A synth to start with

[eyalc123]

Hi guys,
I am thinking about buying my first synthesizer.
In general, I am an electrical engineer and am interested in modulations, signal processing, waves shaping and so on, so I am familiar with the mathematical manipulations which are behind the scenes, though I never had any synthesizer to hear those things in live.

So...
I am not afraid of complicated ones, actually, I look for a synth that I will be able to play with and can offer a lot of things to do with it. (not a basic one)
Also, I'd like to know if I am able to connect it to some monitor to see the waves (or even the FFT?) is that a feature that comes with a synth?

My budget is around 600-700$, I thought about the Korg ms20 mini but I am sure you guys can give me more brands and types you recommend.

**last thing: the sounds I am aiming to are basses and dub-techno ones!

Many thanks in advance!

[crystalmsc]

Based on your background MS20m is a great choice, which is also my all time favorite.

From the engineering side you might want to check out the Voltage Modular which has a great MS20 and other vintage inspired modules such as the Arp 2600, Juno-106, TB-303 and Vector. The Core version also includes some Moog inspired modules and an Oscilloscope. Which can also be used as a very flexible signal processor. If you enjoy cabling and tweaking, those are the cheaper way to expand instead of buying new synths every time. But also remember that it can be addicted and pretty limitless. My suggestion is to get it during the coming Black Friday Sale. Most recommended modules are the Year One/Two, MRB Lab, Luxury Filter, Zeroscillator and PSP Ultimate bundle. During sale, those are still lower than your budget and will keep you busy for a good long time. Especially they used to give free updates and modules, notably the most awesome MRB. This is my current desert island modular and really enjoy every bit of it. They just released a Juno-106 synth for $25, I'm listening to the cool demo songs right now, which is like an 80's album.

[meatballfulton]

In case it wasn't clear from crystalmsc's post, Voltage Modular is software.

[eyalc123]

Based on your background MS20m is a great choice, which is also my all time favorite.

From the engineering side you might want to check out the Voltage Modular which has a great MS20 and other vintage inspired modules such as the Arp 2600, Juno-106, TB-303 and Vector. The Core version also includes some Moog inspired modules and an Oscilloscope. Which can also be used as a very flexible signal processor. If you enjoy cabling and tweaking, those are the cheaper way to expand instead of buying new synths every time. But also remember that it can be addicted and pretty limitless. My suggestion is to get it during the coming Black Friday Sale. Most recommended modules are the Year One/Two, MRB Lab, Luxury Filter, Zeroscillator and PSP Ultimate bundle. During sale, those are still lower than your budget and will keep you busy for a good long time. Especially they used to give free updates and modules, notably the most awesome MRB. This is my current desert island modular and really enjoy every bit of it. They just released a Juno-106 synth for $25, I'm listening to the cool demo songs right now, which is like an 80's album.

Hi, thanks for the detailed response!
Why you mentioned, "it can be addicted and pretty limitless" for the MS20M? Could you please elaborate a bit?
I've just watched a youtube vid of "MRB Lab" and it looks AWESOME, it has any hardware of is it just software? It feels and looks like the thing I want

[meatballfulton]

"Addicted (sic) and limitless" applies to modular synths (he was writing about the Voltage Modular software), not so much the MS20 which is a lot moer limited than the patch panel suggests. It's a good starter machine, though, because of the price and a few unique features like the dual filters, morphable LFO and E.S.P. circuit.

[Ashe37]

Perhaps Behringer's ARP,clone, then?

[meatballfulton]

The new 2600? There's no keyboard, so he has to budget in a controller, too. Certainly for the price, the 2600 will totally trounce the MS20mini.