Right. Who’s getting one? And does it sound better than the Minilogue? I kind of think it does.
I started to post about this but yours beat me to it.
Korg’s latest - $299 USD Korg Monologue - http://www.korg.com/us/products/synthesizers/monologue/
Of some interest to me is that it seems to bring back some features from the Monotribe - chiefly the Monotribe’s LFO options which includes ‘one shot, slow, and fast’ with a fast mode that goes way way up there. Super fun on the Monotribe.
I’m a bit done with monosynths at this point but as I’ve wanted to get another Monotribe and mod it out for Midi and such… this might be the better alternative. Sounds a bit different from the Monotribe too. But I just like how some of that strange little box’s features have shown back up.
Korg’s intro video:
These things would be much more useful if there were some way to chain patterns imo.
At first the battery powered aspect of it seems cool, but it seems too bulky to be portable. I don’t see why they didn’t just extend their volca series with a Roland boutique-like key board.
Im rather excited about the ios arp odyssey announcement, love that it is compatible with korg gadget as it syncs nicely with the octatrack, will make nice octafood
Yawn. Agreed that analog synths without a bunch of modern features is getting boring now. Im in the market for a big poly (deepmind poss. Ob-6 ideal…) but after that I’m set and focused on weird digitial/sampling (someone needs to make an updated V-synth…) purchases… This seems like a step backwards/sideways for Korg. Guess they’ll sell but I’d honestly probably take my volca keys over this… Maybe they just didn’t want to waste the opportunity to use the name ‘monologue’ And apparently the novation news is just a software update for circuit, not a pro version. Nov 1st anticlimax…
Yep, I’m getting one. It sounds great to me.
I’ve given up on selling my Minilogue, and this seems to fill in the gaps I thought were missing sound wise.
Since the dawn of time, I’ve always wanted a Monotribe done properly. Sounds like this could be it.
Sounds richly nice and beefy.
Watched the longer review vid on YouTube. Guess it’s actually pretty cool for the price. Just would love to see some of the more modern ideas/functions etc starting to reach the lower-mid price units.
Someone needs to make something like this but with sampling inputs and basic sample+osc layering/usable timestrech options. Just something that hints that it’s 2016… And a poly (minilogue) version of the same thing…
Edit - and onboard fx… What’s up with synths still offering next to zero. If Sp404 had a ton of usable fx in whatever year that came out then surely the same processing power and coding would be super cheap and pretty simple now? Yet besides behringer we’re still seeing mostly zero or minimal onboard fx. Lame…
And Preset storage… Says 80 factory and 20 user. Are the factory patches over-writeable? Why so few patche slots on synths still? Even 100 is pretty pathetic… Anyone with tech knowledge know much it costs to facilitate 100 patch slots. And how much would it add to cost to add another 100? Just seems kind of archaic to me that we’re still seeing these kind of specs?
skinny pants? I thought we was rockin’ jogger chinos by now?
But I am liking what I see here. For 299, it’s like the big brother of volcabass. And microtuning is always welcome in my books! Maybe it will not sound like a vintage instrument, but at 299 there isn’t much that can compete with the featureset IMO.
This sweetwater demo is pretty much selling it for me! I’m guessing there’s full MIDI CC conntrol support too for the OT feeders
im also done with monosynths for the forseeable future… they have their place, as dedicated bass or drums or something… but im definitely not interested in monosynth keyboards anymore… it would have to be something out of this world to interest me at this point
Fair enough. I OTOH am contemplating of selling my moog little phatty for this! The diff. in price is almost big enough to buy an lol
my other problem with Korg is they are always aiming too low IMHO - its primarily budget, small, narrow featured devices that are fairly cheap… I guess Im just not that market they are trying to appeal to… Im sure they are making tons of cash tho
You checked that sweetwater video though? Does seem quite nicely featured to me.
i did … and I do agree its somewhat forward thinking in terms of a monosynth… but its still a monosynth, with a 2 octave keyboard, no way around that - and its still subtractive analog
wake me up when they come out with the 8-voice Megalogue with a 3 or 4 octave keyboard… i would definitely look into that
That’s what I like about Korg. Especially Tatsuya’s group. He say’s that this has always been Korg’s mission and since the release of the Monotron this has seemed especially true. There’s a weird spirit to their gear (especially the Volca line) that seems to click with me more than others. The harsh noise side of me appreciates cheap gadgets and the Monotron shocked me for how killer it sounded for $59. I have all of the current Volcas except the bass (bass synths just don’t appeal to me much) and have gotten quite a bit of use out of them (fave recording I’ve made this year paired Volca Beats with Monomachine; second favorite paired Volca Sample with Machinedrum).
Between the Monologue and the Volca Kick, I feel like Korg’s taken one of their stranger boxes - the Monotribe - and extracted and evolved its best features into new products. I like that. But, again, I really like that sound.
Yes, I agree that the two oct keyboard is rather redundant. Would prefer a desktop version. Luckily the footprint is quite manageable!
I won’t get one. But if any of these features get added to the Minilogue in a future update, I might be interested in a Minilogue:
LFO w/ high speed or one-shot
Sequencer enhancements over the Minilogue
Microtuning
Source:
Curious, apparently they brought in mr AFX to consult. Neat to see they’ve added microtuning.