Best General Synthesizers 2026
Top-rated general synthesizers 2026 - expert picks for every budget and skill level
Last updated: January 14, 2026 • Next update: January 21, 2026
#1
⭐
4.8/5
(6 reviews)
Sound:
8/10
Build:
8/10
Value:
6/10
Pittsburgh Modular Voltage Lab 2
Ambient
Rock
Film Score
Key Feature:
• Versatile for multiple music styles
✓ PROS
- • Good all-around synthesis capability
- • Suitable for both studio and live use
✗ CONS
- • May not excel at specific synthesis methods
- • Jack of all trades, master of none
Pittsburgh Modular Voltage Lab 2Modular Analogue SynthesiserFully modular synthesiser in Eurorack format with 101 patch...
⭐
4.8/5
(6 reviews)
Sound:
8/10
Build:
8/10
Value:
6/10
Art. 591951
$2,309
#2
⭐
4.5/5
(32 reviews)
Sound:
10/10
Build:
8/10
Value:
6/10
Melbourne Instruments Delia
Ambient
Electronic
Pop
Key Feature:
• Suitable for both studio and live use
✓ PROS
- • Often includes preset banks
- • Wide variety of synthesizer sounds
✗ CONS
- • Sound quality may vary across different types
- • Jack of all trades, master of none
Melbourne Instruments DeliaMotorised Morphing Polyphonic SynthesiserMotorised controls for all parameters enable...
⭐
4.5/5
(32 reviews)
Sound:
10/10
Build:
8/10
Value:
6/10
Art. 594864
$2,968
#3
⭐
4.6/5
(52 reviews)
Sound:
8/10
Build:
8/10
Value:
8/10
Manikin-Electronic Memotron M2K
Rock
Ambient
Sound Design
Key Feature:
• Wide variety of synthesizer sounds
✓ PROS
- • Suitable for both studio and live use
- • Good all-around synthesis capability
✗ CONS
- • May lack specialization in any one area
- • Sound quality may vary across different types
Manikin-Electronic Memotron M2KSynthesiserRecreated keybord by the legendary M40037-Key Fatar keyboard (light...
⭐
4.6/5
(52 reviews)
Sound:
8/10
Build:
8/10
Value:
8/10
Art. 385222
$1,748
#4
⭐
4.5/5
(48 reviews)
Sound:
8/10
Build:
10/10
Value:
6/10
Pittsburgh Modular Taiga Keyboard
Film Score
Electronic
Pop
Key Feature:
• Wide variety of synthesizer sounds
✓ PROS
- • Good all-around synthesis capability
- • Wide variety of synthesizer sounds
✗ CONS
- • Sound quality may vary across different types
- • Can be overwhelming with too many options
Pittsburgh Modular Taiga KeyboardSemi Modular Paraphonic Analogue Synthesiser37-Key keyboard with aftertouch24 HP for...
⭐
4.5/5
(48 reviews)
Sound:
8/10
Build:
10/10
Value:
6/10
Art. 586597
$1,429
#5
⭐
4.9/5
(51 reviews)
Sound:
8/10
Build:
8/10
Value:
8/10
AKAI Professional MPC Key 37
Rock
Electronic
Sound Design
Key Feature:
• Wide variety of synthesizer sounds
✓ PROS
- • Wide variety of synthesizer sounds
- • Versatile for multiple music styles
✗ CONS
- • Sound quality may vary across different types
- • May not excel at specific synthesis methods
AKAI Professional MPC Key 37Standalone MPC synthesiser keyboard37 Lightly weight keysvelocity sensitive and with...
⭐
4.9/5
(51 reviews)
Sound:
8/10
Build:
8/10
Value:
8/10
Art. 584578
$846
#6
⭐
4.8/5
(37 reviews)
Sound:
9/10
Build:
9/10
Value:
7/10
Teenage Engineering OP-1 field
Rock
Sound Design
Electronic
Key Feature:
• Often includes preset banks
✓ PROS
- • Suitable for both studio and live use
- • Good all-around synthesis capability
✗ CONS
- • Sound quality may vary across different types
- • Jack of all trades, master of none
Teenage Engineering OP-1 fieldDesktop Synthesizer4 Modes: synthdrumtape and mixerStereo sample engine7 Stereo...
⭐
4.8/5
(37 reviews)
Sound:
9/10
Build:
9/10
Value:
7/10
Art. 544439
$2,079
#7
⭐
4.7/5
(7 reviews)
Sound:
9/10
Build:
8/10
Value:
7/10
Groove Synthesis 3rd Wave
Pop
Electronic
Ambient
Key Feature:
• Wide variety of synthesizer sounds
✓ PROS
- • Good all-around synthesis capability
- • Wide variety of synthesizer sounds
✗ CONS
- • May not excel at specific synthesis methods
- • May lack specialization in any one area
Groove Synthesis 3rd WaveHybrid Wavetable Synthesizer24-Voice polyphonic4-Part multitimbral3 Digital oscillators per...
⭐
4.7/5
(7 reviews)
Sound:
9/10
Build:
8/10
Value:
7/10
Art. 572682
$6,269
#8
⭐
4.8/5
(36 reviews)
Sound:
8/10
Build:
10/10
Value:
8/10
Clavia Nord Lead A1
by
Clavia Nord
Sound Design
Rock
Ambient
Key Feature:
• Suitable for both studio and live use
✓ PROS
- • Suitable for both studio and live use
- • Wide variety of synthesizer sounds
✗ CONS
- • Can be overwhelming with too many options
- • May not excel at specific synthesis methods
Clavia Nord Lead A149 Key Synthesizer with Analogue Modelling Sound GeneratorVelocity-sensitive keys with octave shift...
⭐
4.8/5
(36 reviews)
Sound:
8/10
Build:
10/10
Value:
8/10
Art. 338756
$1,649
#9
⭐
4.4/5
(22 reviews)
Sound:
10/10
Build:
10/10
Value:
7/10
UDO Audio Super 6 Blue
by
UDO Audio
Film Score
Ambient
Sound Design
Key Feature:
• Good all-around synthesis capability
✓ PROS
- • Versatile for multiple music styles
- • Wide variety of synthesizer sounds
✗ CONS
- • Can be overwhelming with too many options
- • Sound quality may vary across different types
UDO Audio Super 6 Blue12 Voice Polyphonic Analogue Hybrid SynthesiserBinaural analogue signal path2 Digital oscillators...
⭐
4.4/5
(22 reviews)
Sound:
10/10
Build:
10/10
Value:
7/10
Art. 471402
$2,849
#10
⭐
4.6/5
(54 reviews)
Sound:
9/10
Build:
9/10
Value:
8/10
Mellotron M4000D Mini
by
Mellotron
Ambient
Electronic
Film Score
Key Feature:
• Suitable for both studio and live use
✓ PROS
- • Often includes preset banks
- • Suitable for both studio and live use
✗ CONS
- • Sound quality may vary across different types
- • May not excel at specific synthesis methods
Mellotron M4000D MiniSynthesiserVelocity sensitive semi-weighted Fatar keyboardLCD display100 Mellotron and Chamberlin...
⭐
4.6/5
(54 reviews)
Sound:
9/10
Build:
9/10
Value:
8/10
Art. 314945
$2,199
#11
⭐
4.9/5
(46 reviews)
Sound:
8/10
Build:
8/10
Value:
6/10
Sequential Prophet 10 Special Edition
by
Sequential
Ambient
Sound Design
Film Score
Key Feature:
• Versatile for multiple music styles
✓ PROS
- • Suitable for both studio and live use
- • Versatile for multiple music styles
✗ CONS
- • Jack of all trades, master of none
- • Sound quality may vary across different types
Sequential Prophet 10 Special Edition10-Voice Polyphonic Analogue SynthesizerLimited special version in lacewood...
⭐
4.9/5
(46 reviews)
Sound:
8/10
Build:
8/10
Value:
6/10
Art. 601188
$5,489
#12
⭐
4.6/5
(26 reviews)
Sound:
8/10
Build:
7/10
Value:
7/10
Behringer Vocoder VC340
by
Behringer
Electronic
Film Score
Ambient
Key Feature:
• Suitable for both studio and live use
✓ PROS
- • Suitable for both studio and live use
- • Good all-around synthesis capability
✗ CONS
- • Jack of all trades, master of none
- • Can be overwhelming with too many options
Behringer Vocoder VC340VocoderAnalogue vocoder and string ensemble synthesiserKeyboard with 37 semi-weighted and...
⭐
4.6/5
(26 reviews)
Sound:
8/10
Build:
7/10
Value:
7/10
Art. 458341
$450
#13
⭐
4.9/5
(2 reviews)
Sound:
8/10
Build:
9/10
Value:
7/10
Sequential Trigon-6
by
Sequential
Pop
Ambient
Rock
Key Feature:
• Suitable for both studio and live use
✓ PROS
- • Wide variety of synthesizer sounds
- • Versatile for multiple music styles
✗ CONS
- • May lack specialization in any one area
- • May not excel at specific synthesis methods
Sequential Trigon-6Analogue Synthesizer6-Voice polyphonic4 Octave semi-weighted keyboard with 49 keysvelocity sensitive...
⭐
4.9/5
(2 reviews)
Sound:
8/10
Build:
9/10
Value:
7/10
Art. 555076
$3,662
#14
⭐
4.8/5
(19 reviews)
Sound:
10/10
Build:
9/10
Value:
7/10
Roland Juno-D6
by
Roland
Film Score
Sound Design
Electronic
Key Feature:
• Suitable for both studio and live use
✓ PROS
- • Good all-around synthesis capability
- • Versatile for multiple music styles
✗ CONS
- • Jack of all trades, master of none
- • Sound quality may vary across different types
Roland Juno-D6Synthesizer61 Velocity-sensitive keys128 Voice polyphony8 PartsZEN-Core sound engine with more than 3800...
⭐
4.8/5
(19 reviews)
Sound:
10/10
Build:
9/10
Value:
7/10
Art. 600079
$1,044
#15
⭐
4.5/5
(46 reviews)
Sound:
10/10
Build:
10/10
Value:
7/10
Sonicware ELZ_1 play Black
by
Sonicware
Pop
Rock
Sound Design
Key Feature:
• Often includes preset banks
✓ PROS
- • Good all-around synthesis capability
- • Versatile for multiple music styles
✗ CONS
- • Jack of all trades, master of none
- • May not excel at specific synthesis methods
Sonicware ELZ_1 play BlackCompact Synthesiser with LooperLimited Edition17 Synth enginesincluding low-bitgranular and...
⭐
4.5/5
(46 reviews)
Sound:
10/10
Build:
10/10
Value:
7/10
Art. 604370
$802
How to Choose the Best General Synthesizers
Budget Planning
- • Under $200: Entry-level
- • $200-$500: Intermediate
- • $500-$1000: Advanced
- • $1000+: Professional
Quality Check
- • Sound clarity & tone
- • Build materials & finish
- • Hardware durability
- • Overall craftsmanship
Key Features
- • Your musical style
- • Skill level match
- • Intended use case
- • Brand reputation
Frequently Asked Questions
Key factors include build quality, sound characteristics, playability, brand reputation, warranty coverage, and value for money. Consider your musical style, skill level, and intended use to find the best match.
Budget depends on your needs and experience level. Beginners can find quality options for $200-500, intermediate players should consider $500-1500 range, while professionals often invest $1500+ for premium features.
Higher-priced general synthesizers typically offer better materials, craftsmanship, and performance. They're worth it if you're serious about music, perform regularly, or need professional-grade features.
Top brands combine quality, innovation, and reliability. We evaluate brands based on build quality, sound performance, durability, and customer satisfaction to recommend the best options for different budgets.
Both have advantages. Online offers better prices and selection, while stores allow hands-on testing. We recommend researching online first, then testing in stores if possible. Many online retailers offer excellent return policies.
