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My keys playing experience is next to none. But damn if I don't want to try a Synth to have fun with and compliment my guitar.

I need something easy to use, to understand and that is, of course, a blast to play.

I've mostly been looking at the Korg Volca Series and Critter/Guitari Pocket Piano . Organelle looks rad but want to keep it fairly low budget for the first buy to make sure I'm into it.

Anything else I should consider?

Are the Korgs and Pocket Piano a decent place to start?

My home recording set up is currently done through my iPad (Garage Band, JamUp Pro, Apogee Jam) so something compatible w that would be a bonus obviously.

Help me get my Synth tip wet!

http://m.ebay.com/itm/112303219016. Monotribe

The Organelle is indeed overkill—it's incredibly deep if you want to get into programming, but the learning curve is a bit steep. I sold mine because I didn't see myself being able to dedicate the time needed to get good at Pure Data. The Pocket Piano is great, but on the same lines of what Vid said, maybe not enough of a full feature set for your first synth.

The Minilogue is probably a little outside your budget, but maybe you could score one used online or on Craigslist locally. They're really pretty wonderful, and would be great to learn synth basics.

Microbrute I feel is a safe choice. Great sounds, intuitive layout and easy to expand if need be. I'd definitely get something with 'real' keys, as opposed to something like a Volca or PP, even though I love those toys.

Do you want polyphony ?
Do you want to play with keys ?
What's your max budget ?

Without knowing this it's hard to recommend anything...

The Microbrute looks bad ass. Initially, I was intimidated by getting something with keys, simply because my piano skills are basically zilch. However, could be great to learn and spend time with.

Wanted to try and stay around $300 if possible.

The Roland System-1 is at the high end of your budget, you can find them used for under $350. It's very full-featured, but has everything on the surface.

I think the microbrute or monologue would be good choices for a first synth, though.

At $300, I would consider the Roland JU-06 (about $200 in mint shape) and an Arturia Keystep ($119 new). You could then use the Keystep for sequencing or arpeggiating the module. This would let you become acquainted with basic concepts concerning programming and creating complimentary synth parts.

The Pocket Piano is very limited, even with MIDI. If you considered going up to $400, you could get a demo/open box Minilogue (onboard sequencing, 100 factory, 100 user presets). That would teach you a lot about synthesis (modulation, filters, waveshapes).

Keep it simple and get something with a variety of sounds that you can play with keys. Arturia Microbrute and Korg Minilogue are both $300 new. Check them out.

Edited: meant Minilogue, not Monologue which is $500 new.

For a mono synth, the Korg Monologue is basically as good as you can get, especially for the price. It's got a step sequencer + motion sequencer too, which is always nice. Tons of cools features and easy to use, that would be my first recommendation.

The Minilogue is great too, but a bit over your budget.

oscillateur wrote:For a mono synth, the Korg Monologue is basically as good as you can get, especially for the price.

Personally I find the Minilogue "weak" for bass and noisy patches - it's great for pads, strings, epiano and such, but it lacks punch and the filter lacks character imo. The Monologue filter is supposedly a new creation, but haven't tried it. Motion sequencing is great. If you sequence.
The Microbrute (and Minibrute SE) have sequencers and can do proper bass + they're really character pieces.

wfs1234 wrote:The Roland System-1 is at the high end of your budget, you can find them used for under $350. It's very full-featured, but has everything on the surface.

I think the microbrute or monologue would be good choices for a first synth, though.

System 1 would be solid, especially with the available patches - they give you somewhere to start to figure out "how do I get X sound".

I hadn't owned an analog-type hands-on synth since a beat up Realistic/Moog monster that couldn't hold tune twenty-some years ago, and I absolutely fell in love with the thing to a point where I'm questioning whether I need anything more per se in the synth realm between it and the guitar synth, since I'm primarily a guitar guy.

actualidiot wrote:

oscillateur wrote:For a mono synth, the Korg Monologue is basically as good as you can get, especially for the price.

Personally I find the Minilogue "weak" for bass and noisy patches - it's great for pads, strings, epiano and such, but it lacks punch and the filter lacks character imo. The Monologue filter is supposedly a new creation, but haven't tried it. Motion sequencing is great. If you sequence.
The Microbrute (and Minibrute SE) have sequencers and can do proper bass + they're really character pieces.

The sequencer/arpeggiator on the brutes is a nice addition but not in the same league as what's on the Korgs (motion sequencing is great). Also, the Monologue has patch memories, which can be very useful for something like that.

I'd recommend this over a brute any day, except if there's a huge price difference.

oscillateur wrote:

actualidiot wrote:

oscillateur wrote:For a mono synth, the Korg Monologue is basically as good as you can get, especially for the price.

Personally I find the Minilogue "weak" for bass and noisy patches - it's great for pads, strings, epiano and such, but it lacks punch and the filter lacks character imo. The Monologue filter is supposedly a new creation, but haven't tried it. Motion sequencing is great. If you sequence.
The Microbrute (and Minibrute SE) have sequencers and can do proper bass + they're really character pieces.

The sequencer/arpeggiator on the brutes is a nice addition but not in the same league as what's on the Korgs (motion sequencing is great). Also, the Monologue has patch memories, which can be very useful for something like that.

I'd recommend this over a brute any day, except if there's a huge price difference.

It's really apples and oranges dude, you can't proclaim that the Monologue is "as good as it gets". I prefer the sound of the Brutes over the Logues, and motion sequencing doesn't change the sound (it literally does, but you know what I mean)

More like tangerines and oranges, to be fair...

I didn't say anything about you prefering the sound of the brute's filter, just that the sequencing and patch memories are in my opinion big advantages of the Korg (Monologue, the Minilogue is a poly so a different beast).