In the market for my first synthesizer which means that I know nothing about the terms used...

In the market for my first synthesizer which means that I know nothing about the terms used. I've been looking at a microkorg. I've heard that it has 4 voice polyphony. From my understanding, does that mean that you can only play 4 keys at a time?? I've also been looking at a novation mininova but I like the way the MK sounds. Any other advice?

I own a microkorg and I wouldn't really reccomend it to a beginner synthhead. It seems like they willingly set out to make the least intuitive controls possible. Maybe I'm limited in that sense, but I've played around with the Korg MS-20 mini and had a lot of fun/got some really cool sounds with much less hassle.

But it's a good thing you made this thread, I'm looking toward a replacement synth and can't settle between the MS-20 or one of the new Roland boutique modules. Anyone care to share some experience?

>It seems like they willingly set out to make the least intuitive controls possible

How so??

bump

im interested too

Menu diving is a pain in the ass and not easy to do on the fly.

if you want to play anything that isn't a preset it's hard to go through all the menus and it's also a pain trying to understand what everything is when the only guide is two digits on the tiny little LCD thing

I got the JP-08 and its absolutely fantastic. The only problem is the lack of keys. You need more than 25. I don't even care so much about mini keys, but you need more.

If I had another chance to get a synth I would get a used DX7

Okay but how many notes can you okay at a time

I guess and covered it. It's very difficult to tinker with sounds and save them for later use. Playing the MK live makes me continually nervous that my patches won't be written or will freak out on me at the last minute. Also, yeah, the LCD display is complete shit and feels like a fucking discman.

Hey, here.
I've heard that the minikeys that come with them are spectacular. I really want the JP because it seems considerably more versatile and you get more in-depth control. It also is priced accordingly, however, so I might just get the other two, cheaper ones.

Its fanstastic it really is. I can't get over the fact that they left out the fucking arpeggiator. The ribbon controllers are a pain in the ass but thats personal preference, some people love them. Other than that it really does sound fantastic. Especially if you hook it up to an amp and crank the reverb. Plus it's insanely beautiful. I really want the JU-06

Does it seriously not have an arpeggiator???
I've seen some demos where there seems to be one in use.
Is there some sort of similar function?

Its got a sequencer which is alright, has polyphony issues if you wanna play lead while the sequencer is going in the background.

Yes, 4 voice polyphony means you can only have 4 voices (keys) playing at any given time. 4 voices is pretty good for a small keyboard though, a lot of synths, especially in the lower price range, are monophonic.

this

microkorg is a shitty first synth.

if you can't be persuaded to go software, check out the bass station 2 or the microbrute.

are you in the market for a cool first sysnthesizer or a cool first keyboard? because there's a difference. if you're looking to take your piano skills with you and play the synth as a keyboard roll with a bank of sounds to choose from (which i'm not trying to make sound "childish," i'm just making the distinction; there's nothing wrong with playing a synth any way you want), which sounds like what you want to do, you don't want the microkorg. microkorg is invented for people to hold chords in the background to flesh out a song. that's the best use i can find for it anyway.
like mentioned, korg ms-20 mini is SO much more intuitive and fun, and as it was my first synth, i learned a lot about filters and patching and oscillators, which i wouldn't have gotten from the microkorg. now that's all analog shit and like, all definition "synthesizer" shit, and if you're just looking to play piano stuff, i'd almost recommend you just get an 88 key MIDI controller and just plug it into your computer. if that's not fun enough for a beginner (and i understand, it wouldn't have been fun enough for me), just get a cheap yamaha or something.
anyway get a korg ms-20 mini or an arturia microbrute (it has a sequencer on it which is very cool) if you actually want to learn about synthesizers.

I've been debating one of these vs a NI komplete kontrol. Both cost about the same and I already have Komplete 9, which would be ideal with the Kontrol, but I really want a hardware synth and it seems like the jd-xi is a lot of bang for buck. Then I start to think maybe I should get the korg minilogue true analog. I wish I could afford them all.

Wow... That's terrible. Only 4 voices?? My casio mt70 has more voices than that and its an 80s toy. Okay so micro korg is out of the picture. Any other good synths under $500-600? I need a keyboard on it so no virus products. I just like the fact of something portable that I can throw in a backpack and have it in hand you know? Does anybody have experience with the mininova?

Alesis Micron or Ion are tight

It's not a polysynth, which means you only get one voice. But there's literally no reason not to buy an Arturia Microbrute. You get so much more for your buck, plus lots of CV compatitibility, so you can hook it up to a modular/DAW/computer and just let it run wild. They go from 260 quid, which is genius.

Korg minilogue

4 voices at a time, actually. If you play several keys and are using a sound with a long release, when you play other keys, the sound will be cut off.

The mininova is 18 voices

>But there's literally no reason not to buy an Arturia Microbrute

Except to save up and buy a Minibrute

They're quite different machines, actually. The microbrute has that little patch bay and sequencer, whereas the mini will give you sequencer and actually less CV connectivity.

shit, I meant the minibrute gives you arpeggiator in lieu of the sequencer

The mini brute and the microbrute, regardless of their functions and features have only like 2 octaves. Not alot of room to work with

>digital synths aren't worth getting

lol

Mininova. A perfect first synth.

Oh dude the JD-XI totally

Dude, I've been working with synths for years. The Mininova is one of the finest I have worked with for such a low price. I would recommend it above all others. Even the Ultranova.

Wow. Thanks man. My only problem is that its not portable. But I saw a video of a guy that used a battery pack so that it was portable. And I don't really mind the mini keys that much. Everybody seems to hate them but they're my best friends when I'm soloing