Korg Legacy Collection - still killing it 10 years later

[dsan@mail.com]

Thanks chk071

Jus had one of those DOH! moments too.....some nice demos above in mcnoone's post

Happy Musiking!
dsan

[beely]

I guess technically MDX-E is not a "recreation" but it seems you can get it as part of the bundle listed in the op.

Yes, it's part of the bundle - basically, the internal FX of the Legacy Cell broken out into a general FX plugin you can use on other stuff.

Still, while it may well be the cat's meow in the eyes of the OP, at the list price, a bit too much - at this time.

Given the second hand costs of all the gear, even the "less desirable" things such as the M1 / Wavestation, it's price is still good. I have a Wavestation here, and the Legacy software completely replaces it, despite the software sounding a little too good over the hardware - but the extra polyphony on the WS over the hardware is a godsend.

The Korg bundles were great back in the day, and are still worthwhile now, depending on your tastes. If you like the analog VA stuff, then the MS20/P2/MP are the way to go. The M1 and WS are a little different, and if you stick to the old 90s presets can sound dated, but don't be fooled as they can both do some interesting things than can make them valuable. And there are lots of compatible patches out there too...

My biggest problem with any of the Korg stuff is that the interface on the MS20 just annoys me, and it's too much of a compromise in either direction (too small in one mode, and your have to scroll in the proper size mode to reach all controls). The P6 and MP are nicer in this regard.

I like them a lot... are they the end-all bestest synths ever? Nope. Can they make useful and interesting and musical sounds..? You betcha...

[zerocrossing]

my point is that korg could do the same, considering their background; not trying to emulate a classic, but going towards creating the best synth they can, period.
of course, as for every other synth, ''best'' is very subjective...

Sure, but what you're not taking into account is money. Like my friend Cindy says, "it changes everything." I don't think Korg makes anything as a "labor of love." They're a company looking to make money. When they Released the MS20 Mini and the kit, they were looking at the market that DSI and Doepher created and they thought, "Oh, let's test the waters with a Monotron." When that did well, they jumped in. Not because they wanted to make us think they were a cool company, but they honestly saw money to be made.

So, perhaps the Legacy Collection didn't do that well for them. Or, not the kind of profit they're used to from hardware sales. What ever reason, we can be sure if they thought it was worth the effort we'd be on version 10 by now. They probably let those developers go, or moved them to other teams. It's not like they forgot how to code a MS20 filter. The one on the KingKORG is quite good... well I'm basing that on just liking it, I have no direct experience with an MS20.

Anyway, like I said earlier, I think it would be silly to just update the KLC synths. Like many said, there are already many plug ins that do a good job at vintage emulation and the only thing Korg could bring to the table at this point is their name. What they could do is create a new plug in that includes updated emulations and combine them into a kick ass synth. Then they'd have something new, along with being able to say, "with our vintage emulation tech" and the Korg name. I bet that would be pretty successful.

[arkmabat]

Really cool how they can open old hardware patches. Quoting comments from Wavestation's KVR page:

"Some of these user-made presets work with the vst:

http://www.danphillips.com/wavestation/ws_sysex.htm.

(Inside Wavestation click File>Import>RawData)

The Paul_WS folder contains a really deep patch called "Poseidon's Pad". It seems to be free, he just asks to be credited if you use it commercially."

[PatchAdamz]

Here are many examples of the PolySix and M1 from the Korg Legacy Collection.

Korg PolySix examples from the soft synth:

https://soundcloud.com/vintage-synth-pa ... esets-cold

Here are some Korg M1 examples, also from the soft synth:

https://soundcloud.com/vintage-synth-pa ... bscription

[kbaccki]

if they obviously have a team of people able to code various plugins, why oh why didn't they as well come up in the past ten years with something a bit more in line with today's needs and possibilities?

You know the answer to that. Korg, Roland Yamaha, et al are hardware companies. Korg doesn't make any money off of 2nd hand M1's and Wavestations, so in effect they've been smartly double dipping on that front. But they're not going to give you latest and greatest korg technology outside of a workstation type hardware package. That just wouldn't make business sense (at this point).

[dsan@mail.com]

@beely - thank you for the insight into these plugs

Now even more enticing than before

@PatchAdamz - WOW! Thank you for posting the demos

Now you've gone and done it Grabbing the card

@C.Bennett - Thanks for making the thread.

Some interesting discussion and learning here.

Happy Musiking!
dsan

[chk071]

@ dsan: I'd make sure to thoroughly demo the plugins before buying though. I made the mistake to rely on people's opinion here about the Korg plugins, and ended up with 2 plugins i didn't like at all and sold them on the marketplace later... Korg just isn't for me, and the plugins much less. But each to its like of course.

[arkmabat]

Dare I say that you can't go wrong with the Wavestation though

[Echoes in the Attic]

I wish I liked the sound of the MS-20 plug-in more! I've got the controller and love it, but the MS-20 is the one I like the least of the korg synths. I don't feel it has anywhere near the punch you hear from the hardware. And I usually think software recreations can do just fine.

The strange thing is, though they have the perception of not having been worked on much lately, that's not really true since they got updated to 64 bit not long ago (last year?), which was a pretty big job on the mac from what we hear. So they must have put some effort into that. What I find bizarre is that they didn't bother updating the GUIs at all. All that work and they still have the old small GUIs, the MS-20 being the worst offender where you actually have to scroll sideways in a tiny window.

If they want money they should just re-release with a bigger shiny GUI, like they have on the ipad.

[dsan@mail.com]

Thanks for that info chk071

I know what you mean about demos and buyers remorse Just went through that with Stank 3

Unfortunately, I'm not finding any demos of the software at Korg, so will have to rely on the sound demos the guys here have graciously provided. Like what I'm hearing for sure.

Actually, I'm more into these types of sounds than the more popular Reaktor, Massive, and such others. I have these (and many others ) and rarely find a sound I want to use. NOT to say others don't have a need though! So I understand how for one it is the greatest and for another - Meh!

Happy Musiking!
dsan

[BBFG#]

I just wish they would update the M to include up through the N series sounds. And a better browser on all would be okay too.
Legacy Cell could use a little debugging also, but mostly still usable sounds that sit well in the mix. 5 synths and effects with a nano controller averaged them at less than $22.00 per unit when I bought them. Pretty outstanding IMO.

[ghettosynth]

nobody has mentioned the insanely low CPU use of the collection. so yeah, go with the so called "modern" analog emus that only produce a slightly better sound at a much higher CPU TAX, and most listeners won't even notice the difference.

Yea true, very good point.

There are exceptions, but for the most part there is a correlation between modeling quality and CPU usage. Of course the legacy plugins don't tax a modern CPU, they're 10 years old.

IMNSHO, synths like Diva and Monark are not just "slightly" better.

[chk071]

Unfortunately, I'm not finding any demos of the software at Korg, so will have to rely on the sound demos the guys here have graciously provided.

Not finding those too now... i could have sworn they were available from korguser.net. I see they changed some stuff now on their shop site though, that's a shame.

[modifier]

I've got the Legacy MS-20, WaveStation and the MonoPoly.
Out of those three I use the Monopoly the most by far.
The MS-20 interface gets on my nerves, the Wavestation was purchased out of curiosity...but it gets used.

The MonoPoly sounds great and is very easy to get to grips with.
The interface is almost perfect for me as well.
The 64bit updates were unexpected and very welcome.

While I love them for what they are, more modern synths like u-He's ACE are getting the majority of the attention here these days.