Waldorf surprised everyone in 2013 when they released the Rocket synthesizer seemingly out of the blue. It is a compact mono synth with an affordable price tag that was designed for analog enthusiasts on a tight budget.

The Rocket features a portable design with a height of 2.6" and a width of 7.3". It also only weighs about 2 lbs, so nobody is going to injure themselves carrying this synth around. It sports an attractive black case with green and white lettering, which gives it a very stylish look. However, the design doesn't just look good, but it is also very functional, and everything is laid out clear manner. To keep the price down, the chassis of the Rocket is almost entirely plastic, but metal was used for the top and back to keep it sturdy.

The Rocket Synthesizer boasts nine knobs and eight switches, along with a "launch" button. The launch button is used for triggering sound without having to use an external keyboard as well as to visualize MIDI activity. This synth is divided into four sections, consist of LFO/ARP, OSC, VCF, and ENV. One peculiar aspect of this synth is the dedicated headphone volume knob, which is in place of a main volume control. It features a USB connection for MIDI in and out while also drawing power. However, it doesn't require a computer to function, and you can make use of a universal adaptor to power it via USB instead. In addition, Waldorf released a Rocket Control iOS app for programming and storing patches without the need for a PC. The traditional five-pin MIDI for IN and OUT connections are also available, although the Rocket lacks MIDI Thru. On the rear panel, you'll also find VCF IN, audio line output, and a minijack for headphones output. Finally, there is a MIDI Channel Selection button on the back, but no on/off switch.

Overall, the Rocket was a very enticing synthesizer for anyone in search of an aggressive monosynth at an affordable price. It is very intuitive to control, and the built-in arpeggiator is obviously a big plus. The Rocket can provide great percussion, leads, and bass, so don't be fooled by the seemingly limited amount of controls that it has. Although it's not perfect, the priority for a headset volume control is very puzzling, the Rocket accomplishes what it sets out to do quite admirably.

Back in the early 1980s, Korg unveiled their KR-100 keytar to set keyboardists free from their static rigs, so that they could frolic around on stage like guitarists. It meant that musicians could finally strike the same poses as guitar players without having to trade in their synthesizer for a real guitar. The original RK-100 was first released in 1984, but three decades later, Korg decided to resurrect the legend in the form of the RK-100S.

With the RK-100S, Korg has stuck to the essence of the original hardware but obviously opted for a more sleek design. The original RK-100 wasn't exactly compact, despite lofty claims by Korg, so the new lightweight design is much easier to wield. The fact that the main body is made from wood makes it a little heavier than the competition, but it also feels a lot sturdier compared to other all-plastic keytars.

It features a 37 note slim-key keyboard that has velocity-sensitive keys, but unfortunately no aftertouch. The RK-100S also has two ribbon controllers that can be found on the neck and below the keyboard. The right side of the keyboard is dedicated to eight illuminated buttons that can be used to access your favorite patches, while an up-down lever can be used in conjunction with the LED display to change programs. More illuminated buttons can be found on the left side of the keyboard, while the neck features buttons for shifting octaves as well as buttons to assign pitch or filter control to the long ribbon. Finally, the audio output and volume dial can be found on the front panel while the connections are located on the right side.

Whereas the original RK100 required an external sound module, the RK100S has 17 high-quality master FX as well as 200 user-writeable sounds. It also comes with an editor for PC or MAC that can be used for any deep editing. In terms of audio, the RK100s will sound familiar to MicroKorg XL owners as it uses the same sound engine. The upside of this is that you can easily share patches between the two.

Overall, the RK100s is pretty much a modified MicroKorg XL that has been converted into a keytar, but the result is an instrument that looks and sounds great. It's not cheap and you'll need to use the software editor to get the most out of all its parameters, but it does a lot of things right for a keytar.

Korg released the TR-88 in 2006 as part of the range that superseded their LE series. It is a traditional looking keyboard workstation that weighs about 21kg, which isn't bad for a weighted keyboard. It follows the LE tradition of keeping performance controls to a minimum, so all you have is two programmable switches along with four assignable knobs and the four-way joystick. In addition, the TR-88 has a 240x64 pixel LCD screen that features adjustable contrast for improved viewing. The TR-88 has Korg's real weighted hammer action 2 keyboard, which was designed to simulate what it is like to play a grand piano. What this means is that when moving towards the higher notes on the keyboard, the key resistance becomes progressively lighter.

Taking a look at the rear panel reveals that the TR-88 has a USB connector that serves as a MIDI interface as well as an SD card slot that can handle cards up to 1GB in size. In addition, there are the usual MIDI In, Out and Thru along with the external power connector, two individual outputs, stereo audio outputs and assignable pedal connectors. The headphone socket for this synth can be found at the front instead of the rear.

The TR-88 doubles the amount of wave memory found in the Triton LE. The 64MB of PCM memory is divided into the ROM area, which is where you'll find the original waves of the LE and EX, which holds extra samples. The TR-88 features 62 notes of polyphony, although this is halved if using stereo samples. It has dual arpeggiators along with a 16-track, 200,000 note sequencer. Along with editing tools provided, you can also record in real time or step time. 16 Preset and 16 user templates are available for songs or you can make use of the Auto Song Setup feature for quick recording. In addition, you have 150 preset drum patterns along with 100 user patterns at your disposal for building songs and specified regions of measures within each track can be looped using the Track Loop function. The USB connector makes it easy to connect to a computer, which means the TR-88 can be used with any DAW for recording.

The Korg TR-88 is not a bad workstation overall and it is quite reliable, but unfortunately it was also not a massive step up from the Triton LE.

The Jupiter-8 was without a doubt one of the flagship synthesizers for Roland, at least during the early eighties. Roland followed it up with the workhouse Jupiter-6, but after that the Jupiter moniker was seemingly retired. That is until 2001, when Roland Corporation unveiled the Jupiter-80, a 256-voice polyphonic synth. To say that the Jupiter-80 was one of the most anticipated new synths of its day would be an understatement and it had a lot to live up to.

Roland released the Jupiter-80 with the intention of it being a live performance powerhouse, so it is bigger and bulkier than their Fantom G7 workstation. Roland also paid homage to the visual style of the Jupiter-8 with the colorful control panel of the Jupiter-80, it's panel graphics and even the aluminum end blocks. However, the Jupiter-80 is not just a modern remake of the classic. Instead of being analogue, the Jupiter-80 is a completely digital synthesizer that makes use of Roland's "Supernatural" sampling technology for its sounds. This means that it is able to deliver extremely realistic and dynamically smooth sounds. It also has a "Supernatural Synth," which is a virtual analogue modeled synth capable of delivering virtual analogue waves and more. In addition, the Jupiter-80 makes use of "Behavior Modeling Technology" to allow for more expressive playing.

This synth has a 76-note, synth-action keyboard that is semi-weighted that also has a pitch/mod wheel, D-Beam, four volume part sliders/switches and four assignable dials. Instead of including a huge number of hardware controls most of the action on the Jupiter-80 takes place on the 800 x 480 color LCD touch screen. The screen is easy to read and while it is not multitouch, it is very responsive to use. It can be tricky to operate the Jupiter-80 for people used to conventional patch and performance structures as it makes use of "Tone," "Live Set," and "Registration" which can be confusing until you wrap your head around how these function.

Overall the Jupiter-80 is a very robust performance synth that offers great acoustic sounds and a range of unique performance oriented features. However, it can take a while to fully understand the programming architecture and its price also put it out of reach of most users when it was first released. In addition, the Jupiter branding caused confusion among those who were expecting something similar to the original Jupiter analog synthesizers. Although discontinued, the Jupiter-80 did receive some interesting updates, such as free sound libraries containing all-new tones, live sets, and arpeggio patterns along with emulations of other classic synths.