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Are you looking for a tool or a toy?
If the former then personally I would suggest neither.
Certainly start with a hardware synth but one that has one knob per function or something close to it.
The Mininova/Ultranova's controls are nested in menus.
He won't get a good understanding of how synthesis works that way- it will just be a confusing mess of menus.
The Mininova's mini keys suck too.
A Bass-station II from Novation would be a good synth to start with, but it is a mono synth- this is not a problem, just something to keep in mind- ie you can't play chords on it.
There are a few offerings form Roland and Korg that give you more polyphony with more knobs.
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
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Also, he would be funding this himself (at least mostly) so over £300 is probably too much.
@Octatonic - did you have a Roland JP8000 for sale a while ago?
It is cheap because of that.
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
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Youll get better used of course - and might not hold enough for your son, but it does give what the brief is and in budget.
https://www.pmtonline.co.uk/yamaha-reface-cs-analogue-synthesizer?utm_source=google&utm_medium=shopping&gclid=CjwKCAjwqJ_1BRBZEiwAv73uwLyhe-VQDhCTpago0RDO2QEpH04lttVOVVTFAeohxfyHPCjSUSnbyBoCLYwQAvD_BwE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdsJsPvXFls
This last one shows Pads.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LYsnvRO_lI
Get Valhalla Supermassive whilst its still free. Plenty of atmosphere.
Try if you can to avoid getting hung up on the mono or poly side of things. Mono synths are ace, and most modern ones have an arpreggiator that will get plenty going on for not much effort.
I have a behringer crave - £140 new, but no keyboard (its an homage to a moog mother 32 and a mono synth), and it sounds massive with some reverb and delay.
In fact a Behringer Crave and an Arturia Keystep would also be a cool £240 new all in option.
It is a great time to be dipping a toe in synths....tons of great stuff around for not too much money.
Take a look at the loopop youtube channel for reviews on the above stuff. Microfreak likely to be the most versatile at that budget, but the others are very decent too.