Monotron Duo : Can't really complain at this price not too impressed.

I already had the Monotron DELAY which is great fun and I've even used it professionally in the studio on several commercial recordings. So I decided to get this one as well.

I must admit I was a bit disappointed. The DELAY was more of an effects device that could be used standalone with good results. This one... not so much.

First of all, this one works better when it's actually PLAYED rather than just making weird noises. But unless you mod it for MIDI it's rather limited. The small ribbon "keyboard" worked great for making effects with the DELAY but not so much for actually playing melodies on this DUO version.

A lot of the mojo of the DELAY was... well, the delay. Remove the delay and it quickly lost it's charm as a standalone device (even though the filter was excellent!). The DUO just doesn't impress me as much as a standalone device. It really needs to be used with other effects to get the best out of it in my opinion. And then it quickly gets less interesting because then you might as well start patching up a bigger and better synth.

The strength of the DELAY was that it was instantly fun and usable, even when used as a standalone device. Just patch it straight into a console or DI and you'll get great sounds. The DUO just isn't very exciting unless it's processed by external effects in my opinion. It's usefulness is also severly limited by the lack of midi connections.

Get the DELAY instead.