Korg Monotron vs Gakken SX-150

[Cumulus]

OK, so I am gong to splurge a little and get a little toy - either a Korg Monotron or a Gakken SX-150.

Has anybody here used both of these?

Thoughts?

[ryryoftokyo]

Depends on what you want out of it and whether or not you want to mod.

When it comes down to looks I like Monotron...small, black, sleek.

When it comes to features, the 150 has more.

The filter is far better on the Monotron...no question about that.

The oscillators are a bit more pleasing to my ears on the 150.

The Monotron is a bit better for on the go purposes.

The 150 feels like it's more practical for live use due to the stylus.

The Monotron is far easier to mod.

The 150 seems like it has more possibilities when modding but won't be as easy.

Hope that helps!

[Stab Frenzy]

OK, so I am gong to splurge a little and get a little toy - either a Korg Monotron or a Gakken SX-150.

Has anybody here used both of these?

Thoughts?

My thought is that you should splurge a little more and get a Monotribe. I've played friend's Gakkens and Monotrons and they're fun for a little while but ultimately can't be used for music. The Monotribe is something else though, it is heaps of fun and is very usable in tracks and syncs up nicely to other stuff.

If you do go with the Gakken try playing around on the circuit board with the stylus, lots of cools sounds to come from there.

[TrondC]

everyone is raving about the monotron. I have the Gakken and while fun for the first 5 minutes, it ultimately jsut sits there and has not been used for two years. save up a little more and get a Monotribe instead

[th0mas]

I have 'em both. Modded the monotron but really still have little use for it.

Still don't use either of 'em but LOVE my monotribe. Seriously. Get that instead.

[Cumulus]

Thanks for all of the info. It seems to be unanimous for the Monotribe.

I will probably pick one of those up as well but I will wait for one to show up on the used market.

This purchase will be strictly for on-the-go jamming/noise making with a Kaossilator, DS-10 and stylophone. For some reason I want another pocket-sized battery-powered box to make it a foursome.

I also may wait until a second iteraton of the Monotribe to come out - somethign with more flexible drum sounds.

[Cumulus]

I ored a Monotron - found a used one for $30.00 and I could not pass it up.

Thanks for the input, even if the consensus seemed to be neither. I will probably pick up a Monotribe one day but I tend to wait until gear shows up on the used market. This saves me money and keeps my house form being too clutter with noisy toys.

[th0mas]

30 is hard to turn up.

As for clutter, well, I use the Monotribe daily and the monotron just sits there, so, unsure about that

[Cumulus]

And I must say, you used it very well in that video in the gear set-up pics thread.

[th0mas]

thanks! Friday night I recorded about an hour with it and the 707. They're a great match. Trying to edit it down to an interesting 3-4 songs of reasonable length instead of the existing "jam"