I would so love for a 21st century version of the Yamaha AN1x either in keyboard form (unlikely) or as a plugin. I owned an AN1x back in the day and didn't fully appreciate just how amazing it sounded (and still sounds). "Virtual Analog" was so new that no one really understood where this was all heading. I owned a Nord Rack 1, Virus A, and an AN1x at the time. Even I didn't fully appreciate just how superior the AN1x sounded compared to these other Virtual Analog synths.I think if the Montage is eventually sold separately as a plugin it will be around the $500 price range.
Which of course will lead to a whole new set of comments from kvr.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzWAxhcCt28
rsp
The Nord Rack was the most immediate and fun to program even if it did sound a bit thin. The Virus had all of those amazing LFO-modulated "sequences" which were amazing but didn't sound very analog. And then there was the AN1x with its spartan set of knobs that made the synth decidedly frustrating to program. However, (and most people probably don't even remember this,) the AN1x actually came with a software editor/librarian from Yamaha!
So Yamaha did everything "right" out of the gate. They totally nailed the sound and provided a software editor to make programming sounds easier. It's remarkable when you think about it in hindsight.
And then nothing. Not a peep out of Yamaha for seemingly decades. To me, the only reason to even consider buying a Montage is to get a 16-voice version of what is basically the same AN1x engine. But is that worth paying $3,500 to $5,000? Not even if authentic analog synth sounds are what you are after.
So it would be great if Yamaha sold an "AN1x" (or whatever it's called these days) plugin for $99 (or maybe $149). Such a plugin wouldn't cannibalize sales of the Montage at all and would just be "gravy" for Yamaha assuming they even have plugin developers on staff who could create such an instrument.
Statistics: Posted by Supercollider — Tue May 28, 2024 2:11 am