Korg Mini MS-20

Just a bit to add. I put my hands on it and it is not nearly as well built as the minibrute. Someone needs to make some wood sides or something for to feel like its nicely built. I would say that the minibrute's build is more on par with the MPC Ren. more solid. The ms 20 mini is more on par with the machine as far as build goes. just something to consider. but the sound is better than I thought (when i played it at the booth) when he demo'd for me. Maybe user error but it sounded like two different synths. in the end I'm impressed with the sound and price. build can be improved.

psr wrote:build can be improved.

Hopefully so, because the original is apparently built very solidly.

Thankfully someone at NAMM had the foresight to connect a recorder to the headphone socket in this vid.

Coz wrote:

psr wrote:build can be improved.

Somewhat disappointing to hear but I kind of expected it with the price point, which I am shocked at how low they went.

Maschine build quality? Acceptable but I feel your points psr and Coz.

Sell my 1000 for a mini MS20... It's very tempting right now.

Metatron72 wrote:Sell my 1000 for a mini MS20... It's very tempting right now.

When you've got as much gear as you have, that's an easy decision! 5 MPCs or 4 and an MS-20 Mini?!

Fair point Coz.

It's 4.5, one XL has 16 lines in the LCD.

Really I bet I keep the 1000, and hopefully just get a job soon as even minimum wage will get you an MS20 fairly quickly. (Still smiling on the MSRP)

Space is so tight here that I'm not even sure I can fit it anywhere unless I find a way of extending my desk.

The Sub Phatty has won me over in the small synth stakes anyway. The full midi implementation and software editor will come in handy. I just need to find a new mixer now because I'm out of channels...

if the build quality is like the controller then its more then okay for that prize

pull-over wrote:if the build quality is like the controller then its more then okay for that prize

Yeah that was my thought and I was just about to track down one of the old Legacy Collection controllers.

I wanted one to run this - http://createdigitalmusic.com/2012/09/t ... s-reality/

...and also wanted one for control of the iPad app, but I'm sure the new one will double as a controller in that situation.

A short comparison between the old and new MS-20.

Great video! Been wanting to see a comparison. The mini holds its own completely until that last test with the filter.. In other words the most important part...

I'd only buy it if they made a "mini" SQ10 as well, that's atleast 50% of the old ms20s pull for me. Also harder to track down that an old ms20

the newer ms20 hands hold has a lot more bass response, makes the old one sound so thinm

his first dual saw test, the low end on the mini is mind blowing.

the square wave I think sounded thin compared to the saw on both units, maybe he had the saw test 2 saws but 1 octave down.


I prefer the sound of the mini , its on my to buy list.

look at his scope, the old one is lower volume, but even when I make up the gain via volume knob the new ms20 still betters it, and look at the low end from about 1 min to 1.15 the lower the old ms20 went the lower the output meaning weak bass.

"Fat" oscillators are a dime a dozen these days... The original ms20 filters aren't. I know folks now who don't even play their ms20 and just run kicks and drums through the filters. A 909 kick ran through the old ms20 LP is the fattest shit I've ever heard.

m56p87 wrote:Great video! Been wanting to see a comparison. The mini holds its own completely until that last test with the filter.. In other words the most important part...

It was a pretty extreme setting with the long fade in. I doubt 2 originals would even sound the same in that situation. The rest was spot on though.

Yeah I agree that those old circuits carry alot of personality. But the new one didn't even sound dirty at all, in fact it just sounded like a clean modern analog synth. To each their own I just know that whenever I hear someone speak about the OG ms20 it's usually about the screaming filters...

This dude gets it screaming pretty good. I don't want to split hairs over a dirty scream or a clean scream either!



Whether it's identical, in the ballpark or nothing like the original is neither here or there really. I post about cheap analogue synths or remakes (this and the TT-303) because to a lot of people it's generally not worth spending another grand on top to get that extra 5 or 10% that's 'missing'.