(Cheap because I own it already) I use Just Press Record on my Apple Watch to record random stuff. Clanking pans. My kids talking and singing. Buskers. Random old man singing in the showers at the gym. You know, the usual stuff.
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I swear one day I’m going to use my old Casio SA-39 in some track. (Video below is not me)
That looks interesting, shame I’d have to upgrade my original Apple Watch to use it (it still works great so I can’t justify it!).
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I think the Apple Watch now has the Apple Voice Memos app too. But I’m not sure if it’s available for the OG.
The sound quality of the Apple Watch mic is pretty great too for Burial style ambient sounds or Fred Again… type stuff.
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the korg nts-1 is like a portable studio-quality effects processor with some massive reverbs
really loved to pair it with my ms-20 when I had one
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Kalimba. You can find a nice-sounding one for less than a hamburger, they’re easy to sample and repitch beautifully.
Yes I run my Alpha Juno through it, sounds superb.
- Korg NTS-1
- IK Multimedia Uno Synth (OG)
- Meeblip Geode
- MAM MB-33 Retro
- Circuit (OG)
- Electribe EA-1
- Zoom MS series
also:
- iPhone (mine is SE2) + Mozaic = awesome MIDI processor. it’s my secret weapon, since all sophisticated MIDI processing algorithms are my very own.
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Bastl Kastle Drum AKA the pocket DFAM.
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If around $250 is cheap, then the Circuit Mono Station and the MicroMonsta 2 are my favorite “secret weapon” synth boxes, where good things DO come in small packages.
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btw!
- used Electribe 2 (Hacktibe firmware rocks)
- FB-01 if you’re lucky enough
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Both my cheapest box, and one of the most interesting: Volca Drum.
I also rank the PO-32 - well, it includes Microtonic - among the very best drum machines
(I own/love AR, MD, RazzMatazz and BlastBeats, but I wouldn’t call any of these cheap)
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Considering this is the Elektronauts forum, I’d say anything under 300 
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My Nintendo DS with Korg DS-10 cartridge
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Boss RSD-10 and RPS-10. Got to keep an eye open to pick them up for under €200 but they’re wild little boxes.
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MIDISID:
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Recently, I’ve been messing around a lot with my Sampletrak and Uno Synth Pro. You can get either one for about 200 to 250 used so I think they both qualify.
The Uno Synth Pro, as well as the original are really nice old school sounding synths in their own right. And on the Pro you can route incoming audio through the filters and fx.
The Sampletrak is an old phrase sampler. I think that it’s the fastest to use out of all of them. The only time you really have to wait for anything is when you’re saving or loading something from the smart media card. It’s also got a 6 octave pitch range. And things can get really crunchy when you sample at lower rates. I like it a lot.
What I’ve enjoyed doing recently is running the Sampletrak through the Uno Pro. I’m trying to get that old 80s Akai rack sampler vibe without spending 80s Akai rack sampler money.
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While not hardware, Cyclone from SonicCharge is a free complete emulation of the Yamaha TX16W rack sampler from the late 80s, it can sample via feeding its inputs via a daw and has that classic crunchy sound to its output and is the best alternative I’ve come across to dropping a load of cash on the physical equivalent!
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Nice! I didn’t know this existed!