PORTABLE SYNTHESIZERS

[P-K]

Teenage Engineering OP-1 ?   :-)

[RG]

That Arturia Minibrute looks cool as hell and for $400 I'm seriously considering picking one up. Seems like a good deal. No patch-saving feature doesn't really bother me as I'm not planning on playing shows or anything. So I was really close to pulling the trigger when I noticed that the Novation Bass Station 2 just came out. $500 and you get one more oscillator than the minibrute and patch saving...but maybe not true analog like the brute. I've been looking at original Bass Stations on ebay for a while now so this new version is very tempting.

[RG]

Holy shit... the Bass Station II look nice!

Indeed. It's kind of confused though because the Novation website says "signal path is pure analogue" but I've read elsewhere on forums that some of the stuff is digitally controlled (LFOs, oscillators). People also say it has a smoother sound than the Minibrute (which has been described as a bit harsh and "old" sounding).

One thing that might tip the scales in favor of the minibrute: what you see is what you get, as far as the knobs & sliders go. I think I read that the BSII is one of those synths where the position of the knobs doesn't necessarily reflect the sound you're getting, because some things control multiple values and an "original value" is stored

[bitewerksMTB]

The Bass Station II does look good. I looked at it a few weeks ago but forgot about it.  It has the added benefit of a distortion knob too so, maybe, that would help with the 'digital' sound? I don't think I've used  a digital synth but I would think you could fix the sound with the right distortion pedal.

[online prowler]

The wonderful world of FOLKTEK

LUMINIST GARDEN.



http://folktek.com/instruments/electrocoustic/luminist-garden