Recommendation for a Synth

[Mannas]

I'm loooking at buying a hardware synth. I'm not sure what would be a good idea. I've been looking at the Novation X-Station or the Alesis Micron or the Korg Micro-X or MicroKorg. I do alot of hip-hop and r&b stuff. I am looking for some lead type sounds as well as pads and a few bass sounds. Any recommendation between these? I'm trying to stay away from software because I haven't liked the sounds of any that I've tried.

One final question. Are synths generally the same and just differ by their editing parameters? Like if I start with a sine wave from one and one from the other do they start the same, and could I make the same finished sound on both as well?

[brooklynmusic]

Oh boy. You just opened pandora's box. You are going to find that this question is going to be all about taste. Where some people may wind up agreeing on certain synths.

A true synth has no sounds to it at all. But gives you the ability to create whatever you want it to sound like. So your recommendations are going to be on what others prefer basically due to the stock sounds that have come with the synth.

My little suggestion is to stop by you local gear store and have them let you play with each one for a while and see where YOU fall!