Ensoniq VFX - can set different pan position for each oscillator so a 3 oscillator Jupiter saw pad sounds phaaaat - more effective than any chorus. The most unreallistic sax yet sooo expressive - it really feels like a sax but sounds like a set of bagpipes! Also Shimmering metallic wavetable pads are ace. There's something very 'loose' about all the sounds...can't really describe it...not tight and controlled...sort of .....loose! Wavetables can be gritty when moving slowly through them - I guess there's just not enough waves in each table so the interpolations can be big steps. Very under-rated. If I ever had to play live with just one synth this would be it.
Yamaha SY99. Sweet sound (mostly from the vg effects) otherwise no special features. RCM very clever and unique but not much use really. Nice leccie pianos and some unusual samples. Good keyboard, 76 keys and 3 wheels make it a good master. Time I sold it, any offers?!
Wavestation SR. Best pads of anything I've heard - they just keep moving. It's different, little twinkles and plops come in after a few seconds in a pad. The secret to good music (here he goes....) is keeping it simple - a WS pad plus lead and drums is often enough for a good chunk of track - you just don't need to add other stuff to fill it out and make it interesting. An absolute bastard to program tho'.
Cheetah MS6. Warm and rich for basses in particular. Trouble is it konks out too soon in the bass - an extra octave would make it sooo good. Envelope controlled oscillator mix.
Korg Prophecy. Synch, 3 oscillators, ring mod and xmod. I don't care wot you say about LFO's, the SUPERNOVA AIN'T GOT XMOD! No choice of filter cut-off slopes tho'.
Arp Axxe with 5 VCOs including pwm, synch and xmod, extra ADSR and LFO, joystick etc. Major bass attack. Often criticised for a thin filter but stuff it with 5x signal from all those oscillators and it really kicks ass. Extra LFO has a synch function to a further LFO so that moving the other one's frequency gives an untuneful arpeggio effect. I could do a sample cd full of really unique sounds from this beasty...