TOP 11 LIST: FUTURE CLASSIC KEYBOARDS 

i was expecting a list of current future classic keyboards. Maybe you can do one on keyboards made in the last 10 to 15 years that will be future classic keyboards

DX7 has been a classic for quite a while now, and the DX1 is not a classic, it's a Unicorn 🦄 !!

Excellent summary of synth history.

Where I live (Greece) ALL of the synths you talked about are considered classics already, except the Q. We consider them classics so much, that I myself really thought today's list would include contemporary synths (2014-2024) that you believe/wish/suspect will become classics, so, in a way, I was disappointed.. but I agree on your lists.

Definitely think the D-50 is already a classic! I think the Hydrasynth will eventually become a classic as well. Playing it makes me feel the same way the D-50 did when I first heard it.

8:15 Hard disagree. The D50 is already a classic because Enya and other artists championed it. Also, it was one of the best-selling keyboards and paved the way for Roland's 80s and 90s workstationsions and sound modules, starting with the MT-32!!

There's no way the DX7, D-50 along with the M1, and Triton are not already classics.

Kurzweil K2600, Access Virus, Ensoniq TS-10, Ensoniq ASR10.

No you definitely haven't wasted our time. It's again a polarizing list. One correction is to be made: Whenever I turn on the Andromeda, it's always out of tune. These are definitely no DCOs.

Nice one Jeff 👍🏻

12:45 The DSS-1 is also a beefed-up DW8000!

I think the Roland Jupiter X will one day be a classic. As time goes by, and the cloud patches fade away, I think there will be a robust, fan run, patch database. Matriarch, Hydrasynth, Polybrute..... Doesnt matter, it will all be niche market though as AI will inject its fangs into 99% of the music consumed.

The andromeda is very expensive and already highly sought after. A good one is the EMU E4K which is a feature heavy sampler with a very high quality seven octave range keyboard attached, it has multiple outputs, dual FX card as standard, 64 note polyphonic, amazing Z plane filters, up to 128mb ram, fully editable with samples that are compatible with the EMU Ultra range and sounds fantastic. It’s the rack E4X in keyboard form and can be picked up for £200 upwards. It’s different from the later Ultra sampler range with better AD/DA converters and a wider stereo image. You’re welcome.

Interesting list. Very interesting. However, regarding samplers, there are definitely some samplers that have already become classics, besides the obvious ones you've already mentioned (Synclavier and Fairlight). Samplers from the late 80's and early 90's such as the Akai MPC60 (and MPC 60II), and MPC3000 as well as the E-MU SP12, SP1200, Ensoniq EPS16, and ASR-10 are highly sought after by many hip-hop/rap producers and command very high prices today. This is mainly because of the sound character they are known for. Even some of the later samplers from the late 90's and early 2000s are starting to creep up in prices, such as the E-MU E4 series rack samplers as well as the MPC2000XL and MPC4000. Many of these older machines have high grade components in their circuitry and they don't sound like the newer machines that are being built today. That's what makes them special. You want to know of a super rare and expensive sampler from the 80's? Check out the Sequential Circuits Studio 440. I personally believe many of these samplers I just mentioned have already become classics and some of them (notably the later more modern ones I've mentioned) will soon become classics a few years from now if they haven't already. BTW, I didn't mention this one earlier, but maybe I should include the Ensoniq Mirage, mainly because it was one of the first affordable keyboard samplers, or perhaps maybe even THE first affordable keyboard sampler, to ever hit the market.

I bought an AX80 brand new, and found it one of the most inspirational synths. I wasn't impressed with the build quality, as I found its case was very loose and floppy - I could lift one corner and the whole case would shift around. No Amount of screw tightening would fix it. As I gigged a lot I just couldn't gig with it. Sadly, I PX'ed it for a new Ensoniq Mirage. I still have my PolySix and (ahem) most of my EDP wasp in a binbag somewhere 😂 Fortunately, I have the Behringer Wasp which is a spot-on recreation sonically.

Another great episode Jeffrey! I was pleasantly surprised when you dropped the DSS 1. And if memory serves a big selling point was its’ SSM analog filter. But the thing was very klunky to use. RE: Samplers I do think there will be a niche collectors’ market of the higher end stuff like the E IV Ultra. But not across the board. I’m still shocked at prices the E-mu SP12/1200 command. Curious to get your take on the Kurzweil stuff as they seemed to really have a foot hold on the 90s/ early 2000s Is VAST something synthesists scratched the surface of and there’s more to mine there or was it a one and done architecture?

Hi, when I´m playing around with my old gear Atari st/c-lab Creator, it mostly ends up with the Kawai sx-240 taking care off the bass, something about that sound i need in my songs. Got it realy cheep in the early 90s. I realy like Your channel, subscribed.

Chef's kiss on the main list, but a couple quibbles with the supplementals - your criteria and future classics are spot on (especially glad that my beloved ESQ-1 made the cut!) But I think you're wrong (or only half right) about the samplers. True - keyboard shaped samplers fell out of vogue, but they evolved into a category of current and future classics all its own: the Fairlight, Synclavier, and, I'd argue the Ensoniq Mirage eventually made way for the early MPCs, and the SP-1200. Future classic samplers will include the Akai S620, and, I believe, the Ensoniq ASR-10. As for truly modern classics, I'd point you to Elektron: their Monomachine is an example of a small volume early-ish digital object of lust that has already reached *stratospheric* pricing.

Oh and if you haven’t checked out the 3rd Wave by Groove Synthesis, it now has sampling and has nods towards a number of the synths mentioned. It now includes VS waves, and people are loading in Mirage, D50, and other elements. It is a monster of a synth, expanding on PPG and VA, with an analog Prophet 5 type filter!

Prophet VS is already very much at classic status.

I love my Korg DSS-1 -- it's highly underrated. (Alas, it's really really big and really really heavy).

I feel like the more digital tech in a synth, the less likely it is to age well. This may be unfair, but “bit rot” is a real phenomenon that analog devices just don’t have to deal with. I imagine my Hydrasynth will still work in 15 years if it’s taken care of. But will I still be able to use its USB ports to connect to whatever DAW I’m using on whatever computer I’m using in 2040? Maybe, but hard to say how USB 2.0 will fare in a Thunderbolt 18 world. Everything is likely to be wireless, anyway! Will I still be able to update its firmware or manage its patches with the ASM app, or will ASM long since have stopped making Mac software - if they exist at all? Modern synths are often intended to be paired with a computer and/or internet connection, and that dependency means that more modern synths need to keep up with changes in technology in a way most classic analog synths did not. The synths will likely still work, of course - but they may be much harder to integrate into your 2040 studio than classic analog gear is today. Unless we can count on synth makers to still be making and updating their companion apps in 2040, we’ll have a lot of “well it kinda works but I can’t do X,Y, and Z with it because the app stopped getting updated in 2029 and Mac OS 27 no longer supports 32 bit apps.”

Among samplers Akai samplers are getting there I think. Triton racks are also becoming classics little by little. Access Virus is now getting from cult status to cult classic.

The elektron Digitone keys is the best fm synth ever made I can’t get enough of it there is noting that sounds so good and ever the build to the strength of the build the knobs everything about it is flawless

Totally agree that Waldorf Q made your list - even today, sounds current and innovative. Would suggest the EMAX Ii as a possible classic sampler - something about the tonality and presence is difficult to describe. Finally, would suggest the Access Virus TII as a future classic.

The DX7 and D-50 are already there minus the prices. I think one of Kurzweil K2xx series is a future classic. Probably the K2000.

Yeah nice one Jeff. I reckon a couple of early akai samplers and eps16+ deserve an honourable mention. I so miss my esq

Cool to see the nod to the ESQ1. I recently picked up one in showroom condition and replaced battery, upgraded OS, added sequencer expansion and loaded it up with sounds from my old cassettes! I will say that the plastic case is better built than the older metal. It’s a keeper and still one of the easiest sequencers to put down ideas on. Had a chance to pick up a DSS1 but just didn’t want to deal with the OS. The DW8000 has been on my shortlist for some time. I really like that one and it has been used by some artists over the years. Love the list. It’s funny to see how some of the ‘abandonware’ tech has gained traction over recent years. But wait? No RedSound Dark Star? (Just kidding).

11. The Ensoniq esq-1 has great analog filters, but I'll take an ensoniq sd-1 any day over an esq-1. It's got to be the best warm 80s synth I've ever owned with the best on board sequencer period. 10. The prophet vs is already a classic. You can thank Vince Clarke from Erasure for that. 9. The kawai sx-240 analog synth was my first synth. It is decent sounding when adding effects but not a true classic that everyone would lust over. It kind of reminds me of the korg poly line. I traded a pre slingerland red sparkle St. george 4 piece Buddy Rich kit with original Zildjian cymbals to guitar center in Hollywood like a dummy for it. That drum sets is now worth 15k or more. 8. Eric Persing did all the sounds for the d-50. That and the d-550 are already classics. 7. The Korg wavestation ex or ad if I remember correctly we're the ones I bought back then. 6. Behringer cloned the wasp, so it must be good. 😀 5. 80s guys who do 80s music like myself definitely know that the korg dss-1 is a bona-fide classic. Shhhh. Keep it a secret. 4. Alesis Andromeda is all the best engineers and synth designers getting together to build the best and most feature rich synth possible at the time. A solid investment into the future. It's only going to go up in value. 3. Dx7 is a classic but will always be available, so It will never reach crazy prices. The dx-1 is the one that has and will continue to command high prices. 2. Akai AX80 I know nothing about it, but I'm guessing it's analog, which is a warm cup of cocoa. 1. Waldorf q. I had the red Q+, and you are correct. It was great but unfinished. They fixed a few things, but it never reached the finish line as far as the OS goes. Yes, the display was terrible. Why was it so great then? Simple, their sound designer Jorg Hutter made some of the best German synth patches I've ever heard. A massive sound beast. A few I think will be future classics off the top of my head.. 1 best sounding synth that I lusted over for 5 years straight at the namm show is the spectralis 2. 2. Access Virus TI 2. 3. Ensoniq Sd-1 as mentioned before 4. Oberheim OBX8 5. Sequential pro 2 & pro 3 6. Baloran the river 7. Arturia Polybrute 12 8. Novation Supernova 2 Platinum 48 voice 9. Yamaha an1x 10. Studio Logic Sledge. Unfinished os but sounds great. 11. Dsi evolver 12. Emu Emulator 2 + sampler 13. Dsi prophet 10 reissue. 😊

I think that the Oasys/Kronos heritage is understated at this time, probably because the platform still lives on in the Nautilus. The sounds may be today a little bit long in the tooth but the important thing was the concept and the huge R&D effort after it, probably starting with the Oasys PCI card. Korg used to boast that they wrote the book on workstations with the M1, but they also figuratively burned it with the Oasys/Kronos platform, forcing Roland and Yamaha to try and redefine what a workstation is with the Montages and Phantoms, coming close well after a decade.

If a keyboard cannot be repaired without parting out another keyboard, maybe it will be trendy for a time, but it will not be a long term classic in my opinion. Most digital synths with low production fall into that category. There must be a sufficient number to make it viable for aftermarket parts. I have kept a few analog mono synths from the 70s because I believe they will most likely always be repairable.

Did you get the backlit display for the DX7? I installed one in mine about 3 months after I got it and it made all the difference in being able to see the patch on a dark stage. Seems like a strange omission from the factory.

True analog is an instrument in its own right. Digital instruments are best at what they do, realistic samples fm granular etc but trying to get digital to copy analog and say it's the same thing is like creating a plastic laser cut violin and saying this one sounds just like a stratavarius. I think anything digital will always be accessible and will never be a rare sought after synth. Because you can always run the programs in future hardware that's more powerful. Look at how flagship yamaha can do a dx7 fm no problem now. I can see a hydrasynth be something you just upload like roland cloud and you have that among several other models loaded into your future hardware. This is where true analog is different. No software. You can't upload through hole discrete components and vintage hardware chips. And an 85watt power consumption and components that heat up from real electrons squeezed through the circuits. Compared to usb powered 5v 100 m/A [ones and zeros] it's a completely different physical piece of equipment. And, the further you get from that era the harder it is to recreate it. Except behringer. I believe that in the future, as every vintage synth from the 20th century will 4x 5x 10x in price making them completely out of reach, that the closest things remaining will be behringer and some other true analog synths made today. I think in the future for a synthesizer to be sought after it has to have something very special about it some sort of character that makes it unique and special. Look at the sh-101 for example or the tb-303 there is nothing to those technically really, they were totally simple: the low end instruments of the time kind of like getting a cheap family car instead of a sports car. But today they have so much character and ironically, compare their prices to far more sophisticated synths from the time like dw6000 or jx8p which are way cheaper today. I think remakes of true analog that happen today will be among the next classics if companies like behringer stop making them. The other classic synth might be something new that's quirky and has novelty and character that maybe defines a whole new emergent genre of music like the 303 did. But I think that whatever it is , first has to be discontinued. That doesn't happen with software. Not even with something legendary like my virus. Look at the latest software open-source recreation of that, someone just needs to put that in a box again or load it as some kind of update into future hardware and you can't tell the difference from that or my vintage one. I have a few vintage synths 8p dx7 106 m6r. I think out of just my modern synths, the ones I love the most for character or features are my minilogue which has a ton of character, and then, for features and portability and coolness: my reface cp is like an amazing and perfect invention. These might be the best examples of all my synths that might be modern classics if they stopped making them. Today, imo, these big music companies only went back to a few true analog offerings because behringer pushed the market and has done such an absolutely amazing job bringing back an entire class of instruments... otherwise happy to be left behind by yhe oligopoly because of profitability and subscription models. If B ever stopped making many of their classic renditions then many of those will be the new classic synths of the future even if only because the original ones are so unattainable. They have some truly amazing models for unbelievable price points like the next one I'm dying to get the ms-5. And I'm very curious about their Jupiter 8 when that comes out. Right now we are in the middle of a period of tremendous hardware synth offerings at every price class. When discontinued we can say holy cow I remember when that synth only cost 599 to buy now it's thousands.

Surprised to see the ESQ-1 on your list. It was groundbreaking as the first affordable workstation, but was quickly surpassed in sound quality by the M1. Since buying an ASR-10, my ESQ-1 has just been collecting dust and I sold it a few years ago to a higher price than M1's was selling. To me the ASR-10 is a classic sampler, with its fantastic effects, great workflow and workstation capabilities.

Hello jeffrey , What are your Thoughts on the Roland V-Synth ? Or The Yamaha TX816 , And The Access Virus Indigo 2 / TI2 Polar ?

What do you like for synths that have come out in the last few years

Am I out of line to suggest that the Access Virus should be on this list, or did the Waldorf Q beat that?

Wasnt the U-110 released before M1 and was a rompler too?

This was very fascinating. Some of these synths I had never heard of so thank you for the historical background. I agree from what I have seen there has not been any ground breaking synths in the last 14-25 years and the big three have all but given up the ghost with feeble rehashes or extremely neutered toy like reissues and I'm sure others will come for my head, however NONE of those will be classics even in 5k years, although grant it you may like them.

I wish I had a Prophet VS Rack. 🙂 This is not a reasoned thing. I know the asking prices (and selling prices) are far too much for an eight-voice synth. It's also not like it's an entirely new kind of synthesis. Heck, I even have the excellent Arturia software version. But there is something about the sound, and I think that it's nigh impossible to get a bad note out of it. It's nice to see that I have the module versions (let me include the Micro Q and Wavestation SR) of about half of the synths you list. They may not become classics because of different production numbers, but nowadays, people appear to have more money than space, and modules often command higher prices than their keyboard counterparts. A small note about the DSM-1: while it is the module version of the DSS-1, it's also crippled. I forgot how exactly, but there are videos out from people who know more about it than I do. The Moog joke is getting a bit old. I've been looking at some of the other hybrid synths (Roland JX-10; Kawai K3; Korg DW-8000; Waldorf Microwave) but I cannot quite fathom where they would end up, as either classics or not-quite-classics. People would probably want you to include the Groove Synthesis 3rd Wave, the Novation Summit, or the Arturia MaxtrixBrute/PolyBrute. But as you said, they're just regurgitating old ideas. Plus, I have a feeling that in 30 years time, they'll still be selling regurgitated analogue synths and PPG Waves. One exception _might_ be the Waldorf Quantum Mk 2. It's big, expensive, and has a ton of synthesis methods on board, all of which can be combined. The only thing that comes close is the Waldorf Iridium, but that's purely digital, and considerably less expensive. Not that purely digital is a bad thing, but people fawn over analogue filters and such.

Well done and thoroughly enjoyable.I agree with the choice of the D50 although the D70 or any 76 or 88 key version of a groundbreaking keyboard with most likely be the one sought after.The eighties to 2000 was such a great period for music creation and creativity that I think future movies will ask to see these instruments present as we look at the lives of those who made the music and changed the world. The current era may have challenges associated with the involvement of AI preceded by soulless music which made it to the charts .If you watch Rick Beato you will understand those sentiments. Best wishes from the Caribbean .

Access Virus ti2 ?

My own honorable mention goes to the first analog polyphonic synth I got to play. That was the Roland JX-8p. I first tried playing it in 1999, about 14 years after it was new. Most thankfully, this one came with the PG-800 programmer.

I don’t normally correct experts in videos, but it’s David vs. Goliath, not Daniel

I expected this to be about modern synthesizers. I guess that's my bad for assuming anything, but... but...

Moooaaaag. Haha. Me too.

What about Roland Jupiter4 and VSynth?

The AN1x is fantastic and super fat sounding. However, the JP-8000, while not a great sounding, is easier to program. How about the JD-800?

ASM Hydrasynth

just under 2 minutes, 30 seconds in, I immediately have two gripes... 1) classic should not have anything to do with how many units were made. that's rarity. if rare automatically suggested nomination for classic, then there'd be loads of unworthy synths in the discussion. 2) analog. 40 years have passed since digital synths entered the scene. any good sounding synth that's well over 20 years old should at least be eligible for consideration. WAIT!! update: expensive?!? how is that a consideration here?!? man... you are LOSING me FAST!! I'm sorry... I'm not a heckler or a naysayer. I'm really not. but I thought this was gonna have music-making at its core. perhaps you address all of this in the coming minutes & commentary. but, dang... I expected this to be about modern synthesizers. I guess that's my bad for assuming anything, but... but... I'm just not connecting with this. probably 'cause I wasn't into synths all those years ago. I appreciate older synths. I do. but...

Disappointing, these were all already pretty much classics ( Once Arturia has emulated it it's a shoe in for one thing ). I was hoping you were going to do a list of current keyboards (say last 10-15 years tops ) that you expected to be inducted into the list of classics in coming years. That would have been an interesting video.

Casio FZ-1

Nick Rhodes first keyboard was a WASP

MFB Dominion 1 - There, i said it. Bassstation II (the AFX version even more) - Yamaha CS 5 / 15 / 30 - Korg DV800 (also 700S but nobody seems to understand that yet, Korg tried with the 700 FS) - Hydrasynth - and now a few because they are weird: TherapSID 2 - Gen R8 - I wish I had a EDP Gnat... BTW i think it's pronounced MOKE because i kinda think dutch folks would pronounce moog like MOKE (sounds like vogue but it's a bit more agressive) - now really: enter 'mini moke' in google and be amazed.