it makes a decent little midi controller also. Also, there is a hardware controller profile of it in Omnisphere 2 which is very nice. real midi I/o ports and usb. bang for buck it's very difficult to beat.

 

sums it up perfectly.

for a first synth you need something versatile and on that part the uno is the best of the 3. but a 2nd hand mininova could be yours for around 200-250 euro's

and what you most definitely don't want is a microkorg XL, the sound engine in that one sounds empty.

 

I find it strange, that nobody asked what you want to use it for.
Make recordings, play live? Which style of music? Is polyphony important?
Will you use it alone or in combination with a DAW/softsynths?

Btw.: On very limited budget, I would buy an used ipad or even iphone and - if there's still money left - add a Korg Nanokey Studio controller. This will give you lots of options for software synths, a kind of keyboard, pads and some hardware knobs.
Actually that's what I carry around when I go to a session with friends, sometimes exchanging the Nano for a Microkey for more traditional music.

 

What do you mean nobody asked? OP just doesn't answer.
Chances are, OP isn't sure yet.

 

Yeah. but it really depends on the destination. Here in Chile (near Argentina) shipping is pretty much the same, but the fees you need to pay for customs and taxes is insane, and compared to that, the local price may be even cheaper.

Al menos tienen stock :'c

 

A nice synthesizer is Waldorf Blofeld-350€:

https://www.waldorfmusic.com/en/blofeld-overview

 

well this is the reason why most of us tell him he needs something versatile, the more variation in the sounds it can produce the more it doesnt matter for what genre it's gonna be used

 

It depends what you want it for. If you want your first synth to be a tool whereby you learn how the fundamentals of synths actually work, then I would go with a simple analogue Behringer like the Pro-One. This will introduce you to the concepts of Oscillators, Filters, Envelopes and Modulation. And importantly, and I stress this... you will have a much greater understanding of this when you turn a real knob.
If you feel you know all of this then I would go into a shop and try everything you can afford. We can't tell you what to buy, but your ears will.

 

I may suggest a Korg M3 with Radias inside , the module only is around 350 euro , a beast actually ... Very good with an midi controller ...

 

I agree that it depends on your needs. My recommendations for your first synth are:

1. Novation Mininova (Polyphonic with vocoder and many great features for live performance and jamming. Presets can also be imported via library software. WARNING: The only con I find is that it does not output MIDI clock. You cannot connect it with other devices as a master unit. It was a shock for me when I found that I could not sync it to my DR-3.)

2. Behringer Neutron. (Paraphonic-that is no chords, only 2 notes at a time- semi-modular, good for bass, leads and arps and easy to use. Great range of sounds. Cons: No arpeggiator, no preset saving, needs external keyboard with arp capabilities. Comes with a very useful app.)

 

Last edited: Oct 13, 2021

Such a good list of synths you have here... I'd reccommend you Korg Volca because it has a lot to show. As an example you can sync few Volcas with each other (like Volca Beats or Volca Modular - by the way it's a good synth too if you want to dive in world of modular synths).

 

I want to buy a hardware synth for christmas, but I can't decide between IK Uno Synth, Modal Skulpt, or something from Behringer. Which Behringer model for under 200€ is the most versatile?

 

The UNO is very versatile and true analogue. The downside is that it looks unimpressive (!) and the knobs are shared in a matrix style thing but it is very quick to experiment with and learn synthesis. The Skulpt is a digital emulation of analogue so personally I don't see much point in that - you might as well use a software plugin. More expensive digital synths bring more to the table and can do things that you simply can't do in analogue but they are beyond your scope.

The very cheapest Behringer synth is the Crave and is a great intro to semi-modular (and an almost direct copy of the Moog Mother-32!) but will not give you such a range of sounds as the Uno. A better Behringer choice is the Neutron but even that has no patch saving so it's very much a hands on, can't repeat this sound type thing. If you are coming from a cosy software world then the concept of no presets unless you write down the knob positions can be a bit of a shock!

You didn't mention it but the Volca is another option. I don't like the tiny knobs but others love them.

Whichever one you buy you will have a lot of fun with it and probably go on to buy one or two more in the future so go with the one that inspires you the most. I use a Crave, an Uno, a Microfreak and a Nu-tekt and together they form a very powerful budget synth setup. I can spend hours noodling around on them, along with a crappy 1990's Japanese drum machine. My next purchase is a better drum/percussion box.

 

I got the Behringer Pro 1, but I couldn' use it yet, because of ear problems. The Neutron looked really nice, too. But I liked all of the demos from the Pro 1 a little more... At first I wanted to get the Behringer Wasp, because it was heavily reduced in price over black friday, but it got sold out a little too fast for me.

If I like to work with the Pro 1, I want to buy a polyphonic synth next year.

 

My Grandmother's cheaper 3rd Oscillator.

 

Get Korg Monologue ideal first synth