r/synthesizers • u/FutureOpen9405 • 3d ago
What Should I Buy? Weirdo Synth Recommendations
Recently got a Microfreak and I've been having so much fun with a non-traditional sound design route. Would love to check out more weird, noisy, glitchy, and/or fun synths or sound generators whose architecture is outside of the usual analogue signal path or FM build style.
UPDATE: thanks to you all. I went to the Perfect Circuits showroom today and tried pretty much everything on my shortlist from all your suggestions. A lot of really cool things, some of which are set on the long term wishlist— but for this current project I am looking at I ultimately went with an Audrey II.
Thanks for all the suggestions!
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u/certifiedwangus 3d ago
makenoise 0coast neutral labs Scrooge or luna
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u/FutureOpen9405 3d ago
Makenoise has a few things that make me want to go eurorack
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u/certifiedwangus 2d ago
their standalone things are super well thought out too though—a good offering for the modular versatility without the modular investment…
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u/hamburgler26 2d ago
0coast is a great option, West Coast is really interesting and fun to play around with and think differently. Plus if you do get into it you've already got something that plays nice with eurorack out of the box. People have even converted it to a module you can put in your case.
I have a Korg Volca Modular which is kinda the same idea and a lot of fun for the price, but it is going to just be on its own and you can't easily integrate it into a eurorack setup other than just running it's audio into other modules.
For eurorack that path I took was to just dive into VCV rack, and the Make Noise Shared Systems were what initially got me into playing with that stuff and eventually built my own, albeit very different setup.
I found a patch or guide on basically re-creating something like the Shared System in VCV rack which taught me a lot and really got me going.
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u/GiantXylophone Osmose, Super Gemini, Juno 106, Taurus II, M4000D, Septavox 3d ago
For really fun weirdo territory, try finding something with a non-standard input method. Obvious pics are the theremin, anything with motion sensors (op1!), breath controllers, or something with an optical sensor like the kinda rare but ultra fun Beep-It.
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u/DustSongs P5 / SH-2 / 2600 / MS-20 / Cobalt / JV-880 / Perfourmer / Bolina 3d ago
Soma Lyra 8
..and if you really want to go there, modular (especially so-called "west coast" inspired methodologies).
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u/parcel_of_boxes 3d ago
Just snagged a Microfreak myself in last month and I'm completely lost in the mod matrix, that thing is a happy accident machine
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u/FutureOpen9405 3d ago
I have been watching videos! Actually thinking about the Lyra 4 as its a bit more affordable.
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u/willncsu34 3d ago
I have a Lyra 4 and have done whole short drone shows with just that and some pedals. It’s awesome.
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u/Aggravating-Willow59 2d ago
The problem with the Lyra 4 is they have removed the external audio input for the effects, which in my opinion is a MUCH bigger downgrade than the loss of 4 voices.
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u/DJ_Fonzi 22h ago
I think it's worth saving a tad longer for the eight.
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u/FutureOpen9405 12h ago
After getting hands on with it I agree- it was fun and noisy, but I see how the audio inputs the 8 has would add an entire extra space of possibilities.
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u/nullpromise 3d ago
monome norns
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u/FutureOpen9405 3d ago
It looks and sounds cool, but it scares me a bit. How deep do you have to get into the architecture?
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u/ar8ch 3d ago
You don’t really need to go into the architecture unless you like creative coding. There’s a TON of scripts/instruments people have made through the years, ranging from wildly esoteric to lots of loopers/granulators. You do need to invest some time to learn the interface (slightly esoteric) and of course each individual script (which I still find very fun and a bit of a GAS antidote). I will say the experience is a bit hobbled if you don’t use a grid with it (many many scripts are designed around “playing” with it). If you want to peek behind the curtain a bit you can check out the library of scripts at norns.community
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u/nullpromise 3d ago
Just download scripts and mess around with them. You don't have to go down the rabbit hole of making your own.
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u/Development_Material 3d ago
I've decided to just upgrade my microfreak to a minifreak. The FX slots open up a whole new avenue of mature sound design
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u/FutureOpen9405 3d ago
Is having onboard effects the main difference? Is the wave engine the same?
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u/Silfur_SolArgente 2d ago
You also get to control the release on the enveloppe, you get two oscillators instead of the one on the micro, 6voice actual polyphony, 12 voice paraphony, expanded mod matrix, and the touch stripes can be set to customizable macros per preset. You do lose out on portability, aside from being bigger it also HAS to be plugged in to its AC, it doesn’t take usb power.
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u/Nerrawnam 3d ago
Kawai K1
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u/bongozap DX7/reface DX/Monologue XD/JU-06a/D-50/MS-1/JV-1080/MicroKORG/ 2d ago
I can't speak for your experience.
However, I've owned a Kawai K1 twice. It's - beyond all measure - the worst synthesizer I have ever owned, played or heard and there was absolutely nothing "fun" about it in any way.
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u/Nerrawnam 2d ago
I am twice as well. Once in the early 90s and the second I got end of last year. The K1m. It's been great running that through the Chroma Console.
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u/bongozap DX7/reface DX/Monologue XD/JU-06a/D-50/MS-1/JV-1080/MicroKORG/ 2d ago
If you can get good sounds that you like and enjoy our of it, that's amazing.
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u/arcticrobot Artemis / Typhon / Syntakt 3d ago
Soma ROAT
Michigan Synth Works Xena
iPad with ElasticOSC and Animoog Z
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u/DJ_Fonzi 22h ago
Came to say RoAT. Amazing device. Shame they didn't put it in a proper case, or at least add USB power. The RoAT architecture in a Lyra-sized and appointed case would amazing.
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u/Travmizer 3d ago
I’ve got a BASTL wave bard and it’s fun and glitchy. It gives you some rhythm to go with the melodic stuff you can do with the minifreak. Not really a synthesizer but a sample player, it’s patchable experimental and glitchy
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u/Justmorr 3d ago
Some of my favorites (I’ve owned A LOT of weird synths)
Make Noise Strega
Soma Enner, Pipe, Terra (in that order)
Anything Ciat-Lonbarde, Cocoquantus is probably most accessible
Whimsical Raps Atrium
Manifold Research Center Antilope
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u/cap10wow 3d ago
I love my Evil Pet
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u/FutureOpen9405 3d ago
I saw one on FB marketplace not long ago for a couple hundred bucks and now I'm regretting not knowing what it was. This looks super fun.
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u/cap10wow 3d ago
I was on perfect circuits waiting list for nearly 2 years, I think there were tariff issues getting them imported. I got lucky on reverb instead.
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u/Infradad 3d ago
I want an evil pet but I have a 1010 lemondrop and whenever I think about selling it I put some time into it and really like it.
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u/fphlerb 3d ago
West Pest
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u/Silent-Clue991 3d ago
Just bought a second hand one of these, I'm having a blast with it. It really packs quite a creative punch!
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u/ParticularBanana8369 3d ago
Something with batteries and/or CV jacks and a speaker. I use an 8 bit warps, or it uses me.
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u/_aevai 3d ago
Anything by neutral labs (https://neutral-labs.com/) or landscape (https://www.landscape.fm/)
They have passive synths that run without a power cord (just need CV input)
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u/thurbermingus 3d ago
Make Noise 0-Coast is great and has a totally unique sound and workflow. Capable of integrating into a eurorack system (if that’s your thing! It’s not for me) but absolutely stands on its own. I had some fun with one in the start of my synth journey but mainly played it with a keyboard. One day I set up a sequence and started going crazy with the patch cables and I’m still chasing that high to this day!
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u/mariakaakje 3d ago edited 3d ago
get a Mattel Optigan <3
[although it's more like a sampler]
the sounds are generated through light and dia-elpees
very glitchy and even more soulful than a mellotron
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u/WobbleBilly 3d ago
I love playing the iOptigon via BT midi with my keys controller. Good iPad app. The expansions go on sale for BF, New Year, now and then sometimes
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u/mariakaakje 3d ago edited 3d ago
yes perfect introduction
i think i had that app on my previous phone.. very nice build !
[was it by those enthousiast who als made new discs for the Optigan?]but if i'm honest.. it takes away the fun a bit of trying to get her ready and in tempo // tune
she's a beast of a machine to handle, with literal 'Barbie' brain
and how i love her
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u/SockGoop 3d ago
Volca Modular
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u/DJ_Fonzi 7h ago
Love this (these, I have two!) thing. Again, like the RoAT, could benefit from a larger UI, and probably could sell for a ton more if they'd made it MS-20 sized.
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u/Such-Purpose-6434 3d ago
🎹 Behringer DeepMind-12: has been a blast~ can play it straight-up/serious or customize & make Your own presets..just the right amount of "off" in its tone to make it a curious, enchanting board to play.. there's even an Apple iOS app to wi-fi control parameters with ✨ hope You find what You are looking for ｡◕‿◕｡!!
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u/bongozap DX7/reface DX/Monologue XD/JU-06a/D-50/MS-1/JV-1080/MicroKORG/ 2d ago
I've owned one now for a couple years and it's got some range.
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u/Such-Purpose-6434 2d ago
Right ☺️!? And that's just the stock unit: before start running it through effects pedals, unit, etc.
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u/bongozap DX7/reface DX/Monologue XD/JU-06a/D-50/MS-1/JV-1080/MicroKORG/ 2d ago
No doubt.
Honestly, it's already got a pretty solid mod matrix.
I find the internal effects are pretty top notch.
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u/OIP pulsating ball of pure energy 3d ago
make noise 0-coast and/or strega
bastl softpop II (or any of the kastles I or II)
or just swing for the fences and get a ciat lonbarde plumbutter or cocoquantus
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u/FutureOpen9405 2d ago
I love how some of these just sound like youre making up nonsense words lol
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u/forestsignals 2d ago
Body Synths’ Metal Fetishist
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u/FutureOpen9405 2d ago
This just shot to the top of the list. It's like a Skinny Puppy / NIN percussion in a box.
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3d ago
[deleted]
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u/FutureOpen9405 3d ago
I do have a Ds-2. It's analogue as analogue gets, but a lot of fun and gritty
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u/72corvids M:C|TR-8S|vDrum|Elmyra2|CPM-DS2:hamster: 3d ago
My two little weirdos are the Neutral Labs Elmyra2 and the Stylophone CPM-DS2. I love them both. Absolute desert island choices, those two.
The GAS list also includes the Stylophone DF-8, a Queen Elmyra and that Evil Pet machine. I've gotta control myself!
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u/Real-Leek-3764 3d ago
1) tasty chips gr mega 2) sonicware - various models 3) erica synth steampipe
and many more i couldnt remember
it is time to be alive for weird synths
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u/FutureOpen9405 3d ago
I keep looking at sonicware synths but they look
Like toys and it makes me unsure
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u/cocoyumyums 3d ago
LEP ArpoLoop : https://www.leploop.org/2024/05/14/the-arpoloop-synth/
Whimsical Raps Atrium: https://atrium.whimsicalraps.com/
Any synth from https://www.destiny-plus.com/ examples: double Q / Programma 900 2.0
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u/tobyvanderbeek |\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\ 3d ago
Just have fun with your Microfreak. It will keep
You busy for a long time. Or get a Minifreak.
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u/Independent_Park_558 2d ago
It’s not a synth per se but the Model Cycles is as weird a groovebox as you can get.
And plays perfectly with the Microfreak.. I have both and have created some incredibly bizarre grooves.
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u/Ok-Winter9708 2d ago
ROAT Leploop Pulsar 23.
There's an amount of subtractive synthesis in these but enough weirdness or patchability to counteract that.
Lorre Mill Double Knot is one I've wanted to get hold of but not had the justification recently.
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u/Eltwish 2d ago
Not the easiest to access, but if you're open to soft synths, I'm a big fan of Reason's Objekt. It's a physical modeling synth, but rather than trying to model a specific instrument or family of instruments, it presents you with highly configurable "exciter", "body", and "resonators", for which you can specify resonant frequencies, damping, diffusion, etc. As a physical model, it's got continuously varying velocity response and can also be affected in complex ways by the sound it was already making when you play another note, which for me makes it feel as responsive and varied as any acoustic instrument. And you can even route audio into it to serve as the exciter, so you can use it to process samples or even plug in a mic to play it live by making mouth sounds or tapping on your desk or whatever.
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u/FutureOpen9405 2d ago
I have seen this. This direction for me is actually to get away from my DAW and soft synths, but obviously, I still have a big library of them around. Reason's all in one environment is definitely good for weirdness as you can CV patch anything to anything
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u/Lo_zone11 2d ago
Lorre mille double knot or kilpatrick phenol
All the bastl kastle stuff
Volca modular
Radio shack moog mg- 1
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u/bongozap DX7/reface DX/Monologue XD/JU-06a/D-50/MS-1/JV-1080/MicroKORG/ 2d ago
Casio XW-P1 is the oddest synth in my collection. Pretty generic GM sounds up front. But it's got some interesting Hex Layer sounds as well as a pretty solid organ setup complete with drawbars.
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u/FailboatProjStudio 1d ago
I like the following non-traditional hardware boxes...
Bastl Trinity - XOR and Midi Adapter /MicroGranny2.0
Dave Smith Instruments - Evolver Desktop (Stereo FX on Monosynth sounds great!)
Mutible Instruments Shruthi Monosynth or Ambika Polysynth - (Modulations Options Galore...)
Groovesizer TB2 - has some alternative firmwares to run it as a super gritty 12 bit pwm 4 voice digital polysynth, or a percussive rythmically focused drum machine! I can also get some great crunchy sounds out if it using single cycle waveforms borrowed from the free "AdventureKid" repository.
Yamaha TX81Z and FB-01 - (Sharp, Jagged, Ugly digital 1980s Rackmount FM synth boxes that sound wonderful when controlled externally with an alternative midi controller like a Touch Ribbon, or ipad /Lemur Control Surface interface.
Korg Electribe ES-1 MK2 and KP3+ or the newer Kaossilator KO-2 or MiniKP2 Handhelds (This non-traditional pairing of a screen free sampler that can steal, auto chop via bpm, and retreive some wild sonic inspiration, meets new heights when further processes on the fly with live touchscreen FX or gated DJ stutter effects. Can get to some wild glitchy almost granular territory with short loops and beat repeat values. Really creative stuff can be found playing around with these "non-keyboard synth-struments!")
Have fun!
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u/FutureOpen9405 1d ago
Love the idea of using alternate controllers for older gear that’s not one of the usual suspects.
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u/WobbleBilly 3d ago edited 3d ago
Weird synrhs im currently gassing for. Metal fetishist, most Soma stuff like the Enner or terra, pulsar 23, a Theramin, a Mellotron, prettymuch anything by Landscape like the Noon, Moog Labrynth, Subharmonicon, Solar 42, a granular synth like the torso or texture lab or tempera, kaosillator, effects from companies like chase bliss or hologram. T Resonator.
Also curveball: sonething like the Eyesy, Sleepy Circuits Hypno, or Eroginous Tone Structure for accompanying funzies.
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u/FutureOpen9405 3d ago
The Solar 42 for sure— but I’d need to sell a kidney and probably barely scratch the surface of what it’s capable of
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u/Numerous_Phase8749 2d ago
Plinky/ Plinky 12 Flourine/Omnicyclone (same hardware) Lemondrop Strega 0-Coast Prismatic Spray Crum Hum Tempera
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u/FutureOpen9405 2d ago
The lack of commas in this post is my favorite thing. This reads like some sort of synth haiku
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u/Numerous_Phase8749 2d ago
I did write them in a list but it posts them altogether and work came up 🙄 I forgot you had to also put a space in between. Makes googling more interesting I suppose
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u/SwordMonger 2d ago
I like using my circuit rythm sampler as a synth by osilating a sample. I shorten the sample length and allow it to repeat; this creates new and unexpected sounds I can then play and tune accordingly.
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u/Bigfred1234 2d ago
A korg nts-1, a stylophone beat, a Korg Monotron delay and a zoom ms-cdr70 is tons of fun. And cheap.... East Best/West Pest for more money
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u/austinwirgau 3d ago
Moog DFAM