KORG Minilogue XD Desktop Module

[BONES]

If you on top of that also have curve settings for envelopes you get even more to pick from.

You mean like pretty much every VSTi I ever made? Yeah, fabulous stuff.

I found interesting stuff with amp being just slightly slower or faster than filter in part of transition to sustain level - either in attack or decay part.

Good for you, I mostly find one gets in the way of the other so by taking one out, I can concentrate on getting the other exactly right. I am far more likely to want to adjust the cutoff and filter envelope together which, of course, I can do in both Uno and Uno Pro. Best of all, I can do it with one hand.

If you got pitch envelope as well, even more to pick and choose from.

No, definitely getting into the area of too much cruft now. Simple and focused works best for me, which is why my most used synths, by a country mile, is JP6K.

This is what makes you experiment with guitar+pedals+amp too, to find the spot that speaks to you.

That's another thing I don't do. Ujam's guitar plugins work perfectly for my needs.

But the journey is boring to you, that is kind of sad. Life is a journey, and it's like the only thing you are interested in is end result - death.

No, I am interested in performing our songs at festivals and on tours. You may think about yourself all the time, I never think about myself at all.

All weird to me loving the full process. In your defence I don't have a deadline to be ready, I can let it linger as I please.

The only deadlines we have are those we impose upon ourselves. I daresay it takes me far longer to finish a song than it does you. I would never even think about putting a song on an album that I hadn't spent at least 6 months with and most of them spend upwards of two years kicking around before they are in good enough shape to think about releasing.

You've been using synths for a long time, and use so little of what it offers.

You've probably been driving cars for a long time and only ever used a fraction of their potential. A car is probably just a tool for you, in the same way that synths are just tools for me. What matters are songs and we can make awesome songs without having to use more than the basics. Maybe if you keep at it long enough, you'll be able to do that, too?

So with great anticipation I alook forward to Behringer Pro 800 to be released to get the real thing.

Why? Wouldn't you rather have something that makes sounds no-one has ever heard before? That was the thrill of buying a DX9 in 1983 - making amazing sounds I literally could not have dreamt of previously. Sadly, there hasn't been much of that in the last 30 years so these days I challenge myself in other ways.

Except the Juno 106 only has one envelope, so only one set of ADSR sliders.

Really?
https://www.roland.com/us/products/rc_juno-106/

Yes, really. That's a Roland softsynth - note the "PLUG-OUT" badge on the front panel. This is what the original hardware synth looks like -

Personally I love the fact that hardware can now be as updatable and flexible as software....some 3rd party developer comes up with some genius new oscillator and you don't have to but a new synths, just upload it!

I am exactly the opposite. I want to buy something and use and never have to worry about updating it or adding extra shit to it or anything else. For me, that is just about the biggest attraction to hardware - it is what it is and that's all it will ever be, so I can get on with using it for what I bought it for.

(PS- Running my UNO through the NTS-1 now so, it sounds fantastic!)

See, even that is more than I'm interested in. I bought some tiny Korg multi-effects unit to use with my Rocket but I never got around to connecting it up, not even once. Too much f**king about. This is it, Korg Pandora, it's smaller than a computer mouse -

[SLiC]

I am exactly the opposite. I want to buy something and use and never have to worry about updating it or adding extra shit to it or anything else. For me, that is just about the biggest attraction to hardware - it is what it is and that's all it will ever be, so I can get on with using it for what I bought it for.

It may not be for everyone, but its not like you have to update or add more if you like the base product, but its an its an option!

I think the fact that a manufacturer the size of Korg effectively embraced the trend for 'open source' and let other developers make (and sell) stuff for their platform/hardware with zero control or royalties is to be applauded

[BONES]

Absolutely. I was thinking something along similar lines last weekend - no other big manufacturer has embraced any of the trends the way Korg has. Roland got someone else to build an analogue synth for them and Yamaha don't seem to have any interest at all.

It was the same 15 years ago, the Korg Legacy Collection was the first serious attempt by any of the big hardware companies to offer plugins to computer musicians. And they chose to work with the ARP founders to bring a few classics back to life, rather than just rip them off. They could have put that effort into rereleasing their own back catalogue but went that way instead.

Best of all, none of it has been at the expense of new, cutting edge products like WaveState, OpSix and now ModWave. Meanwhile, everyone else just plays it safe with the same old stuff, competing with each other, where Korg compete with even the little hardware manufacturers, with everything from the NTS-1, which you have to assemble yourself, through to their big workstation synths. You can't help but have huge respect for them.

[lfm]

But the journey is boring to you, that is kind of sad. Life is a journey, and it's like the only thing you are interested in is end result - death.

No, I am interested in performing our songs at festivals and on tours. You may think about yourself all the time, I never think about myself at all.

Yes, we know BONES.

BONES is always stating facts and universal truths
- the rest of us just personal opinions

You've been using synths for a long time, and use so little of what it offers.

You've probably been driving cars for a long time and only ever used a fraction of their potential. A car is probably just a tool for you, in the same way that synths are just tools for me. What matters are songs and we can make awesome songs without having to use more than the basics. Maybe if you keep at it long enough, you'll be able to do that, too?

So with great anticipation I alook forward to Behringer Pro 800 to be released to get the real thing.

Why? Wouldn't you rather have something that makes sounds no-one has ever heard before? That was the thrill of buying a DX9 in 1983 - making amazing sounds I literally could not have dreamt of previously. Sadly, there hasn't been much of that in the last 30 years so these days I challenge myself in other ways.

Could it be due to you only use synths in the middle of the road what it can do?
And not many people bothered with fm synthesis ala Yamaha and bought libraries.

Korg Opsix seems a bit interesting though, still thinking a bit about that one.
Think it was a tutorial from Sweetwater that made a lot of coins drop regarding fm synthesis with Opsix.

I tried a bit in the 80's with TX81Z but soon felt I did not have a clue what I was doing.

ModWave seems cool too. Like the thinking with gravity how sounds should progress.

You stated now created a dozen presets after 3 weeks with Uno Pro(other thread).

That is what I create as intermediate presets every hour with a synth.
Then start going in different directions with intermediate saves.
Just swapping oscillator waveforms and continue where it goes.

This exploration journey is what I really like and enjoy. Apart from arrangements are progressing, I am getting better on each instrument the live recording becomes better all the time.

So pretty sure I will find interesting corners of Behringer Pro 800 as well that I did not find in other synths.

My favourite synths are Nordlead 2X and Prologue 8. But also for evolving pads found some interesting stuff with DeepMind 6 and Wavestate. But my goto is Hammond XK3c that I love beyond any synths - ticks all boxes, kind of, apart from piano, guitars and foundation that bass+drums do.

I really like to do more with brass arrangements, I have some features that make a brass section give different trumpet+trombone+sax with just a chord. Just playing pianostyle on keyboard. Powerful stuff If able to master that. Thinking Black Crows and Chicago etc.

Pro 800 will fit nicely on top of Nordlead to the right, I think.
I have a second tier on Kawai piano ready if to get some more synths.

[BONES]

BONES is always stating facts and universal truths

Only when I can back it up with facts and/or personal experience. You guys, OTOH, just make pronouncements, offering nothing whatsoever to back any of it up, and you expect that to go unchallenged.

Could it be due to you only use synths in the middle of the road what it can do?

Says who? I'm sure it suits your blinkered view of the world to believe that but you believing doesn't make it true.

And not many people bothered with fm synthesis ala Yamaha and bought libraries.

That, sadly, was the reality of the DX series. Still, I managed to get a few nice patches out of mine. But I think most people bought them for how well they could sound like other instruments, rather than for how they could sound like a synth.

You stated now created a dozen presets after 3 weeks with Uno Pro(other thread).
That is what I create as intermediate presets every hour with a synth. Then start going in different directions with intermediate saves. Just swapping oscillator waveforms and continue where it goes.

That's not dissimilar to the way I work, overall. I probably create as many patches as you do, I just don't bother saving them unless I have a reason to. In this case, as I explained, it was patches for our live set. Most of the time, though, I don't think of patches as being particularly valuable; with any half-decent instrument they will fall out of it pretty much at will so I only bother saving them when I have a definite use for them. Even then , I change them pretty much every time I run through whichever song I made them for. That's my process - tweak and tweak and tweak every track/channel/part until I'm happy, doing incremental saves every time it feels appropriate. e.g. When I swap one instrument for another or delete a part. Sometimes that only takes a few weeks, mostly it takes several months and sometimes it takes more than a year. When it's not working, though, I usually won't spend more than a few days on it.

This exploration journey is what I really like and enjoy.

Whereas I don't enjoy the journey at all.

Apart from arrangements are progressing, I am getting better on each instrument the live recording becomes better all the time.

The only live recording I do are vocals, and I always put that off for as long as I possibly can. Everything else is sequenced in my PC with a mouse. I might work things out on a synth or controller but I'll always put it in by hand.

My favourite synths are Nordlead 2X and Prologue 8. But also for evolving pads found some interesting stuff with DeepMind 6 and Wavestate. But my goto is Hammond XK3c that I love beyond any synths - ticks all boxes, kind of, apart from piano, guitars and foundation that bass+drums do.

None of that stuff interests me. My favourite synths are JP6K and bx_oberhausen - good sounding synths that are a doddle to patch. My hardware is mostly very fleeting - I've had Ultanova for 8 or 9 years now but, other than that, the longest I have ever owned any hardware synth is less than 4 years. They stop inspiring me after a while and, interestingly, until I started working ITB, I never had a sense of what particular timbres might define our sound. Orion's Wasp changed all that for me, it's basslines are so unique and work so well for us. We used it for almost 20 years and it was a hell of a process trying to find a suitable replacement once we left Orion behind.

[SLiC]

So, my XD turned up from the EU to UK (about a week)

First impressions are that it is extremely good...I picked this over the UNO Pro and desktop which I was considering for a number of reasons that probably wont matter to most people (CV in, 4 note Poly as well as mono, chord and unison modes , I like the 3rd oscillator being more varied and being able to load new oscillator types and fx types...) but ultimately I like the sheer amount of 'one knob per function' control (well spaced out for a small synth) and the p-lock motion step sequencer swung it...

Sounds great and really well built (rock solid knobs, knurled metal switches, nice joystick, oscilloscope/LVD display very useful)

All in all something of a bargain in my book, highly recommended!

[rob_lee]

So, my XD turned up from the EU to UK (about a week)

First impressions are that it is extremely good...I picked this over the UNO Pro and desktop which I was considering for a number of reasons that probably wont matter to most people (CV in, 4 note Poly as well as mono, chord and unison modes , I like the 3rd oscillator being more varied and being able to load new oscillator types and fx types...) but ultimately I like the sheer amount of 'one knob per function' control (well spaced out for a small synth) and the p-lock motion step sequencer swung it...

Sounds great and really well built (rock solid knobs, knurled metal switches, nice joystick, oscilloscope/LVD display very useful)

All in all something of a bargain in my book, highly recommended!

I was looking at getting one of these just for stabs the desktop is £480 and Keyboard on another £20 at £500 here at Anderton's.
Hmm and I was set to grab the Behringer Model D or Poly D... Decisions

[_leras]

Why? Wouldn't you rather have something that makes sounds no-one has ever heard before? That was the thrill of buying a DX9 in 1983 - making amazing sounds I literally could not have dreamt of previously. Sadly, there hasn't been much of that in the last 30 years so these days I challenge myself in other ways.

Oh c'mon in the last 30 years...!

Autotune
Supersaw
Formant Filters
Dubstep LFO wobbles
Granular delays
Additive pads
Sidechain filters

I'm sure I've missed some, but - really! - you mean none of these appeal to you!

[_leras]

I think the minilogue/prologue are great sounding synths. Perhaps a lot of 'vanilla', but a lot of sweet spot too.

Maybe not for extreme leads, but certainly very nice pads and usable bass. This version without the minikeys is a really great idea imo. Honestly, it's up with the UDO 6 in terms of a useable poly - maybe not 'quite' as good, but not far off...

[SHall1000]

I am hoping Korg will release module versions of the Opsix and Modwave but apparently they have no plans. Don’t need the keys and space is a premium.

[BONES]

Autotune

Blech! Not much use with synths

Supersaw

Supersaw is just a shortcut to Unison, which has existed for well over 40 years.

Formant Filters

Blech! At best an incremental thing, not the game changer the DX7 was.

Dubstep LFO wobbles

If it didn't sound like shit, anyone could have done that 40 years ago. It's mostly modern production techniques that make that kind of stuff work OK these days, not any great leap forward in synthesisers.

Granular delays

Not a synth thing, although granular synthesis was possible with samplers in the early 80s but, obviously, not refined to the degree it is today.

Additive pads

Additive synthesis is at least 40 years old, both Fairlight CMI and Synclavier II used it.

Sidechain filters

Again, not a synth thing, more a production techinque.

For my money, the greatest innovation of the last 20 years has been with things like Kontakt - vast sample libraries that are able to capture and reproduce all manner of subtlety and nuance in a performance and then to take that stuff and twist it in ways you wouldn't normally think to use them. A good example is Heavyocity's Novo Strings which, apart from what you'd expect, has an amazing rhythmic side to it that makes it so much more useful than you'd think. Still, that's just incremental improvement, not game changing stuff. It's all theme and variation these days, broadening our horizons a tiny bit at a time.

[SLiC]

So, my XD turned up from the EU to UK (about a week)

First impressions are that it is extremely good...I picked this over the UNO Pro and desktop which I was considering for a number of reasons that probably wont matter to most people (CV in, 4 note Poly as well as mono, chord and unison modes , I like the 3rd oscillator being more varied and being able to load new oscillator types and fx types...) but ultimately I like the sheer amount of 'one knob per function' control (well spaced out for a small synth) and the p-lock motion step sequencer swung it...

Sounds great and really well built (rock solid knobs, knurled metal switches, nice joystick, oscilloscope/LVD display very useful)

All in all something of a bargain in my book, highly recommended!

I was looking at getting one of these just for stabs the desktop is £480 and Keyboard on another £20 at £500 here at Anderton's.
Hmm and I was set to grab the Behringer Model D or Poly D... Decisions

It's a lot of synth for the money and the build quality is excellent.

£500 is a good price (I brought mine in to the UK from Thomann and it was about 480 with tax for a B stock)

I actually started with the NTS-1 and was so impressed with the digital oscillator and fx that I went for the XD...I have the Behringer Model D in my Eurorack, its a decent mono synth, but not 4 voice poly, no fx, no sequencer ...but half the price so I guess depends on your needs....

I am glad I went for the mini keyboard version as it is great with the step sequencer (better than the button keyboard on my Elektron A4, actually perfectly playable!) and being b to load user scales (full keyboard microtuning, scala import, editor app) is also a real bonus with a synth at this price.



I am also thinking of getting this

https://www.amazon.co.uk/MyVolts-Ripcor ... B07R81GNXG

Lets you run the XD from a battery Then if it ever stops raining I can play out in the garden with this and my circuit tracks...great team!

[muki]

question:
anybody knows, if it is possible to daisychain a minilogue with a NTS-1 ?

i.e.: making the minilogue a 5-voice synth...

[SLiC]

I have both but I am not sure there is anything 'special' about the combination (no special mode that lets you control the NTS from the XD or anything) but you can use the NTS as an extra voice (and or fx/filter if you load one in an FX slot) for any synth using Midi and the audio in on the NTS.

[BONES]

ultimately I like the sheer amount of 'one knob per function' control (well spaced out for a small synth)

Which knob behaviour do you use? I f**king hated the knobs on Mini/Monologue because they were always in the wrong position. At least Skulpt and Craft 2.0 have endless encoders, so their knobs are actually useful (even if you can't read the labels).

I think the minilogue/prologue are great sounding synths. Perhaps a lot of 'vanilla', but a lot of sweet spot too. Maybe not for extreme leads, but certainly very nice pads and usable bass. This version without the minikeys is a really great idea imo. Honestly, it's up with the UDO 6 in terms of a useable poly - maybe not 'quite' as good, but not far off...

Maybe Minilogue XD but I didn't think my original Minilogue was even as good as Skulpt. Easier to use, for sure, but the sound was far too generic. I wouldn't have thought to use it for basslines in a million years.