Best Synth Gifts Under $100: 5 Fun Synthy Stocking Stuffers
Cheap and cheery gift ideas from Korg, Behringer, Bjooks, and more!
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Watch them break into a smile without having to break the bank with these five best synth gifts under $100.
Best Synth Gifts Under $100
Contrary to popular belief, not everything associated with synthesizers has to be expensive. In my last synth gift guide, I listed five that – while not overly pricey – you still couldn’t call cheap. However, today’s mission is to give you some options that are wallet-friendly no matter how you cut it. In fact, they’re all less than $100.
These gifts range from Eurorack and analog synth accessories to a book to a full-on synthesizer. Yes, for under $100. It’s a wild world we live in now.
Make your synth-loving loved one happy with these five best synth gifts under $100.
Best Synth Gifts Under $100: Bjooks The Minimoog Book
The Moog Minimoog may not be the first synthesizer, but it is the one that most everyone knows – even non-synth nerds. And because it was first released way back in 1970 and has been used by pretty much everyone in the music industry, it has a deep and very storied history.
Synth-loving coffee table book publisher Bjooks has dedicated its latest book entirely to the groundbreaking instrument. Called (appropriately enough) The Minimoog Book, it’s a massive tome chock full of stories, interviews with famous musicians like Keith Emerson, Rick Wakeman, and Chick Corea, plus plenty of photos of the legendary synthesizer.
Even if your loved one has just a passing interest in synthesizers, they’re sure to find something wonderful in these pages, making it one of the best synth gifts under $100.
- Bjooks The Minimoog Book product page
Best Synth Gifts Under $100: Gammalite Systems Nest Tamers
There are two main kinds of synthesizers: the keyboard kind and the modular kind. Modular synths come as separate units that you collect as needed and slot into cases. To make connections between the modules, you use cables. The more modules you have, the more cables you need. You may have even seen it: massive nests of cables bursting from the panels like long hair in a windy day.
Some people like this messiness but others, not so much. If you have a modular synth enthusiast in your life who also prefers things to be neat and tidy, I have the perfect gift recommendation: Gammalite Systems Nest Tamers. These little clips screw onto the panels of the modules and serve to hold the cables out of the way so the synthesist can get at the knobs and other controls. Simple and oh so handy.
Gammalite Systems Nest Tamers come in packs of 20 and are available from independent modular retailers. Follow the link below to find a store near you.
- Gammalite Systems Nest Tamers product page
Best Synth Gifts Under $100: Analogue Solutions LED CV Cables
Speaking of patch cables, they’re something that modular synth owners can never have enough of. But rather than getting them some plain cables, why not get them ones with little LED lights built in?
Synthesizer company Analogue Solutions makes LED CV Cables with lights right inside that glow red or green when an electrical signal passes through them. How Christmasy!
The LED CV Cables are available in four lengths, 30cm, 60cm, 90cm and 150cm. According to Analogue Solutions, they’re more than just pretty. They show the user where signal is flowing – useful when working with a complex patch – and help you see in the dark, as on a stage. Surely one of the best synth gifts under $100.
- Analogue Solutions LED CV Cables product page
Best Synth Gifts Under $100: Behringer JT-4000M Micro
So far we’ve looked at synth-related items. Synth-adjacent, if you will. However, you can get actual synthesizers for less than $100 these days. Incredible and true.
The Behringer JT-4000M Micro (as the name implies) is a tiny synthesizer that packs a lot of power inside its mini innards. It sounds like a synth from the ‘90s and has two digital oscillators, an analog filter, an arpeggiator and MIDI so they can play it from an external keyboard. It also has a touch-sensitive keypad on board too.
Does your synth buddy like ‘90s electronic music, particularly trance? If so, this is perfect for them. Or you!
- Behringer JT-4000M Micro product page
Best Synth Gifts Under $100: Korg ST1K Synthesizer Tuner
Most tuners are aimed at guitar players. However, some synthesizers need to be tuned too. Analog synths, especially older ones, can be temperamental and may go out of tune due to changes in temperature and humidity. Some take a while to warm up and get in tune also. That’s why Korg – the company that invented the portable tuner – made the ST1K, a tuner aimed synth players.
The Korg ST1K features a number of synth-specific features, including the ability to handle high voltage levels and ultra-precise tuning down to +/- 0.1 cents. It also looks really cool, with a 3D visual display capable of showing tuning information in three different ways.
If your synth loved one has modular gear or old synths from the 1970s, they’ll love the ST1K, one of the best synth gifts under $100.
- Korg ST1K product page
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2 responses to “Best Synth Gifts Under $100: 5 Fun Synthy Stocking Stuffers ”
For these I need $99.50, can anyone help?
Thanks,
50 Cent
What a creative list for friends and family of the music techo-tragic.
Now I’m considering the Behringer JT-4000M Micro for my grandkids with autism. I think they’ll like the ability to create and change sounds in real time.