Hi.
I was wondering if anyone can recommend some sort of effects unit in combination with the syntakt for live performance? Mainly I am looking for a good compressor, maybe saturator, reverb combination would be a bonus. Is there something out there? And if I can be picky I would wish it being very small and cheap but good quality 
Part of me thought about the Heat, but it’s crazy expensive and its more a saturator/distortion unit then a compressor.
What about the OTO Boum?
Drive/distortion, compressor, filter. For half the price.
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Received it this weekend.
Super efficient. Main problem : Syntakt seems very flat when you bypass it. 
Of course if you already pushed ST limits as @Jeanne can do, you may not need one. (Personnaly I am not fond of ST drive, I’d rather use Fx track for filters, fx automation.)
You can obtain insane results, or tame it easily with dry/wet, level, filters (LP and HP).
I prefer it compared to AH MKI (good filters, toogentle distortion for me, as if the was a limiter before, no compressor, don’t talk me about the fake compressor settings with envelope).
I planned to use the BOUM for sound design (recording ST loops or sounds with Octatrack (maybe 1010 Tangerine / Blackbox, RC 505 MKII).
I’d be interested in AH +FX, not AH anymore having the BOUM.
As master compressor I have a Finalizer 96k (or Plus). Professional tool ! Not user friendly. 3 bands compressor, expander, limiter and more…(parametrical eq and stuff). I made tests with ST, can be insane too if you push analog inputs. You can start from presets, but it can take same time to adjust parameters; you need some audio knowledge, experience.
I didn’t try the Finalizer Express, very simple (limited).
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- AH+FX : expensive but worth it.
- EHX Platform : cheap Stereo Compressor/Limiter/Drive/Tone
- OTO Boum
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I mean, I totally get if you think it’s too expensive, but the Analog Heat +FX fulfills all your other criteria. It has a compressor (you can do parallel processing on it as well if you want) and a reverb in addition to some other effects, and of course it is a wonderful distortion/saturation unit (it even has a bit crusher).
I managed to find a quite cheap Analog Heat +FX on the used market, and I’m using it end-of-chain on everything I create now. And it works great with the Syntakt.
Here’s a track I recorded recently with only the Syntakt and the Analog Heat +FX where I use the saturation, compressor, reverb, and delay.
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I’d highly recommend the endorphines golden master pedal. Doesn’t do as much as the Heat, but It’s 1/4 of the price and does some great compression - also offers mid/Side comp which makes it sound huge. The 3 band eq which is mutable is pretty nice for live work.
This video sold me on it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KgD_DFCgMI&t=4s
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maybe look at an old cheap 19" alesis 3630 rack compressor and a zoom 1201 reverb/multi fx. They’re super cheap, light (they’re not very deep rack wise) and were the secret ingredients to a lot of late 90’s early 00’s sound from likes of Daft Punk and Warp artists, which is kinda what’ll work well with the Syntakt.
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I am in the same boat and right now I like the idea of combining ST and Hologram Chroma Console, but I am not sure yet.
Really interesting !
And works for guitars and stuff…
Btw the BOUM works really well with a passive guitar straight in, so do AH, for drive/distortion and filters.
As master I read about some negative points like low cut and lack of dry/wet…
Cutting at around 16 Khz.
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Platforms a good one. I’ve got it and wad surprised by it’s versatility at its price. That EH characteristic drive sound is also on board and can be dialed in and out as needed.
For me the lack of a dry/wet isn’t as big of a deal as it may seem on paper. You can lower the impact of the compression, and the drive has a seperate switch.
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I meant low cut, high pass, but I got confused with EHX Overload, so forget it ! 
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If you’re not interested in drive/FXs there’s the Atlas Compressor from Source Audio. Stereo pedal with a lot of stuff under the hood, not particularly hands on, but you can assign everything to the knobs.
Also cheaper than most EoC stuff.
I have a Heat MKI that I’m planning to sell for a Boum or for an Atlas, as to be more portable and with a real compressor onboard.
Still didn’t took the plunge as I’m wondering if a Digitakt or the new S4 from Torso can cover the compressor/warming duties with the sampling bonus added
Source Audio Atlas Compressor is a further candidate.
Thanks everyone. I am glad I asked. There are quite a few effects units I haven`t heard of.
Now I just need to make a decision
Chroma Console is $400 and does a lot of what you’re looking for.
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What about Line 6 HX One ?
It’s targeted to guitar but has a stereo input with line level suitable for synth & keyboard.
It’s small, relatively cheap, and has all the effects of the Helix modeler including different kinds of compressors.
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I would always upgrade to a HX Stomp. Six effect slots instead of one is just so much better. I am mainly a guitarist, but I send all my gear (syntakt, synths, MPC) through my big Line6 Helix. Every kind of distortion, preamp, time- and modulation FX, compressor, EQ. It is all in there and it works really good with all kinds of sounds, not just guitar.
Sure.
But the OP is mainly interested in a compressor and would like a very small and cheap unit.
The HX Stomp is bigger and more expensive than the HX One.
I own a couple and while they are rlly fun, they’re definitely janky and have a very specific tone to them.
the compression action is almost woody if very fast and very goopy when slow, and finding the inbetween sweetspots is very difficult.
also the model you get matters significantly, typically the Revision D models are typically the best unmodded and also the easiest to improve the tone of by simple mods (snipping the gate wires cause the gates are wired poorly and mess with the overall compressor action).
it’s awesome at parallel processing and drum bus smashing but imo it 100% requires the gate snip mod and a sidechain equalizer paired with it to make it sound musical and workable, which also immediately detracts from its reliability live.
for studio work, if you want to experiment, get your hands dirty, and get an EQ for sidechain sculpting, they’re decent comps that can sound pretty good!
putting one on a mixbus is a commitment tho, and you would have to mix into it to get a feel for how much lowend it can take before it starts to give out (sidechain EQ helps immensely here).
I used to run a 3630 Rev D with the mod as my parallel compressor for live shows (sidechain through a 10 band donner EQ pedal) and it worked alright.