Although unfortunately analog synthesizers continue to become more “rare” as synthesizer VST continue to be created and fine-tuned, there are still some amazing pieces of gear in the synth world that are more than worth the buy. We’ve outlined quite a few different synthesizer price ranges (such as synths under $500), this particular range of $1,000 or less seemed to be worth writing a guide for as it’s a price-range we’ve targeted when we were in the mood for a synth that was not only affordable, but brought us the power we were truly looking for. Here are some of our favorite synthesizers under $1,000 below.
The Best Synthesizers for Under $1,000
Roland JUNO-DS61
The Roland JUNO-DS61 is one of our favorite synthesizers for under $1,000, and is a professional and powerful 61 key synthesizer that comes with a quality sound, full of features and a very good price. It notably has an eight track sequencer, hands-on controls, sample trigger pads mic input and wave expansion slot for adding new sounds. We have some nice sounding organs, pianos, phrase pads, vox FX and downloadable free sounds (up to 1,000) all loaded via USB.
On top of that however and what we love most, are the controls for patch-building yourself (even real-time). The 76 velocity-sensitive keys don’t hurt, either. That ‘Juno’ name alone should scream “buy me”, considering they’ve been around for decades and are all considered classics in the synthesizer game.
Moog Grandmother
Can’t have a synth guide with a Moog model in it, especially in this price-range. The Moog Grandmother is a semi-modular, monophonic 32 velocity sensitive Fatar key analog synthesizer. It features a built-in arpeggiator, sequencer and a built-in spring reverb tank for creating a unique reverberation effect.
For just under $1000, you can create sound without the need for patching on this one as well. It also comes with 2 oscillators, a modulation wheel, variable glide, pitch bend wheel, 256 steps sequencer and analog ADSR envelope generator with fader. A little smaller when it comes to key size, but if you can get past that, we’re hit with a nice one here.
Behringer DeepMind 12
This synthesizer can hold up to 12 voices per note for fat tones. The Behringer d 12 is full of features including two analog oscillators, noise generator, eight bus modulation matrix, three ADSR envelopes, 32 step sequencer, two LFOs per voice and 4 digital FX engines.
It also comes with a built-in Wi-Fi, clear LCD display (with encoder), unison mode with a detune fader, sliders, and buttons for navigation. The Behringer Deep Mind 12 is a reliable polyphonic synthesizer with 49 after-touch keys that has a lot of user reviews to back up it’s reputation as reliable and powerful.
Korg ARP Odyssey
The Korg ARP Odyssey is a professional duophonic analog Synthesizer that has a powerful sound and a price tag of less than $1,000. This professional, versatile synthesizer features 37 Slimkey notes, frequency range of 16 Hz – 16 kHz and a dynamic range of 80dB.
It has a digital ring modulator; sample & hold, noise generator, 3 pressure sensitive buttons (pitch control pads and modulation pad), ADSR and AR envelope generator, voltage control amplifier, lowpass filter, 2 VCOs and portamento speed control.
Waldorf Pulse 2
This baby doesn’t have any keys, but if you’re cool without them it has three analog oscillators and a Cascadian filter, one noise generator, large backlit LCD display, eight knobs, arpeggiator, USB, Electron absorbing black metal case and an 8-slot modulation matrix.
The Pulse 2 also notably features filter circuits that give 12db high pass and band pass modes, ring modulation, analog filter FM, 500 sound presets (editable), and XOR OSC mode and paraphonic modes that permits up to 8 voice chords. This synthesizer is backward compatible with classic pulse. The Waldarf Pulse 2 is another monophonic analog module style synthesizer that hits our $1,000 or less price range.
ASM Hydrasynth
The ASM Hydrasynth Desktop is an 8-voice polyphonic wave morphing synthesizer with 24 RGB aftertouch pads. This synthesizer has three oscillator per voice offering 219 different waveforms, a lot of modulation options, eight insert effects, eight macro controls, four mutators, many different unique features and amazingly under $1000.
We love the analog modeling, and the oscillators 1 and 2 hold a wave scanning feature that lets the user scan through hundreds of waveshapes, extreme sound shaping with multiple synthesis methods like wavetable, WavePWM, linear FM, etc., 32-slot modulation matrix and five ADSR envelope generators, 5 LFOs per voice and powerful arpeggiator with 8 modes. Another one of our favorite picks as the best synthesizer under $1,000.
Elektron Digitone
Last but not least, this synthesizer under $1,000 comes with OLED screen and 512 factory sounds. The Digitone has multiple FM algorithms, two assignable LFOs per voice, multiple FM algorithm, one arpeggiator per track, four synth track with four operator synth engine each with eight algorithms,
We love the built-in send effects (Saturator Delay, reverb, panoramic chorus, etc.) and you can also use the 4 MIDI tracks, built-in overdrive master effect, and sequencing with parameter locking. The sequencer is intricate because it supports micro timing adjustments for spicing up sequences and it’s over bridge enabled. The Elektron Digitone is an 8-voice polyphonic digital synthesizer just under $1,000 we love to end our guide with.
Concluding The Best Under $1,000 Synthesizers
A synthesizer is an electronic musical instrument that can copy and make the sound of nearly any kind of musical instrument such as keys, pads, strings, guitars, drums, etc., or allow us to create our own unique sounds without relying on an external interface or software. This process can be done either through subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis, or frequency modulation synthesis. So, even with the modern technology in the music world, synthesizers are in demand and are needed to produce different styles of music.
Nothing beats having that analog synth at our fingertips. Having said that, these can be very expensive. So, we have compiled below some of the best professional synthesizers that have good features and are for $1000 or less above. We hope the list helped and of course, let us know in the comments if you have any critiques or questions!
