Hello all

I am after a budget synth, something that comes in under £400.

What do people think about the microkorg vs the alesis micron?

any other suggestions?

cheers

Edited by Ex is Moor (01/07/11 11:34 AM)

Quote Ex is Moor:

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minimoog

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Quote Ex is Moor:

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under £400.

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err... good luck with that one!

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An Eagle for an Emperor, A Kestrel for a Knave.

Quote The Elf:

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Quote Ex is Moor:

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minimoog

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Quote Ex is Moor:

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under £400.

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err... good luck with that one!

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whoops meant to type microkorg!! multitasking never been a strong point...

I would go for a Waldorf Blofeld desktop + Midi controller.

A little bit over your budget, but have a look into the Roland SH-01. It's good bang for buck and very simple to use.

More SOS info here : http://www.soundonsound.com/news?NewsID=12683

D.

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www.thirdfloormusic.com

@OP

I would suggest to you a Waldorf Blofeld, the desktop version is around £329 without the sample option but can be upgraded, the keyboard has the 60mb sample option as standard and comes in at around £550, polyphony on both is 25, i have the keyboard and desktop and love them, Waldorf synths are of the highest quality and have great filters. There's much to list but i'd recommend you get Blofeld.

Thanks

Rob

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music producer - remixer - professional sound designer for waldorf music/motu/presonus/waves/fabfilter/rob papen/korg/lennar digital/synapse audio/u-he

I just went through this and I bought a Korg Radias. The Blofeld was my other top choice but in the end it pretty much came down to a coin toss and a love of blinky lights. There is also the UltraNova but I don't like LCDs linked to multi-function knobs; if that was my bag I'd just use softsynths and an SL-Zero.

Lots of people are going to tell you about weird second hand things, but those are the three main affordable VA synths that I found. Enjoy your research - lots of very nice demos on YouTube which show off custom patches. Don't judge on the factory presets alone!

Reviews

Korg: http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/apr06/articles/korgradias.htm
Novation: http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/feb11/articles/novation-ultranova.htm
Blofeld: http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jun08/articles/waldorfblofeld.htm

Edited by Scrumper (13/07/11 05:11 PM)

That's because most new synths are bollocks... Such as the UltraNova

Considering you can buy a SuperNova 2 rack for £300 the UltraNOva is a ripp off... It's a crap re-hash of past Novation products.

Would I recommend either? No a good VST could wipe the floor with Novation.

The Blofeld is good, I have one.. But it's not a good all-round synth, cheaply made, is plagued by bugs and cannot be matched in terms of sound quality imo to past Waldorf products.

At £400 you have a great budget to get something really nice, just depends what YOU really want.

I'd rather have my Korg 700s over any of the other junk I have... No digital filter can get close and no other instrument can sound like it.

Ps imo both the Micron and MicroKorg are balls... For one you can pick up both a Ion and MS-2000 for under £400 which are not bad synths and what both the Micron and Korg are based on..just very cut back in terms of user interface..also EVRY one has a Micro Korg

Edited by vinyl_junkie (13/07/11 06:26 PM)

If you were after hands on control over sound you could check out the SH-32.
It's not in the same class as a MS or Radius as it uses samples instead of DSP to generate the oscillators, and the filter is ear-splitting harsh.

The plus points are that it's knobby,built like a tank and i've seen them sell for £150

Jexus gives a very nice and original impression on several synths:

http://syntezatory.prv.pl/

Sure, in his style, with his musical taste... However, I find it entertaining and informative

Quote Ex is Moor:

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I am after a budget synth, something that comes in under £400.

What do people think about the microkorg vs the alesis micron?

any other suggestions?

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There are many at this budget, and even more if you consider the second-hand market. What kind of synth are you looking for? Ready-to-play preset machine? Or a synth on which you have to make the sound by tuning live parameters? Do you need something compact, with or without a keyboard?

Best,
-j

Quote Bob Moose:

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There are many at this budget, and even more if you consider the second-hand market. What kind of synth are you looking for? Ready-to-play preset machine? Or a synth on which you have to make the sound by tuning live parameters? Do you need something compact, with or without a keyboard?

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I agree with Bob on this one - Ex is Moor, we need more information from you about what you actually NEED this synth to do.

Other aspects that might be involved in addition to Bob's list are:

To learn more about synthesis?
Analogue or digital preferences?
Full-on monophonic or more limited polyphonic?
MIDI support for connection to a DAW?
What do you have already?


Martin

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YewTreeMagic