Starter synth

dern

I can see there's a bit of synth interest on here so I thought I'd mine the knowledge a bit if you don't mind. I've been taking piano lessons for the last couple of months and love it. I've also been mucking about with the synths on logic pro and that's a lot of fun too. I've got a keystation 88 midi keyboard and it's pretty ok for that sort of stuff although it's missing a few bits and bobs. The piano I have is a yamaha p45 and I really like that although I tend to feed it in to logic pro as a midi controller as the onboard sounds aren't great.

Anyway, I'd love to have a play with a real synth and it feels like something that's worth getting as it would get a lot of use and provide a load of interest and fun. I've been looking at two alternatives which I'd like your opinions on as starter synths please. The first is the Roland JD-Xi and the other is a StudioLogic Sledge 2. I think both would be very cool and fun.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. I'm not fussed at this stage in the difference between analogue and digital.

The kind of music I like that has lead me down the synth path are Underworld, Chemical Brothers, FBS and also have a long standing soft spot reserved for The Human League and Gary Numan although out of that lot it's Underworld that I adore at the minute. Also listened to Vegas by Chemical Method which blew me away for an hour or so.

Cheers.

wave100

I'd check out the Korg Minilogue - 4 voice poly, fully analogue signal path, mostly one knob per function and 430(ish) squid.

goldtop

Quite different animals, the JD-XI and Sledge. The latter is a really well-laid out VA with Waldorf DNA (wavetables). One-knob-per-function makes it super easy to get around. Have a look at this guy's tutorial videos to get an idea:



The JD-XI is quite different, a very simple analogue mono with drums plus two digital synth engines. Not as easy to programme though. But lots of power in a tiny (mini-keys alert!) package.

Placidcasual79

I'd agreed with @goldtop - those are two VERY different@ ;

For me I'd say there are a vast amount of plugin/software synths - you seem familiar with midi controllers and Logic Pro - so there is a whole world open to you there. 

The only thing you can't get online is true analogue sound. So if your thinking hardware synth I'd go for something analogue. 

Just my opinion mind. 

I don't know what your price restrictions are - but in terms of entry level synths - 

I have the earlier mentioned minilogue. Its an extremely useable analogue synth with a built in sequencer. Its a lot of synth for the money. 

I'd also consider the KORG MS20 with the SQ1 sequencer - less user friendly, but good for the type of acid bass lines favoured by some of the acts you've mentioned. 

For a little more money there is the Moog sub phatty. Some of its features aren't accessible off the front panel, but it does have that Moog sound......

(btw have you listened to Jagwar Ma? might like it given some of the other stuff your into)

peaches

I know it's been a while but I can +1 on the Minilogue, very good synth for an introduction to the instrument, teaches you the basics just by playimy the basics. Very versatile too. 

Whitecat

The Novation Bass Station 2 is a superb little not-very-expensive analogue monosynth and worth a look. As its name suggests it's does lean towards bass sounds (thanks to the filter design and the sub-oscillator), but can do a whole range of things including leads and certainly gives you a feel for analogue, with the added bonus of an arpeggiator and a step sequencer plus some FX and other goodies built-in.

dern

Sorry, I should have followed this up. I picked up a second hand sledge about a week ago and am really enjoying playing with it. It's a great introduction to synths and there's good tutorials for it on you tube.

Thanks.