[Music] What's a good synthesizer?

[darkwolf666]

I know there are a few musically minded folks on here, but can anyone make any recommendations for a decent current synth.

I want something that can be coupled to a PC via Ableton or similar, but can also be played as a stand alone through speakers, so not purely as a PC trigger.

I have about £1000 to play with, so any advice gratefully received.

 

[1066familyman]

 

[darkwolf666]

Like it... But was thinking more recommendations!

 

[Seaber]

I love my microkorg, cheap with a vocoder, but with a grand to spend you may want to go a bit bigger.

 

[macbeth]

depends what you're after, mono or poly, digital or analogue. in terms of recent releases korg minilogue XD is very decent and available for about 550, korg prologue 8 available for more or less on budget as well. Moog grandmother looks very good as well for about 800. Moog subharmonicon sounds very decent but it doesn't come with a keyboard so you'd need to buy a midi keyboard to go separately. again Moog but you can pick up a sub phatty or subsequent for your budget, Roland also have some very solid stuff as well like the jdxa. but again, these are all very different synths. all those are solid bets but if you could provide more detail as to what sort of stuff you want to make with it then you could perhaps narrow it down, but otherwise it would just be YouTube videos and seeing which one you like the sound of best

 

[darkwolf666]

depends what you're after, mono or poly, digital or analogue. in terms of recent releases korg minilogue XD is very decent and available for about 550, korg prologue 8 available for more or less on budget as well. Moog grandmother looks very good as well for about 800. Moog subharmonicon sounds very decent but it doesn't come with a keyboard so you'd need to buy a midi keyboard to go separately. again Moog but you can pick up a sub phatty or subsequent for your budget, Roland also have some very solid stuff as well like the jdxa. but again, these are all very different synths. all those are solid bets but if you could provide more detail as to what sort of stuff you want to make with it then you could perhaps narrow it down, but otherwise it would just be YouTube videos and seeing which one you like the sound of best

Hi and thanks for your considered response.

For me, I would like a fully polyphonic keyboard, not bothered whether analogue or digital.

Back in the day I had a Roland Jupiter 8, a Roland SH101, and a Korg Polysix, which were all good plug and play synths and wondered if there was something modern that replicates their sounds and feel.

 

[macbeth]

Hi and thanks for your considered response.

For me, I would like a fully polyphonic keyboard, not bothered whether analogue or digital.

Back in the day I had a Roland Jupiter 8, a Roland SH101, and a Korg Polysix, which were all good plug and play synths and wondered if there was something modern that replicates their sounds and feel.

probably not ultimately what you're looking for but definitely worth checking out would be the recent series of Beringer clones, where they've recreated iconic synths, the sh-101 being one of them (they're calling it the ms101 I think). closest thing to the polysix I think would be a prophet, you could probably get a prophet rev2 for around budget but anything else would be 200-500 extra (tho you could pick up the dsi mopho x4 for much less, although not a prophet it's gives you that dsi quality). since you mentioned the Jupiter 8 then I would definitely look at the deepmind 12, very good for dreamy 80's style pads ect.

 

[darkwolf666]

Thanks again, I have just had a quick look at the Deepmind 12, looks very interesting. Will check out the rest of your heads-ups too. Thank you!

 

[Acker79]

This bad boy:

 

[Barnet Seagull]

Nowadays i am totally soft-synth. Just dont have time to learn like I used to and there is so much more flexibility. Most modern workstations have vst plugins so i figure i wont lose out if I ever go back.





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[darkwolf666]

Nowadays i am totally soft-synth. Just dont have time to learn like I used to and there is so much more flexibility. Most modern workstations have vst plugins so i figure i wont lose out if I ever go back.

But I love playing real keys, especially if they are weight sensitive, I guess for me it’s the difference between driving a simulator and driving a real car!

 

[zefarelly]

Our tame ivory tickler has gone from Hammond ( and lorry ) and Vox continental ( just a van and 2 roadies) to Nord, moog, Kork . . .al good . .. . .now he's making stuff.

Fortunately he's out of earshot of Shoreham.

https://youtu.be/QUujB62UwhY

None of it does much for me . . . I'm an analogue man. .

https://youtu.be/4_gFF-z9OS8

 

[Barnet Seagull]

But I love playing real keys, especially if they are weight sensitive, I guess for me it’s the difference between driving a simulator and driving a real car!

I have a weighted midi controller for the same reason.

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[Wellesley]

It's all you'll ever need.

 

[vegster]

My Liver has been doing a fantastic job over the lockdown, I'd highly recommend one.

 

[boik]

I recently moved from my old Korg i3 to a new Roland Juno DS. Loved the I3, it was all metal and built like a tank, but was a pain to program. The Juno is light as a feather and much more instinctive. I'm creating more with it. It's a great all round keyboard and only about half your budget.

 

[zefarelly]

View attachment 125473

It's all you'll ever need.

We actually used one of these on a track once. . .

 

[darkwolf666]

View attachment 125473

It's all you'll ever need.

Worked for Rolf Harris.... doh!