> Congratulations, it must be really fun being on that room, and it must be difficult getting out of it hehehe.

Indeed it is!

Monitoring and room acoustics are definitely the very first thing to focus on. It was something I neglected for far too long. If you can't hear what's going on it doesn't matter how much gear you've got.

My favourite hands-on synth is the Roland Juno 106 [1], it's so god damn simple to use, everything is there, and so tweakable. They seem to have gone back up in price, but I picked up a pristine version for £600 off ebay. Obviously you need to be careful with older gear, and definitely try before you buy to make sure the thing isn't falling apart.

For mono synths my favourite is the Moog Sub 37 [2], it's knob central and sounds amazing, as all Moogs do. Although I was considering replacing it with the simpler (but more classic sounding) Model D which has just been re-issued.

The best modern analogue synth I have is the DSI OB-6 [3]. Although we're getting into the expensive end of the market here, I reckon it's a future classic. These things will hold their value very well. It's also got all the knobs and controls you'll need, but with slightly different filters to most other synth manufacturers, which is good for the contrast.

The Korg MS-20 would definitely be a good place to start (I haven't got one myself, but many friends have, and rate them highly), the fact that it has all the knobs on the front for every component of the synth and has the patchbay is perfect for experimentation.

You'll never regret getting an analogue synth, the sound just dwarfs what VSTs do imho. They're _alive_ in a way that you just don't hear from VSTs.

It's also interesting how different analogue compressors and EQs sound compared to VSTs. There's a rawness and sexiness that I have yet to achieve in-the-box (not saying it's impossible, just I'm too lazy to spend ages trying to achieve the sound I can get from hardware by simply switching it on).

> making but being cost efficient is paramount to getting up and running in the cheapest way possible

I have the Chandler Curve Bender EQ [4] which is based on the EMI Abbey Road desk that was used to record Beatles and Pink Floyd albums. It is super expensive (£5000+), but as soon as I heard what it could do I just needed it in my life. I call the on/off switch on the front of it the "it's just better switch" because as soon as I press it the sound in my studio turns 3D and everything is good in the world. I have the plugin version of it (UAD), which is very good, probably the best VST EQ I've heard - but it's not a patch on the gear and doesn't invoke that emotional feeling.

The reason I'm saying this is that yeah this stuff is expensive, some of it super expensive, but if you pick up one piece of gear a year and learn it inside out you'll be in a great place - creating awesome sounds quicker than you ever could before in-the-box. Most people I know with killer studios took a decade to get there.

[1] http://www.vintagesynth.com/roland/juno106.php

[2] https://www.moogmusic.com/products/phattys/sub-37

[3] http://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/dave-smith-instruments-o...

[4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUv9GtMlUwA