Jordan Passmore

A solid mixture of virtual analog and early 90's esqe wave ROM style synthesis. It is known for it's pads but I feel like it is great for most types of patches. The multi-stage envelopes and deep modulation potential allows you to add much more depth and variance to your patches to give it a dense and lush quality few synths can come close to.

This unit creates very decent synthesized drum sounds, though it's scope is rather narrow and focused mostly on synth toms and heavily modulated pangs. You're not going to get kicks, snares, congas, etc etc out of this. It simply is not that versatile. But if you like the kind of short percussive sounds you can do with a simple monosynth (like a SH-101) and don't want to dedicate an entire synth for the job, it is a good pick up.

For the price, it really can't be beat. The drums sound decent and the extremely simple synth section can produce very usable basses, melodies and percussive tones (the envelopes are actually quite quick). There are tons of easy to install mods for it as well, adding MIDI, VCO modifications, etc.

Very clean sound quality (not an analog emulation) with an extremely flexible sound engine and the best interface I have ever used. I am very partial to good user interfaces so take that into consideration. It is great for FM-like tones as well.

3 DCO monosynth. Kind of sounds like a Juno/Pro-One mixed. Really interesting tone but I am not a fan of the interface.

Legendary synthesizer that excels at design/interface/performance capability and is simply pretty great in all other aspects. The very pinnacle of bread & butter polys. I think many synths sound better but no other vintage synth is such a solid, complete product.

A very useful analog drum machine from Korg. The sound is different than Roland's offerings from this period with a harder edge to the tone and far more diverse preset patterns (especially on the KR-55b). It is much like the CR-78 in that it is a nice mix of 70's and 80's analog. It isn't programmable in any way but there are so many preset patterns that you can always find something interesting to base a track off of.

A very unique take on the digital drum machine. Cuts through a mix pretty well, has a volume slider for every drum sound and is extremely lightweight. All of these factors make the 707 the quintessential digital drum machine for live performances.

Pretty similar to other polysynths of this time period but still very good. What it loses a bit in sound quality compared to the other Jupiters it makes up for in interface and programming potential (multimode filter in a Jupiter is a huge plus). Don't go into it thinking you're going to get some massive-sounding 70's poly. Think more along the lines of a Drexciya or an eary D-Train track.

4-voice, discrete VCO based analog polysynth. It is a dream to use and sounds so damn good. Each voice is so vibrant and lush, this type of sound was lost mostly as we went from the 70's to the 80's and VCO (and DCOs) got more stable. I would give the IR3109 filter version a 4.5 and the SH-filter based one a 5.

Very similar to the original MS-20 but with many added features such as VCO sync and PWM. I would say the modern touch suits the MS-20 just fine as some of the original MS-20s are starting to sound like distorted mush now.

An extremely aggressive sounding synthesizer that doubles as a complex signal processor. It can do so much but always seems to sound up front and in focus, so it's flexibility isn't as deep as it may seem on paper. The original MS-20 was my first analog synthesizer.

I consider the Linndrum my very favorite drum machine. It is used on some of my favorite songs, it is my favorite to use/program and it has my favorite factory-default sounds. Much like the 808, programming a beat on it feels wonderful and is extremely fun (and also just like the 808, it always sounds good).

I don't take any solace in echoing what most have to say about the 808, but it is undeniable that the TR-808 is a phenomenal piece of equipment. It cannot sound bad. It is fun to use, though I personally am not a huge fan of the song sequencer in it.

Essentially the foundation of the CR-78; the kick, rim, snare and hats are the same but are also the only voices of the DR-55 (the 78 has way more). For how small the unit is and how great it sounds, I believe it is an extremely useful drum machine to have around (especially if modded with sync-in).

Perhaps the best 70's analog drum machine. It is programmable and has trigger outs for syncing other gear with the CR-78. Roland's dedication to performance features can be seen on the 78, with abilities to do fills, muting, etc right on the front panel. Loads of analog tones that drum machines seemed to stray away from once the 80's happened (unfortunately).

Contains the sounds of the TR-707/TR-727, though the 626 sound a bit tamer for some reason. It has a trigger out and individual outs. It is a useful addition if you want some of those classic mid-80's Roland sounds (conga, bongos, rimshot, etc) but don't want to buy a 707 and 727. The programming is easier than you would think, but again, it is no 707 in that department.

Very portable, two trigger outs (and SYNC out/in), nice sound, if a bit too sharp/white noisy sounding. With some EQ/slight distortion, it is extremely viable in a mix. Snare and hats are classic. Sounds nothing like the 808.

Solid, texture-less sound with a very fast envelope. Incredibly useful.

This review is of the base Linn 9000 model without the sampling option. It definitely is part of the LinnDrum heritage but unlike the first two Linns, only about 80% of the stock sounds are fantastic. It really does feel like the prototype for the MPC, with the MPC-60 fully realizing the ideas implemented in the 9000. The sequencer is tight but limited to one MIDI out.