OK I really really wanna get outside and produce in nature/under the sky..

To do this I wanna get a very small synth or rompler-ish keyboard to go with my 404..

It must be:

- polyphonic
- editable sounds - not just a casio with shitty piano/etc.. But if its sample-based or rom-based sounds its ok as long as they have some sound editing capability - filters/envelopes/etc..

So far I'm pretty sure the xio 25 is my best option.. The only things smaller than that are the desktop-modules which aren't really of any use because they're either monophonic (eg ea-1) or you can't edit them fully without software (eg an200)

OP-1 is too pricey.. needs to be cheap shitty gear so I dont have to worry about it too much

They don't technically have to be battery powered, as long as it has an external power supply and takes DC voltage I can build my own battery pack..

The things I'm thinking of possibly are the weird digital synths of the 80s that are partially editable, have mini keyboards/etc

The microkorg is roughly the same size. Being popular, you should be able to pick one up relatively cheaply, it's light and has a lot of depth for a synth of its size.

cartesia i have the xio25
i never tried it with batteries.
it sounds cool (while at the very beginning i told to myself: what's that shitty sound?), there are some nice patches on the net easly changeable them via usb. one advise: the novation patches are (70%) shit. that's the reason why my first thougt was like this. once i discovered the other patches made free by users i changed the novation ones immediatly.

synth editing is not that complicated: there are millions of knobs. sure, you have to go trough the mini monitor, but it's ok.

i use it also as a very nice controller.

i think however that as a soundcard is not that good, speaking stricktly of the sound the imput connectors give:it's a bit noisy and it has just one (!!!) rca imput.

conclusion:
maybe the MK sounds better, but personally i bought the xio for its versatility (and for its price too)

cheers
ps
as you know it's really cheap, so don't wait for something very robust too: don't make stage diving with!!

that xio25 is nice as hell. Caught my eye and now im hooked, sucks the audio interface is noisy and the patches blow but it still seems very versitile.

Novation makes fairly nice stuff and the user interface looks way better than a MicroKorg. I'm a big fan of the MK but in this case seems like you've got a winner with the Xio.

You mentioned Casio but consider the CZ 101 - it's no joke. Pretty much a scaled-down CZ-1000 which is a semi-serious synth. Much different user interface but it can make some gnarly sounds. If you're lucky you could find one used for under $150

hi man
the cz101 is cool.
but got it battery power?
i think cartesia looks for this "parameter" too...

Yeah cheers guys.. Battery power preferred.. I didn't mean to exclude the cz-101, just the kinda general-sound toy casios..

Ella, no worries bout the presets.. first thing I do when I get a new piece of gear is delete them all anyway

Also don't need it as an audio interface so that dont matter..

As for the MK, yeah it's alrite too, but I'd rather have the knobs of the xio than the matrix editor on the MK... also i preferred the feeling of the keyboard when i was playing with it

Guess I just gotta find one on ebay now..

Yep, has the option to use a wall jack or battery.