Small inexpensive synths with Full Sized Keys

[Jon G]

Used Korg Micro-X, comes with its own case. 

[EricBarker]

On 3/27/2023 at 4:35 PM, felis said:

Alesis Micron/Akai MiniAK?

My apologies, I thought these were controllers. I'll give them a look.

[Garubi]

I can only add my vote for the IK Multimedia UNO Pro.

Great sounds and EFX. Great Keyboard action.

Really sturdy and compact.

Very versatile.

Easy to use

[EricBarker]

My wife weighed in, and she’d like a poly. And I get where she’s coming from. 3-osc para is probably not quite gonna cut it  too bad, it does look like a good little thing!

 

I looked at the Akai MiniAk, and that would work… but boy is it ugly, with an awful awful interface. I watched a tutorial on it and I just was turned off by its workflow. It actually sounds surprisingly good, but man is it an instant turnoff! That’s never a good sign.

 

this puts the Argon8 and Novation Ultranova at the top of the list.

[CyberGene]

What's the weight of Argon8 (the 3-octave one), does anyone know? I've tried to find it but oddly enough it's not listed on the official specs, nor in the manual or on any online store specs.

 

P.S. Apparently they updated their website and the weight is listed now: Weight: 5.60 kg / 12.4 lbs

[yannis D]

1 hour ago, EricBarker said:

 

 

this puts the Argon8 and Novation Ultranova at the top of the list.

Just a reminder.

I like my Ultranova bit it's not the easiest, hands on synth to adjust sounds on the fly and it's mono timbral. If you're used to knobby Nord Lead-esque synths, you might be turned off by this

Very good in all other aspects, but have this in mind 

 

[EricBarker]

I just don’t understand the need for a 3-octave board to be multi-timbral. It’s not like you’d have any room for splits.

 

Keep in mind, I’m not doing any sequencing or DAW work with this. This is strictly an ensemble instrument.

[yannis D]

Yep but you may need layers 😉

You will be good 

[Spider76]

14 hours ago, EricBarker said:

 Para is DEFINITELY a plus, I can hear pads in our near future. That's why I'm pretty much nixing the BassStation2 

Just saying, the BSII is paraphonic 😉

 

Tons of new and very interesting features have been added in firmware upgrades, you should check out the most recent manual version.

 

IMHO it's by far the best bang-for-buck monosynth out there...though the UNO definitely looks like a real contender (though I tend to hate matrix UIs, but that's just me)

[AnotherScott]

16 hours ago, EricBarker said:

Here's the breakdown:

 

Why did you rule out the Korg R3 and Triton Taktile-25? (The first being synthier, the second being romplier, which you said was also a possibility, though it sounds like you'd prefer the former.)

[EricBarker]

Aw heck, more good options! Lol

 

I initially passed over the Taktile thinking it was a controller. Every article puts “USB Controller” right up front. But you’re right, it’s a synth. R3 looks good too!

 

Not crazy about the footprints, I’m all about trying to make synths fit nice and small to their keybeds, and Korg insists on adding a lot of plastic off edges. But this is a relatively minor niggle. Gonna have to find some demos.

 

I gotta say, my gut is absolutely leaning toward the Argon8, and my wife immediately was drawn to one of the demo videos. I’ve also found a few used ones that don’t have crazy shipping costs to Alaska ($150 on a $200 mini keyboard, WTF?!).

 

arrrrg! Decision paralysis!

[AnotherScott]

6 minutes ago, EricBarker said:

I initially passed over the Taktile thinking it was a controller. Every article puts “USB Controller” right up front. But you’re right, it’s a synth.

 

It can be confusing. Korg Taktile is just a controller. Korg Triton Taktile is the version with built-in sounds.

[EricBarker]

I swear, some of these names are just awful. I’ve run into so many issues with multiple variations of synths. The Carbon8 has 2 variations in different sizes, but I never see “37 and 49” in their names. IK Uno has 3 different versions with only slight differences.

 

I feel a lot of these companies are really lacking in the marketing divisions. And UI divisions too!

[Radagast]

It’s too bad the Hydrasynth Explorer doesn’t exactly fit your parameters.  It just dropped $100 in price.  Very interesting sounds, presets and poly AT.

[EricBarker]

10 minutes ago, Radagast said:

It’s too bad the Hydrasynth Explorer doesn’t exactly fit your parameters.  It just dropped $100 in price.  Very interesting sounds, presets and poly AT.

Me too. I started to flip out a few weeks back until I saw “Mini Keys”. I’m allergic to mini keys. Un-primed, my wife also said “no mini keys!” So yeah, no Minilogue either

 

thankfully, there seem to be more and more options with full sized keys there days.

[obxa]

For a friendly compact poly,  was going to suggest the old  25 key Triton Micro X- which I still have, and occasionally use on gigs where just need some self contained simple synth & pads.    But that Tacktile looks like an upgrade to that and a  winner!!