Synth Recommendation

[MartinoTJ]

Hi there,
I am looking for a beginner Synth for my 12 years old daughter. She is been playing piano for a couple of years and she is quite good at it. She is using my wife's piano and we also have an arranger that she uses sometimes. She likes to listen to Fat Rat and Daft Punk and she is playing those song with the piano right now. For her birthday I would like to buy her a synth , something that can give her the "tactile" experience (she loves fidgeting and tweaking stuff) , something that can be carried in her backpack and fun to play with her friends . As far as budget I'd like to stay below $500 and It doesn't need to be new. I was thinking eventually to pair it with a Volca Beats (for me) so we can share some quality time together. Sorry for the vagueness of the post but I am not very familiar with the matter.

 

[Biggles]

One slight issue maybe your piano and will have inbuilt audio whereas a keyboard synth will require an amp or powered speakers

Korg Monologue, Akai MPK, or a Behringer spring to mind and backpack friendly

Add in the Korg Microkorg or Yamaha Reface for more cash outlay

factor in for a Blackstar Fly or a Boss Katana Mini both of which are small amps and whilst intended for guitar they will serve just as well on a keyboard since they are battery powered

 

[MartinoTJ]

Thank you Biggles I do have headphones and a Laney Lionheart Stereo mini amp for her to use.

 

[anotherscott]

My short list would be:

Korg Minilogue and Monologue
Yamaha Reface CS
Behringer MS-1
Arturia Microfreak

with very different trade-offs among them! The vary in size/weight, polyphony, storable user presets, speakers, method of sound generation, type of keys... but broadly speaking, they meet your basic specs: lots of front panel tweakability in a small box, in budget.

 

[Biggles]

Just to add, do check out the physical key size.

Some of the suggested synths have quite small keys.

Ham fisted me with spoons for fingers cannot play some of them easily because of the small key size.

Your Daughter may well be OK just please bear this in mind

 

[happyrat1]

If mini keys are not a dealbreaker then I would recommend a used Roland JD-Xi or possibly a used Behringer Deepmind 6 if you insist on full sized keys.

I think either one would be loads of fun for a 12 yr old and would help get her started on the analogue side of synthesis.

behringer deepmind 6 used - Google Search

roland jd-xi used - Google Search

The Behringer MS-1 mentioned by Scott also has full sized keys.

Gary

 

[Rayblewit]

Ham fisted me with spoons for fingers

Trying to picture it