Small inexpensive synths with Full Sized Keys

[EricBarker]

I’m on the lookout for 2-3 octave synths with full sized keys and only a couple hundred $$$.

 

I was given an old original Novation BassStation1 and didn’t find a lot of use for it, until my wife started learning some synth melodies to play in our band. Unfortunately, the old BassStation has a problem where the notes never fully decay, the OSC is always making noise a little bit. (If anyone has any idea how to fix it, that would be lovely!)

 

So I should find a replacement. One option is a BassStation2 (new or used). But wanted to know what else is out there, possibly for cheaper. Because my wife is not a keyboard guru, it needs to be fairly simple and straightforward.

musts:

- 2-3 octaves and lightweight

- presets

- full sized keys

- can be analog or modeled, or even a rompler

- < $300

- could be used

[CEB]

I’m not sure what a Roland Gaia goes for but I find the Gaia useful. The triangle waves in the highest registers get a little flakey due to some minor aliasing. I used to carry one as a third board in the pop rig and it was useful for Lady Gaga monster ball stuff, Whoop There It Is etc… it was useful and easy to program. 

[yannis D]

I like my Novation Ultranova. Lightweight, relatively cheap, comes with a bag and has many good sounds. It's mono timbral thought

[AnotherScott]

Used...

 

Korg R3

 

Korg TRITON taktile-25

[allan_evett]

There are a bunch of used IK MM Uno Synth Pro models up at reverb.com. Most are above the price point you listed, though there is one posted for $349. Thinking that one would do the job well. It's been a temptation for a few years now.

[EricBarker]

Thanks everyone. All great ideas! Another possibility is I have a Behringer Deepmind 12 that I bought right before I decided to go a different direction and get a NordStage. Now I'm wishing it was a Deepmind6. I could potentially trade it down. I actually think I'd get more use out of a 6 than a 12 anyway.

[SamuelBLupowitz]

51 minutes ago, yannis D said:

I like my Novation Ultranova. Lightweight, relatively cheap, comes with a bag and has many good sounds. It's mono timbral thought

Second the Ultranova. That was my Starter Synth. It’s never going to sound like a Minimoog, but it does a lot of different things well, has a ton of output routing and modulation options, and the vocoder is cool if impractical.

 

True that it can only play one voice at a time, though. 

[ProfD]

14 minutes ago, EricBarker said:

Another possibility is I have a Behringer Deepmind 12...Deepmind6. I could potentially trade it down.

Great idea.  It is a poly synth.  If so inclined, fairly instant access to real-time sound shaping too. 😎

[EricBarker]

I don't need a polysynth, though I wouldn't mind. For the stuff my wife plays it would likely always been in Mono/Legato mode. But I don't know of any analog polysynths that don't have a mono mode.

 

Absolutely perfect synth for my purposes would be an old ARP ProSoloist. Come on Uli, come out with one already!

[ProfD]

8 minutes ago, EricBarker said:

I don't need a polysynth, though I wouldn't mind. For the stuff my wife plays it would likely always been in Mono/Legato mode. But I don't know of any analog polysynths that don't have a mono mode.

 

Absolutely perfect synth for my purposes would be an old ARP ProSoloist. Come on Uli, come out with one already!

Another thought is to sell the Deep Mind 12 and cop a Behringer Poly D. 😎

[EricBarker]

9 minutes ago, ProfD said:

Another thought is to sell the Deep Mind 12 and cop a Behringer Poly D. 😎

I have a PolyD! Love it! I use it mostly as a bass in many bands. The reason she doesn't use it is A) I'm using it! B) She needs something with presets.

[bjosko]

A used Uno Synth Pro if you can find it. But she wont have it for herself after you have heard it 😆

But compact, wonderful analog sound, great keys, nice effects, and with presets.

 The editing is a bit convoluted on it. 
Marino did a run on it in the Gearlab forum.

[Doerfler]

 

I'm very happy with my Uno Synth Pro, 3 octaves full size keys with velocity and aftertouch

 

you can get a "B" stock direct from IK Multimedia for just a little over your budget 

 

https://reverb.com/item/52045476-ik-multimedia-uno-synth-pro-37-key-analog-synthesizer?bk=

[yannis D]

4 hours ago, SamuelBLupowitz said:

Second the Ultranova. That was my Starter Synth. It’s never going to sound like a Minimoog, but it does a lot of different things well, has a ton of output routing and modulation options, and the vocoder is cool if impractical.

 

True that it can only play one voice at a time, though. 

A correction: One sound at a time, not one voice. It's a monotrinbral polysynth, but still I consider monotimbrality a big con

[obxa]

Well since you dig the soloist sound:  If you don't need presets,   Behringer just knocked the  price way down on B- Odyssey. That should also reflect used market being lower too.    Keyboard is superb.    Though I'd prefer wheels over the  PPC pads.   Wasn't a fan of them back in the day when I had the real thing.   

 

The BODDY is very solid - all metal.    Built in FX, XLR out, and illuminated sliders-  perfect for stage.  Use mine in the studio for last two years, but planning on taking it out for first time for an upcoming smooth jazz-funk show.

 

 Another option:  any generic 25 key controller and something like the Roland SE-02, an awesome Lilliputian Moog Clone beast w presets. 

[Synthaholic]

How about a Casio XW-P1 for $300? It's 61 keys, but probably will fill a lot of roles for her.

 

https://reverb.com/item/65048342-casio-xw-p1-61-key-performance-synthesizer-silver

[CyberGene]

https://www.behringer.com/product.html?modelCode=P0DNG
 

But I don’t see it being sold anymore, maybe it’s discontinued. 

[EricBarker]

20 hours ago, obxa said:

Well since you dig the soloist sound:  If you don't need presets,   Behringer just knocked the  price way down on B- Odyssey. That should also reflect used market being lower too.    Keyboard is superb.    Though I'd prefer wheels over the  PPC pads.   Wasn't a fan of them back in the day when I had the real thing.   

 

The BODDY is very solid - all metal.    Built in FX, XLR out, and illuminated sliders-  perfect for stage.  Use mine in the studio for last two years, but planning on taking it out for first time for an upcoming smooth jazz-funk show.

 

 Another option:  any generic 25 key controller and something like the Roland SE-02, an awesome Lilliputian Moog Clone beast w presets. 

 

While these options might be okay for me, they're not ideal for her in this situation. I already end up hauling around a ton of gear and doing setup. I'm trying to make things as stupid simple as possible, considering it only gets used on 2-3 songs. Presets is a requirement, so as much as I'd love an Odyssey for my own use, not practical here. The reason I brought up the Soloist was specifically because of its presets. I have their PolyD and I LOVE it.

So yeah, 2-3 octave preset synths with builtin full-sized keys. There are a few options, so I'm limiting my focus to those because it's ideal. Honestly, features and ultimate sound quality are secondary. This isn't quite a gimmick, but it's just for covering a few simple parts easily. Over 3 octaves doesn't work because we're just throwing it unobtrusively on a sheet music stand. I have a DeepMind12, and even at 49 keys that's way too big. And the more I look at the DeepMind6, I think that's still a bit chonky.

Honestly, the IK Uno Pro just looks perfect. Great design in making it as small and lightweight as possible without sacrificing features. Love that the wheels are on the top and not the side.

[Doerfler]

1 hour ago, EricBarker said:

Honestly, the IK Uno Pro just looks perfect. Great design in making it as small and lightweight as possible without sacrificing features. Love that the wheels are on the top and not the side.

it's "a lot of bang for the buck", as us old people say 

[CyberGene]

For a €100 more you can get the Argon8 which is a poly synth that would give you a much more expansive sound palette too. 

[ElmerJFudd]

I just saw “Behringer” dropped price on all their synths.  One might grab a Bodyssey for $599.  

[EricBarker]

21 hours ago, ElmerJFudd said:

I just saw “Behringer” dropped price on all their synths.  One might grab a Bodyssey for $599.  

 

If you read my initial post, that doesn't fit my needs: No presets. I wouldn't mind having one for myself, but it's not high on my list at the moment. I'm mostly a live guy and don't want to be hauling and hooking up tons of gear. Got my PolyD, got a DeepMind12, and tons of Softsynths for studio work. My main focus is making my live rig less complex. In this case, having a dying BassStation that requires my wife to turn off between songs is an added complexity I don't need.

Identify a problem, do and buy what you need to fix it. But also work really hard to keep GAS at bay! I've gone through bloat periods where my purchases just made my life and setup that much harder. Trying to learn from that.

[felis]

Alesis Micron/Akai MiniAK?

[vortmaxx]

On 3/24/2023 at 12:42 PM, AnotherScott said:

Used...

 

Korg R3

 

I picked up an R3 about 10 years ago off Craigslist for around $300. I still use it regularly. At the time I was looking for some Moog-ish leads and some pads/strings to complement my venerable Electro 3.

I'd say it's held up well over the years, although the main rotary encoder does act up sometimes. 

Programming or modifying presents is fairly intuitive but can be a bit cumbersome. 

[EricBarker]

On 3/26/2023 at 1:23 PM, CyberGene said:

For a €100 more you can get the Argon8 which is a poly synth that would give you a much more expansive sound palette too. 

OH MY!!! (Cue George Takei voice). That is a whole lot of synth in a very very nice package. Like a Hydrasynth in a smaller form factor with full sized keys (unlike the explorer). I’ll have to seriously consider it and the Cobalt8 37. It looks like there are some B-Stock Argons for around $450. A bit more than my initial budget, but this looks like serious gear I could use for other applications, so I could justify it. It would be neat to have Serum in a hardware package!

 

Gonna do Taxes this weekend. This could be a gift to myself for finishing!

[zeronyne]

Alesis Micron?

A small full size key controller and a used microkorg?

Avoid the Akai Timberwolf.

And there should be a slew of older Romplers in that range...look for a Korg XD5 or the Ensoniq SQ series.

[EricBarker]

I'm not considering MIDI controllers. Only hardware boards with 24-37 full-sized keys and presets. There enough options with that feature-set already. (BassStation, IK Uno, Argon8, Carbon8, UltraNova, DeepMind6, and more). If it were just me, that would be one thing, but the person using this has no experience with MIDI routing or software synthesis, and it would just fall to me to setup/breakdown along with my own rig. The beauty of just throwing a small hardware synth on an Old Manhasset and plugging it in is awesome. Hell, the BassStation1 was battery powered, so I didn't even need to plug it in! I doubt many of the current options run on batteries, but that's a small concession.

[EricBarker]

Here's the breakdown:

 

Novation BassStation2 ($350used/$500new) - 25 keys, light as heck, battery powered, I'm already familiar with it. CONS: very limited possibilities, sound is kind of "meh". MonoSynth

IK Uno Pro ($350 used / $500 new) - 37 keys, but extremely small footprint. VA Polysynth. Lightweight. CONS: nothing really, though it's a VA, no crazy digital possibilities or sampling. AudioIn but no Vocoder.
 

Argon8 ($500 used / $700 new) - 37 keys but extremely small footprint. WaveTable synth. Seriously powerful machine with tons of possibilities that I'd probably use on my own for other gigs. CONS: a bit heavy on a Manhasset, but probably would be fine. It is what it is, a WaveTable synth, not a VA. Most expensive on this list. AudioIn but No Vocoder

Carbon8 ($500 used / $700 new) - 37 keys but extremely small footprint. VA synth with advanced effects and routing. Cons: not necessarily much better than the IK Uno and more expensive. Supposedly weak filter, no distortion (unlike others on the list). The reviews tend to be a bit "meh" at this price point.

 

Novation UltraNova ($300 used) - 37keys. Vocoder! VA synth. CONS: Widest footprint due to side wheels (blech). My BassStation1 was very middling in audio quality, but 15years newer, the UltraNova is likely a much better sound. The possibility of a vocoder is VERY appealing, since the person playing this is primarily a singer.
 

[Doerfler]

33 minutes ago, EricBarker said:

IK Uno Pro ($350 used / $500 new) - 37 keys, but extremely small footprint. VA Polysynth. Lightweight. CONS: nothing really, though it's a VA, no crazy digital possibilities or sampling. Audio In but no Vocoder.
 

 

Uno Synth Pro is a paraphonic, analog synth, with built in digital effects 

[EricBarker]

Lol, sometimes I mean "VA" for Virtual Analog, sometimes for Vintage Analog. Bad habit, I know! Para is DEFINITELY a plus, I can hear pads in our near future. That's why I'm pretty much nixing the BassStation2 as an option. I think the distinction between Analog and Virtual is very blurred and not always relevant. As we know, there's different blends of analog/digital that effect the sound more-or-less. Also, analog modeled oscillators have grown leaps & bounds in the past few decades. A late-90s "mostly analog" synth like the BassStation1 is likely to sound far colder than a recent 100% digital Virtual Analog board.

My experience with Para has been the PolyD, which having no presets or digitally controlled oscillators, definitely makes you work for it (but it sounds amazing). I can imagine that on an Uno, it feels pretty close to a poly for basic stuff like pads, and that would be fine! Add a little chorus, and you can cop an OB6 for most basic stuff. I played Jump RH on my PolyD a few times at gigs, for fun, and it sounded fine.