My 5 Favorite Small Synths (+ a glimpse into the new Werkstatt-01) 

Time stamps! 0:00 - 1:44 Intro 1:44 - 3:53 Minilogue XD/Minilogue OG (also there's a typo in the "Now Playing", it should say Minilogue instead of Monologue my b) 3:53 - 5:29 Roland Boutique Series 5:37 - 8:06 Roland MC-101 8:06 - 10:23 Teenage Engineering OP-1 10:23 - 14:15 Critter & Guitari Organelle 14:15 - 16:07 Moog Werkstatt-01 16:07 - 17:32 Empress Effects Zoia 17:32 - 18:05 Outro/Bean being cute Hope this is helpful!!

Soooo good to watch! Would love love love a demo of each piece of gear showcasing its sounds. Like a compilation of jams with no talking. You're amazing!

Small synths and grooveboxes for the win! The MC-101 has really grown on me, especially with the updates making its handling of samples so powerful and fixing some jank with the interface.

Glad to see you back, and love the doggie. Thanks for sharing your toys with us!

Fantastic channel, thanks for sharing your sounds and thoughts!

What a cute presentation. Love it. Keep on doing it!

This video could not have come at a better time, love your work!

My favorite small boi was your dog at the end 😍The Werkstatt seemed pretty cool too. Thanks for the great video! Would love to see jamming on each of these a bit more (like you did with the Werkstatt).

One of my all time favorites are the Korg Monotrons. I actually use them in most of my jam sessions on RU-vid. They are super cheap and can do a lot. Especially when you run them through effects. I have marked my ribbon keyboard so I can play it in tune and I use a stylus to play it. I really think they are overlooked quite often and are considered toys. Great video by the way!!!

that werkstatt-01 bass sound at 15:26 = amazing! (and the bubbly sound after!)

Bad Snacks- this run-down is seriously bad-ass!!! Thank you. This vid turned me onto some very cool gear. 👍✨🎙📺

Love the keys on the minilogue. Near perfect action and weight for playing fast

Very good video keep up the amazing work Bad Snacks

This is such a good video! Even though I don’t plan on buying hardware synths anytime soon, I still really enjoy watching you talk about them all! Also, you hair looks absolutely gorgeous!

As an engineer getting back into production and hardware synths, this video came at a great time. I was just looking at the OP-1 a few hours before this video went up!

Love watching your channel! Always exited for a new video

Such good bois! Awesome video, snacks. Got the Organelle (thanks to your rec on an older vid) and still love it.

Really digging this channel and your vibe.

This showcase was quite entertaining and informative! Never heard of the Organelle or Werkstat until now...definitely considering a Werkstat in the near future considering the price point. Didn't know you were MC-101 girl either! That's dope AFFFFF. Mad kudos, and salutations. :)

I have the roland jupiter boutique and a microkorg. More than I'll ever need but still fun to play with. You have a great collection!

This reminds me to use my MC-101 more! Dope content as always!😁

Nice to see someone professing a big love for the Organelle. I think it was Knobs' demo that sold me on it too - I agree that the synth sounds are not the best thing about it but everything else it does is entirely fab. I keep finding new patches and new ways to use them. My small synth recommendation (if anyone cares, and frankly why would they) would be the Modal electronics Craft Synth. It's a thing of beauty.

Not only am I geeking out about the synths you have but.. But it's the cello that's got me really intrigued.

Love this rundown of smaller synths. I don't have a lot of room, so smaller machines that do multiple things are my favourites. I'm just getting into synths at nearly 48 years old, so I'm a late starter. I started off with Novation Circuit, Circuit Mono Station and MiniNova, which are all affordable, have great sounds and both Circuits have a great interface. I recently got an Arturia Drumbrute and a Elektron Model; Cycles, and I'm learning to understand the Model; Cycles' interface (especially the way it stores patterns and pattern chaining are proving a bit difficult). I love how my little bleepy and boinky boxes complement eachother. Both sound wise and interface wise. I'm not a keyboardist and I use the internal sequencers a lot.

I got the Behringer MS-20 and TB-303 clones ordered. Fingers crossed that all goes well and I get to have fun this winter.

I learnt music with guitar and not long ago I fell into the pedal rabbit hole. Recently I’ve been very very interested in learning more about synths and found the ZOIA. If you dedicate time to learning the basics of it as a modular interface without trying to understand everything it is capable to do, I find it an amazing tool to learn about synthesis but still find it a very useful tool when intended only for fx to process your instruments/tracks with! Also having empress effects quality sound, midi I/O and patchstorage is a big big plus when looked at it and not being sure if synths are for you! 🙌🏻 Love your videos snacks! 💙

Eeee great list!! My current favourite smol bois are Volca Sample 2, the Arcade Pocket Operator, and the Reface CP. Endless jams. ✌️✌️😍

I would love to have just one of these haha. Well maybe one day. Glad to see an upload from snacks!

thanks for the video... organelle m may be in my future now... another fabulous small boi for your consideration is the Bastl Soft Pop x

minilogue XD is a beast of a small synth! it does so much and sounds epic

Awesome list of amazing hardware. I don't have a massive knowledge on synths, just love them. The Synthstrom Deluge is my personal favourite, I own the OP-1 too and want a Zoia and Organelle. Actually, I want all the hardware you showed even though my music sucks, because I love the magic boxes and the love that the engineers have poured in to them. :D

Great mini-reviews - all great/handy machines. :) cheers.

Awesome Vid! Couldn’t agree more with the synth selection, I would maybe add the elektron digitone to the list of top small synths. Thank you so much for this, love your stuff!

Thanks for mentioning the P0-33. Checking out used ones, but might just next day Brand New if I don't find a deal. Channel is awesome.

Excellent Video!!!! You are amazing!! - really really nice - Guitarist thinking of getting a Moog Werkstatt

you're the reason i started getting serious about learning & making music :) ilysm

Love this ✌🏾 Greetings from South Africa 😊

Thanks for the tour of your personal collection. Of all the hardware I've owned since the 80's, I'm glad I held onto my original Casio CZ-101. That thing still holds its own for luscious low-end. I also love buying crummy electronic musical toys in 99 cent stores and sampling/chopping them.

The 0 Coast by Make Noise. Brilliant and fun!

I absolutely fell in luv with you NEAT TAPEs music

SH-01A surprised me with how fun it is. But also I recommend that A-01 which has kind of a chiptune oscillator, which can be really raw and fun. I put the K-25 keyboard on all my Roland Boutiques - because I'm a keyboardist - and it really opened up the TB-03 for me in ways I did not expect. Best ROMpler additions to the Small Boi series: Roland JV-1010, Roland XV-2020, Korg NS-5R, Kurzweil ME-1 - if you need a small box with lots of sounds especially piano / strings / brass the Kurzweil ME-1 is the tops. But the Roland and Korg units have a much larger variety of synth sounds. Being tiny boxes, they're not great for modulating the sounds as you play, but if you want to travel light, add one of these boxes to a USB MIDI controller and it opens up a lot of musical doors.

thanks for sharing. my fave smaller synths are: Korg Monologue; Behringer Crave, Model D, TD-3, and K-2. I also use a pair of Ensoniq MR-61 workstations, and a PAiA 4700 modular... being an old synth collector, I am just now getting into midi. I appreciate your candid views- Thanks again.

hey @bad snacks, love your channel - glad your still loving the Organelle and enjoying Orac :)

My one and only hardware synth is a Novation Bass Station 2. It’s clunky yes, it feels a little cheap yes, but it sounds FANTASTIC. Super phat, really aggressive if you want it but can also be super delicate if you need that kind of sound, it’s just great. Learning curve is a little tough (I’m still learning the ins and outs), but I can recommend it just on how it sounds alone

I don't feel at all confident in my ability to learn the Zoia, but I truly wish I did. It sounds like the greatest pedal ever created, but I have so far had the hardest time following some of the videos out there. I love your channel! Keep crushing it!

Very cool recommendations! I would suggest checking out the Behringer Crave... Pretty sweet semi-modular analog synth experience.

Glad you understand magnetic fields and the slow death of equipment placed near said field, which is where your plant should be too.

Shazam! I've been searching for some new gear. Totally forgot about Reverb.com. Bam!! Before your video was over I have a new Microbrute ordered. Thank you and keep up the good tunes

My op-1 is like my child, frustrating at times, but love it to death

oh man, thank you for turning me onto Lightfoot Beats, his PO-33 video is dope

Great video and your dog is so cute! 😍 I'm a huge fan of the older Roland MC boxes, especially the 505. Haven't tried the 707 yet but it seems to offer great value for the money and might be a little easier to operate than the 101.

The minilogue XD has a desktop version that drops the keyboard and $100. Some of the boutiques have a fun option if you use Roland Cloud; they can be midi-controllers for the VST version of the synth/drum machine version of the original. MC-101s are fun as hell; just wish I didn't need an external recorder to make a track. Never messed with an OP-1, but I've been loving my OP-Z; especially after I slapped an OPlab in for midi and cv functionality. I've had a werkstatt for awhile and it's a great little single oscillator synth that is remarkably versatile; especially now that that Moog bundled the CV adaptor into the box.

Finally i found someone who loves the boutiques! Keep them coming Roland!

Awesome review. Subscribed!

Definitely a vote for the Korg NTS-1. You can run audio in through the FX!

My fav small synth is the P6 form French company Audiothingies (now replaced by the MicroMonsta). It's like a Boutique or Reface, but does not set out to emulate any specific synth, but rather has features (and quirks) of its own, it sounds great, probably one of the most analogue sounding digital gear I've come across. Super nice user interface makes it a very inviting device.

My vote is for the Korg Volca series. They are cheap, very small, battery powered, have excellent sound quality, a very intuitive sequencer, parameter locking, and live recording. I've got 4 and at this rate, I will probably get more. I love them all!

Thanks for sharing! I've gone more the way of the soft synths like the Novation Mininova and planning to get a Waldorf Blofeld at some point. These seem nice and all but idk. That Werkstatt-01 seems really interesting though! PS You are so lovely, from your immense talents to your fingernails. 😊

love synths, only have one lonely volca here with no midi keys to trigger lol! i like the rack mount in the background and the plant on scarlett LOL!

Nice review, thank you

Flip the knob is a good song title. Cheers and I agree with boutique models, scored a 2nd hand SE-02 and Werkstatt for an unreal price. Cheers and slide the knob.

Great video! I like the boutique series as well. I got a JP08, JX03 and TB03... and am thinking about maybe getting an SE02 (had a tinker with one, and it sounded pretty beefcake!) My favourite small boi synth has to be the Synthstrom Deluge though! He's a small boi, but he acts like a real big boi

I'm a guitarist and was very intimidated by synths for years but gained some interest during quarantine as I was learning to record at home. My first was a Korg Volca Keys and would absolutely recommend it for a beginner. Obviously for playing it's a little different with the touch keyboard but it was perfect for understanding how VC and LFO's work. I'm now obsessed with synthesizers and added a Roland GAIA and Elektron Model:Samples.

Moog Subharmonicon is my favorite small synth. It lets you improvise with minimalism. I just put together my Werkstatt and I'm looking forward to pairing it with Subharmonicon. Digitakt and Erica Synths Bassline DB01 are also really neat. The randomize function on Bassline is really musical.

This whole video literally was my whole Guitarguitar wish list :D

Yamaha Reface CS gotta be the best synth I've ever tried. I don't know, there's just something about it. An aura or something. And man, that thing sounds like a neon universe from the late 70s. Such warm sounds.

Thanks for including the Werkstatt!

You made me get an organelle last year ...and I’m happier.....effects ...everything is so lofi lush organic....🌌 I exchanged the meris bass synth, for the ZOIA, but i need to put more time into patching

I also recommend (and own) the Roland JD-Xi, which also has many of the classic Roland synth and drum sounds PLUS a true analog monosynth AND a keyboard. It's about the same price as the MC-101.

Awesome vid! I use the Kong wavestate and love it

I'm pretty new to the game, but I'm a huge fan of the first synth I purchased. The Arturia Microbrute. Honestly, I'd put it up against any other in terms of friendly UI, each knob only handles one parameter and the patch bay is a nice touch that adds some great connectivity. I know some people don't like the sound as much, but for the price you can easily add a nice reverb or multi-effects pedal and still come well under $400. 100% would recommend!

I've got the microKorg S and the Roland Boutique D-05, both are awesome. My other synths all come with 61 key full size keyboards.

That bonk jump cut was super funny lol

Thanks for your videos they are always amazing. My favorite small synths that I own are the Dreadbox Typhon, Elektron Model Cycles and the freak PO Arcade, and Yamaha Reface CS while been not perfect by any mean, sometimes you get a sound and you are like "are you the same boy that 15 minutes ago?". I am about to get the organelle just now it seems like a very helpfull machine.

I feel like your demo on the Werkstatt really highlighted what the Organelle is missing, such huge sounds from that lil thing

Your vids are very helpful thank you!

I have to say, I've been interested in the organelle for a while. I've been making music for a long time now (+20 years) and things like the ones you said about end quality of the bass tones and the FX made me rethink about the machine. I love the possibilities PD brings but I imagined it'd have this kind of digital sound to it, where the high frequencies are just off. I'm probably wrong but certain words bring certain thoughts.

My smol boi is the Moog DFAM. Bought it while on holidays a couple of years ago. A remarkable instrument. My only (pretty small) complaint is that it lacks a sequencer reset

My guitar player in the band has the Zoia on his pedal board and its amazing. Its not the easiest to use right away, but it sounds absolutely amazing.

favorite small synths (aka synths to pair with MC-707): DSI Tetra - super capablе one Novation Circuit Mono Station - super cool one to perform live IK Uno Synth - the one that just works Waldorf Rocket - super cool one to tweak MAM MB-33 Retro - the smallest of acid machines, but it rocks

You are wonderful!

I'd say my favorite smol bois are the Microbrute (had mine for like 5 years and don't plan on getting rid of it anytime soon) and the Digitakt. Oh man the Digitakt. That thing fits into the 'anything you want' category so well. 8 track midi controller, drum machine, sample based synthesis. The thing is nuts. It has been the brains of my setup for a few years now and I love it. So yeah Microbrute for ease of use, simplicity, and also being a great stepping stone into modular; Digitakt if your ready to dive deep. Great video too! 🎹😎🎹

Had no idea you had a zoia! The user interface overwhelmed me so much I just went with the organelle hahaha.

Liking the new spot!

My favourite smol boi is your sneezy dog, he's adorable!

Fantastic channel

Awesome list! I've got two of what you presented myself :)

Great list! Coincidentally, I saw BoBeats Minilogue 4 years after review as well as the Minilogue VS XD comparison and I've definitely got my eye on it to get started on synthesis. Will finish paying off and master my MicroFreak and AFX Station first though :)

Nice list. Can’t wait for that Zoia Euroburo to finally arrive!

Best small synth... without doubt, Roland sh01a... so versatile

great content! i love my minilogue!

A great first synth when you are on a budget is the modal craftsynth v2.0. It costs 130 bucks, runs on batteries (making patches on the go, woohoo), it fits in any backpack and sounds surprisingly good for this small size. It's a 2 osc mono wavetable synth with chord modes and a delay. Might be even a worthy addition to a big studio if you want to add a different sounding wavetablesynth to your setup and safe some space or just have something ultra portable... Perhaps you noticed how much I love this thing:)

Informative and entertaining that's what we want from our YT videos. And a pleasure to spend a few minutes in your company😊

Yes, Microkorg, the older one. I have it and its great. Even has an OK vocoder.

Nice collection) I've tried to build my own small setup, started and ended on Lyra-8 :)

I love my Arturia Micro Brute. For a single oscillator analog synth they are packed with features. With a built in sequencer you can lay down some fat bass tracks. All for between 250 and 300 dollars

Yay! Glad to see you on RU-vid :D

Hay bad snacks, you have some nice toys. Back in the 80s, I had a DX7, Juno, 808, and a crappy portastudio, although I thought it rocked. Now I'm retired I just have my bass and a Nektar Panorama T6 and everything else in the box. Sending love.

The Elektron Digitone is a smol boi to be reckoned with. The sequencer is bananas and it has SO MANY Good sounds in it. It's crazy. And it's portable AF.

The boutique series is great, im just kind over the 1/8th inch though. love the pocket operators though!