Some aspects are not identical with my MS20, perhaps due to calibration errors. The second oscillator offers a different range (16' to 2') plus detune of a little over an octave, and different waveforms: in this case, sawtooth, square, a fixed pulse, and ring modulation. If I reach for an octave on one synth, I don't expect to hit a ninth or even a 10th on another. It's been reborn as an app. The VCA (Voltage Controlled Amplifier) maintains the original’s basic design but produces less noise. Korg MS-20 in action. This seemed to be beyond the scope of component differences, so I measured the output voltages from the EG2 Rev Out socket. Don't miss the latest deals, news, reviews, features and tutorials. © This is vintage analogue made affordable. for osc sync or PWM) but the designers have attested to using as close to the original transistors and components as possible at every point in the circuitry and have proved their commitment to making the MS-20 mini an authentic recreation. In other words, it's smaller out of respect to the original. "We're hugely pleased to report that the MS-20 mini's filters sound very close to the original Korg 35 filter". But by the turn of the century, some unlikely synths were becoming popular. Depending upon the position of the Sustain knob and other elements within the patch, all manner of unusual results can be obtained. Kirn is impressed with the MS-20 Mini: “If you’re in the market for a monosynth, the MS-20 mini deserves strong consideration. "Making subs, kicks, snares, hats, squeals, shrieks and deep basses is scarily easy". The MS20 looked like something out of a sci-fi movie, but all was not as it seemed. We hope so. Channel 1 only. Its versatile patching options, analog filters, and the ability to process external signals makes this diminutive powerhouse very attractive to the analog synthesizer aficionado. Austrian Audio OC818 Dual Set Plus microphones. I hate those bloody things. If you insert a cable fully into an MS20 control socket, the pre-patched CV is disconnected, and the voltage supplied by the cable replaces it. Many people say that the 35 overdrives in a more pleasing way than the OTA version, which many feel doesn't sound quite as edgy. DIY Studio build in progress. This is true for the resonance on both the high-pass and low-pass filters. Launched in 2004, the Korg Legacy Collection included a software emulation of the MS20. All contents copyright © SOS Publications Group and/or its licensors, 1985-2021. Even then, when the sounds on the old and new model are static, there's very little difference - you only really notice when sweeping the filter or tweaking the envelopes, which have a slightly different response. If you have been following the news regarding music product announcements this year (2013), you have probably already heard about the re-release of Korg's MS-20 in its miniature form. I played one of the first in the UK, and it was love at first twiddle. All rights reserved. The ms-20 Mini is very similar to the original MS-20, I think it is exactly the same from what I remember of the original this one this just a lot smaller. Number of contour generators: Two: one DAR and one HADSR. This means that, for example, you can control a cutoff frequency using the wheel and EG2 simultaneously. But should the company design a new instrument, or dredge up a design from the past? Nonetheless, the Korg 700 turned out to be a fine little instrument, and players such as Vangelis and Kitaro were soon to be seen in its company. There was a problem. The real heart of the MS-20 mini is its high-pass and low-pass filters, both of which can be overdriven and sent into self-oscillation, plus of course the envelopes and mod section. The outputs from the oscillators are mixed and then passed to the filters. This was where the first germane difference between the two synthesizers revealed itself: the waveforms of the self-oscillation generated by the Mini were noticeably brighter than those of my MS20, which means that some patches may not translate perfectly from one synth to the other. If you look at the six knobs that control the VCO and VCF modulation amounts, you'll see that they have names such as MG/T.Ext and EG2/Ext. Despite this being a re-release, it may probably be one of the most significant (at the same time controversial) steps taken by a major electronic musical instruments manufacturer. This was true even for the Ring setting, notwithstanding the difficulty of matching the controls to obtain the same sound. This is particularly pertinent for the master-tune and fine-tune dials and it's sometimes difficult to get Osc 2 totally in tune with Osc 1 without careful tweaking (there's no oscillator sync on board). I have no problem with the small keys presented by Korg on the MS-20 mini but i like having more octaves for a quick switch up. Had they asked, I would have beseeched Korg to build a genuine, full-sized recreation of the MS20, even though this would have cost a little more. However, they don't track accurately enough to play the synth in conventional fashion from a V/Oct source. The VCA in the original MS20s produced a pervasive hiss behind the wanted sound, so Korg's engineers made the decision — and another wise one, in my view — to improve this. This isn't daft; adding things such as the A-Ds and D-As necessary for additional control might have compromised the authenticity of the sound. Korg’s MS-20, a semi-modular dual-oscillator monosynth, was released in 1978 and was only in production for five years. Location. Given the popularity of the 'T's and their descendants, it's possible that the MS20 has produced, in disembodied fashion, some of the most successful sounds of the modern era. Synthesizers. Ah yes... the patch panel again. Producer Steve Levine shows the MS-20 mini used with the VOX Trike Fuzz and Double Deca Delay effect pedals. The first oscillator offers four footages ranging from 32' to 4', and four waveforms — triangle, sawtooth, variable-width pulse, and white noise — but there's no pulse-width modulation, which is rather disappointing. Thank you Korg for your continued excellence and affordable prices, and thank you Joe and the Sweetwater music machine for helping me make a long time dream come true! It would have been relatively simple to improve this on the Mini but, again, its performance is virtually identical with that of the original. Korg claimed in 1978, and still claim today, that this allows players to use the MS20 as a guitar synthesizer, but the ESP was always of dubious performance, and it was difficult to get it to track anything without glitching. Look back at contributions to the various synthesizer forums in early January and you'll see how vehemently the leaked news of the MS20 Mini was derided. Korg MS-20 Mini Synthesizer Review. I can't say enough good things about this synth. (I agree with this.) Using the unit in the following locations can result in a malfunction. Shrunk to 86 percent of the original’s size, it retains the two oscillators with ring modulation, envelope generators with delay/hold, and patch cord programming. The MS-20 mini will amaze with its absolutely authentic, analog synth sound. Sideward play on small dials. The legacy of the Korg MS20 is well documented - the screaming dual mode filters and semi patchable modular action have been used to create many signature sounds since it was introduced in 1977.. Korg's MS20 Mini rather shocked many as it is basically a carbon copy - where sourcing and legality of components allow (see our interview with Mr Mieda - original creator). If I'm blunt, I think that the company has missed the chance to create a 21st century classic. Additional modules: S&H, patchable VCA, ESP (external signal processor). MANUAL PATCH The unit also comes with a reprint of the original MS-20 manual which is kinda cute — this is, after all, an MS-20. Taking a quick peak inside (we couldn't resist) it's very cleanly built and there's loads of empty space too. Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Whatever the reason for this, its only consequence was that, when I set a knob to 10 on the new synth, I often found myself setting it to nine or thereabouts on the old one. EN. I tested the filters further by sweeping their cutoff frequencies downward while making the filters self-oscillate in the presence of harmonically rich signals from the oscillators. You may login with either your assigned username or your e-mail address. Result. It was equally difficult to get it to output a scaled Hz/V control voltage over anything but the narrowest range of frequencies. The MS-20 mini uses modern surface mount components which means it's harder to mod than the original (i.e. com. The mini's three-quarter size keyboard feels surprisingly good too. For example, our old MS can sound like you are driving the oscs through a '70s fuzz pedal when the low-pass is set to high resonance and cutoff set to medium, whereas the mini is a little more subtle at the same setting, with slightly less mid-range breakup/vocal growl. Note that many of the current online comparisons don't specify which filter their original's have when doing audio comparisons but this review is truly comparing like with like. As Korg say on their website 'the sound of the MS-20 mini has a somewhat bright and extreme quality to it because its sound is that of an original MS-20 in mint condition, at the time it went on sale, before any of the components aged'. Korg enlisted the same engineers who designed the original MS-20 to recreate it in a body that is smaller by 86% of … Review Synthesizers Korg MS-20 mini. Interestingly, when Korg's engineers created the ROM for their 'T' series workstations, they included a bunch of waveforms sampled from the MS20. The Mini's front panel is only 86 percent of the size of the original but Korg have preserved all its original (and occasionally baffling!) At the end of the signal path lies the audio VCA, and this is the one audio area in which the Mini differs from its predecessor by intent. There are a wealth of synthesisers available today, ranging from hardware keyboards to virtual software instruments. Yes, there's not much to complain about here as this is a brand new authentic MS-20 with MIDI costing around £500 street. When you release the key, the cutoff frequency then drops back down to where it started (unless S=0). Consequently, Korg decided to use the '35' in the Mini, which was wise. Korg – MS-20 Mini review by Juno Reviews on 12.07.2013 at 12:27pm. These, together with the SQ10 analogue sequencer and VC10 vocoder, formed a family, and very nice it was too. The same engineers who developed the original MS-20 have perfectly reproduced its circuitry and fit it into a body 86% of the original size. Its patch panel proved to be far more limited than I had expected and it never sounded as I believed it should. It's an authentic MS-20 but just smaller. In 1973, the Keio ORGan company's first synth offered just one oscillator, had no performance controls, and used such odd nomenclature that it was often hard to work out what it did. Please refresh the page and try again. First I list the features of the Korg MS-20 mini synthesizer. The Korg MS-20 has been on the market for decades. Imagine if the Minimoog Voyager had appeared with miniature keys. The keyboard is wider and deeper, the chassis is larger, the spacing between the knobs and sockets is greater and, well, you get the picture. You can also get the MS-20 Mini to go way lower than 32' by using the EG1/EXT dial and the fine tuning/ master tune dials. 82% off “TS2” by IrcamLAB - Normally €164 Now Only €29! I wonder if it is. The first part of the name refers to the pre-patched source controlled by each knob, and the second refers to the socket that, if fed a signal from elsewhere, overrides the internal patching. We sincerely hope the MS-20 Mini will spearhead many new Korg analogue synth's/products. MIDI: USB In and Out, five-pin DIN In. Well Korg claims that the MS 20 was the first major popular analog synth that was created back then. Ive tested 5 different mini units, all are very similar regarding both sound and noise. However I am wondering if it has much of a heavy, room-shaking kind of … That's almost £1,000 less than the current second hand prices for an old one. The company had even built the MS20iC USB Controller for the plug-in version in the Legacy Collection. On the other hand, I'm already sitting next to an MS20 Mini, which Korg describe as "the classic MS20 recreated”. There would have been an outcry had they not. The Korg MS-20 monophonic analogue synthesizer was originally launched in 1978 (discontinued in 1983) and is certainly one of the most iconic mono synth's of recent times. Here's a third. What's great (in terms of this review, especially) is that our original MS-20 also has the Korg 35 filter, so for comparing the sonics side-by-side it's a perfect setup. It would have been possible for Korg's engineers to correct this, or even to convert the whole synth to V/Oct, but they didn't. The Mini also acts as a basic MIDI to CV and Gate converter, producing the appropriate signals at its Kbd CV Out and Trig Out sockets when you play it via MIDI. We're hugely pleased to report that the MS-20 mini's filters sound very close to the original Korg 35 filter, though there are some subtle differences. (I agree with this too.) Instead they took a different path, producing the tiny, battery-powered SQ1, a black metal box with squishy rubber buttons. I'm thinking of trying to find an original Korg MS-20 or buying the MS-20 mini instead, and wonder what people think about the differences. Distant City Studios - A Drum Room With A Difference, Mastering Essentials Part 6 - Final Delivery: Requirements & Specs. This is pre-patched to the audio VCA, where it acts as you would expect, and to the cutoff frequencies of the filters, where the Sustain level takes the value determined by each of the cutoff frequency knobs. This generates triangular and pulse waves, with a knob to sweep the former from sawtooth to triangle to ramp, and to adjust the duty cycle of the latter. Where these were no longer available or had become illegal because of the ROHS (Regulations On Harmful Substances) legislation that came into force a few years ago, close equivalents were used. Then, in 1978, the Korg MS20 appeared. Featuring two oscillators, Korg can even claim that the new version is better than the original, because the sound is pretty much the same but with less hiss. To conclude, the MS-20 mini has the mojo we were all hoping for, just the tighter tolerances of modern components have subtly changed the sound, though it certainly sounds as 'good' as an old one. The first, EG1, is a trapezoid with four stages — Delay, Attack, Sustain (which is always at maximum) and Release — and this is pre-patched simultaneously to the pitches of both oscillators. All rights reserved. One final point: despite room for an internal PSU and an IEC socket, the Mini uses an external power supply. Plenty of range then, plus you can get even higher as the fine tune dial on Osc 2 has a very wide range, giving over an octave above the 2' setting. Great care has been taken to ensure accuracy in the preparation of this article but neither Sound On Sound Limited nor the publishers can be held responsible for its contents. This isn't to say it sounds bad in ANY way but it's important to highlight any differences between a brand new 2013 mini and that 70's classic original. It was immaculate, and I obtained just £95 for it. By contrast, the Mini produced voltages of 6.48V and 1.23V, which could lead to all manner of differences in sounds. It's actually quite nice — well built in a lightweight sort of way. As a shrunken-down mini model. Visit our corporate site. It's not often realised that, in contrast to its keyboard CV inputs, the MS20's Total and Freq inputs were designed to the V/Oct standard. Rob Lee investigates whether Korg’s new miniaturised version of the MS-20 is as faithful to the original as it claims to be. However, whereas the pots on my 35 year-old MS20 are rock-solid, those on the Mini exhibit a fair degree of play. The instrument can produce floor-rattling-good bass, thick, rich sounds, and wild, experimental timbres. You might imagine that a redesign would eliminate what is, after all, a fault, but the Mini recreates this perfectly. However, you can only access the pulse waves from the patch panel. Just 35 years apart. We check over 130 million products every day for the best prices, Korg has really done an amazing job recreating the MS-20 so authentically, Buyers' guides to all the best music gear, The 25 best VST/AU plugin synths in the world right now: all the best soft synths you need in your DAW, The 16 best software samplers in the world today, In pictures: 68 pro guitarists' pedalboards, 15 easy blues guitar chords every guitarist needs to know, The best new free VST/AU plugin effects to download in 2017. The second, EG2, generates an HADSR contour, where 'H' is a Hold before the Attack begins. Note On/Off only. Or will it sound like a pale imitation of the original MS 20? Win! ... Free test review. The instrument, which has been used by everyone from Hardfloor and Aphex Twin, to Air and Stereolab, and on to Front 242 and Skinny Puppy, was Korg’s first big breakthrough after a number of more esoteric synthesizers. I would have to say that it wasn’t. The official line is that Korg felt that "it would be devaluing to make the new model exactly the same size as the original”. That said, easily the biggest advantage of the MS-20 mini over the original is the addition of a MIDI In port on the back and MIDI over USB. The last of these is misnamed: the waveform is generated by the equivalent of a mathematical operation performed upon the pulse wave generated by VCO1 and the square wave generated by VCO2, and this creates a range of effects similar to ring modulation. A mint example offered for £95 today would have every enthusiast in Europe jumping on a plane to collect it. Many people have speculated that the release of Korg's Monotrons and Monotribe had, at least in part, been experiments to see whether the unending hype surrounding monophonic analogue synthesizers could be translated into sales. Here's another example. A faithful resurrection of the MS-20, at a crazily good price. There is a control wheel as well as a momentary switch that can be assigned to control specific parts of the sound via the patchbay. For more on the new synth, see our earlier Korg MS-20 Mini posts and the Korg site. Advice needed. Some folks who tried the MS-20 mini at the NAMM show in January reported that it felt cheap, but this just isn't true. labelling. The MS20 Mini makes no pretence of innovation, it's simply an amazing recreation of the original MS20, albeit with miniature keys that will force many players into using it as a MIDI module. Manual Korg MS-20 Mini. Indeed, by the time I wrote this, I was pretty much convinced that the two significant differences noted above — the brighter waveform of filter self-oscillation and the altered response to EG2 — had become more noticeable as the review had progressed, perhaps because a voltage trimmer had slipped, or some other component had drifted out of spec. Some people claim that no-one has any problems playing mini-keyboards, but that's bollocks. The company claimed that the MS20 offered an 'extremely flexible patching system', but this is a huge exaggeration. That is one feature that really made me want to purchase this synth from the start. I would like to say that the Mini's envelopes imitated the MS20's and, for EG1, this was true. Everyone should own one! As great as last year's Korg MS-20 Mini was, many folks prefer a full-size keyboard and now their prayers have been answered with the MS-20 kit! 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