Microkorg, Mininova? Still worth looking at

Creed_Clicks

I dable in keys, but am not a keyboard player as such. I used to have a Microkorg. I had one twice. Some of the presets are pretty good and the small keybed was never an issue. 
I know Kork released several versions of the Microkorg. The XL and the XL+ as well as the latest one.
The Mininova is one I never had. I do like the demos of the vocoder. On both models, there is a lot of cheese, but nothing that can't be tamed.
Are they still worth looking at or living off former glories? Just like Spurs.
I have also had a Microfreak and a Minilogue and an Audiothingies Micromonsta. The Micromonsta probably had the best quality presets out of all the ones I just mentioned.

monquixote

The Mininova is pretty long in the tooth at this point as is the Microkorg.

What are you trying to do and what's your budget?

Creed_Clicks

Just some basic enough stuff. I know the Juno sound is on a lot of the music that I like, so on a cheaper end of things, that Behringer Pro 800 sounds good, (but not sure what it is cloning.)
I see Behringer have just released a Juno clone, but I think that would even be too much for me.
The Deepmind 6 was something I didn't mention. Or the Minilogue itself, which was interesting when I had it, but I wasn't really too sure where it would fit in what I was/am doing.

Basher

Creed_Clicks said:

that Behringer Pro 800 sounds good, (but not sure what it is cloning.)

I believe it's a desktop version of the Sequential Prophet-600 albeit with two extra voices, giving 8 voice polyphony (hence the 800). It's also got the "GliGli mod" built in, which was a desirable addition that made the sluggish stock envelopes a lot snappier among other things.

It does seem like staggering value for an 8 voice analogue synth. I've read mixed reports about the hardware though, from "ok" to complaints about wobbly pots and suchlike. I don't like the idea of the membrane switches or just having patch numbers but that goes with the "authentic emulation" territory. 

It certainly sounds authentically wobbly, retro, and as good as a cheaper version of the Prophet-5 should sound. Not sure what the exact differences are with it's more expensive sibling but I'm guessing they must be significant as everyone seems to be nuts over the P5 sound, less so over the P600.
 

Creed_Clicks said:

I see Behringer have just released a Juno clone, but I think that would even be too much for me.
The Deepmind 6 was something I didn't mention. 

They have, it's called the JN-80, as far as I can see it's backordered everywhere for months.
From what I can see, the Deepmind is, essentially, a Juno clone with much better effects.

I was thinking about getting the Deepmind a year or so ago but ended up with a Hydrasynth. I decided I wanted a polysynth for chords so that ruled out a lot of contenders. The Hydra did a lot more for a pretty reasonable price. I'd still love an analogue synth for those sort of sounds but the Hydra does a decent enough impersonation for me, for now. I'd be quite interested in the Behringer UB-Xa desktop but my preference would be for something like a Sequential Take-5 module if I had the money. The new Sequential Fourm looks interesting but I'm not sure I like the idea of mini keys.

blobb

Mininova is a direct descendant of Ultranova and before that Supernova - which is a Chris Huggett design. So, although it may be living off past glory, it's a helluva legacy. Chris designed some awesome synths. 

monquixote

Creed_Clicks said:

Just some basic enough stuff. I know the Juno sound is on a lot of the music that I like, so on a cheaper end of things, that Behringer Pro 800 sounds good, (but not sure what it is cloning.)
I see Behringer have just released a Juno clone, but I think that would even be too much for me.
The Deepmind 6 was something I didn't mention. Or the Minilogue itself, which was interesting when I had it, but I wasn't really too sure where it would fit in what I was/am doing.

What kind of stuff like playing synth in a band or recording songs?

Basher

blobb said:

Mininova is a direct descendant of Ultranova and before that Supernova - which is a Chris Huggett design. So, although it may be living off past glory, it's a helluva legacy. Chris designed some awesome synths. 

He did. I still use my Novation Nova desktop from the (I think) late 90s that I believe was one of his designs. It always surprises me when I record it as it seems to just sit there very nicely, whatever the patch I'm using. 

Would love a Peak or Summit. 

Creed_Clicks

monquixote said:

Creed_Clicks said:

Just some basic enough stuff. I know the Juno sound is on a lot of the music that I like, so on a cheaper end of things, that Behringer Pro 800 sounds good, (but not sure what it is cloning.)
I see Behringer have just released a Juno clone, but I think that would even be too much for me.
The Deepmind 6 was something I didn't mention. Or the Minilogue itself, which was interesting when I had it, but I wasn't really too sure where it would fit in what I was/am doing.

What kind of stuff like playing synth in a band or recording songs?

Bit of both, though plugins are way handier for recording, and I think the Microkorg is available as a plugin now. So. An option!
I sometimes find it more inspiring to plug in a physical synth with headphones and add effects pedals etc. (I know this can all be done via plugins too)

monquixote

Creed_Clicks said:

monquixote said:

Creed_Clicks said:

Just some basic enough stuff. I know the Juno sound is on a lot of the music that I like, so on a cheaper end of things, that Behringer Pro 800 sounds good, (but not sure what it is cloning.)
I see Behringer have just released a Juno clone, but I think that would even be too much for me.
The Deepmind 6 was something I didn't mention. Or the Minilogue itself, which was interesting when I had it, but I wasn't really too sure where it would fit in what I was/am doing.

What kind of stuff like playing synth in a band or recording songs?

Bit of both, though plugins are way handier for recording, and I think the Microkorg is available as a plugin now. So. An option!
I sometimes find it more inspiring to plug in a physical synth with headphones and add effects pedals etc. (I know this can all be done via plugins too)

I would say that having played a bit with a few options plugins are so much more powerful and easy to do sound design on than most hardware synths.

I'd suggest getting a really good plugin like Diva, Hive or Dune and then really learning it. It only takes a day or two.

If you want to do sound design on a physical the synth then you should get something hands on and knobby like a Minilogue, I don't see any point getting something like a Microkorg to scroll through presets, or do sound design through a horrible tiny menu so it's mostly an advantage if you want to play live and have it all in a box.

Another option is an iPad as you can get a lot of the synths that cost hundreds on the PC for £20-30 on the iPad and they are the same plugins.
Moog are great for this as are Korg. 

If you have an iPad Korg Gadget is amazing has multiple built in synths and integrates really well with the Korg controllers. 

If you go PC then Arturia have really tight integration between plugins and controllers so it feels more like a hardware synth.

Creed_Clicks

@monquixote thanks for the ipad tip. I have the adapter already so I can hook up  a midi keyboard. I use some Arturia and Softube plugins which sound great. The Softube Prophet clone is really nice, but I only access the presets really. I just find the presets I like and use them)

monquixote

Creed_Clicks said:

@monquixote thanks for the ipad tip. I have the adapter already so I can hook up  a midi keyboard. I use some Arturia and Softube plugins which sound great. The Softube Prophet clone is really nice, but I only access the presets really. I just find the presets I like and use them)

If you just want presets then maybe something like Arturia analog lab or Astrolab if you really need a hardware box.

monquixote

Andertons have an SH Ultranova BTW.

https://www.andertons.co.uk/second-hand-novation-ultranova-284/

Creed_Clicks

monquixote said:

Andertons have an SH Ultranova BTW.

https://www.andertons.co.uk/second-hand-novation-ultranova-284/

My bandmate has one of these. Cracking synth. In theory, I like the idea of sound design, but in reality, am I a sound design kind of person. I don't know!

monquixote

Creed_Clicks said:

monquixote said:

Andertons have an SH Ultranova BTW.

https://www.andertons.co.uk/second-hand-novation-ultranova-284/

My bandmate has one of these. Cracking synth. In theory, I like the idea of sound design, but in reality, am I a sound design kind of person. I don't know!

One option if you want to go totally the opposite way and learn sound design is to get something with no presets like the Arturia Minibrute or Yamaha Reface CS. They just do whatever is on the front panel which means you naturally learn to make patches and you will learn really quickly.

Creed_Clicks

@monquixote I had the Reface too, and would certainly reconsider! No frills and it sounded pretty good for what it was.

Creed_Clicks

Oddly enough, I have been looking at used Ultranovas and Mininovas, and both seem to hover around the same price. I would have thought that the Ultranova was the better machine?

Winny_Pooh

I've been thinking of a poly mini synth for a while, needs being that it's portable and plays well. When in a shop recently played a minifreak (great fun sounds) and compared it to the similar Korg model (slightly bigger keys) which felt a bit more dull tonally. The Arturia's mini keys are a turn off though despite that.

Went Googling for a good full size key synth that's a medium oversll size and found a Modal Instruments Cobalt8. Got one Monday and very happy so far, keys are great and the build is super solid. Ebay deals to be had.

Creed_Clicks

I forgot about the Modal