cheap synth for nice pads?

i want to buy a cheap synth, like akai miniak or something, that can produce nice pad sounds and atmospheric stuff, and im going to use it with my mpc 2500...any suggestions??

the alesis micron is the same synth as the akai miniak [simply repackaged under a different name] and it can be found for much cheaper on the used market... i have the micron and it's great for pads & atmospheric ambient type stuff... if you want more knobs, look into the alesis ion... it also uses the same synth engine as the micron & miniak, but has more keys & knobs for more hands-on control...

If you want something really cheap (minimal knobs though), I see used Novation Xio's for like $200, it's a pretty good synth engine on those. Just a possible alternative, the Ion engine is good, I nearly bought one, but I have too much stuff as it is.

the novation stuff is good too... i think most of those smaller keyboard synths they released were mostly based on the original bass station [except they're virtual analog instead of actual analog]... the xio series actually has more knobs than the micron or miniak and can also be used as either a standalone synth or MIDI controller via USB [whereas the micron is just a nice synth but not a good midi controller at all]... lots of options out there to consider...

Korg R3 is another one I see at clearance prices new, and about $300 used.

The xio synth seems to be nice, but it has no midi in, it might be a problem.
I had the Miniak during a few weeks, it was very good for pads but I found it awful to program.

roland jx3p

software synths are pretty awesome... PC based VST are pretty dope...

i'd go with a micro korg if possible but you said cheap so i guess the micron or novation

jimmy2bts wrote:i'd go with a micro korg if possible but you said cheap so i guess the micron or novation

That's why all 3 got recommended, any of them can be had for $225-$350.

thank you very much for the answers guys, very enlightening!! which synth allows you to tweak the sound more deeply, microkorg or miniak/micron? does anybody know?

tosfalma wrote:thank you very much for the answers guys, very enlightening!! which synth allows you to tweak the sound more deeply, microkorg or miniak/micron? does anybody know?

The same for any of them. The amount of knobs really dictates how deep into sub menus you have to go to make the tweaks. It's a bit annoying but one of the reasons companies can give you a synth so cheap.

So to be clear, you can use all three as proper tweakable synths, i.e Oscillators, Envelopes, FX. But they all rely on minimal knobs and toggling to achieve the tweaking.

thank yoy all very much!! things got very clear right now, i think i am going for a used miniak or micron, because they are as good as every other option in this price range, but quite smaller in size. thank you!

tosfalma, if you go with the micron you'll probably want to buy one of these PC editors. They make up greatly for the lack of knobs, and menu diving when trying to program/tweak your sounds.

http://midictrl.com/

http://www.bizune.com/index.html

The second link also had a Miniak editor available, it has a couple more knobs than the micron, but is still minimal in that area.