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I was thinking for my first synthesizer I would get an Alesis Micron.
I'm a guitarist in an experimental / mathrock / postrock type band and me and my other guitarist are thinking of getting synths to expand our sound.
I was thinking Microns since I personally want something not too big that I won't use as much as my guitar but I will be there for when I want it.
Anything is better than my PSR-270
I was going to get a blue micron, and he was going to get a red one.
Opinions on this?

i like the red one better.

MMMM....

I don't really like the sounds of a micron.

There are some great small synths though.

Dave smith Evolver, tetra or mopho are small and absolutely amazing sounding with jaw dropping sonic abilities. You can do unbelievable things! Not too expensive either.... www.davesmithinstruments.com/
You'll need a small, light midi keyboard with it but that's no problem these days.

Also, you can get into real moadular analogue sythesis cheap and easy these days with the "doepfer dark energy". Really small modular synth. It can be done! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fWKZOPCI2Q

Amazing sounds out of the box and you can get geeky and add crazy stuff to it later. Modular is only for REAL men though!

My band have used lot's of synths in the past but now we just use a korg microkorg - excellent but annoying to program.
Good luck,
Josh

How about use more effects pedals? Volume, slow gear clone, envelope controlled filters, etc.?

There have already been Doepfer Dark Energy's turning up used over on the Muff Wiggler forums... That thing looks and sounds amazing! People are saying that it's basically a modular synth gateway drug. Haahhahaa. i.e. Once you get tweaking on it you just can't stop and kinda HAVE to start building a modular set-up.

eti wrote:How about use more effects pedals? Volume, slow gear clone, envelope controlled filters, etc.?

This. Moogerfoogers. All of them. The Freqbox alone basically gives you a monophonic analog synth that you can control with any input signal. That thing is great. And the awesome thing about MF'ers is that the more of them you have the more patching you can do between them. Envelopes sweeping ring mod depths. LFO's modulating delay times. Etc. etc. etc. The mind reels. And then boggles. And then wonders if it should also buy a Goatkeeper.

KOSTA! DAMN YOU! I looked @ the Doepfer Dark Energy and now I want one! Geeeesh man.

+1 for the Mopho. Skip the Micron and the Xio, they're toys. I like the Dark Energy, and you should also check out the MFB Kraftzwerg. A bit more pricey than the Dark Energy, but 3 oscillators and more envelopes. And ring mod. It's a pretty great little box.

There was a used Kratzwerg on Muff's earlier this week... Good luck supporting a synth AND a fuzz habit! It's hell on wheels!

All You need is Dwarfcraft Devices Rot Yr Brain and perhaps then some pedals to run it through

I think the Alesis Micron would be an excellent choice for what you need. It has a huge variety of sounds, a sequencer and a drum machine. It gives you tons of options to experiment with. The preset sounds are pretty cheesy/weak but with a bit of tweaking you can get some really stunning results. Remember that the Micron has the same synth engine as the very popular/much revered Alesis Ion (which would also be a good choice). A lot of the other synths mentioned in this thread are awesome, like the Mopho, Evolver and the Dark Energy but they are all also monophonic (one note at a time) which could be a problem if you want to play chords. Heres some examples of what the micron can do with some programming:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXOhVNgSU3U[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgI6ovE4M-g[/youtube]

Also Cold Cave uses one or two:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBAlD0cWmvw[/youtube]

i have a Alesis Micron and i like it. the settings do need to be tweeked to get the most out of it, but when youve gotten into it you can get some great sounds.

also check out the Novation XioSynth 25. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlUT5-YzjIY

its a small fully functional digital synth/midi controller that has nice on board knobs for fast tweeking and the synth can be powered by batteries, which is a pretty cool feature if youre looking for portability.

I'd vote for the microkorg. It's easier to understand, and slightly more intuitive than the micron if you're not familiar with how to program synthesizers; even though the microkorg doesn't have the sequencer, and only two oscillators, and only a 16 band vocoder. If you're just starting out in synthesis, the more intuitive the better. That dark energy definitely my next synth, but you'd need a midi-controller to really use it very efficiently.

That xiosynth looks really good too. I was playing around with one the other day and it was very versatile, and if you get hooked on synthesis you can use it as a midi-controller for synth modules in the future. But that's true of the micron and microkorg as well

Microns rock. Let me know if you get one and ill send you some cool patches I have.

So far I'm stuck between the Microkorg and the Micron.

Microkorg has more Tera Melos cred, plus since I like their key parts I know that tones I like can be done with it.
Micron sounds great and seems to be much better for my long fingers/large hands.

Hard choice.
I want to keep it nice and low priced since I don't have a job yet.
The local creamery is almost finished being built, so I have plans for the summer.

Inertia wrote:The local creamery is almost finished being built, so I have plans for the summer.

That sounds like a Patrick Swayze movie.

oh, and get the Micron over the Korg. seriously.