Cheapest build quality?

[Alex E]

What synths/drum machines have you played/handled have the cheapest build quality?

My rule of thumb is: If you torque it in your hands and it creaks, that says something about build quality.

I'll make my short list. Now, I don't have anything against these machines, but they were built cheaply to be affordable. So it's not like somebody didn't care about quality when they were designed.

DW-6000
Poly-800
TB-303
TR-707/727 or 505
First generation Electribes

[Johnny Lenin]

Roland SH-201. The case would flex when I'd turn a knob. Did not inspire confidence. Never had much trouble with the Poly-800 or Electribe ES-1 that I had... except the AC adapter jack was slightly off-center on the latter.

[V301H]

My nomination is for the Pro-One. Good sounding and a great feature set, but Sequential really should have made a "Pro" version of this.

[Analogue Crazy]

Definatly the SH-201. We got loads of em at my college and i bloody hate them. Im sticking with my JP-8000 coz i know it like the back of my hand.

[heath]

The Buchla 200e has awful knobs. You can feel them move and wiggle.

[zmd]

korg m3. what are those faders attached with? rubber bands?

[wiss]

the pro-one.....might as well been made out of cardboard.

[sentientprogram]

Out of what I own/have owned, the microKORG and Novation SL Compact have c**p build quality. My SL37 and the Nords were/are built like tanks.

[Yoozer]

A Poly800 is a tank compared to the Korg Micro-X.

Seriously . That's why I use it as a module, the keys aren't worth much, neither are the rotaries.

[gordwiebe]

All of korgs new gear is an absolute joke.
Really, if you are spending $2,000+ on a synth (M3) should you not at least expect it to feel like an "instrument" rather than a mass, poorly, produced "product"?
The drum pads on the M3 are liable to break the players fingers they are so hard and unresponsive.
The majority of $200 midi controllers on the market feel better than that thing (with the exception of korgs even more laughable K series controllers).
Maybe they blew their budget on the wood shavings that they call end cheeks.

[JSRockit]

MFB Synth II... but it is still one h**l of a synth.

[kaz uno]

the MFB Synth 2 I had was built terribly, broken/stripped screws, flimsy knobs, knobs that were either too loose or too tight, and the power adapter would fall out if I moved it half an inch. Not to mention the godawful tuning. But, like JS said, it is a h**l of a synth.

[supermel74]

What synths/drum machines have you played/handled have the cheapest build quality?

My rule of thumb is: If you torque it in your hands and it creaks, that says something about build quality.


First generation Electribes

The first generation electribes were built very solidly imo. My nominee is the Korg 707, very creaky.

[premieklovn]

Moog Rogue.


Poly800 feels cheap but I have a feeling that you can throw it across a stage and it would still work.

[TrondC]

What synths/drum machines have you played/handled have the cheapest build quality?

My rule of thumb is: If you torque it in your hands and it creaks, that says something about build quality.


First generation Electribes

The first generation electribes were built very solidly imo. My nominee is the Korg 707, very creaky.

my EA, ER and Microkorg are solid as h**l to me. just don't treat them like s**t. My kaossilator on the other hand, is very likely to break if exposed to only a little pressure. this is why I'd like to see a dedicated case for it...