i think is time for my first synth! but i dont know anything about them
im about to finish my Ableton tutorials (youtube tutorials) and i feel pretty confident and comfortable with the program, but i WANT A SYNTH!!!! ive been producing short tracks but i feel like a nice synth touch to some of them would be great, love the sound of the synthesisers but my knowledge about them is minimal. ssooooo, i was wondering if any of you could give me a small introduction, and some experiences or advices...etc. my budget is really limited, about 200 dollars, i know is not much but i have to start with sth isnt?

Honestly, you can do almost anything with the native synths if you have Suite; in which case that $200 may be better spent in some other area of your studio. If you can think of a specific sound you are going for, feel free to ask on here any methods you can use to create it. With a bit of practice, you can get a lot out of the native synths....

With $200 you are probably best with getting a midi controller keyboard and then using a software synth. I agree with Simteks that if you have Ableton Suite you have Operator, Tension and Analog... all very powerful.

Look at these:

http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=midi+controller+keyboard

Personally I would be trying more the Korgs and Akais... Or Roland if they have anything (not sure)... Because I've had luck with those brands. I would stay away from M-Audio, Yamaha, Casio myself in that price range.

Go to guitar center, try out some models. The weight on the keys/knobs/pads/sliders is gonna be different for all of em, you need to get a comfortable one. You may be able to find it on craigslist for cheaper though, whichever model you select, so look there as well. If you don't have a good software synth there are plenty of free ones like Super P8 and TAL-Bassline... check kvraudio.com for VST plugins.

well, i got a Oxygen 49 and ive been using tension analog and operator but i sounds to...normal, for me. Im looking for that old school sound, nothing perfect, i dont like perfection...you know what i mean?

ive seen things like Massive by NI, is quite famous but i dont know if i want that kind of sound.

what kind of synth / VST / sofware synth do you use?

Myself, I use Operator, Massive, Tension, Synplant, Sampler, and just fuck with audio clips naked. Oh I mean naked audio clips. But sometimes I am also naked.

Old school analog synths are awesome, but it's gonna be hard if not impossible to get one under $200. They're kind of collectors items, and the good ones are $1-2k+ new.

There are a LOT of good sampled sounds out of old analog boxes free on the net. Tons of 808 and 909 kits. Ableton Suite even has the classic 808 hats (open and closed) and cowbell, as well as a couple 909 kits in the Drum Rack presets. I think its in the base kit but it may be part of the Extended Instruments Collection they let you download. But if you hear 909 or 808 drums in my tunes, its out of a drum kit Ableton provides. And IMO the hits sound exactly the same.

What I personally do is use a lot of software that is made to fake analog sounds. Ableton's AMP is surprisingly good. Saturator is another good one, low amounts of vinyl distortion or crackle will help. PSP Vintage Warmer is very popular, but expensive. Camelphat has a good harmonic distortion and tube distortion which also helps. Camelcrusher is a great free alternative. Even a low volume white noise added can sometimes be a OK approximation depending on the mix.

Since you have Sampler and Ableton and Suite, you can try dropping your bit rate to 12 bit to get an old school hip hop sound. 2 ways to do this - Sampler has a bit rate right on the front, I think, so if you freeze/flatten or export you can drag your sample in to Sampler and drop the bit rate there, I think its on the front but you may have to click around the tabs to find it. Then I usually use GTune (free tuner vst) to tune the sample and play it on my keyboard.

The other option is easier but grittier - drop a Redux at the end of your chain and set it to "12bit".

The trick about using the native synths is to build racks with them. You can build the equivalent of many software synths out there with a bit of work. Software wise my favorite that I have used is Albino. I am just a fan of the workflow and am comfortable making a wide array of sounds in it. I never played with Massive much, though it is pretty ubiquitous in a lot of music today. I have heard awesome things about FM8 as well. Not sure exactly what classis sound you want but TAL Audio has a good Juno synth that has a lot of old school character and is free to boot. Kvraudio is definitely a great place to research synths, everything is pretty well reviewed and there are links to a lot of demos, etc.

If you really must buy a software synth, I would swing for Camel Audio's Alchemy. It's super versatile. you can load samples into it and do basic granular synthesis (or is it resynthesis?). You can draw and play your own spectral data. It does virtual analog and additive synthesis too (although the additive engine isn't my favorite).

In terms of modulation options, there's lfo's of many types, ADHSR envelopes, MSEG envelopes... vector (xy pads), and a performer.

Its 250 I believe? So it's slightly more money than the budget you suggested, but if you can save 50 more it's one of the most baller synths.

If i could afford an entry level analog synth i'd get the microkorg, but i think new they're $399. Check craigslist though, Ive seen them drop down to $250 for a slightly used one.

I agree with deek here. Alchemy is awesome! You should also look into U-he Zebra. That is my personal fav and I think it is around 200 as well. So both are great options.

You can find hardware gems on craigslist at the right time of night. Waldorf Blofelds sometimes go for around 250-300 and as deek said microkorg is in the same range. My only complaint with the microkorg is the size of the keys. I have tiny hands like a circus folk, but even with that the keys seem a bit small.

for 200 i'd either cop u-HE zebra or scrounge up another nill and buy Komplete 7 used.

what about the Korg monotribe? is about 200 dollars, any good?

or the Akai Miniak?

Anyway,last night i found myself creating some interesting stuff with the ableton synths. is true, i think a need to go a litte bit deeper into them, it seems like there is an infinity of sounds

but i still want that synth feeling, i want to feel it and operate it with my hands!!! funkin anxiety