KORG Collection 5 with ARP 2600 Emulation coming Summer 2024

[Sound Author]

That's a shame. Too bad it's not the next Repro.

Many people disagree with that hypothesis

It sounds very much like a hardware 2600 which doesn't sound like a Prophet 5, a Minimoog, or a CS80

The 2600 has a unique ability to both sit well in a mix and still be felt and heard

It's why it's featured on so many progressive rock records from the 1970s

People expecting an authentic sounding 2600 plugin to be some massive thick phat analog beast that is up in your face will be left disappointed

It's difficult for me to articulate what I love about the sound of the 2600. "Pure" is the word that springs to mind. The bass frequencies are beautifully crystal clear. Of all the classic synths, I think it has the most unabashedly ELECTRONIC character, and stability that is unmatched by the synths of that era. Sequences and arpeggios slice through mixes in a very distinct way. It just has a special sound that is unlike anything else. If you want "phatness", obviously you can reach for a Moog or something like that. But if you want to get lost in space, then yeah, that's what the 2600 does for me, and I think Korg has nailed that sound, both in hardware and software.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

Sound-wise, the Minimoog is a P-Bass. Deep bass, punchy. Simple and just right. The Prophet, maybe a Les Paul. Fat and relatively simple, but complex sounds that are just wonderful. The 2600, based on this plugin anyway, is like a Telecaster. It doesn't have much low end and it cuts right through. Except, this is a helluva lot more complicated than 1 switch and two knobs. Not a perfect similie.

[gentleclockdivider]

Sound-wise, the Minimoog is a P-Bass. Deep bass, punchy. Simple and just right. The Prophet, maybe a Les Paul. Fat and relatively simple, but complex sounds that are just wonderful. The 2600, based on this plugin anyway, is like a Telecaster. It doesn't have much low end and it cuts right through. Except, this is a helluva lot more complicated than 1 switch and two knobs. Not a perfect similie.

If the minimoog is a prec.bass , the prophet a tele , then the 2600 is an effin Punk band

[BONES]

What a difference a day (or two) makes. With Air bringing out a Timewarp 2600 update, I thought I'd give it a go and I found that it feels like it has a much more full-on sound. So after some playing around, I thought I'd load the Korg one up again to compare. I went to one of the patches I had favourited the other day and, straight away, I could her the sound quality gap between them. Timewarp 2600 sounds really nice but this 2600 is on a whole different level.

I also realised that part of my initial impression was down to the Korg's low output level. It is much quieter out of the box than most VSTi but once you pump it up to the same sort of output level, it starts to feel a bit bigger than I had thought it was. A little bit of saturation in the channel and I think it will be more than fat enough for our needs.

If you want a good point of comparison, compare the Default TW2600 patch (the first Lisa Bella Donna patch) to Fat Saws >>> MW Sequence on the Korg. They aren't identical sounds but they give you a good relative impression, I think. The TW2600 is "sharper" and harder but the Korg 2600 has a richness and depth to it that makes it sound incredible by comparison. They both use a similar amount of CPU, too.

Having a play with the TW2600 has also helped make the GUI on both less daunting. The Korg has lots of extra bits and pieces that I now realise I can sort of put to one side while I learn the basics.

I still haven't decided whether or not to pull the trigger on this but it's looking more and more likely, if for no other reason than the demo limitation is annoying as hell!

[Sound Author]

What a difference a day (or two) makes. With Air bringing out a Timewarp 2600 update, I thought I'd give it a go and I found that it feels like it has a much more full-on sound. So after some playing around, I thought I'd load the Korg one up again to compare. I went to one of the patches I had favourited the other day and, straight away, I could her the sound quality gap between them. Timewarp 2600 sounds really nice but this 2600 is on a whole different level.

I also realised that part of my initial impression was down to the Korg's low output level. It is much quieter out of the box than most VSTi but once you pump it up to the same sort of output level, it starts to feel a bit bigger than I had thought it was. A little bit of saturation in the channel and I think it will be more than fat enough for our needs.

If you want a good point of comparison, compare the Default TW2600 patch (the first Lisa Bella Donna patch) to Fat Saws >>> MW Sequence on the Korg. They aren't identical sounds but they give you a good relative impression, I think. The TW2600 is "sharper" and harder but the Korg 2600 has a richness and depth to it that makes it sound incredible by comparison. They both use a similar amount of CPU, too.

Having a play with the TW2600 has also helped make the GUI on both less daunting. The Korg has lots of extra bits and pieces that I now realise I can sort of put to one side while I learn the basics.

I still haven't decided whether or not to pull the trigger on this but it's looking more and more likely, if for no other reason than the demo limitation is annoying as hell!

I almost always run the filter out into the preamp and then override the VCF normal on the amp just to give it some extra juice. That's when the 2600 really starts to sing.

[BONES]

If the minimoog is a prec.bass , the prophet a tele , then the 2600 is an effin Punk band

Well, maybe an early New Wave band. Odyssey is definitely the Punk sibling in that family.

[abernathy]

I love Lisa Bella Donna. I wish she would make presets for the KORG 2600…

[_leras]

If the minimoog is a prec.bass , the prophet a tele , then the 2600 is an effin Punk band

Well, maybe an early New Wave band. Odyssey is definitely the Punk sibling in that family.

Arp has quite a range... Can do both if you add a distortion.

From this:



To this:

[Sound Author]

Does anyone know if there's a way to have a poly patch that pans each note left and right...but with note release from the AR envelope? So far I've been able to get autopanning by using the electronic switch, but to get note release to work with it is a head-scratcher.

[BONES]

I almost always run the filter out into the preamp and then override the VCF normal on the amp just to give it some extra juice. That's when the 2600 really starts to sing.

Yesterday that made no sense at all to me but today I know exactly what you're saying and had wondered myself if it was possible. It took me a bit of head scratching to get everything running through the SEM filter but I managed that eventually. It's great to have a proper manual for this. The manual for Odyssey is a bit light on content and it's the only instrument in the whole collection without a PDF version of the manual. Very annoying.

They've done a great job in getting idiots like me to feel comfortable with the very intimidating UI. The colour "silk screen" is especially useful in simplifying things and letting you focus on what you need to do. I also like how the cable shows you the direction of "flow", it's very helpful in figuring stuff out.

[HunterKiller]

That's a shame. Too bad it's not the next Repro.

Many people disagree with that hypothesis

It sounds very much like a hardware 2600 which doesn't sound like a Prophet 5, a Minimoog, or a CS80

The 2600 has a unique ability to both sit well in a mix and still be felt and heard

It's why it's featured on so many progressive rock records from the 1970s

People expecting an authentic sounding 2600 plugin to be some massive thick phat analog beast that is up in your face will be left disappointed

It's difficult for me to articulate what I love about the sound of the 2600. "Pure" is the word that springs to mind. The bass frequencies are beautifully crystal clear. Of all the classic synths, I think it has the most unabashedly ELECTRONIC character, and stability that is unmatched by the synths of that era. Sequences and arpeggios slice through mixes in a very distinct way. It just has a special sound that is unlike anything else. If you want "phatness", obviously you can reach for a Moog or something like that. But if you want to get lost in space, then yeah, that's what the 2600 does for me, and I think Korg has nailed that sound, both in hardware and software.

And that's precisely the reason why I've always loved the fact the Jarre used a 2600 instead of a Minimoog early on in his career. The ARP sound lends itself more toward orchestral electronic instrumental. Whereas the Moog sound lends itself toward rock.

Listen to the middle of Oxygene 1, that bass drone, phased through a Small Stone, is a typical ARP bass character. It can be done with a Minimoog, sure, as it's a 3 osc sound, but the Moog version of it (in Oxygene Live 2007) sounds too self-referential, and not "pure" enough to be part of the team, more like a star trying to own the limelight.

The ARP2600 is a synth for synth-heads.

[BONES]

Everything you just said is almost enough to put me off it. Honestly, they are just tools - use what works, then throw 'em away when you find a better one. If Jarre had used a Model D on whatever it was, you'd be praising it instead, guaranteed.

Arp has quite a range... Can do both if you add a distortion.
From this:
To this:

From one kind of horrible to another kind of horrible. Both lack the essential Punk attitude. This, for example, is way more Punk but it's still just New Wave -

[IvyBirds]

Honestly, they are just tools - use what works,

Ironic coming from you

[_leras]

From one kind of horrible to another kind of horrible. Both lack the essential Punk attitude. This, for example, is way more Punk but it's still just New Wave -

The point was the range of tonality of the sounds. From a light poppy clean sound to the dirty resonant.

That Ultravox has a more punk edge to the song, but... the synth sounds like jean michel jarre. It's not a punky, or new wave, synth sound.

[_leras]

[quote=BONES post_id=8944267 time=1722565181 user_id=637]

I also realised that part of my initial impression was down to the Korg's low output level. It is much quieter out of the box than most VSTi but once you pump it up to the same sort of output level, it starts to feel a bit bigger than I had thought it was. A little bit of saturation in the channel and I think it will be more than fat enough for our needs.

Having a play with the TW2600 has also helped make the GUI on both less daunting. The Korg has lots of extra bits and pieces that I now realise I can sort of put to one side while I learn the basics.

[/quote]
Different levels are always a bit annoying. These days my channel volumes are always quite dialled back for gain staging no to overload channels, this helps as it forces you to adjust the volume of everything when you add it. But it is tricky to notice things if it's just a few dB difference it can catch you out.

And yeah the Arp 2600 is quite a tricky one to get up to speed with. Maybe not the biggest sweet spot synth. The arturia ui is ok, but it's something that exploration and patience is needed for.

Korg one sounds good to me and is still on sale...