Korg is asking for your thoughts on a Mono/Poly Remake.
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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 4421 posts since 13 Jul, 2004 from Earth
I stumbled up on this on Korgs Facebook page asking about if you want a Re make of the Mono/Poly
https://www.facebook.com/KORGusa/photos ... =3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/KORGusa/photos ... =3&theater
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- KVRAF
- 6805 posts since 20 Jan, 2008
I'd be happier with a wavestation that has boosted levels over the original.
Dell Vostro i9 64GB Ram Windows 11 Pro, Cubase, Bitwig, Mixcraft Guitar Pod Go, Linntrument Nektar P1, Novation Launchpad
- KVRian
- 1494 posts since 13 Sep, 2012
It's actually a link to a "back from the grave" type of article... half of those will be cloned by Behringer anyway, while Korg keeps losing steam - a few years back they were riding the n.w.o.a. (new wave of analog) , and now they're left with a handful of obsolete Volcas... not good, Korg... not good at all...
TELURICA - "Made In ___ [INSERT LOCATION]" - EP.
Available now on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/telurica/sets/ma ... t-location
Available now on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/telurica/sets/ma ... t-location
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- KVRAF
- 3080 posts since 17 Apr, 2005 from S.E. TN
The mono/poly was a rather pitiful excuse for a synth. But hey I thought the same of the MS-20 so what do I know?
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thecontrolcentre thecontrolcentre https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=76240
- KVRAF
- 35194 posts since 27 Jul, 2005 from the wilds of wanny
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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 4421 posts since 13 Jul, 2004 from Earth
Yes Korg do link to that article but if you read what they wrote they ask if you would be interested in a Reissue of the Mono/Poly.idfpower wrote: ↑Thu Oct 18, 2018 7:07 pm It's actually a link to a "back from the grave" type of article... half of those will be cloned by Behringer anyway, while Korg keeps losing steam - a few years back they were riding the n.w.o.a. (new wave of analog) , and now they're left with a handful of obsolete Volcas... not good, Korg... not good at all...
- KVRian
- 1494 posts since 13 Sep, 2012
Right...
TELURICA - "Made In ___ [INSERT LOCATION]" - EP.
Available now on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/telurica/sets/ma ... t-location
Available now on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/telurica/sets/ma ... t-location
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- KVRAF
- 6805 posts since 20 Jan, 2008
I'd be happier if Korg hadn't abandoned PC users. Every time I get a software newsletter its mac, ipad, iphone no android or PC
Dell Vostro i9 64GB Ram Windows 11 Pro, Cubase, Bitwig, Mixcraft Guitar Pod Go, Linntrument Nektar P1, Novation Launchpad
- GRRRRRRR!
- 15971 posts since 14 Jun, 2001 from Somewhere else, on principle
Same here, who wants to make music on a toy computer? The problem is, the morons that use those things love wasting money on useless garbage so Korg probably make good money from it.
... plus ARP Odyssey, plus MS 20, plus Minilogue, plus Monologue, plus Prologue. All of which adds up to a lot more than anyone else, with the newest of them only a year or so old. Volca is the last thing I think of when I hear Korg's name mentioned, I can't believe anyone takes those little toys seriously.idfpower wrote: ↑Thu Oct 18, 2018 7:07 pm It's actually a link to a "back from the grave" type of article... half of those will be cloned by Behringer anyway, while Korg keeps losing steam - a few years back they were riding the n.w.o.a. (new wave of analog) , and now they're left with a handful of obsolete Volcas... not good, Korg... not good at all...
NOVAkILL : Asus RoG Flow Z13, Core i9, 16GB RAM, Win11 | EVO 16 | Studio One | bx_oberhausen, GR-8, JP6K, Union, Hexeract, Olga, TRK-01, SEM, BA-1, Thorn, Prestige, Spire, Legend-HZ, ANA-2, VG Iron 2 | Uno Pro, Rocket.
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- KVRAF
- 2167 posts since 7 Dec, 2005
+1 - or how about a more polyphonied version of it's daddy: the Prophet VS - using *real* analog filters; (1) for each voice?tapper mike wrote: ↑Thu Oct 18, 2018 8:10 am I'd be happier with a wavestation that has boosted levels over the original.
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- KVRist
- 406 posts since 10 Mar, 2005
A mini hardware version of the wavestation with proper filters would be nice. The vst version has a filter the mono poly was great not sure if i would buy a digital emu. I think these companies should be trying to find new things rather than look into the past. Smacks of being intellectually and moraly bankrupt rehashing old products as digital emulations and building them in oppresive states like China to be marked up thru the roof in Western Europe
- KVRAF
- 12555 posts since 7 Dec, 2004
They need to focus on modules (boxes) or rack-mounts and forget about miniaturization or cheesy little keyboards.
Creating a high quality MIDI-CV module is cheap and easy. They could simply buy one (probably $30,000?) and use it in less than a week.
A re-issue seems interesting until you remember there are plenty of things to improve about any design such as the MS-20 or Mono/Poly. So when such a device is accurately re-created or miniaturized people should be asking "but ... why?!"
Creating a high quality MIDI-CV module is cheap and easy. They could simply buy one (probably $30,000?) and use it in less than a week.
A re-issue seems interesting until you remember there are plenty of things to improve about any design such as the MS-20 or Mono/Poly. So when such a device is accurately re-created or miniaturized people should be asking "but ... why?!"
Free plug-ins for Windows, MacOS and Linux. Xhip Synthesizer v8.0 and Xhip Effects Bundle v6.7.
The coder's credo: We believe our work is neither clever nor difficult; it is done because we thought it would be easy.
Work less; get more done.
The coder's credo: We believe our work is neither clever nor difficult; it is done because we thought it would be easy.
Work less; get more done.
- KVRAF
- 12555 posts since 7 Dec, 2004
In other words I believe the issue with previous mini-versions has been in several respects:
Additional redundant things like a keyboard, bender wheels and such should be replaced with proper modern I/O.
Improvements should be made. Major issues with these devices have always been accurate output levels: do I want line level or do I expect studio/instrument level? The solution is to replace the dinky old buffers or opamp outputs with proper studio quality I/O and level switches.
In this thread we've already seen mentioned the lack of simple functionality like mixer levels are peaking at 0 dB, why not +20 dB with 0 dB in the center of the knob? This cuts precision in half where it isn't important (nobody is tweaking their mix levels by 1/100ths) and provides the ability to do more with identical circuits.
Sometimes the original circuit design couldn't cope with input drive and would latch up or clip: find ways to "fix" the circuit while maintaining its authenticity within the old (0 dB) range.
There are other very small tweaks that can be made to significantly improve things: bipolar modulation (either by phase switch or bipolar knob) without adding many or sometimes any controls.
Very often there are huge mistakes in the original circuits which lead to poor noise or hum performance: fix these! They aren't adding anything beneficial to the sound. Where they are of benefit (oscillator references, etc) insert them carefully with proper bypass: "it's not a bug, it's a feature"; then make that true yourself.
Many included a glide circuit as part of the analog keyboard circuit: replace it with either a digital implementation (part of the MIDI to CV module) or move it to apply to the CV input(s).
There are countless improvements that could be made to these old designs. They were nowhere near perfection.
- I could build it myself
- It looks/feels prototype, unreliable and disposable
- It lacks a good interface (normal sized knobs?)
- It lacks proper I/O (MIDI + audio sockets)
- Features are missing like "why not velocity control of cutoff or amplitude?"
Additional redundant things like a keyboard, bender wheels and such should be replaced with proper modern I/O.
Improvements should be made. Major issues with these devices have always been accurate output levels: do I want line level or do I expect studio/instrument level? The solution is to replace the dinky old buffers or opamp outputs with proper studio quality I/O and level switches.
In this thread we've already seen mentioned the lack of simple functionality like mixer levels are peaking at 0 dB, why not +20 dB with 0 dB in the center of the knob? This cuts precision in half where it isn't important (nobody is tweaking their mix levels by 1/100ths) and provides the ability to do more with identical circuits.
Sometimes the original circuit design couldn't cope with input drive and would latch up or clip: find ways to "fix" the circuit while maintaining its authenticity within the old (0 dB) range.
There are other very small tweaks that can be made to significantly improve things: bipolar modulation (either by phase switch or bipolar knob) without adding many or sometimes any controls.
Very often there are huge mistakes in the original circuits which lead to poor noise or hum performance: fix these! They aren't adding anything beneficial to the sound. Where they are of benefit (oscillator references, etc) insert them carefully with proper bypass: "it's not a bug, it's a feature"; then make that true yourself.
Many included a glide circuit as part of the analog keyboard circuit: replace it with either a digital implementation (part of the MIDI to CV module) or move it to apply to the CV input(s).
There are countless improvements that could be made to these old designs. They were nowhere near perfection.
Free plug-ins for Windows, MacOS and Linux. Xhip Synthesizer v8.0 and Xhip Effects Bundle v6.7.
The coder's credo: We believe our work is neither clever nor difficult; it is done because we thought it would be easy.
Work less; get more done.
The coder's credo: We believe our work is neither clever nor difficult; it is done because we thought it would be easy.
Work less; get more done.
- GRRRRRRR!
- 15971 posts since 14 Jun, 2001 from Somewhere else, on principle
That would be OK if it was profitable but if you can't see how obsessed the market is with any and everything old and useless, you must have been living in a cave for 20 years. Korg is a business and it's easy money for them. They'd be idiots not to do stuff that will sell.
If that's true, then it is true of their customers, not of the company, but it's not true at all. You have no idea how cheap this stuff is compared to 30 years ago. e.g. I bought my brand new SH-101 in around 1985 for Au$480 at a time when a brand new large sedan was about Au$10,000. Today a new large sedan will cost you at least Au$35,000 but I can buy a KORG Monologue, which is as much better than an SH-101 as a new car today is from one back then, for $400. So it's hard to see where these massive mark-ups are coming from.Smacks of being intellectually and moraly bankrupt rehashing old products as digital emulations and building them in oppresive states like China to be marked up thru the roof in Western Europe
I hate modules. I'll happily pay considerably more form something with a keyboard, even a strange and/or tiny one. Even the button on my Rocket is better than nothing. It makes it all so much more immediate. I don't see any advantage in a module over software, which is why I bought the keyboard dock thingie for both of my Boutiques (i.e. I bought two).
I think mini versions make a lot of sense - they take up a lot less space and are more transportable. These things used to be huge because they needed to be huge but they don't need to be huge any more so why make them huge?
NOVAkILL : Asus RoG Flow Z13, Core i9, 16GB RAM, Win11 | EVO 16 | Studio One | bx_oberhausen, GR-8, JP6K, Union, Hexeract, Olga, TRK-01, SEM, BA-1, Thorn, Prestige, Spire, Legend-HZ, ANA-2, VG Iron 2 | Uno Pro, Rocket.