Synth/Mixer

GiantRobo

I wanna start to do something in my spare time, so I thought I'd try to pick up something musical related since I haven't done that in a while. What would be a good synth to start out on (I was looking at microkorgs) and when I feel like it, what'd be a good mixer to use? I'd like to keep the price around 300 or lower for the synth and maybe 200 for a mixer.

Pheezer

If your computer isn't complete ass, I'd say you'd be better off picking up an M-Audio controller keyboard. They come with a light version of Ableton Live, and you'll get more functionality out of that combo than any sub-$300 synth would. Of course, you're digital at that point, but you won't get a quality analog synth at the price you want anyhow. It also leaves open the door to upgrade your software only to get more features, and to buy rack-mount synthesizers down the road, as you already have the controller you'd need.

For a mixer, if you're looking for a powered mixer I think you'll need to go higher. What do you want the mixer for? How many channels do you need, etc? I tend to recommend Behringer as a good brand for cost effective mixers but it depends what you want to do with it.

GiantRobo

I just wanna learn to make music again, and screw around with stuff in my spare time. I'm more set on the synth right now since my friend has a mixer, I could always borrow his for a little.

Pheezer

Well, definitely try out whatever exists in your price range, but I'd wager you won't do better than an 88 key, velocity sensitive, semi-weighted keyboard:
http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Keystation88es.html

If you want something that's got a little more versatility as a soft-synth controller, this one still has 61 keys (more than enough for a lot of music) and better features for those purposes:
http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Oxygen61.html