I am currently feeling stifled as I much prefer hands on feel rather than pointing and clicking with a mouse. Therefore, I'm looking to purchase my first hardware synth.

I primarily make techno and film score/cinematic stuff, so something that suits these two would be good. Ideally, it would also be something that is controllable and automatable from my DAW, and something that a DAW can record MIDI messages from. If it is something that can be used in some way as a controller for soft synths too, then that would be great!

I don't have much of a budget at present, so something used or cheap is preferred, but just looking for recommendations on somewhere to start my journey!

Some I've been looking at are Roland TB-03, Behringer Model D, Behringer Neutron and also liking the look of the upcoming Behringer Pro One!

 

Just released and looks great

 

If you're on a budget, I would suggest looking at Behringer's synths (the Model D comes to mind) or as previously suggested, some Korg are very nice as well as some Roland Boutique synth.

If money wasn't a concern, I would look at Kurzweil or DSI.

EDIT: I just saw that you already mentioned the Model D, sorry for that...

 

Last edited: Jan 19, 2019

on a tight budget, this one is worth considering as well:

 

Last edited: Jan 19, 2019

This JD-Xi wasn't really on my radar, but it does look pretty wicked though, and seems to have full audio and MIDI over USB, which would save cable clutter! Just not sure though as seems tobe more of an idea sketching synth with the mtuli part sequencer etc from my looking for at it, rather than an put and our synth, if that makes sense? Deffo worth a look though and J have played with a JD-XA some months ago in a music store!

 

It's around the £300 price point I'm looking at initially, so the boutiques, Behringer clones, lower end Korg etc, or maybe stretching to something like a Moog Mother 32 or Moog Sub Phatty if I can find ones used for the £3-400 price point.

 

Owning a Moog would be a completely different game, like owning a piece of music history... Totally worth it IMHO if you can afford it of course.

 

Moog One, you cant go wrong
https://www.moogmusic.com/products/moog-one

 

Last edited by a moderator: Jan 19, 2019

Except it costs a tad more than £300.

 

since you mentioned daw control and cinematic stuff : korg minilogue -> omnisphere -> hardware integration. 'nuff said...
we have this in the studio and it's pretty amazing. also we have some roland full size weighted keys and the impact nektar 61. nektar is the most used,

 

IMHO:
Best monophonic bang for the buck: Korg Monologue
Best 6-voice poly bang for the buck: Behringer DeepMind 6

 

.

 

Novation Bass Station II

Analogue, 2 x OSC + Sub, 2 x LFOs, external audio input so you can use the filter & analogue overdrive/distortion for warming up vsts etc, sounds great, SH-101 style sequencer, sequences can be transposed with the keys, pulse width mod, ring mod, freq mod, can use it to control vst, 3rd party web interface with randomize, can store patches, integrates with omnisphere, loads more stuff...latest 2.5 firmware update has made it even better with adjustable filter tracking, paraphonic mode, micro-tuning, envelope retriggering & finally adjustable oscillator drift to make it sound vintage & wonky.

It even does a nice imitation of kraftwerk.

 

Last edited: Feb 12, 2019

I almost bought one of these and I still might. The cons for me were the toyish keys and plastic build,no instant knob access to the amp envelopes on the front panel(there are non Roland software editors if you hate menu diving like i do) and the analog section is monophonic and a single oscillator plus sub can limit what you can do with the analog engine. But like you said a good sketch tool to have around with classic roland drum kits and old school step sequencing you cant go wrong.

 

I almost bought one of these and I still might. The cons for me were the toyish keys and plastic build,no instant knob access to the amp envelopes on the front panel(there are non Roland software editors if you hate menu diving like i do) and the analog section is monophonic and a single oscillator plus sub can limit what you can do with the analog engine. But like you said a good sketch tool to have around with classic roland drum kits and old school step sequencing you cant go wrong.

 

This is one of the ones I have actually been eyeing up. Is it controllable and automatable from the DAW at all? I tend to like that hands on feel, but then refine within the DAW. My only issue with the likes of Neutron and Model D is that there doesn’t appear to be any DAW control over parameters (unless I have missed something).

 

Yes mate, has great MIDI implementation, every knob/slider etc can send & receive midi to & from your DAW, I use it with Studio One.

It's a fantastic first analogue synth, makes a brilliant little controller for vst, the analogue overdrive & distortion circuits are awesome for warming up sterile sounding digital synths & drum samples. No brainer at about £300.

Loads of vids on youtube including a comparison with the SH-101.

 

Last edited: Feb 12, 2019