Korg MS-20 Mini. Any Love/Hate?

Whaaaaaaat's up amigos!

Some of you may have seen that I was looking to sell my OP-1 a while back ago. Found a buyer that will definitely give it a good home! NOW, I have some money to invest back into my studio-place and have been thinking of a few different things.

For a long time, I've wanted a bad ass looper but I am feeling that it might be better to just save up and pick one up towards the end of the year. Which brings me to a new idea....

Been wanting/needing a decent synthesizer with some real keys. I've thought about the new Bass Station, the Arturia Mini-Brute, and the MS-20 Mini. Out of all of them, the MS-20 is the one that catches my ears and eyes the most. Just seems like a great piece, PLUS you can plug an external sound source for some modulation, which just kicks ass in my books.

My setup would be the MPC 1K, Volca Keys & Beats, and the MS-20 (plus my acoustic instruments). I doubt that there is any over-lap between the Volca Keys and the MS-20 but I've NEVER played with either of them.

I'd love to hear some feedback about the MS-20. I've been able to find reviews/videos online but none of that is shit compared to an actual 'conversation' so I decided to ask here.

I definitely want to introduce an analogue synth (with keys!) to the studio. The MS-20 Mini is not the end-all-be-all, so I'm still open for suggestions either way!



Peace out
(sorry for long post)

From what I've read/heard, it's pretty true to the original MS-20 sound, so you could look for MS-20 demos as well to get an idea of the sound of it. The Ms-20 filter can get pretty nasty. The modular aspect of it looks very fun, obviously loads of freedom there.

But I've also heard it's not very well built. Cheap-feeling pots and jacks (100% 1/8" jacks). Plus mini keys. Plus apparently a noticeable hiss on the output. So there's that. I've never actually used one though.



The bassstation doesn't look very appealing to me. The demos I've heard of it sounded honestly pretty bad, but that could just be the fault of the demo-er. The dude who showed it off at musicmesse seemed incompetent with how to actually demonstrate a synth (just turning all the distorting knobs to the max).

Also, this may not apply to you, but I don't like the fact that most of the knobs are multi-function, like the single set of knobs that modify both oscillators. Sure, it has presets, but it's not complicated to dial in a patch you want if there's a knob for every function, especially when you get more familiar with the synth.



The Minibrute is the best for my preferences, and is the one of the three that I actually own. It seems pretty well built; there are a bunch of cases on the arturia forums that make it sound crappy, but you have to consider the fact that people aren't going to post reporting that everything's working fine, so it's natural for a majority of the posts to be about problems.
There's plenty of functionality, and I like the sound of it. It's single-oscillator, but there are multiple waveforms (including a -1 or -2 octave suboscillator) that can all be mixed into the signal at whatever amount you want. There's also a detuning-like ultrasaw feature; PWM on the square and "metalizer" on the triangle, which can both be modulated by an envelope or the LFO. So the lack of a second true oscillator is balanced by all the other options. The filter sounds sweet, and can get grimy at its limits, especially with the "brute factor" feedback feature. There's 2 envelopes (amp and filter/PWM/metalizer) and 2 LFOs (pitch/vibrato, and a second more powerful one), and aftertouch, so lots of modulation possibilities. It also accepts an audio input, though you may need a preamp to boost normal audio sources up to the level of the other oscillators (it's meant to take up to like 10V, for use with modular synth gear). Plus there are a few CV ins/outs. I believe that the MB can also be used as a USB<->MIDI/CV interface.

And it's completely knob-per-function (except for little things like aftertouch curves, envelope legato mode, etc). No patch saving, but again, it's easy to dial in a sound once you get to know the synth.

I really like the MB, and I would recommend it at least by my preferences.

Hahaha I completely feel you on the BassStation stuff. I was just keeping it in mind because it is also a $600 analogue synthesizer. It looks cheesy to me and all the demos I've heard of it sound..... just plain terri-bad.

I will keep digging around. I don't think I could really lose out with either the Mini-Brute or the MS-20 Mini. The interfaces on both are on-point for what they do.
Guess I just have to keep my ear to the ground still, keep doing some research.

I appreciate the reply!