Hi all, I currently have the following hardware synths:

Access Virus TI2 keyboard
Clavia Nord Lead 2X
Moog Minimoog Voyager Performer Edition
Roland Jupiter-4
Roland SH-2 (this one is on the way actually so haven't played it yet)
Waldorf Q+ Phoenix Edition

I was thinking about if I ever had to get rid of one or two, which it would be, and honestly I don't think I could let any of them go. So it got me thinking, and now I'm curious to hear from others, if you had to pick from the list of gear above, how you would rank them in terms of preference. So for fun, from #1-#6, let's see what you say...

1) jp4
2) sh 2

rest = dk

If you had to get rid of 1 or 2 it would be these:

Moog Minimoog Voyager Performer Edition
Waldorf Q+ Phoenix Edition

In terms of my preference, I woud rank them as:

4
5
2
1
6
3

I would be hard pressed to let any of those go, but if a push came to shove, it would be bye bye Virus Ti and JP-4.


....but it would have to be quite a hard push! heh

agreed, but why the JP-4? for me this is one of the most special...

I do like the JP-4, but like the others more so. It would have been a much easier choice had you had a Poly800 and JX-1 in there heh

Curious why you said you'd get rid of the Voyager and Q when they are ranked #2 and 3 respectively on your list...

in terms of my own prefernce, and what id most likely to hold on to:


1 Roland Jupiter-4
2 Waldorf Q+ Phoenix Edition
3 Roland SH-2
4 Access Virus TI2 keyboard
5 Moog Minimoog Voyager Performer Edition
6 Clavia Nord Lead 2X


Jupiter4 just has fabulous liquid sound, so unlike the drier, focused SH series of that time (1/2/9). so its a great match and combination with SH-2. leave the bass to SH-2, do the leads, arpeggiations and chords with JP-4.

Waldorf Q+ is quite rare/unique, whos analog filter sound i can't say really blew me off the water, but still its better than VA filters. and all together, its a unique hybrid digital synthesizer, capable of some beautiful and complex soundscapes. that being said, i opted for Andromeda and the original microWAVE instead. i prefer those filters in a waldorf. even tho its not exactly the same thing, and microwave hasnt such deep complex arhitecture, but offers some other things sonically, plus a VCO andromeda which is a world of its own.

i love nord sound, but overall id probably keep TI2 over it. it all depends how much money you need to "free up" with sales. another thing you can do is, replace TI2 keyboard, and get a TI1 desktop instead. and save some money in the process.


not a secret that i'm not that crazy about Voyager. if you need trademark moog sound, and save money, agan, id opt for a Source. its truly warm and punchy. or some other small moog from late 70s. ymmv.

- Access Virus TI2 - The DAW integration is almost Perfect !!
- Clavia Nord Lead 2X - Add a reverb and you get heaven !
- Moog Minimoog Voyager - A Piece of History !
- Roland SH-2, it can give far more than what the appearance suggests...

Waldorf Q+ Phoenix Edition and Roland Jupiter are not known to my ears yet...

Depends of course on what sound you are going for, but for me:

Roland Jupiter-4
Access Virus TI2 keyboard
Clavia Nord Lead 2X
Roland SH-2 (this one is on the way actually so haven't played it yet)
Waldorf Q+ Phoenix Edition
Moog Minimoog Voyager Performer Edition

J4 - just a nice, nice sounding synth

TI - An un-enthusiatic 2nd for the Virus - I really want to put the nord 2nd but I must admit that if you had no other VA the virus would cover more bases.

Nord - love this synth. overall sound is better than the Virus but not as versitle if you really need a lot of options.

SH2 - Such sound! Love it, but if I had to choose it over the J4. I think I'd pick the J4

Waldorf - not played but have a blofeld. Enjoyable.

Moog - meh. had, sold. Too dull of a sound for me. Dare I say my MG-1 sounds better?

I would keep the Emulator II+ and Buchla. Get rid of the Kawai and Casio. Oh, and I'll keep that beer too thank you very much.

Because if I ever HAD to get rid of any synths, it would only be because I was in some sort of financial trouble and I think I could get the most money from those two.

If I had to pick two to get rid of, it would be the Nord Lead 2X and Virus TI2. I was never really a huge fan of the Nord Lead 2's sound or interface, but the 3 had always interested me. The Virus MK2 because they don't hold their value and the Virus TI MK1 can do pretty much everything the MK2 can, at a much lower price. Also, both the Virus and NL2 are easily replaceable if you ever change your mind about letting them go, everything else but the Voyager is pretty hard to get a hold of again. The Voyager would be a very distant 3rd, but only if you replace it with something like an Andromeda or Studio Electronics Omega.

I think it's only YOU that can rank them in terms of their usefulness to you. However some suggestions:

Sell the Q because there is waldorf software that does this (unless you need the Q for live or something)

If you are desperate for money sell the Voyager because it probably is worth the most. If you're not sell one of the two VAs (which ever one you like the least).

Thanks for all the replies... I've decided to return the Q+ Phoenix for now in favor of the TI2. Having spent more time on the TI2 I've realized it can sound like a Q if you want it to, yet it has so many more possibilities. For me, the analog filter on the Q+ does sound good, but not so much better that it warrants the price. If I want a truly analog polysynth, I'd get an A6 before the Q+, and anyways I've got the JP-4 for now.

Once I get the SH-2 here, I'll then see if it makes sense having both the Voyager and SH-2 and maybe sell one of those. The Nord Lead I am just gonna put away in the case for a while and see how I get along without it, especially being that the TI2 can probably make most of those sound, and I also have the discoDSP Discovery plug-in if I really wanna play Nord patches. So if I'm not missing it, I"ll eventually sell that one too.