Vintage Synth Explorer Forums

My band mates and I are in the market for our first synthesizer. We are new to the game, and we are open to suggestions. We have been looking at the:

Dave Smith Prophet 8

Clavia Nord Lead 3

Most importantly we want our synth to be fun to play.
Also, we want it to be somewhat rugged. It should have a hands on interface, for live performing. No hidden menus, or pages. The sounds should be rich and fat. Finally we want it to be versatile, so as our knowledge of synths grows so do our sounds.

We are having a tough time deciding, since there are so many choices and so many differences between instruments. Inexperience doesn't help either.

Can anyone tell us why they might choose one over the other (aside from price)? Can anyone suggest other synths that may compare? If you could have only one synth in your band, which would it be? What is the most fun synth to play? Any answers to any of these questions would be greatly appreciated.

Please help us!! - Thanks

pedro7000 wrote:My band mates and I are in the market for our first synthesizer. We are new to the game, and we are open to suggestions. We have been looking at the:

Dave Smith Prophet 8

Clavia Nord Lead 3

Most importantly we want our synth to be fun to play.
Also, we want it to be somewhat rugged. It should have a hands on interface, for live performing. No hidden menus, or pages. The sounds should be rich and fat. Finally we want it to be versatile, so as our knowledge of synths grows so do our sounds.

We are having a tough time deciding, since there are so many choices and so many differences between instruments. Inexperience doesn't help either.

Can anyone tell us why they might choose one over the other (aside from price)? Can anyone suggest other synths that may compare? If you could have only one synth in your band, which would it be? What is the most fun synth to play? Any answers to any of these questions would be greatly appreciated.

Please help us!! - Thanks

Based on what you described, I would NOT recommend the P'08. It sounds like you are going to be giging and the P'08 is too nice of a keyboard to get beat to h**l from that type of environment. I recommend getting a something used, cheap and sturdy. Something you wont loose sleep over if some drunk throws a beer bottle at it or spills a drink on it. For the most part, people in the audience could care less if the thing is 100% analog or not. They just want to dance, drink and get laid.

Save the nice gear for recording or when you hit it big and have enough cash to smash gear on stage.

-Pilot