Portable synth for industrial post punk

Anything about hardware musical instruments.
Post Reply New Topic
RELATED
PRODUCTS

Post

Hi guys,
I wanna buy a synth with those features for playing live with my band (industrial post punk):
- 37 or max 49 keys, maybe 61 if really necessary but I would like to stay away from it.
- Made for performance: patchlists/performance mode, easy to edit their order, move them, copy them, erase them etc and the possibility to change them using ony one pedal. also enough space for presets
- enough knobs and buttons to not have to dig much into menus
- Enough presets to start with and appropriate for the genre (mainly Pads, sound fx, leads and soundscapes)
- Integrated decent fx
- Keyboard split/layering
- a decent keybed
- A Tap tempo button
- Max around 1500$.

I asked around and to chatgpt ( ๐Ÿ˜€ )and what I got suggested is:
- Korg Minilogue XD / Prologue (no splits)
- Roland Jupiter Xm / system-8 / fa06 (no tap tempo?)
- Sequential TE05 (I don't know it well)
- Hydrasynth (no splits)

The Jupiter Xm would be perfect but tbh the demos I've heard sound really 80s/90s to me, and not aggressive at all, but maybe if I would tweak some parameters I would make them more aggressive?
Not having the money for a virus, I was also considering going "all in" with a nord wave2 and never go back but then it's 61keys and a bit more expensive.

It's so hard to choose... what do you think?
Thank you for your help!

Post

I think the challenge is something with splits with a smaller keyboard.
A split just isn't as useful when you're limited to an octave.

But Elektron Analog Keys fits the bill, although there is some menu work.
Roland System 8 does as well, I think, but I've tried it.

A desktop unit + MIDI controller would be the obvious alternative.

Post

Zerocrossing Media

4th Law of Robotics: When turning evil, display a red indicator light. ~[ โ—_โ— ]~

Post

zerocrossing wrote: Sat Mar 08, 2025 5:14 am Here you go:

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... ynthesizer
That's actually a really good pick for the sounds you would hear in future or retro-styled Industrial music. The integrated Kaoss Pad on the upper left would be fantastic for sweeping soundscapes. It would also sound cool blending distortions, filters, and delays for animated and aggressive tones. The synth totally fits the genre. I don't know if the specs match the OP's list of requirements. But for the sound and the price, it's a great choice. :tu:

Post

Get a Nord, the NordWave or a Nord G1. Literally thousands of patches for the last,
and can certainly sound aggressive. All Nord can.
Last edited by ChrisKnapp on Sun Mar 09, 2025 3:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Post

+ a good cheap FX unit :-). Zoom 1202, Sony DPS-V55 maybe.

Or maybe G2 or newer Nord for integrated FX.

Post

get a sampler with built-in multimode filters

Post

morphex wrote: Sun Mar 09, 2025 11:51 am
zerocrossing wrote: Sat Mar 08, 2025 5:14 am Here you go:

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... ynthesizer
That's actually a really good pick for the sounds you would hear in future or retro-styled Industrial music. The integrated Kaoss Pad on the upper left would be fantastic for sweeping soundscapes. It would also sound cool blending distortions, filters, and delays for animated and aggressive tones. The synth totally fits the genre. I don't know if the specs match the OP's list of requirements. But for the sound and the price, it's a great choice. :tu:
The plugin version of the multi/poly came out and I have to say I'm very impressed. Many plugins fail on per-voice distortion and filter FM, but it's solid on both. It holds up to my hardware analogs and in some ways is even better than some of my hybrids. Highly recommended.
Zerocrossing Media

4th Law of Robotics: When turning evil, display a red indicator light. ~[ โ—_โ— ]~

Post Reply

Return to โ€œHardware (Instruments and Effects)โ€