Korg MS-20 mini

In overall, an excellent synth. I use it both in the studio and live performances.

Pros:
legendary ms20 analogue sound
portability (smaller than original, easier to carry)
sturdiness (mine traveled a bit and even fell down one time, no problems so far)
a lot of features, thanks to patch panel and external audio module
price

Cons:
wobbly knobs
minikeys
a bit noisy sound

While some don't like minikeys I personally don't find them as bad as some claim they are. Of course they're not as comfortable as full sized keys, but still perfectly playable. Especially taking in account it's a mono synth and you probably won't use both hands. The sound is a bit noisy, you can hear it really well on triangle waveform and low octaves. I guess it's because they decided to go stay old school, but, in my opinion, it would have been better if they got rid of the noise leak.

The ms20 has really surprised me with it's range of possibilities in sound design.

Even without touching the patchbay, the synth has a really wide range of sounds, from aggressive leads to spacey pads. The filters sound sweet and at high peak levels they produce some really interesting results.

I've been exploring the patchbay connections for the last months and i keep finding new interesting combinations. It might seem a bit intimidating at first, but i've found it to be a really useful tool to learn about synthesis.

My only issues with the synth are the build quality and the output ports. Having a 3.5mm jack as audio-out feels a bit cheap and ports that size wear out quickly. I've also had issues fitting the power cable and the midi cable on the back, the connection, especially for the midi one, is really loose and i find myself having to constantly check the back to fix the midi connection.

I use this synth for some occasional home recording.

Pros:
Generally I'm very happy with the kind of sound I can get from the synth particularly for some 8-bit like synth bass and rhythm lines (almost chip-tuny, I really like that). The usb output is easily recognized by able ton and the instrument can be controlled directly from the software. Which is useful for someone like me who isn't good with keys (guitar is my primary instrument).

Cons:
I did notice that on some less aggressive and more bassy settings such as you basic sine wave on a low octave there is a distinct hiss-like noise generated on key-press. Its not audible on louder settings. But something to keep in mind.