Summer sales are on, and even with more trade tariff uncertainty looming in the USA, that includes some surprising cut-rate deals on hardware synths. Here’s your guide to some favorites, including a great mini keyboard/Moog soft synth bundle.
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Akai MPK mini with Moog Mariana
This is a deal you might be able to snag even without buying anything new. If you buy an MPK Mini Mk3, you get a copy of Moog’s awesome Mariana synth, the Moog soft synth with a heavy low-end. But if you have that keyboard already and didn’t already register the software bundle, you can follow the same instructions.
The MPK mini Mk3 is a surprisingly versatile little keyboard, complete with decent pads and encoders and a pitch/mod joystick and other features. I always had a soft spot for this line. You can also get it in some fun colors, depending on which retailer:
MPK Mini Mk3 limited edition white — $99 from Sweetwater
MPK Mini Mk3 red (with all-black keyboard) — $99 from Guitar Center (Guitar Center exclusive)
MPK mini mk3 in all-black – Thomann for 89EUR — or Perfect Circuit, Sweetwater
Or get the ordinary-colored one, but that’s not as much fun.
My review of the Moog synth:
Synth deals
Sequential’s awesome Take 5 synth is $1299 now at Sweetwater and Guitar Center — $400 off, meaning you can get the one with the keyboard for about the same price as the sound module.
But you want something more classic? Well, the Prophet-10 Desktop Module, one of Dave Smith’s all-time greats, is $2499 ($900 off) at Guitar Center. And the brilliant Prophet Rev2 with keyboard is $2559.99 at Perfect Circuit.
Akai MPC One+ is 666 € at Thomann; hail, Satan! … and on sale at Perfect Circuit, too, including some used stock
Moog Messenger is really affordable generally — in stock for $899 from Perfect Circuit, for instance. But it’s especially great to finally see a Moog synth that’s inexpensive here in Europe — 799 € from Thomann.
I got to walk through this synth with its lead from Moog:
Gear deals
Roland SP-404MKII for $499 is a heck of a deal from Guitar Center. And that hardware has seen a ton of updates, too.
Titop Audio’s innovative polyphonic Eurorack system is now available at steeply discounted pricing – $945 for the full S1 ART set is a pretty good leg up on a whole system. S2 is $999. (both from Perfect Circuit)
Focusrite audio interfaces are on sale, like the excellent 3rd-gen Scarlett 2i2 for 119 € at Thomann
Teenage Engineering’s PO-12 Pocket Operator is $59 at Perfect Circuit. That’s impulse buy-ish.
Yamaha’s cute little Seqtrak is down to $349 at Sweetwater; that’s 299€ at Thomann in black or orange/gray. People I know who’ve played this one really love it.
You can’t go wrong with the Sennheiser HD-25 for DJing and mixing tasks; the “Light” edition is close to the more expensive models and it’s down to $80 for August at Sweetwater. That’s as cheap as I’ve ever seen these.
Now if you do want the fancier headband (it can be more comfortable) and the soft pads (they definitely are), I love that Thomann’s comes in this blue color. That makes them harder to lose and harder to confuse with everyone else’s HD-25s. 115 € on sale now on Thomann.
Those are the best deals I could find. But if you can do better, let us know! Winter is coming to the northern hemisphere.