Korg Minilogue

[IncarnateX]

As long as their are doubts about the origins of the click and any potential resolution, then it is an interesting technical point about a new product, full stop.

Yes, a thrilling subject. Why don't you get off kvr and write a book about it then? May be a bestseller, which will make you rich and famous.

[ghettosynth]

The reddit link references this video and infers that the issue might be CV bleed through in the VCA and won't be correctable. Do we have any insight into the details of the VCA?

[ghettosynth]

This is the best click-demo that I've heard yet, and it's not even intending to demonstrate the clicks. Here is someone just playing through the presets and, obviously, when he gets to the second one you can hear the clicks clearly. They are not simply rapid attack. It seems like there is also an issue with release, as others have noted, and that's indicative of a more serious problem.



Here's someone demonstrating on a few different machines. You can see and hear that there is clicking on release here.



You can also hear some clicking on the Trident and the Mother 32, but not the release on the Moog. I think that it's just coincidence that the Trident is also a Korg.

For those that have this and are interested in understanding the issue make a controlled video of preset 02 demonstrating the click and then adjusting the EG to minimize or eliminate it? I think that the release click is more interesting than the attack because it eliminates the rapid attack element from the equation.

[Mutant]

It is also interesting on the "presets 001-010" video that changing presets also produces a click...

[IncarnateX]

[deastman]

I'm always amazed at how much energy fanbois expend trying to stop others from talking about flaws in their precious. Or frankly, how they can expend so much energy saying nothing of substance about their precious.

Exactly. I bought the thing, but that doesn't prevent me from acknowledging its flaws. I'd much rather we get to the root cause of the click, and if Korg doesn't want to fix it, maybe someone else will. I also don't think that product ownership should be a requirement for interest in, or discussion of said product. There are plenty of synths which interest me (e.g. Kyma, Serge, Buchla) but which I will probably never own.

[ghettosynth]

I'm always amazed at how much energy fanbois expend trying to stop others from talking about flaws in their precious. Or frankly, how they can expend so much energy saying nothing of substance about their precious.

Exactly. I bought the thing, but that doesn't prevent me from acknowledging its flaws. I'd much rather we get to the root cause of the click, and if Korg doesn't want to fix it, maybe someone else will.

Right, it seems as if people who have a black and white view of something, e.g. love/hate, are projecting their perspective onto others. For me, what's interesting about this synth is its design and that's both the good and the bad. Many synths have made compromises to hit price points and sometimes those compromises are part and parcel with the character of the synth.

I also don't think that product ownership should be a requirement for interest in, or discussion of said product. There are plenty of synths which interest me (e.g. Kyma, Serge, Buchla) but which I will probably never own.

Yes, anyone interested in synth technology is going to spend some time, maybe even a lot of time, studying other synths. I don't own any of those synths either but I've spent hours studying schematics and building stuff for my own DIY projects. Buchla and Serge are fascinating designs.

This is a new analog poly, that is interesting all by itself and I've engaged in similar conversations for pretty much every new analog poly over the last decade or so. What I am always interested in is the relationship between the design and designs of the past, and specifically what is new and how is it new. For me, that extends far beyond what Korg presents in marketing blurbs. In fact, Korg would probably do themselves a favor by just publishing the schematics. Most of us interested in technology would just turn our attentions to those instead of trying to scratch and claw the information out of the limited information that we have. I know that they want to keep it under wraps, just because, but really, I don't think that there's a really good argument today for doing so. Maybe for boutique guitar pedal makers, but even then, cloning doesn't really kill the demand for the "real thing."

But I digress.

[Sendy]

Just a quick compilation of all of my saved Minilogue patches.

https://soundcloud.com/sendy/sendys-min ... the-clicks

I am of the camp that acknowledges that some people may find the clicking annoying, but I'm personally having too much fun.

On some of the patches the delay is VERY noisy. Obviously if I don't want that noise, I can just switch it out and break out the ValhallaDSP

Just another side note about weird stuff with the Minilogue. I've found a few other weird defects, which I've employed creatively in these patches. When the pulse wave gets close to being a very narrow pulse, it just cuts out entirely to silence. If you modulate this very quick, you can get AM and gating effects. The sync circuit can also get very confused about octaves if the slave oscillator drops below the master. This can be used to create one-off octave jumps during the course of a note.

[deastman]

To me, the noisy delay is like the Monotron Delay. Crank the feedback up to max, manipulate the time and highpass, and you effectively have a completely separate instrument to mess with.

[IncarnateX]

Just another side note about weird stuff with the Minilogue. I've found a few other weird defects, which I've employed creatively in these patches. When the pulse wave gets close to being a very narrow pulse, it just cuts out entirely to silence. If you modulate this very quick, you can get AM and gating effects. The sync circuit can also get very confused about octaves if the slave oscillator drops below the master. This can be used to create one-off octave jumps during the course of a note.

Thanks for providing constructive info and demos from the camp of creativity, Sendy. I can't wait to explore those peculiarities. Sounds extraordinary unique to me. Must be the glitch synth of the century. The wonderful aesthetics of failure. My first tune shall take advantage of the clicks as much as possible, so they better be audible.

[ghettosynth]

Just another side note about weird stuff with the Minilogue. I've found a few other weird defects, which I've employed creatively in these patches. When the pulse wave gets close to being a very narrow pulse, it just cuts out entirely to silence. If you modulate this very quick, you can get AM and gating effects.

The minilogue is not the only synth to do that. In fact, I would consider that a feature and not a bug so long as the synth was calibrated properly so that it could be well predicted exactly where it will cut out given specific modulation.

[stillshaded]

Just a quick compilation of all of my saved Minilogue patches.

https://soundcloud.com/sendy/sendys-min ... the-clicks

I am of the camp that acknowledges that some people may find the clicking annoying, but I'm personally having too much fun.

On some of the patches the delay is VERY noisy. Obviously if I don't want that noise, I can just switch it out and break out the ValhallaDSP

Just another side note about weird stuff with the Minilogue. I've found a few other weird defects, which I've employed creatively in these patches. When the pulse wave gets close to being a very narrow pulse, it just cuts out entirely to silence. If you modulate this very quick, you can get AM and gating effects. The sync circuit can also get very confused about octaves if the slave oscillator drops below the master. This can be used to create one-off octave jumps during the course of a note.

Terrific patches sendy! I really love them.

That little thing definitely has it's own character.

Have you ever messed with an analog four? I'm trying to decide between the two. From the demos I've heard, I almost feel like the analog four lacks a little vibe. I'm sure it's great tho.

[Sendy]

Yes, all of the glitches, the PW disappearing, the octave jumping on sync, all of them are 100% reproducable, which is really cool. Having access to a square and sawtooth LFO really adds to the glitch aesthetic, as well. The only glitch that comes and goes is the clicking.

I do have an Analog Four actually, and I've hardly used it. I'm tempted to sell it, but before I do that, I want to upgrade the engine. Apparently they improved the filter resonance and added DAW integration. I loved the features of the A4, but the sound and workflow left me feeling a bit.... flat? I dono. The filter just felt kinda... pleh... weird resonance, perfect for that rubbery minimal techno sound, but that's a million miles away from what I do.

As for the onboard sequencer and voice storage architecture, I am confuseballs.

[sovietpop]

Have you ever messed with an analog four? I'm trying to decide between the two. From the demos I've heard, I almost feel like the analog four lacks a little vibe. I'm sure it's great tho.

I have the Analog 4 and i had the chance to try the Minilogue extensively (not just a couple of hours).

My personal opinion :
The A4 is way better, no contest here ... but its more expensive.
Sound quality is subjective of course but even if the Minilogue is a really nice synth for the price , well i think its just nice for the price. Its a 500 $ analogue synth that sounds average at best. The A4 is a way more complicated machine, its not always easy to find the sweet spot but it can sounds very warm and very Rolandish imo.

The A4 is also not the warmest sounding analogue and it can sounds a little bit clinical sometime but i can say the same thing for the Minilogue , it sounds very modern. The big difference is the A4 has a powerful modulation matrix and 2 filters so way more possibilities. The Minilogue is a very nice synth of course but its has a limited architecture. Also with the A4 you got lots of option for the ENV , the curve, the trigger mode etc. With the Minilogue you have to deal with ENV that always reset to 0 though its maybe not a concern for you.

Minilogue +
-VCO's
-Nice Knobby interface ! This is a big plus
-Cheap !!!
-Unique sounding ???

A4 +
-Amazing sequencer : Its just so powerful with the parameters locks , probability triggers, realtime transpose etc.
-2 sub osc
-2 filters (1 lp + multimode)
-Very nice FX
-4 CV output
-Multitimbral
-powerful modulation matrix
-feedback osc

Both can do FM , Ring modulation, wave shape modulation.

So my verdict : you are on a budget and you are looking for a somewhat unique sounding modern analogue synth : The Minilogue is GREAT !

Looking for something more geekee ,also modern sounding but can be very versatile with its dual filters configuration amazing sequencer, morphing param capabilities, etc etc . the A4 is a classic.

[stillshaded]

Thanks for the viewpoints y'all.


I think I'll get both eventually lol. Since I am a sound design nerd, I will probably get the A4 first. Sendy if you decide you want to sell let me know and I'll abduct a small child and sell them and then buy it from you. Really broke atm

As I said earlier, borrowed my friends and really like the minilogue. Made some cool patches. But I had a lot of those "if only I could modulate ONE MORE THING" but maybe that's good for me.

Plus my buddy has a analog rytm, so it would be cool once I have it loaded with patterns if we could just up and do some live sets with little prep time and computer business. I'm a huge piano roll wanker but I hate preparing computer tracks for live sets. A fate worse than death