Korg Re-Issue mini-MS20 Monosynth!!!!

[feedingear]

The Korg Triton Extreme had a valve tube in it - i thought it did a really great job bringing to life organ patches and some of the synths which tend to sound very thin and weak on the workstation series. I got an M3 (the next version) and thought it sounded significantly worse then the Extreme - thin, weak, and very, very uninspiring. Gorgeous keybed though.

[namnibor]

Originally Posted by feedingear

The Korg Triton Extreme had a valve tube in it - i thought it did a really great job bringing to life organ patches and some of the synths which tend to sound very thin and weak on the workstation series. I got an M3 (the next version) and thought it sounded significantly worse then the Extreme - thin, weak, and very, very uninspiring. Gorgeous keybed though.

Yes, the **only** part of the M3 I would like is that 88 keybed! Korg ALSO used "valve-tube" in their newer grooveboxes to again, according to Korg, add "warmth" but having heard both the blue and red boxes, they have that same *sound* of likes of their Kaos Synth Pads. Kind of like trying to add "warmth" to the sound of an amplified mosquito! That's just my opinion and if someone else likes that sound, that is their choice and given right to.
Again, having had a Korg Radias, I have not yet heard any demo of King Korg that did not sound like the MMT Synthesis of it's predecessors.

[feedingear]

Dont get me wrong, I wouldnt touch a Korg workstation with a 50 foot pole nowadays. Once I got the Virus, I literally laughed out loud at how bad the synths sounded on the korgs. But the tube did do some nice stuff for the organs and ep patches, which is where those workstations excel.

Re keybed, i actually had the 73 key version - i really dont like weighted keys on anything but a piano. Luckily enough we now have a Rhodes mk1 in the studio .

[namnibor]

Originally Posted by feedingear

Dont get me wrong, I wouldnt touch a Korg workstation with a 50 foot pole nowadays. Once I got the Virus, I literally laughed out loud at how bad the synths sounded on the korgs. But the tube did do some nice stuff for the organs and ep patches, which is where those workstations excel.

Re keybed, i actually had the 73 key version - i really dont like weighted keys on anything but a piano. Luckily enough we now have a Rhodes mk1 in the studio .

Yes, I too am learning that weighted, hammer-action, of which I too love on a piano, which have many years training on it. It's part of reason I am re-setting home studio set-up as the ONLY reason have kept an Alesis QS8 rompler with excellent weighted, hammer action keys because the piano sounds in particular are great and originally thought would use it's extensive ability to be used as a multi-zoned controller. It's now going to a dedicated place in dining room for using headphones and piano practicing scales and finger dexterity as it truely helps with the military service-induced peripheral neuropathy in hands/feet (no, do not play with feet, LOL).
Learned pretty quickly that although love the feel of weighted 88 keybed with aftertouch; rather have the semi-weighted action of controller such as Novation Remote SL 61MKII and Axiom Pro 61 for specific playing and midi chain of synth rack units as they both have velocity/aftertouch, BUT MUCH easier for proper attacks/responiveness with everything except piano.
Yes, the keybed of the Virus, (KB/KC) which seems to be exactly same as DSI mono evolver kbd and Waldorf Blofeld Black Kbd; is so outstanding that nothing compares!
One would think that with the proponderance of midi controller keyboards, manufacturers of same would place similar quality keys on them rather than the very "synth-action" status quo. I find the Novation and Axiom controller's keyaction the best of many tried BUT they still pale in the type of Fatar keybed Access uses. (I understand the Indigo/Polar shorter-type Access Keybeds use a different type of Fatar than the 61 keybeds).
With the above said, I no longer have thought of using Korg's M3 keybed or any fully weighted keys for anything but piano as well.
Am sure there will those that will perhaps not like the synth-action keys on new Korg MS20-Mini but with such an immediately tweakable monosynth, changing the envelope attack on the fly will more than make-up for it, not to mention nice analog synth engine.

[namnibor]

Well, since this IS on the topic of the Korg MS20 and how at NAMM 2013 a recreation of the moment Dave Smith and Roland firstly connected the first two synths with the midi standard; with Dave Smith using his then-Sequential Circuits new and first ever all analog poly synth with midi, the Prophet 600. THAT synth was also my FIRST analog polysynth back in 1983 but had to part ways with her due to military committments and mobility issues almost 20 years exactly. I learned synthesis on the Korg MS20 and have been (and am still) excited about the re-release of the 86% version talked about in this thread.
Recently have been talking to a retired electronic music producer that is weeding down a massive collection of instruments that he and his partner have accumulated over many years. Was presented with opportunity to re-purchase my analog SCI Prophet 600 in a roadcase, in great shape aside from wear on wood end-cheeks (something I will give my father to recreate out of original oak in his workshop), and one key that has been epoxied where it had started to crack at the very second to last bass octave (C1) key, with orig. manuals for about same coin as the Korg MS20-Mini and tax. Am planning on making this work for analog poly and will finally sell a lessor-used synth to justify it. Am pretty psyched!
The MS20-mini is still a consideration and am told with huge amounts of preorders, will be lucky if April/May will be able to make that choice. Am just not all that fond of leaving my financial info open-ended on a pre-order with anyone, for identity theft reasons, etc.
The Prophet 600 has an CV-IN for the filter that can be used with pedals, other synths, and with full midi, will integrate nicely in set-up. It's definitely not just a 'romantic connection' with this synth, as other than a Prophet 5, and having played friend's juno's, et al--nothing still touches this aside from of course a Moog; with the Prophet 600 actually having exact same analog osc's, VCF, 2 VCA's, as Prophet 5, with the envelopes being actually software (1982) a "poor man's Prophet" but sounds so good! This really balances out the heavy digital side of things with just one or two of it's 6 voice/12 VCO's, sounding very more warm than DSi Prophet 08, but of course the 08 has many more technical abilities due to technology.
Happy Happy Joy Joy!!

[namnibor]

Here's a newly performed test of the orig. Korg MS20 next to new Korg MS20-Mini http://createdigitalmusic.com/2013/0...-audio-photos/

[namnibor]

You do not need to understand Japanese to see the potential this best demo this far of my NEXT buy *after* new audio interface (Native Instruments Komplete Audio 6) purchase in a few weeks.
My Sweetwater Rep told me they have yet to see so many pre-orders for a single product as the re-release of Korg MS20-mini, and this youtube demo from Japan may start a bit slow but trust me, watch or do not watch your volume, especially if you have dogs in apartment/flat next to you

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GEO...ture=endscreen

Just imagine passing any Virus unison or otherwise through this filter? Better buy your 1/4 to 1/8 cables now and get them ready to contact alien dolphins

[TweakHead]

Yep, so you're still going for it after all, uh?

I think it's probably the best one on this "return of analogue" race. Along with the new Moog. Listened to the demos again and was blown away by the sound. And it's got very nice overall specs on it. Plus, saw one of the mooger foogers (102, the ring modulation one) going cheap on ebay, and feeling really tempted to get it - I heard it's like a dream come true coupled with the Virus.

[namnibor]

Originally Posted by TweakHead

Yep, so you're still going for it after all, uh?

I think it's probably the best one on this "return of analogue" race. Along with the new Moog. Listened to the demos again and was blown away by the sound. And it's got very nice overall specs on it. Plus, saw one of the mooger foogers (102, the ring modulation one) going cheap on ebay, and feeling really tempted to get it - I heard it's like a dream come true coupled with the Virus.

Yes, since I decided to keep the Korg Radias rack and key/KorgKomponent Unit, there's a flat aluminum panel that you can move from side to side, depending on which side you slide the Radias Synth on that the MS20-mini will fit perfectly on!
The Moog Sub Phatty does have a more aggressive side when pushed into overdrive but watch a lot more videos because what bothers me is when they talk about "getting under the hood", and with no LCD, there's ALOT of shift/button combinations that are not even labeled and have heard reviewers state that even though there's some sweet typical Moog sounds at very low parameter settings, it kind of has no middle area and then starts sounding very much like an Arturia MiniBrute, and back to "under the hood functions", over and over have heard the words "very non-intuitive" for these button combos and to be honest, at least with MiniBrute you would get After Touch, a very easy to use arp whereas the Sub Phatty's arp is really buried in multiple combo of button pushes....it seems like a great idea but I think that Moog cut corners/costs in all the wrong areas and have not even mentioned the wee keyboard...but am sure they will sell but would bet you Korg will be making many more cash drops from their MS20 mini alone.

I have been told the best magic bullet amongst Moog's Moogfooger line is the one that happens to cost the most called the Midi-MURF multi-mode filter and running the Virus via midi through that filter array would be worth price of two ring modulator moogfoogers as the ring mod is very much a "one trick pony" and only versatile if one has like 6 moogfoogers connected to a 251 box and by this time with a sub phatty you would literally just about buy a Voyager. I figure if I ever get a Moog it's going to not be a half-arsed budget Moog, but one instrument that can do it all with knob per function madness. I dare say that I actually prefer the Little Phatty Stage 2 Keyboard over sub phatty.
But I quickly digressed; The Korg MS20 Mini at $599. is such a bargain with a huge sound pallet, and interconnectivity that it seems to be the most utilitarian and you could add a MiniBrute toMS20 with CV/Gate to have really unique duophonic sound for still same price as one Sub Phatty...and the volca keys or bass will also expand within MS20 taking very little room while adding en mass a sonic wall....something to think about.

[TweakHead]

Yeah, I know what you mean. I also think it doesn't make much sense to have "key shortcuts" on an analogue synthesizer - much less in a mono synthesizer. But judging the sound, it sounds like the real deal to me. Those oscillators are damn fat, and the Moog Filter is very juicy, as usual. The feedback thing sounds absolutely wonderful to me.

I also think the Korg is a winner here! But we're talking very different sound character here, not just abstract specs. And the Moog has a very distinct sound as well, that's earned them glory, even though they're sort of conservative when it comes to implementing more features on their range of synthesizers - not as much with the big guy moog voyager, that has ribbon control, x/y pad, semi-modular architecture, so forth and so on. If you add the moog foogers to that equation, I'd be in synthesizer heaven for sure. There's something about that sound.

The Korg is very very famous to, a classic. Have you ever listened to Hallucinogen? Check it out on Youtube, Simon Postford has used the MS 20 as his main synth for that project!