Best small synth keybed

The Lounge Other Gear
#1

So the title says it all really. I tried searching for the topic but couldn’t find anything. Feel free to merge if I’m wrong.

Basically I’m looking for experiences with small polysynth keybeds. I am looking to buy one to have something lightweight for band practice and some busking so the quality of the keybed is my main interest here.

I have been looking at hydra explorer, minifreak and modal cobalt so anyone having experiences with these would be welcome.

Btw not really interested alternative solutions like combining midi keyboard and desktop synths etc

#2

the yamaha reface keybeds are quite nice. out of the three you posted i’ve only played hydrasynth explorer and i didn’t really like it much

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#3

Thanks😊 I have been considering them as well but would love to a bit more sound design possibilities if possible

#4

more sound design than hydrasynth explorer? i think that would be difficult to find, let alone small and with keybed.

#5

yes reface CS is fairly limited i think (i haven’t owned it though)
reface DX is 4 op FM with all the possibilities that brings

#6

No, more sound design than Yamaha reface…

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#7

theres also Minifreak. it has nice keybed for its size and should be easy to get usable sounds out.
coolest thing about it is would be mod matrix and analog filter per voice.

(and obviously like a whole eurorack ecosystem for the sound engines duh)

#8

Hydrasynth E seems great but I wonder about the keybed

#9

Yes I am considering that one too. You think the keybed is pretty good on it? I didn’t really care for arturias keystep. How do you feel it compares to that?

#10

i havent touched one myself, but from pictures keybed looks identical to keystep. i assume its the same one because its from the same company.

Keystep keybed is as good as it gets unless you bring your own midi controller or shell out for something like Osmose E or a Nord

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#11

i’d say the hydrasynth E is fairly similar to the keystep
also hydrasynth has an FM bug ASM refuse to acknowledge let alone fix

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#12

I remember my friend saying that they liked keybed on Deepmind 12. Maybe someone can chime in about how it compares to keystep for example. But that synth is not small.

#13

Yes probably nice, but way too big for what I’m looking for. I have many bigger synths already :blush:

#14

Reface DX is very versatile. It’s not the standard old 4-OP FM, more going on there. You can get very analog sounds from it with some care. The touch sliders are surprisingly nice to use. Plus it has one of the best mini-keys to play.

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#15

Really curious about Modal keybeds though, so drop a msg if you decide on one and give it a try!

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#16

Yes it does sound great. Might give it a try :blush:

#17

Korg Microkey Air has some very playable mini keys. The expensive but showy alternative to any mini controller is a Linnstrument 128 :cool:

Given that you’re in fact asking, despite the clear thread title, for a small polysynth, I would go for either Hydrasynth E or Take 5.

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#18

I’ve tried various, but settled on a Modal Cobalt8 and am quite happy it. The synth is a bit bigger than a Minifreak, but still reasonably compact (especially width). I was really hoping to get along with the Keystep 37 (the same keybed as the Minifreak as far as I know), but being a piano player I just couldn’t get used to width if the small keys. It was also far more difficult to play expressively (using velocity and aftertouch) on those keys than the Modal’s.

#19

Cobalt8 keybed in the 37-key version is made by Fatar and is pretty good.

I didn’t much like the Cobalt8 sound engine (it was OK but nothing special when compared with my Hydrasynth) and the UI wasn’t great in low light (the controls are labelled in a fairly small font with low-contrast colours, I found I struggled with that).

But the keybed was solid (as you’d expect from Fatar) and I also loved the metal pitch/modulation joystick.

Bonus was the Modal app which runs on iPad and on computer and is one of the best of its kind I’ve ever used.

#20

Thank you, that’s really good information. I was a bit unsure on how well it works with the app as it is usually not a solution I am such a big fan of

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