Korg MS20 remake

[APK]

Remake of the analog version. Just a little smaller.

http://www.korg.com/ms20mini

Looks like it will be a decent price.
Kinda fun to have.

[ffcal]

The MS-20 is a cool machine.  The patch bay and audio input feature are pretty unique.  It was my first synth (it appears all over my first and second albums), and I still have it...

Forrest

[hdibrell]

Remake of the analog version. Just a little smaller.

http://www.korg.com/ms20mini

Looks like it will be a decent price.
Kinda fun to have.

[ffcal]

Just saw a zZounds ad for it.  Looks like it's selling for around $600.  If it's like the original MS-20, it would be monophonic.  The original was also pre-MIDI.

Forrest

[APK]

Yep, it looks like a bargain for someone in the market for such a thing.
Apparently its identical circuitry (and packaging), but with a bit cleaner sound (maybe it was on the filter), with the addition of midi.
It is cute and flexible. I'll probably pick one up.

[hdibrell]

$600 makes it really hard to pass up.

[APK]

Informative review at CDM:

http://createdigitalmusic.com/2013/02/hands-on-with-korg-ms-20-mini-exclusive-review-qa-images-video/

and a comparison with the original MS-20:

http://createdigitalmusic.com/2013/02/tested-ms-20-mini-versus-original-ms-20-in-the-studio-discussion-audio-photos/

[ffcal]

Interesting articles.  Though the MS-20 is a neat machine, I wouldn't have thought there would be a demand for a monophonic synth these days, especially when polyphony seems to be almost a given with software synths.  I remember trying out an unusual Korg in the late 70s that was both polyphonic and microtonal.  There were very tiny pots that you could individually tune, which was cool, but probably impractical.  If they could find a way to work in MIDI-controlled microtonal tuning into the mini MS-20, I'd be all in, even though I still have my original.

Forrest

[El culto]

Interesting articles.  Though the MS-20 is a neat machine, I wouldn't have thought there would be a demand for a monophonic synth these days, especially when polyphony seems to be almost a given with software synths.

Thought the same, but it seems like just those key words "analog" and "MS 20" creates excitement - good for Korg though 

[Scott M2]

For non-purists - the iMS-20 iPad version is half-price ($15) this week.
It's very, very good and you can apply a MIDI controller to all the knobs.

[LNerell]

Interesting articles.  Though the MS-20 is a neat machine, I wouldn't have thought there would be a demand for a monophonic synth these days, especially when polyphony seems to be almost a given with software synths.  I remember trying out an unusual Korg in the late 70s that was both polyphonic and microtonal. 

That must have been a PS3100 or 3300. Nice big analog  semi modular poly synth. They had a great sound but were a bit of a nightmare to keep going, as with most of the early poly synths like the polymoog they basically had one synth per key on the keyboard which was why you could tune them to different scales. The moog modular system they had at San Diego State had  a rare tuning module for its keyboard with a tuning knob per key, so you could do the same thing but it was monophonic.

There are lots of mono analog synths out now, Moog has several, Tom Oberheim has brought back his SEM module, lots of small companies making them as well, and of course most modular synths are all monophonic. Polyphony is not the most important thing, I think the sound is and these hardware analog synths deliver it better then most of the software emulations.

[ffcal]

Hi Loren,

That's true, the unique sound and presence of an analog synth can't really be virtualized.  I'm a lot less hung up on polyphony now, though I like to have it as an option.  In the early 80s, my choices for polyphony were severely limited by my student budget.  I wish there were more microtonal keyboard options today.

Forrest