A Beginner's Guide to Buying A Synth

Engadget has a guide to buying your first synth, and even Mr. Twin gets a mention thanks to the presets he designed for the KORG Monolog: https://www.engadget.com/2020/03/12/beginners-guide-to-buying-a-first-synth-synthesizer/

Pretty good suggestions. I'd recommend either the Volca FM or a Korg MS-20 (mini or regular).

Volca FM? I’d go for the Keys myself. Gives you something you can’t get in a computer and it’s surprisingly versatile.

But anyway ... now that even Engadget is jumping on the bandwagon, maybe we’ve reached peak synth?

always get an MC303

always buy red synths because they are fastest.

wise words

  On 3/12/2020 at 8:27 PM, Joyrex said:

Engadget has a guide to buying your first synth, and even Mr. Twin gets a mention thanks to the presets he designed for the KORG Monolog: https://www.engadget.com/2020/03/12/beginners-guide-to-buying-a-first-synth-synthesizer/

Monologue is not a bad choice at all. It's got a pretty unique character and despite its simplicity is quite flexible. It's also just really fun, which is important. 

The Casio Rapman, obviously.

  On 3/12/2020 at 10:12 PM, rhmilo said:

Volca FM? I’d go for the Keys myself. Gives you something you can’t get in a computer and it’s surprisingly versatile.

But anyway ... now that even Engadget is jumping on the bandwagon, maybe we’ve reached peak synth?

FM is the most used and versatile of the volca units I own. The Volca keys is very limited and has a signature "smokey-brass" sound that you can't escape from. You can make drums, bass, leads, poly chords and sound fx with the FM. There are even times, with the right algorithm parameters, that it rivals its analog counterparts. It is easily the best of the bunch, hands down.

Whom is this for? 13-yr-olds?

  On 3/13/2020 at 6:28 AM, Braintree said:

The Casio Rapman, obviously.

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Holy shit! This was my first actual synth. Some of the sounds are still engraved in my mind. 

  On 3/13/2020 at 9:34 PM, user said:

Holy shit! This was my first actual synth. Some of the sounds are still engraved in my mind. 

Me too! My parents got it for me when I was 7 or 8 years old. I used to hold down the ambulance patch and put my ear to the speaker.

lol

What a great way to start out your new passion, a bad sounding mono toy with a gimped keybed just because it's analog and afex twang got paid to write a preset. I'm fairly sure there are plenty of digital second hand options that are miles better than these. Better yet, get a midi keyboard like everybody else and learn a thing or two about synthesis while saving up for something actually worthwhile. 

  On 3/14/2020 at 2:02 AM, chim said:

What a great way to start out your new passion, a bad sounding mono toy with a gimped keybed just because it's analog and afex twang got paid to write a preset. I'm fairly sure there are plenty of digital second hand options that are miles better than these. Better yet, get a midi keyboard like everybody else and learn a thing or two about synthesis while saving up for something actually worthwhile. 

Anything less than a roland system 700 or coding your own audio in C# with the Opus Codec is gimped.

  On 3/13/2020 at 9:48 PM, Braintree said:

Me too! My parents got it for me when I was 7 or 8 years old. I used to hold down the ambulance patch and put my ear to the speaker.

Most IDM 1991

Another prudent choice for aspiring musicians:

  On 3/14/2020 at 2:02 AM, chim said:

What a great way to start out your new passion, a bad sounding mono toy with a gimped keybed just because it's analog and afex twang got paid to write a preset. I'm fairly sure there are plenty of digital second hand options that are miles better than these. Better yet, get a midi keyboard like everybody else and learn a thing or two about synthesis while saving up for something actually worthwhile. 

monologue is nice, perfect for what it is. there's a few features on it that wouldn't be there if not for Aphex, actually, not just his presets. 

SK-1 was my first instrument, my grandmother got it for me when i was very young. played with it often for years (still works and gets used occasionally too). cheap old woman should've saved up and bought me a Pro 1 tho, i'd be a much cuntier asshole by now if she had. 

My first synth was the Kawai k1ii, it was cheap, multitimbral, could do some fun + bread&butter sounds and had a functioning keybed. I started out on Octamed on an Amiga though. I guess I'd just go the computer + midi controller route for starting out, a monosynth and nothing else seems like a pretty dumb starting point?

  On 3/14/2020 at 4:02 PM, Gocab said:

I started out on Octamed on an Amiga

Anybody know the name/model of that 80s roland that is basically a juno but with built in speakers and much cheaper?

Man you guys are hating pretty hard on the Monologue. Good enough for Adam Jay, good enough for me.

  On 3/13/2020 at 9:48 PM, Braintree said:

Me too! My parents got it for me when I was 7 or 8 years old. I used to hold down the ambulance patch and put my ear to the speaker.

Damn, small world. I'm somewhat ashamed to admit I don't think I ever used the audio input voice transformer thing as I don't even remember that was a possibility.

  On 3/14/2020 at 4:02 PM, Gocab said:

I started out on Octamed on an Amiga though. I guess I'd just go the computer + midi controller route for starting out, a monosynth and nothing else seems like a pretty dumb starting point?

Started with Fasttracker2, roland sh-5 and cooledit on this end. Ended with Renoise, Korg ms-20 and max 8.

It's the perfect starting point and probably the best hybrid studio you could ask for because its simple.

  On 3/14/2020 at 5:28 PM, perunamuussi said:

Anybody know the name/model of that 80s roland that is basically a juno but with built in speakers and much cheaper?

hs60

  On 3/14/2020 at 11:19 PM, Entorwellian said:

Started with Fasttracker2, roland sh-5 and cooledit on this end. Ended with Renoise, Korg ms-20 and max 8.

It's the perfect starting point and probably the best hybrid studio you could ask for because its simple.

Yeah, one half-decent (and fun) monosynth, plus something that can sample and layer it, is an excellent way to start. You quickly figure out that with persistence, you can get all the foundational sounds from those, and striving for mastery beats hoarding gear every time.