Korg MS-20 Mini

Picked up one of these to up my modular synthesis game without spending a crap-ton of money. It's definitely delivered on that front! The patch panel, while daunting, is extremely powerful and a great introduction to true analog synthesis!

My only complaints are the flimsy build quality...it doesn't feel very solid, the pots aren't very smooth, and it only offers 3.5mm out! Yikes!

This is the synth that made me realize to focus on the simplicities of sound design. I learned a lot about synthesis using this synth, maybe more than any other synth as Id bring it down stairs from the studio when I would take a break to watch tv and continue my learning with this synth. This little guy can make just as phat sounds as my voyager however with a complete different taste and color. It is also really easy to make sound fx such as lazer bleeps and bloops. This is really all I could make when I first got the thing as I said, it taught me a lot about sound design.

Noisy in both the good and bad ways, but can be smooth and tame if required. The dual filters provide a stunning range of timbres for a subtractive synth. Some settings of the "RING" mode make up for the lack of PWM. The smaller keys are fine for a monosynth.

I use the Korg MS 20-Mini in my Set-Up for synth sounds to give additional colours to e-piano sounds and other instruments. The handling of the MS 20-Mini is not very easy and more complex compared to other synths. To change to presets always takes its time and appears more difficult on dark stages. But the sounds of the MS 20-Mini speaks for itself!

It is fun to patch it up. Crazy screaming filters. Great for studio use but as a solo electronic performer it is a bit cumbersome to cart around for live shows so sample what I need from it.

Small keys are a bit of fiddle.

This synthesizer is extremely fun to use. It has the same beautiful analog sound of the original along with all of the other features musicians loved. The filters are a stand-out on this machine, they sound beautiful and completely characterize the robust MS-20 sound. The modular section adds another level of fun, although it can seem complicated to some.

I bought my Korg MS-20 Mini because I liked the way it sounds. It's lots of fun to create sounds with and it's playable, but this thing only has 1 MIDI channel. Why Korg? Why? I barely use it since I got my Behringer K-2 which not only sounds just like it, but performs a lot better and best of all has 16 MIDI channels. I don't know what Korg was thinking, but it made me apprehensive about buying their ARP Odessy and I'm glad I did because I have the Behringer Odessy and it turned out to be great. MIDI channels matter...

Very versatile. Filter is almost moog-like. Dark and gritty. ESP is great for running a guitar through it.

Thankfully analog synths are widely used these days and are still in production. Now I can hand this down to my kids and the it will be even more vintage to them!

This instrument offers all of the standard features of a traditional east coast style analog synth, but adds a very colorful and fun filter. The addition of the patch bay creates a synth that grows with you as your develop a deeper understand of what is possible with synthesis. The envelops are not very snappy so it's hard to get good percussive sounds out of it, and the V/Hz instead of V/Octave makes it difficult to integrate into any other patchable synth without the purchase of a converter. Excellent for sustained or housy basslines, drone textures, arps, and leads