Help me choose between these 3 Synths please!

[Franga]

Hi there,

I am looking to add a synth to my yamaha cp5 for gigging and after narrowing down my options in my price range I have settled on 3. We play music similar to Snarky Puppy, Hiatus Kaiyote and Robert Glasper Experiment. If you dont know what they sound like they all have a modern jazz/hiphop/fusion kind of vibe. I will be using the synth almost exclusively for lead lines and bass lines. I really want a synth that I can edit and make nice patches with.

The 3 I have found are:

Alesis Micron
Novation xio 49
Arturia Minibrute

You could also through in the Novation bass station but I really want a bigger key range.

Any suggestions and experiences with these would be much appreciated. Also if you can think of a better synth in this price range do tell.

Thanks All!

[Weirdofromouterspace]

I have no experience with the Alesis and the Novation synths, so I cannot say anything about these. But I have and use a Minibrute, and imho it's a great synth well worth the price.

However, be aware that the Minibrute has no patch storage whatsoever. It comes with a set of punched cardboard sheets where you can mark your knob and slider settings with a magic marker. Alternatively, get your camera out and take a picture of your settings - have a look at my avatar pic if you want an example .

That's how you store patches with that synth . It is nevertheless a great sounding and really versatile little machine.

[meatballfulton]

Micron has a reputation for unreliability, with the unusual controls being the main problem. The Akai Miniak is the same synth but with different physical controls, you might want to find one of those.

If you think the Bass Station has too few keys (25), the MiniBrute is exactly the same.

That leaves the xio sort of by default.

[ellaguru]

i think that micron and xio are in the same kind of field in terms of vesatitlity. i got the xio25, it sounds very cool but it is badly built indeed, don't know for the xio49...

[Franga]

Hi there,

I live in New Zealand and it is very hard to find well priced synths and a good range. I've tried out numerous ones in this price range and didn't like the Arturia Minibrute or the Novation Bass Station. I was interested in the Novation xio 49 but couldn't find one to trial, so any thoughts on that might help too. In regards to the 2 synths in the title, what is better in terms of creating nice lead sounds and editing features? What would you guys get? I play in a jazz/hiphop/fusion style band and need it primarily on top of my yamaha cp5 for solos, basslines etc. The main kind of tone I'm after is like the synth lead in this song:



Great example is from 4:28. I know it's a Moog, but what of these 2 can closest replicate that.

Many thanks for any suggestions or opinions you can give!

[meatballfulton]

UltraNova, hands down.

Less likely to break down than Micron, better sound engine than xio.

If you will ever be using it with a computer, it has audio and MIDI connection over USB which none of the others you looked at except xio have.

Good luck.

[ryryoftokyo]

UltraNova, hands down.

Less likely to break down than Micron, better sound engine than xio.

If you will ever be using it with a computer, it has audio and MIDI connection over USB which none of the others you looked at except xio have.

Good luck.

Gotta agree with this one.