You'd think there'd be more options available on the market today, but at the basic consumer level, we got, what, the Korg Monologue and Minilogue, and the Arturia MiniBrute and MicroBrute? I guess there's Elektron, the reissued Arp Odyssey, a few Moog monosynths, and stuff like that when you go slightly more expensive, but there's not much other than that, is there? Sure, you can get anything you want if you start shelling out a few grand, but if you don't want that, or start dabbling with modular shit, what else is there? I feel like this market of synths (especially polysynths) for the average musician as opposed to people with giant, expensive rigs is weirdly small. If you went to the average Guitar Center to buy a guitar, drum equipment, or even a bass at these kinds of price ranges, you'd get a lot more variety than you do with new synths. Why is that? Am I missing something about the current synth market?
Affordable Analog Synths
The Volcas, pocket synthesizers, and the reissue fake analog Rolands are nice that they exist, I guess, but from what I've seen/heard, they feel more like toys you mess around on, and less like real instruments that are meant to compete with the rest of the market sound-and-feel-wise.
If I'm being honest, most "affordable" analogs aren't really worth it. If you plan on actually making music (you aren't just some geek who's fascinated by the technology) you def shouldn't get anything < $600 imo. Sure, they *work,* but you'd be better off getting a raspberry pi and putting 3xOsc on it than getting some shitty $300 analog
>most "affordable" analogs aren't really worth it
Why do you say that?
Personally, I've got a Monologue myself, and it works great. Lots of fun to use. It's integrated in my DAW setup, and it's very much a fresh breath compared to just working ITB with VSTs and emulations of other synths. Haven't tried a lot of its market competitors, though.
It comes down to cost vs sales. A company like Roland can make so much more money selling boutiques of their classics rather than fully analog recreations because if they made fully analog versions the cost to make them would be so much higher that they would sell only a fraction due to the higher sales cost.
The other factor is that digital synths have caught up so much in recent years that majority of people making music these days don’t care to own hardware. The reason this doesn’t translate to something like guitar is because no one wants to play a digital guitar no matter how good it sounds. Any quality vst with a good midi controller is a great synth these days.
I’m with you though. I would love more affordable modern analog synths. They’re out there, just not like they used to be. Your best bet is watching Craigslist for great deals. Just this week I got a fully functional Korg Polysix for $550. Insane deal.
To me, the cheaper ones always feel more like toys than actual equipment. It's definitely nice having a physical interface of some sort when you're making music, but for a quarter of the price of a real analog, I can get a MIDI controller that looks identical with a matching VST.
That isn't to say all physical synths are useless, but if it doesn't have enough built-in to it for me to not need to rely too much on my DAW, I don't think it's worth it.
If you want an analog synth for cheap, don't get a "cheap analog synth," find an expensive one for a cheaper price.
Pay for the best controller possible and pirate the synths until you can afford them.
Coming from a real piano, was immediately turned off with how bad low tier keyboards played.
>Coming from a real piano
Yeah, see, I think that's the thing. Not everyone's coming with that perspective. If you want a perfect MIDI controller, and don't care so much about messing with patches and sound design, I can see why you'd be uninterested in analog synths, or just cheaper keyboards in general, because of the way they implement velocity, and things like that. I imagine someone coming from your angle would instead just get something like a ROLI and leave it at that.
But other people use synthesizers with pre-programmed lines of MIDI, or a sequencer, that sort of thing. Instead of approaching it as a "keyboard" (or a replacement piano), you treat it as an altogether different instrument that happens to use a piano-style keyboard interface the most often. But making music with it doesn't mean you're going to be using the keyboard all the time, anyway, instead, it means integrating it into a larger setup with sequencers, or more likely just a DAW in the middle. And that's different from what you're doing, and in those cases, the controller isn't nearly as desirable as a cool standalone synth module that sounds good and is fun and inspiring to mess with.
>the cheaper ones always feel more like toys than actual equipment
What, including things like the Minilogue, or MiniBrute? I'd disagree…
>could've bought a SH-101 for 150YUROS
>was severely addicted to heroin so would rather spend 150 on drugs
Now I'm clean and not buying that SH-101 is my biggest regret out of all of it.
not completely true. the cheaper ones like the volcas are more beginner friendly, and a good way to get into synths while not being overwhelming, and not having to spend +600 dollars for a beginner.
>a good way to get into synths while not being overwhelming
At that price point, if all you need is an intro to synths, couldn't you just use a VST? Though I guess maybe you meant getting into hardware synths specifically.
That's rough. I just bought one for $1200 a few hours ago. That's near the limit of what they're worth imo, but it's in mint condition so I'm not complaining.
>$1200
Is it really worth that much? I feel like there's probably better modern monosynths at that price range…it is an SH-101, though, there's nothing that quite replaces that, either. I have the TAL VST of it, but I'd like the real thing at some point...but it's not a high priority of mine for now.
>volca toy-ish mix
soundcloud.com
wow you are a little bitch
from 1975 to 1985 when the last analog synths were being made you could not find one for under $1000. its only in the late 80s and 90s when they were mad cheap, because they were second hand and out of style
we're lucky to have shit like $300 - $500 analog synths with all the modern features like midi and patch memory, people would have killed for that in the 70s and 80s
true
>people would have killed for that in the 70s and 80s
Well, people from back then would have killed for all the possibilities afforded by the internet too, and here you are arguing about synths on Sup Forums.
There is something to be said about the variety of synths in the market today, especially since you CAN release cheaper analog synths in this day and age. Maybe I'm just overestimating the kind of demand people have for this sort of stuff, even though analog is making a comeback or whatever.
you probably are overestimating the demand
What would you recommend for a guitarist, who wants to learn some synth basics, add some color and ambiance to his music and maybe play some synthwave and dungeon synth? A monosynth seems very limiting, polysynths are quite expensive and most digital stuff seems to be menu-based.
Stuff I like:
youtube.com
youtube.com
youtube.com
youtube.com
the boutiques are digital and have (tiny) knobby interfaces
and monosynths are not nearly as limiting as you think for those genres
A monosynth isn't nearly as limiting as you might think it is.
Honestly? I'd go with a used Access Virus. It's not analog, but running it through its paces will teach you how a synth works, everything is laid out with assigned knobs, and it can do polyphony well (instead of stuff like the Minilogue, which has only 4-voices). It's got a lot of presets, and a lot of tweakability. The only problem you might have is playing the actual notes, and for that you'll need a MIDI keyboard or somehow run it out of your computer or something like that.
What would be a good monosynth and why? What features should I even be looking for?
Boutiques look fun, if a little toyish. Sound samples are good though. I think.
Access Virus could be good too but used ones seem to be quite expensive here in Finland.
Any thoughts on stuff like Roland JD-Xi or System-1?
>Any thoughts on stuff like Roland JD-Xi or System-1?
Two completely different beasts. System-1 is a proper fully featured VA synth, the JD-Xi is more of a groovebox.
Both are wayyyy better than those shitty overpriced boutiques that are made to last a year (they literally fall apart with use)
Also
Monologue >>> Microbrute
I would say monologue as well, the others have more complicated interfaces and for dungeon synth i think the sound character works great for that kind of stuff
also its cheap and allows you to invest in some good effects units which is equally important for that stuff
>Monologue >>> Microbrute
Why and how about a MiniBrute or something else? I think 500€ is a good budget.
So JD-Xi is an all-in-one solution and System-1 is just a synth but probably better as a synth?
Complicated interfaces don't bother me, as long as it's just not bad design. I assume I can use guitar effect pedals to get started? I have plenty of those.
Also are there any good kits or simple DIY projects? Building electronics isn't a problem.
I just got a stylophone gen x-1 lol
Boutta get a s3000xl and sample it
Kill me