Beginner Synthesizers

A beginner synthesizer should be small, simple and ready to play as soon as you switch it on, without long scrolling through menus. We've picked pocket synthesizers and affordable models from Behringer, Korg, Roland, Teenage Engineering, Dübreq, Instruo and Bastl Instruments for this page. Many of them run on batteries and have a built-in sequencer, so you can record a short loop and shape the sound over it right away. On an instrument like this you'll understand what an oscillator, a filter and an envelope do, and then you'll easily find your way around a big synthesizer too.

Beginner synthesizer: with or without a keyboard?

Some of the synthesizers here are desktop modules without a conventional keyboard, such as the Behringer Edge, Crave or TD-3. You play them with the built-in sequencer or from a MIDI keyboard that you connect to them with a cable. The Korg Volca Keys has a small keyboard with 27 keys, while the Behringer Pro-VS Mini and TD-3 have a row of mini buttons.

A really simple way into the world of synthesizers is the Dübreq Stylophone S-1. You play it with a metal stylus on a metal keyboard, the sound comes out of its own speaker and it runs on batteries. The Teenage Engineering Pocket Operator series, such as the PO-12 Rhythm, PO-33 K.O! or PO-35 speak, is the size of a calculator and also runs on batteries. You'll find more small models among the pocket synthesizers.

Analog or digital sound?

The Behringer Edge, Crave and TD-3, the Korg Volca Keys and Volca Bass, and the Korg Monotron have an analog sound circuit – the sound changes smoothly with every turn of a knob. The Behringer Edge, Crave and TD-3 are also semi-modular: they play without any cables, but with patch cables on the panel you can change the signal path and see how the synthesizer works inside. Digital instruments such as the Korg Volca FM2 or Nu:Tekt NTS-1 MKII can handle FM synthesis and effects that an analog circuit of this size couldn't manage. More instruments with analog sound are in the analog synthesizers category, and you'll find the full range in the synthesizers category.