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Hi there,

I am a first time synth buyer.

I have demo'd the Micro X and the R3 in a guitar shop, and like them both. Obviously I was a bit blown away, and only managed to poke and roll my way through the presets. Now I'm back home and have researched a lot, I am down to these choices:

Korg R3
korg Micro X
Alexis Micron
Novation X25 or Xiosynth station


my specific question about the Micro X is wrt the arpeggiator, can it be used to "latch". I have seen this on video demos of the R3, but havent found it on the micro X, and its a tool I would want to use.

Also, for someone for whom a vocoder is a nice novelty but not a requirement, which of the models above would be the best synthesiser for the beginner, looking to expand band sounds, play along to 80s stuff in my house, and generally learn a bit of keyboard / synth?

Thanks and please be kind I'm a noob, you dont need to tell me that.

I tried out a Micron for a week......and although it has nice sounds and solid controlls, the "Full sise" Keys are not "Full sise".....
The Radias keys are about a half inch longer, which to me makes the Micron keyboard unusable due to it's steep slope while the note is pressed down....This causes the travel at the edge and centre of the key to be drastically different......

Great analogious sounds though.......

Hmm, synth for the beginner....

-If you're interested in learning synth sound design & programming, lots of knobs are good. The more knobs the better. On your list, the Xiosynth has the most.

-If you're interested in seriously learning to play keyboard, it's better to have a lot of keys...at least 49 keys, 62 if you can manage it. At 37 keys, the R3 has the most on your list.

-Is it important to you to be able to duplicate real-world instruments, like saxophones, guitars, and pianos? The Micro X is the only one on your list that excels in this. The rest are almost exclusively for making electronic sounds.

-I love my Radias, but it costs way more than anything on your list.

-Have you tried the Roland Sh-201? it has a four octave keyboard, better knobbage than anything on your list, and costs about the same as the R3.

-I can't stress this enough: buy from someone with a good return policy!

Pretty much decided to go with the Alesis Micron


I dont really need simulations, I want cool analog synth soundscapes. The bonus with this model is its cheap, has 3 octaves, and has sequencer / drummachine built in.

I know it has the least "knobs" but I am intelligent enough to use its interface.

buying from a reputatble keyboard shop in the UK#


any massive reason to not go this route?

LaceSensor wrote:any massive reason to not go this route?

Nope, enjoy it!

very good micro synth (maybe the best of new generation synth)!!
it's very good both in recreating analog-style sounds very fat and warm and more modern electronic sounds.
it has a lots of features for that price and the nice features of built-in drum pattern and layered sounds for doing pad/bass and lead simultaneously. interface is not much intuitive but reading the manual and with a little practice it should not be a problem.

i had bought mine here http://www.musicstore.com/en_EN/GBP/Ale ... 002338-000 since the price was much lower than italian prize, maybe also for UK.

LaceSensor wrote:Pretty much decided to go with the Alesis Micron


I dont really need simulations, I want cool analog synth soundscapes. The bonus with this model is its cheap, has 3 octaves, and has sequencer / drummachine built in.

I know it has the least "knobs" but I am intelligent enough to use its interface.

buying from a reputatble keyboard shop in the UK#


any massive reason to not go this route?

Yes..... The "steep keybed" due to shortened keys is the reason I returned mine to the store....
But if you use it from a second keyboard via midi, its 8 oscillators will make a difference...

+1, just get a controller and you will luv the micron - as slammah said the kybd is not that good but it is capable of some great sounds.

First time synth buyer?
That's easy... Korg EMX.