SNÖ King

Arturia made a statement to the world that they were not F'ing around! https://youtu.be/sUNNwibffTw With its Steiner Parker filter it provides the visceral sonic experience enjoyed by my fellow syntheisists such as Vincent Clark, and Italian DJ and producer Sasha Carass. This is my goto synth. I used it as the main fixture and synth on my 12 minute monster drum drone "Someone Forgot The Drummer" It is my workhorse. ***UPDATE*** I love the principles of a company, as that is usually what makes them great. Arturia is one of my "crew", (even though they don't know me) due to the fact that I use at a minimum 2 of their synths on every song. Why? Because their unique. Just like a MiniMoog, the MiniBrute is all, ALLL, analogue. Through-hole, and SMD analogue... is what makes the sound of the Arturia unique. At this point in time, only the very abused "Brutes" will exhibit any sort of uniqueness...sort of. Aging plays a role in the sounds we love. Arturia like many others, have made synths just like everyone else. Some are hitting their 10 and 15 year old age, and while we have a while to get to 50 year old synths those that treasure their classics hold on to them, as I will with my Arturia Minibrute. Not having a patch system is one of the best experiences I can recommend. Not that it isnt welcome, but sometimes its limiting in its own nature. Turning on a minibrute is a lot like turning on any old old synth ie (60's-70's-80's) You have to let it warm up and the older it gets the longer it takes to get to an even operating temp.... and you can tell! But I can say not knowing anything and turning one on and just trying to make ANY sound is what creates a synthesist....usually (it worked for me) *** BUILD QUALITY*** Excellent.... but. They don't make the miniBRUTE anymore... it's been discontinued but it lives on in shops and collectors now.. It weighs in at 8.8lbs. all steel and rubberised plastic sides that I have seen become sticky. But there are many 3rd-party wooden upgrades for the BRUTEs so don't let that dissuade you. It works great without the sides too just don't stick your finger inside ...lol ZAP! I saw some comments below that questioned the quality of the Arturia. Arturia makes both high-end and affordable synths. If you so choose you can get one for around $200. I too own a Moog Sub Phatty. It weighs in at a respectable 20lbs, while the original miniMoog weighs 32lbs, Mind you the Sub Phatty and the miniMoog declare in their manual you need a strong table :) IT'S TRUE! While the 8.8lbs is much lighter, I dropped mine the first week I got it, and it fell flat. Normally that would shake or rip a standoff or 2 maybe at least 1 screw.. nope. Nothing... (literally thank the maker) so for me in my experience with their products it's been WOW. The miniBrute 2S is built the same and comes in at 7.7lbs. It's not a Volca. **BUT** The keys... The keys are real keys with aftertouch and velocity. For all the love I pour over this synth. A review below reminded me of what I do not like about it, and it's so minuscule for me.., but might be very off putting to others. They keys have a tendency to crack underneath due to the design (lip) that hangs underneath the underside of the white keys. Once they crack they all the other touch points to give way and crack some more until your playing a "flappy" key and while it still works .... so does the spring action. I don't have to show you a picture of a flappy key bouncing off the spring when slapped... you get the idea. Yes, while that is one thing I wish would have been "beta" tested thoroughly, I know you can't be all things. And with that said... this is one of the finest monosynths for the money.

My first for a reason, its small, its loud as hell, has an arp, a sequencer, its beer proof, and runs on two AA batteries for hours. Add a USB charger and it lasts for days. Simple. The great feature I love as well as EMusician.com the UNO's filter keyboard tracking is fantastic. It can be fine-tuned with CC 106,How cool is that. Get this, ????the full ADSR functions for both filter and amp can be addressed using other CC messages,????so find a $100 used to $199 new synth that has all that Oh and audio input for Apexing this S#$T out of it. An audio out! and USB MIDI, .Oh and MIDI IN and OUT ports! Did I say it has a Step Sequencer too and an actual Sequence Recorder?????????????Filters so sharp it can make a drum kick......lol seriously, and a Software Synth Editor? Ohit'sd it's a Plugin too.Yep its editor doubles down and is a plug-in and standalone app. OMFG yes its heaven... take that Volca...

Yes the JV-880 has a drum machine built in.. lol WTF??????This synth is the best bargain on the planet ($120 on Reverb..lol A real Roland JV synth.); add Coffeeshopped Patchbase, and it becomes a true Synth like any other with full capabilities, iPad and Android compatible with a $19 MIDI USB adapter... seriously. Add some add-on cards and WHAMO! you got more Roland goodness... I know a bargain and I know this heritage. Simply can't get any finer quality from the gods that are Roland! Yes I like the rest too but come on... give credit where credit is due.. Korg doesn't have "Days" like "808 Day" held around the world. lol

It's like butter... you can never get enough cowbell and you can NEVER use enough butter.. This is my wife's baby but she lets me play it on the weekends lol. It's incredible to dip into for amazing old school sonic fidelity... Feed it through the MINIBrute and it's something very close to Nirvana.

SO in a nutshell my wonderful Korg iS40 died a few weeks ago when I plugged in my new Korg Kaossilator 2S from the headphone port to the input port on the back of the iS40. It honked really loud then nothing but silence. I think it blew out the amp circuit because gibberish is all that remains on the LCD display. Still works as a controller. Which I had a broken one ot fix this with. ANyone got a broken one? I'llpay for shipping!! an iS50 will also work. Same board!

Ok, Sorry for the delay. I was just reading some of the earlier reviews. Ouch... some harsh. Well this is not the Radius of course... it's missing all of those wonderful twiddly knobs. But, yes it has the actual real-life Radius just half the voices, but the Korg Editor provides the ability to swap out a variety of patches now.. I can't speak to years ago, but the" synth revival -Reneissiance" that is occuring, albeit pushed harder and farther ahead by the lockdowns that occured and are still occurring as of this writing. Reverb has become a ghost town for certain types of synths. The R3 is still far down the list of most popular, but good luck finding an abundance of them because they are coveted. The Vocant/Vocoder recorder and "first gen" Motion Sequencer" that is essential the same that is in Volcas. I certainly can't tell the difference other than the Volca's version is much more mature and made very easy by the fingerboard. The R3 is just crazy easy to use with 4 knobs. It reminds me in a way of the Moog LilSubFatty desktop synth the way the menus are used to select parameters. Its not to some peoples liking, but for performance... this is perfect. Thanks to Korg for making all the MS2000 series and MicroKorg series patch sets available for the R3. Nice touch hav ing all those original vocoder patches. Using the coder over a Wurly is incredible. You can router any of the 128 patches into our thru(with) the vocoder mics, and yes you can have from 1 to 100(utilizing a mixer.. of course) and any other sound device you can think of ... modular, Kaossilator (oh yeah!), Ableton, and seriously just anything. Its a serious F'n fun synth unlike any other. The routable matrix is the hidden genius. Its a 12v system... Yes... it has a 3.3 and 5 v sub system as well. great for patching and bending. The audio input and output is a 24bit A/D converter so you're going to get really pristine quality from the XLR and Line jack input. The 4 Midi ports via USB surprised the likes of me.. so it has MIDI in and out but it also provide "RS SOUND" Midi Out which is great for using it with the iPad Pro as its modulated and remodulated sound is recordable in GarageBand for iOS or any Android or iOS App supporting USB Audio which is just about everyone. More to come... Original Post: The Korg R3 is by far a secret weapon. In capable hands you have a portable magic black box follow me on this. It has the Radius Engine, it has a Vocoder, a "Vocant" Formant Motion recorder to record Vocant waves\env motion, I kid you not... oh boy am I going to have fun with this... more to come. (im busy mapping all my VSTs the controller is both a Host controller and synth too. THe knobs can be mapped to any MIDI CC/ control # or LBS and more oh my! (First Entry) It hasn't arrived yet... but I have read the user manual cover to cover... The R3 contains the Radius Engine which is what I wanted for my studio. Not all the features of the Radius engine are in the 3 Octave R3 version but enough was brought over to let this EDM cowboy VOcate this S#$t out of my music.... Hellop Kraftwerk!!! and David Gilmore. lol let the growls begin lol Korg has 2 packs that were customized for the R3. All of the MS2000, MS2000R and MS2000B all available for free to enhance the R3... want an MS2000 just patch it. The modular routing is the magic that allows for The details I wanted (Wikipedia) A dual filter, which not only allows you to use two filters in various configurations for each timbre, but also to "morph" different filter types. Formant Motion Record allows you to record spoken phrases and then trigger them with the keyboard using Vocoder function. (think Volca Motion Sequence capture) Modulation Sequencer, a "virtual analog sequencer" that mimics analog sequencing, 3 * 16 step. (again Volca got it from this tech) Virtual Patching, originally developed on the Korg MS2000, six "virtual patches" allow any of 15 modulation sources to be routed to any of 15 modulateable parameters. (think holy sh$t badd ass) Ill update when I get it next Tuesday ...

This is so new I have not delved too much into it yet. The sequencer is the highlight along with the patchbay... The sequencer is a new type that allows for things... I have only read about but soon I will sample the goods.

THis should be called the K303 its really so close to being a Roland TB-303 its so juicy with bass and wobble. yet its so much more. Its so good you should have 5 of them.

The Swiss Army wish they had a tool so complete. Took me 3 years to save up to buy it. But now... wow... worth the wait...

These things are heavy. They were made for broadcasting and dual purpose with a headset mic attachment. Overall the nicest sounding smooth 70's frequency response geared towards that time and vinyl records and you can hear it. I keep a pair for reference. This is very important when Mastering your sound.

This has given a new life and purpose for my JV880. Now I twiddle knobs with my custom synth from my iPad and play it like a Synth with any controller ! LOVE IT!

If your not using this synth... well.... so be it. I still love you though.

This titan is always in my stable. Its got the spice that others want. get it..

You name them, they use it. Its truely not a secret but it sort of is the secret best of the free bunch...

The MINILab line of controllers is a staple in my studio. The craftmanship and quality provide the luxurious feel of playing a piano, but on a controller. I chose the original diminutive 25 key version and with the Analog Lab 2 and 4 and now 5 over 7000 unique patches to the legendary synths of the past, its goes without saying how reliable it is to have a whole lab of synths in your studio saving tens of thousands in dollars in time, cost, equipment, and creating new starter patches to unlock creativity. Pick one.

Roland created a classic controller when they built the A series controllers. These were stage and studio controllers for the modern era of computer and multi-synth modules such as the JV-1080 Rack Synth from Roland. They go hand in hand. Designed for the professional, the A-30, 76-key has: Keyboard: 76 semi weighted Control: 2 Separate Sections (Upper / Lower), Programmable split point, programmable transpose, 32 User Patches, MIDI Soft Thru Front Panel Master Controls: Data Entry Fader, Data Entry Assign, Transpose, Start / Stop, Modulation / Bender / After Touch Lever. Patch Mode On / Off, Variation CC 00, Variation CC 32, Capital Program Change, Patch 1 / 16, 17 / 32, Patch Recall (16), 10 Numerical Buttons, Enter, Write, MIDI / Param, Octave Down, Octave Up, Upper Section On / Off, Lower Section On / Off, Edit Upper / Lower, Chorus On / Off, Reverb On / Off. Rear Panel Switches and Outputs: Sustain Switch, MIDI (In, Out, Thru), DC In, Power On / Off. Power: Battery (MN 1500 x 6 pcs) or option AC Adaptor Dimensions: 1195 x 270 x 105 mm Weight: Kg. 8,1. Accessories Supplied: MIDI Cable (1 meter long). Music Rest. Also supplied with your A – 30 are 6 alkaline batteries type MN 1500. These will be found in the package (Batteries life expectance = approx. 25 hours.) Optional: AC / DC Adaptor (ACA), Sustain Foot Switch (DP2 / DP6 / FS5U).

Well to be honest and I'm not being cliche' its just... Its knobs (at least on my unit) seem to suck... but it could be me (possible PEBKAC). I am in love with the joystick though. Its my favorite part and I use it with a wavetable synth with Vocant waves and literally draw my sound out of the speakers. It's so wicked on the iOS MiniMoog by Moog. Yes, this is a great controller, the "mondo" best iOS controller and a value just for Wobble alone. !! I still don't understand the MPC workflow, nor do I understand the MPC Essentials as everytime I load a sample it doesn't really seem to be in sync... no worries I'm a musical idiot stuck in my Sonic Foundry workflows...

No matter how you look at it, this is the biggest steal in the history of music instrument history. No wonder most APC’s are collecting dust... some got smart and decided to learn what this incredible powerhouse can do. Just watch the Korg videos and pay attention to the layering, this is an incredible tool. Yes you can upload you own samples with both desktop and mobile. This is indispensable and I may buy 4 more. IMHO.

DONG I wish. I bought a metal cowbel and smapled it with the VOlca Sample... did the trick and then some.

Its a love hate relationship here in the beginning. I'm sure loving this synth, but it needs more Volca freindly integration along with all the others.

Its a lil bit of sunshine when you want to get lofi on the fly... its a great lil monster

Arturia is my main dudes and dudettes. I have everything except a MatrixBrute... but... lol... soon... This is simply the best melodic sequencer for the rest of us. strap 2 or 3 on and you got nirvana. Its magic watch people like Sam Battle (Look Mum No Computer) use and push the Beatstep Pros to its limit.

Many decades ago... a small company with huge aspirations began making incredible add on filters and components for the booming organ industry of the late 50,60,and 70s. This unit came with my Technics organ and its legendary woodwind filters make sound much more organic. Now jump ahead to the present day and you can plug any synth into this and filter the incoming audio through some serious old filter tech.

Yes its old, Yes it's plain, Yes, and Yes for not buying this... did I say its FREEKIN HEAVY! BUT!! Yes seriously, BUT! It magically is a sonic badass like the 808 capacitors were; and has this unique ability with noise to signal ratio... its lower than Peavy's best that year... it was cheap... it was a mistake they made it so good, and it was so good it just had to go... The creamiest Tape Delay ever, ever, ever... could not believe.. Hardware echo, reverb, and all sorts of effects post or pre. you decide.

Modular synths are exciting and the Texture synth "Clouds" by Mutable Insturments is so dense with diversity and sonic appeal... I might take this one to my grave..