pro.

The desktop version is cheap, the keyboard version has aftertouch, choose your poison.

Is a modern analog (real analog) but designed to also fulfill the needs of Moog fans.
It has a good UX even if it's not totally knob per function.

Sound-wise, it's a monster.

If not that, then a Reface CS. Simple on the surface, full of possibilities in reality.

Another option would be second hand older instruments.

The Yamaha AN1x is one of the best sounding VAs ever made.

I took Jason's advice, but thanks to all for your input.

I found a shop that stocked all three on my Shortlist... Polybrute, Summit and Hydrasynth (I had to travel 300km round trip).

The Polybrute is a beauty, but almost twice as much as the other two. My hack skills could not justify the cost.

The Summit sounds lusciously "analogue", adorned with knobs for every function, but next to the Hydrasynth, it does considerably "less" for a similar price.

The Hydrasynth, in terms of its "analogue sound" emulation is close enough for my cloth-ears, although I understand requires a bit more deep diving to achieve, the sales guy described it as "unashamedly digital, intentionally versatile"

On the spot, the deciding and easy overriding factor was that the Hydrasynth DLX was on EOFY Sale, $750 off RRP, making it $500 cheaper than the Summit, so I bought it.

I will report back more info once I've spent some time with it. As I said, I want to integrate it with the MODX7, with the MODX providing the majority of orchestration and backing (Drums, Sequences, "Real" Instruments etc).

One thing I instantly like about the Hydrasynth is the OLED Oscilloscope, which is helping me visualise the sounds, particularly stuff like Osc Sync, PWM and even FM.

My prime focus will be to use it as a Subtractive Synth (VA?), but I'm glad it can do a lot more. While not "Knob Per Function" the Central "Control Console" is instantly configurable to become "Knob Per Function" You simply select the "Module" (Osc, Mixer, Filter, Envelope etc) from the top panel "signal flow" buttons, and all the controls are there, each with its own value readout in the OLED by the Knob. There is no need to stop, edit, and drill down through menus.

The Poly Aftertouch is pretty mindblowing. It's no coincidence that there are several "CS80" and "Bladerunner" type patches included on the factory install.

It feels very robust, the sound is high quality (deep and rich), and doesn't sound "thin", as I had read in some reviews.

There's still a lot to learn.

Bravo.

Have FUN!

Am keen to hear your thoughts on the user journey of familiarity and discovery from MODX to ASM learning/feeling/speed/flow/fluency.

Most ASM users comes from traditional synths so the consideration in the "ASM Way" (Darcey!) makes instant sense and feels very wonderfully and carefully crafted, curated and deliberately created so as to be considerate of user empowerment - for sound design!

As I've said before... now that you've learnt the MODX, every other synth interface is easier to grok...

...but this was a guess.

It might seem completely different coming from MODX as a first point of learning to use a synth for sound design and programming of motion/modulation etc.

MODX is quite a uniquely unfinished workflow UI/UX, IMNSHO, that could be made vastly better by a few little things being done to make it more flow orientated and less of a negative/dark patterns nightmare. Having this as a first synth sound design tool experience, I'm amazed at how far you've come!

MODX is quite a uniquely unfinished workflow UI/UX

Not so unique - the interface is very similar and nearly identical to the past Yamaha synthesizers except now buttons that surround the screen are replaced with a touchscreen which does help make the same "Yamaha way" interface work with one less barrier. Still, I agree that there are things that seem backwards -- but this is intentional after many generations of doubling down on the same presentation. Not unfinished - but the culmination of generations of how Yamaha decides to present features to the user -- very much tied to the lower-levels rather than abstracting features for ease of use.

This is not a defense, but more of a comment with my perspective of "unfinished" vs. "different" (which I agree - and often to the detriment of the user experience).

Still, it's a good reminder to the design team that keyboardists experiencing a Yamaha flagship (or the little brother/sister of it) for the first time have the first impression of "unfinished". And, incidentally, it's not new feedback that the Yamaha presentation is "behind" other keyboards in terms of ease of use. This is something that's been a thread since I was introduced to this keyboard line prior to Motif. So even though I disagree slightly with the characterization specifics, I do agree with the general theme.

This is a bit of a Church Missive... read on only if interested.

Just referring back to some of my earlier "Analog" like comments.

If any of you are interested in getting a standalone Analog or VA synth... the Hydrasynth is worth a look.

I hear so many comments about it being "too digital", "lacking warmth" and so on, but I can't hear or detect any of that (same goes for the MODX which I think sounds wonderful).

So, for me, it's ticking all the boxes. I get to play and learn with Oscillators and Knobs (sorry MODX) as opposed to Samples and Menu's. I haven't even looked at all the "wavetable morphing" stuff yet and probably never will. I'm more into getting Gary Numan, than Trent Reznor.

Just as an aside, the "flashing bulb" that made me want an "Analog" synth was through messing with the "Oscillator Samples" (MODX SynLd category) and I found that the samples would sometimes totally cancel (Phase cancel) each other out, but over 7 or 8 consecutive keys... and there, the sample engine revealed itself... I realised that those samples were stretched over 7 or 8 pitches. I wanted to hear how it would sound if it wasn't "samples, but independent oscillators. Intriguing. It's a lot of money to spend to "find out".

I since realised the MODX provides different phased (otherwise identical) samples to prevent these "gaps of silence" from happening, but the curiosity remained.

I can vouch for the MODX SynLd sounds (based on Oscillator samples) being pretty accurate. But, you can't do stuff like Oscillator Sync, Phase Shift feedback or even PWM (unless its recorded and baked in). So for me, buying an "Analog Style" synth has been worth it.

The Poly After-Touch is awesome (and it's also compatible with MPE apparently). I suspect P.A.T. will soon become a minimum standard for any major brand Flagship. You don't even have to think about it, you just play. As a guitarist, this feels more "normal" to me, where you express with fingers on the notes you are playing, rather than reaching for knobs and gadgets. 😉

I've had MODX and Hydrasynth hooked up via MIDI. To say I've had Teething Problems is an understatement, but it's a pretty steep learning curve for me... not just the Synths, but MIDI in general. I've had sounds flowing both ways, but still scratching my head about finding some simplified MO, that is practical and ergonomic.

I had the HS hooked up to the MODX Audio In and that is entirely doable, plus the HS benefits from the better FX choice and Quality of the MODX. The MODX Mixer is also a boon. To be honest, I am not too impressed with HS onboard FX... they seem "adequate", but they have a kind of "bolted on" feel about them... you notice they are ON, rather than melting into the sound.

As far as Modulating the HS with MODX Controllers and vice versa... that's a total head blow at the moment.

I shall persevere.

Bravo, Antony!

Don't get too bogged in MIDI, I suggest. Unless you like getting printer drivers to behave and enjoy using sieves to drink water from.

Better to just make the simplest, most rudimentary connections you can rely on and do the rest manually. Otherwise you'll find yourself often chasing MIDI tails.

MIDI 2.0 can't come soon enough. And won't. It's become a bureaucratic process without an end in sight, unfortunately.