cons: - only 128 program memories - casing looks cheap and in fact is

This is a remarkable synth. At it's price s/h, it could just be a fully functional 61-key midi controller, but it also provides access to a sound engine that keeps on surprising me with an in-built virtual prophet 5, fm and some deep modulation possibilities. Its immediate strengths are for dance and electronic music, but with some effort, pads, strings and ambient sfx emerge to rival a 'warmer' k5000s. questioning why spectrasonics didn't use this synth for 'atmospheres.' I originally sold a korg z1 to buy the an1x and absynth 3. Of all those 3, the an1x is the most fun to play, and provides the most for its associated price. The z1 is much praised for its extended modulation options, but imo it lacked the character or inspiration of the an1x. Furthermore, its immediate rivals of the nords and jp8000 tend to be at least 100-200 pounds more expensive, whilst providing less of an intense synth architecture than the an1x.

And that's the annoying thing about virtual analog. It has nothing to do with analog! Not even the knob-twiddling because the parameters change in steps, so no clean hi-res filter sweeps here.

I've played this synth a lot; I've recorded it and played it back; I even tried to sell it once! But there is one thing that never changes, it's that it will always have this "digital tinge" to it. Maybe a good thing for some people. Not for me.

Anyway, glad I got that out of my system. It's still a very cool synth and I give it a 4. I can still always use it as a controller... =)

I originally purchased the AN1X after closely comparing it to the Nord and JP8000 boards. It blows both of them away for realistic and warm analogue sound. The only virtual analogue that comes close to the warmth of the AN1X is the Access Virus. One of our band members has the Virus, and I've had a chance to use it extensively. However, expect to pay alot more for the Virus KB.

AN1X is truly an amazing board, with excellent effects, a very responsive XZ pad, four free-EG 'robots', and programmable/assignable everything.

Although it is only 2-part multitimbral, it is still a great machine. In that respect, it's very much like the classic analogues. It seems that Yamaha's mission was to provide a Jupiter 8 / Prophet 10 type of board with the addition of a digital effects unit. They succeeded.

If you want a workstation keyboard, look to a Fantom or a Triton.