Korg KingKORG NEO

[egbert101]

https://youtu.be/XNq7nYZ0U1o

[SLiC]

I will wait for the native VST

[egbert101]

https://youtu.be/qnVoybxZrjs

[Introspective]

I will wait for the native VST

Indeed, I'm actually pretty excited for the VST.

I owned a KingKorg, and I loved it ... for the sound. The keyboard was shit, though, and it ruined the experience. ...putting it into one of their bottom-of-the-quality-barrel 3-octave shells would certainly not address that problem.

...But it would be lovely to have the synth sounds again. It has very nice filters, rather interesting oscillator choices, and a nice "streamlined" workflow that I really appreciated. Tons of great "bread and butter" sounds, and nigh perfect for Berlin School. Just a nice "round" sound quality to it, overall, IMO.

...of course, if they would just get around to releasing a software version of the Radias...

[egbert101]

I would say they will very likely do a Native version, which will be great. Only thing that concerns me is whether they've sorted out the aliasing or not. Also, are these newer prices crazy or what? Hopefully they'll drop to sensible levels.

[SLiC]

A new microkorg as well (busy boys!) now there is an VST for that already. Update?

https://youtu.be/ibU5KS36EFA?si=y1ESH0yLZ430dMQ5

[gaggle of hermits]

the microkorg I can understand: a popular choice (other than an MPC perhaps) for singers who "do beats" or want to do things like looping live.

the kingkorg I never really understood, even with the longer keyboard. it was like something the boss dreamed up while high on coke. "we'll have a tube. everybody loves tubes. they sound fukkin' great!"

and a va synth in something that's more like a Nord lead...but with a crappy keybed, not like a Nord.

it was like they got as far as making it in the hope the boss would finally realise what a mistake they'd made...but that never happened so they wound up having to ship it.

and then, the boss apparently snorted another plate of coke...

[bmanic]

That's probably it.. the coke part.

The microKorg 2 does look great though.

[kritikon]

Hmmm. Looked interesting but I got through maybe 1/4 of the initial vid before turning it off. Way too much menu diving required. Obvs it has to be that way for all the in depth synthesizering it can do, but IMO there's no point in these types of hw synths. And ultimately outside of the vocoder, it doesn't do much else that a shitload of other VAs etc do. I likewise might be interested in the VSTi when it comes out but not the hw. Nice looking thing though, I really like the white and the chunky knobs & push/twiddle set up

Trouble is with the VSTi, I'm very wary of Korg sw nowadays. They've never quite fixed the old Odyssey flakiness (it still crashes on me if I flit between patch changes on the fly) and I would dearly love to use the Opsix Native but it's still utterly broken, despite the fact they mostly fixed Wavestate Native. I'm actually relieved I bought Opsix hw because Native is unusable for me and was a complete waste of money. I don't have much faith that new plugins will be any better. Despite that though...I'm still a true blue Korg fanboi. Good to see they're being productive.

[Aiynzahev]

I’ve got one on the way

[Introspective]

I’ve got one on the way

I don't recall you commenting about the original KingKorg, did you ever have one?

[Aiynzahev]

I’ve got one on the way

I don't recall you commenting about the original KingKorg, did you ever have one?

No. I intended to get one eventually, but never did. The Neo makes it more appealing though, smaller, no gimmicky tubes to deal with.

[Aiynzahev]

Got it in today. I can give some brief thoughts

• Build quality: Better than the OpSix I had, does the job but nothing more. Feels like it should be a bit better at this price point.

• Design: I'm not sure this keyboard makes sense. It's set up to be a fast workflow work horse, like a Nord Lead, but it only has 37 keys. They put the 3 effects slots on the front panel with huge controls. I get the idea behind it, the programming interface takes a backseat to performance controls. Seems like it could have been done without taking up so much space but whatever.

• Ergonomics: Compromised. 2 Envelopes using the same set of controls, lots of waveforms and filter choices but they are on button presses, they would be easier to access with knobs instead of buttons.

• Synth engine: It's set up to give you quick access to types of sounds. Raw waveforms, PCM, modulated waveforms etc.
  
  Modulation types are Sync, Ringmod, FM and PM, and not just with sines but a choice of the 4 basic waveform types. So while I don't believe there's any cross modulation between oscillators, you can still get those kinds of sounds. They sound good.
  
  Now there's also dual modes for the 4 basically waveforms, and unison modes. The dual modes are phase locked, so I don't see using them very often, but the unison mode sounds great. Free phase and just like you expect a supersaw (or square etc) to sound. They are mono but these are just the waveforms, the synth itself has up to 4 unison stack with stereo spread & detuning controls.

• The DWGS waveforms are present, the modification you can make is to detune 2 of the same wave form together.

• The PCM waveforms: These are a mixed bag. Of course I'm happy to have them, but I'd say to any one who wants to use this synth in place of a workstation, these aren't going to cut it. They are single samples by the sound of it, not multisampled. For sound design though these are great. In the low end they a very crunchy and aliased. Almost like the kinds of sounds you expect from a wavetable synth, sometimes. No modifications seem possible here. If you like Lo-fi or 90's house, there's a lot of fun to be had here.

• Filters: The filters are excellent. The highlights for me are the Prophet, Oberheim and MS-20 models. Unlike some other digital synths I've used, they have the characteristics modeled very well and in general they just sound very good. You probably won't think "oh this is just like my prophet". but it will make sense that it's called the P5 filter or the OB filter. There's also a Moog and Acid filter.

• Effects: They are mostly OK. I think the chorus is quite nice, not so much the phaser and flanger. I think the distortion is OK but I didn't try it all the much. The plate reverb is nice but the hall rings a lot. The delays are fine.

• Complaints: I miss the sequencer that they included with their other recent synths. I really appreciate the true unison mode and the EQ controls. The EQ is customizable in frequency and amount, but unfortunately is global and does not save with the preset.

It is capable of producing some great sounds with character that is particular to this synth and not generic. This is mainly due to its great filters and eccentric waveform selection. It has a mod-matrix that Korg calls the Virtual patch, and there's not a lot of sources but damn near everything is a destination.

I'll post some sound examples/video when I can.

[Introspective]

Nice review, Aiyn. Thanks. Sounds like it is very similar to the original on most points.

How does the keyboard feel? The original was light, clacky, and cheap.

[Aiynzahev]

Nice review, Aiyn. Thanks. Sounds like it is very similar to the original on most points.

How does the keyboard feel? The original was light, clacky, and cheap.

Yeah that’s how this one feels too. Not as bad as the Opsix though