Today's Best Value

[Analogue Crazy]

What Synths do we think are great value for the money they can be had for today?
Here is what i think:

Alesis Andromeda - Its certainly not affordable but you get tons of stuff for the money. 16 dual VCO voices for a start, comapired to the equally expensive (in the UK at least) Minimoog Voyger's single voice.

Roland JX-3P and JX-8P - They are rich and warm sounding and have pleanty of features for a cheap Analogue Polysynth. I still miss my 3P, it had a rather unique sound.

Casio CZ-3000 and CZ-5000 - Why do these sell for less than the CZ-101? I got my 5000 for £50 and you get a lot of Synth for the money. In fact, the CZ's are probebly the most programmable Synths of thier price.

[rhino]

so, are you talking new or used?
some of my choices for most synthbang/buck would be:

Korg DW-8000 (hint: i have 2 for sale!!)

Ensoniq SQ-80 (old and risky for getting new parts, but one DEEP vintage synth. goes for VFX and SD-1 too))

Yamaha SY-77 (they go for cheap on Ebay...previous owner probably never had a clue what he had!)

Alesis QS series (yeah, I know....just a ROMpler, but more programming options than many similar units)

[synthesizerist]

I'll go ahead and get the DSS-1 out of the way. Insane bang for the little bucks.

[Jack Spider]

The Roland JV series won't break the bank, have a great sound with plenty of programming/expansion options.

[Analogue Crazy]

Yeah im refering to new and used Synths.
I gota agree with the DW-8000, played one a few months ago and can't belive how cheaply they sell.

[braincandy]

What Synths do we think are great value for the money they can be had for today?
Here is what i think:

Roland JX-3P and JX-8P - They are rich and warm sounding and have pleanty of features for a cheap Analogue Polysynth. I still miss my 3P, it had a rather unique sound.

In the thread about DCOs you said:

I don't like them at all. They don't sound at all bad, they just sound lifeless.

Which is it?

[braincandy]

I agree with AC that a JX-8P can still be had for a low price and does provide some warmth. I like the DW-8000 as well.

Other good values:

Ensoniq ESQ-1
Yamaha AN1x (usually cheaper than the MS2K, JP8000 or Nord Lead due to not being as knobby)
I also agree with Jack's recommendation on the JV-series synths

[Analogue Crazy]

The reason i liked the sound of my 3P was that it sounded fairly harsh. I hated the too 'in-tune' and clean sound though. Ever since My Andromeda has come onto the scene, i have just stopped using DCO's alltogeter.

[braincandy]

AC, you said that the JX's sounded "rich and warm" when you first mentioned them, not "harsh".

I know what you mean by DCOs sounding "tamer" than VCOs, though. My favorite analog that I've owned was an OB-8.

[VeggieSynth]

I stopped using analogue synths altogether since I got my DX7. Beautiful metallic sounds that VCO and DCO synths will never touch.

[JJQ]

Adding to the JX-3/8, the Alpha Junos, even somtimes the Junos.

My favourite the Kawai SX-240 gives a lot of power, cheap.

Some of the Yamaha CSs could fetch more...

[GeneralBigbag]

If we're talking about best value in terms of sound, versatility, and depth, the Blofeld is extremely hard to beat, and will be more so when the sample option is added.

[nathanscribe]

Some of the Yamaha CSs could fetch more...

Yep. The 5 and 10 particularly. The 5's a cracking little vixen that begs a damn good tweaking, and gives back the goods. Can be had for pocket money still.

The DW-8000 is lovely. You're not going to get a VS for this price, so buy one if you see one. They sound great. c**p key action though, and the AT on mine is beyond the call of duty.

Stringers. They look odd, have three sounds and are called silly things, but buy a proper analogue stringer and you'll never regret it. Part with them at your peril. No ageing poly will come close, and layering monos is for crazy middle-aged pedants.* Plenty of low-budget stringers going cheap, even now.

I think value is down to more than simple cost; it's about how much you get out of a thing. If you spend £200 and never bother with something, it's a waste - spend £1500 and spend every waking minute lapping it up, and the value is obvious. I think the Juno 60 is possibly my all-time favourite (from what I've owned) and the Rogue is coming up the list recently too. The MEK does a lot, so is value in that respect, but it's taken me a while to get round to diving into it, and I prefer the tonal qualities of the Moog for many sounds - I think I need to figure out what to use the MEK for really. That's a matter of personal taste though, and the MEK is wonderful, so I'm going to add it to the valule list.




*You know who you are

[Clavier]

Trying to drive the prices back up are we? I'll bite.

I'll throw a vote for the Korg DW-6000.

The best deal are modern modulars. For the price of one mid to high end analog mono you can get fully upgradeable, fully modifiable, constantly evolving mono that can be made to interface with just about anything and still sounds good! The only downside is that you have train yourself not to twiddle all day and actually use it to make music.

[Stab Frenzy]

The correct answer is V-Synth, but even though most V-Synth owners have been shouting it from the rooftops people still seem slow to catch on.