Small synths

Soloman Tump · May 14, 2020, 08:35:14 PM

Quote from: JLIAT on February 22, 2020, 01:10:28 PM
Just to say I have a 0-Coast but would NOT recommend it as a first synth. I've noticed a lot come up on ebay and suspect the reason is the learning curve. It's not designed around the standard VCO, VCF, VCA Ring Mod of typical analogue synths... with only one VCO, and you will need a midi keyboard / controller... yet i'm keeping it as it fits well with Euro rack, the Midi to CV and other elements... and is a good intro to other Make Noise Eurorack modules...

Whilst on Make Noise, the Morphogene is well worth looking at if you want to explore digitally 'tape loops'... and granular synthesis.... much longer samples than the phonogene and the Morph is stereo.. for sound manipulation, mangling its extreme. But again expensive, especially if you have to buy a skiff.

Add to that the price of a 0-Coast maybe the MICROFREAK? If you want to wait and see the price, the Behringer 2600?

0-ctrl coming pretty soon. Purpose built step sequencer for pairing with the 0-coast or any other patchable synth for that matter. Looks pretty neat sat next to the 0-coast, and the demos seem to indicate this it would be a great tool for live performances. Don't have the ££££ spare for buying these right now though so its staying on the wish list.

JLIAT · May 15, 2020, 03:20:32 PM

http://makenoisemusic.com/synthesizers/ohctrl

? !

"Designed to be friends with the 0-coast"

Potier · May 27, 2020, 08:09:18 PM

https://x1l3.bigcartel.com/product/shard-power-electronics-hnw-desktop-synthesizer

A thread in the classifieds section currently for the eurorack version - but there's a tabletop unit as well.

Hatefukk · June 16, 2020, 03:36:19 AM

Quote from: Potier on May 27, 2020, 08:09:18 PM
https://x1l3.bigcartel.com/product/shard-power-electronics-hnw-desktop-synthesizer

A thread in the classifieds section currently for the eurorack version - but there's a tabletop unit as well.

Man, I am super interested in grabbing one of those Shard desktops. Has anyone used one? Do they have a wide range of sounds? I want to drop some cash on a smaller synth but I want to make sure that it's going to be useful for a lot of output.

Euro Trash Bazooka · June 17, 2020, 07:14:43 PM

I have a eurorack Shard. It's an interesting module although I don't see how useful it'd be on its own considering it's quite uncontrollable. I'm not much of a fan of its overall distortion, which is a bit too glitchy to my ears, but it shines when fed multiple things in its various inputs, so I'd say that for the price of the desktop unit, you might be better off buying something else. Shard was meant to work with the Wreckage module in the first place so you'd be better off considering a desktop Shard as some kind of FX/sound mangling unit, in my humble opinion.

LouisLingg · June 17, 2020, 07:37:12 PM

The Shard just looks like the Trogotronics 669cv to me. I had the 669cv, and while it was quite a monster, everything just sounded pretty similar and it got old quick

Hatefukk · June 18, 2020, 12:11:10 AM

Quote from: Euro Trash Bazooka on June 17, 2020, 07:14:43 PM
I have a eurorack Shard. It's an interesting module although I don't see how useful it'd be on its own considering it's quite uncontrollable. I'm not much of a fan of its overall distortion, which is a bit too glitchy to my ears, but it shines when fed multiple things in its various inputs, so I'd say that for the price of the desktop unit, you might be better off buying something else. Shard was meant to work with the Wreckage module in the first place so you'd be better off considering a desktop Shard as some kind of FX/sound mangling unit, in my humble opinion.

Thanks for the info. That was kinda what I was wondering as it looked like it might be more of a glorified effects pedal, a really cool one though. I've been eyeing the Akai Mini Play as it seems to be a pretty affordable option with some neat abilities (love the idea of it being a stand alone synth that you can play using headphones). There are a few other ones that I have been looking at as well like the Arturia Minilab MkII which lacks the stand alone play ability but has a much better build from what i've been told. Anyone have experience with both of these units that could give me some personal opinions on which would be a better option?

Euro Trash Bazooka · June 18, 2020, 11:12:28 AM

Yes, I think your "glorified effects pedal" description is very accurate. As you wrote, it's a very good one so it can definitely be a great addition to any synth once you'll have one.

I can't comment on the Mini Play or Mini Lab to be honest, however, while Arturia stuff is sturdy (I have one of the first Drumbrutes as well as a Keystep) it can also be riddled with bugs which aren't always fixed with firmware updates. My Keystep is a pain to use (I think there must be problems with the keyboard itself), a friend of mine's acts weird as well, I tested a Matrixbrute when it came out and the LED matrix panel was acting all wrong, etc... My Drumbrute works perfectly well though, although there are things that could have been improved before it went on sale. Let's say they tend to rush the release of their products.

Andrew McIntosh · June 20, 2020, 12:43:46 PM

I use a Mini Lab and find it reasonable for what I want to do with it, which is very, very basic anyway. Also have a MicroBrute which I quite enjoy using. My big use of Arturia, though, is with their soft synths.

Hatefukk · August 10, 2020, 07:56:34 AM

Just picked up a Korg Monologue. So far I am really enjoying the sounds it puts out. I'm sure I have tons more exploring to do on this little lady but I think that I will just like it more and more the longer I play with it. Reasonably priced as well.

host body · September 05, 2020, 11:08:56 AM

i'm selling my ms-20 mini, i''ve just felt really uninspired with it and have kind of grown to dislike the ridiculous feedback you can't turn off. at first i thought of buying an ms2000r, since it's around the same price range but now i'm thinking of not buying a new synth at all but spending the money on a few more pedals and concentrating on those. decisions, decisions!

Euro Trash Bazooka · September 05, 2020, 05:38:30 PM

I'm not sure one can really feel "uninspired" by the MS20, which allows you to do everything a monophonic synth can do and more. You can, however, feel uncomfortable by its workflow, the patch panel, etc. It took me some better understanding of modular synthesis through other synths to appreciate fully what the MS20 Mini can do.

Also, I never noticed any feedback issue with mine? Do they happen when you patch it or even without patches?

host body · September 05, 2020, 06:25:59 PM

Quote from: Euro Trash Bazooka on September 05, 2020, 05:38:30 PM
I'm not sure one can really feel "uninspired" by the MS20, which allows you to do everything a monophonic synth can do and more. You can, however, feel uncomfortable by its workflow, the patch panel, etc. It took me some better understanding of modular synthesis through other synths to appreciate fully what the MS20 Mini can do.

Also, I never noticed any feedback issue with mine? Do they happen when you patch it or even without patches?

Yeah pretty sure it's me, not the synth. I'm just not feeling it at the moment, i've used it a lot and just feel uninspired by what comes out of it. It was my first semi-modular synth so I did a fair amount of research and learned synthesis with it. Maybe that's part of the problem, part of this is just GAS. If it was a desktop synth, i'd just chuck it in the cupboard for half a year. I only have room for one bigger synth at a time. I'll just buy a new MS20 if I ever get the urge, there's an abundance of them available.

You can check if you have the feedback issue by turning both of the VCO's down to 0. If your synth makes a hiss when you press a key, it's one of the noisy ones.

Apparently some of the minis have really noisy oscillators, there's a lot of talk about it online. It's just how it is, you cannot get a clean sound out of it

I've been looking at an 0-coast, but I don't know if it can get gnarly enough. I'm not really into bleep bloop modular synth shit that's all over youtube, but I know some really good noise / industrial people have used it.

Euro Trash Bazooka · September 05, 2020, 07:10:37 PM

Well, for having used both the Mini and the old OG one, I can definitely tell there's a difference in quality when it comes to the sound. And the older ones sound amazing when in good condition. My Mini isn't noisy so I guess I'm lucky and I'm sorry yours is malfunctioning.

Regarding the O-Coast, it's a good synth but I don't like its layout like with most Make Noise gear, because of their illegible panels. It makes the learning curve steeper for me. There are definitely a few Make Noise modules I'd love to own...

JLIAT · September 06, 2020, 11:05:13 AM

I had a MS20 mini but sold it. I found the patching / sounds limited , it might have been me? I also had a 0-Coast, (had) agreed about the bleep and lack of gnarly ... and no white noise or filter as such... but as a stand-alone synth which has many of the features of other euro-rack Make Noise modules V good IMO, and also had a teleharmonic, which was fairly 'wild' but as the name says harmonic and diss-harmonic. I have a Wogglebug which IMO is excellent, 3 sound sources and 3 random Cvs... also a Morphogene which can really chew up sound... for 'gnarl' I run the sounds through a guitar multieffects, currently a mooer ge200, very solid metal and has USB to computer out (software needed for PC) and some Kaoss mini pads etc.

Also a doepfer A-111-6 mini synth voice.... OK ish for the money.

If anyone is into loops and granular, ability to chop and speed up / slow samples definitely checkout the Morphogene....

I've promised the younger me to get the Behringer 2600 when its out... but that is not a small synth.

Small synths

Soloman Tump