Don't take this the wrong way -- we're glad to be in Las Vegas with all our friends at CTIA, playing with new handsets from Samsung and Motorola. But as you know, we also love us some new music gear, especially when it sounds good -- so we wouldn't exactly mind being in Frankfurt for Musikmesse right now, either. Currently on display at Korg's booth, Monotron is a two AAA-powered, pocket-sized analog synth featuring a ribbon keyboard, VCO, VCF, and LFO controls, and the same analog filter found in the Korg MS-10 and MS-20 -- and it sounds great. Check it out in the gallery below and in the video after the break to see / hear the thing in action. Look for it in May for about $67.

Dave Smith's name is as revered in the synth business as those of Tom Oberheim and "Handsome Ron" Casio. Having had his hands in everything from the Prophet 5 synth to developing the MIDI specification to his own company (Dave Smith Instruments), the man has given electronic musicians plenty to be thankful for. The boutique's latest, the Mopho Keyboard (seen here in prototype form at NAMM 2010) takes the existing Mopho synth module -- a pretty sweet deal with its sub-octave generators, audio input (you know, for modulating stuff), and feedback options -- and adds a thirty-two key keyboard and a whole mess of controls. Like original, this new Mopho has a 100 percent analog signal path, ships with a sound bank editor for both Windows and Mac, and it sounds pretty, pretty bad ass. Look for it in the near future for around $800. Video after the break.