The Korg minilogue xd module – a new desktop module version of the minilogue xd – is now available.
Like its keyboard counterpart, the four-voice polyphonic synthesizer features a hybrid architecture, combining a dual-oscillator analog synth voice with Korg’s customizable digital Multi-Engine and built-in stereo digital effects.
The voice structure of minilogue xd is 2VCO + Multi-Engine, 1VCF, 2EG, 1VCA, and 1LFO. The classic analog synth voice architecture is expanded by the Multi-Engine, which features built-in sound generators, but also lets you load third-party and open source options.
The module offers the same controls as the desktop verison, and can also be poly-chained with another minilogue xd or minilogue xd module for expanded polyphony.
Audio Demos:
Pricing and Availability
The Korg minilogue xd module is available now with a street price of US $549.
How many notes polyphony are these ?
Four-voice polyphonic.
Yikes!
Why is this not designed for either desktop and/or rackmountable???
Love you Korg, 90% of my gear is Korg but this seems goofy to me.
JMO
What do you mean about it not being desktop? That’s how they show it being used…
They are wondering why the option of rack mount isn’t available to the already known desktop. They just want the option.
Should have had a rack option IMO.
If it was issued in rack option you’d complain that it wasn’t in eurorack format and if it was issued in eurorack format you’d complain it wasn’t in moog rack format and if it was issued in moog rack format you’d complain it wasn’t in buchla rack format, etc etc. Because that’s how this game works.
lol WTF???
Rabid Bat, please don’t presume to tell me what I would do.
If a company goes to the trouble to make a “module,” and advertises it as a “module,” um maybe make a rackmountable option for that “module.” It is pretty simple. I have two racks filled with Korg “modules” based on their keyboards, so it’s not like they haven’t done it before quite a few times.
As for modular, lol I am no expert but um it looks like it goes into racks, imagine a desktop of just random modular gear strewn about with NO rack capabilities… how fun would that be?
Geezus,
Once more, if a company as big as Korg makes a “module,” advertises it as a “module,” includes “MODULE,” in the product name, than offer a rack option, so that the “module” might be racked in a standard 19” rack.
“I have two racks filled with Korg “modules” based on their keyboards, so it’s not like they haven’t done it before quite a few times.”
How many of those rack modules are from the last decade?
Everybody I know that has rack modules has shit like the Yamaha TX816 or the Mo Phat, and nobody would buy anything like that anymore.
The trend is ‘one-knob-per-function’ synth control, and that makes sense on your desktop, not in your rack.
I agree with you that it is misnamed. Should be called “Korg Minilogue XD Desktop”. You are right that module means it either can be part of a modular system or fits as a module in some sort of larger whole. So that’s a good point.
The height and width on this match the keyboard version and the hardware is mostly the same. It’s 19.69″ wide with a little bit of overhang. It’s reasonable to ask if it could be put into a 19″ rack without redesigning the boards (very costly). 19″ standard requires 1.25″ wings and 17.75″ inner clearance. On the inside of these you have the 4 voice analog board down at the bottom, which has a few inches of clearance and will fit fine. But the front panel board goes right to the edge of the enclosure. It’s wider than 17.75″. Not by much, around 18″. But we also have the sides with a bit of thickness too. It needs to be more like 17″ wide. So we need to compress its width by about 1″. These boards are really packed with a lot of stuff. I do believe the panel could be relaid out to shave that much off though. Now when they added the keyboard switch is that a pad just not used on the keyboard version or did they make two panels and could have relaid it out then. Not sure. Relaying out the board is not hard but it takes time, maybe more than one revision, now you have multiple parts to manage. It’s nice when the module/rack version and the keyboard version share boards. Modules don’t sell as well so if you have to redesign everything you have to amortize that cost across fewer units and the cost goes up. Maybe the module costs more then. Modules with nearly all the same boards is where the price can be lower.
So how many units can they move? Sure there’s some guys that want to bury a performance analog synth with one knob per function under a rats nest of wires because they are using that instrument as a preset player and not a real instrument. That’s not a common use though for completely knobbed out analog synths. Yes, modular guys do it, but they are also playing those as instruments. So I could see a eurorack version of this making sense and that would probably sell more than 19″.
This instrument would fit in a 23″ eurorack and a 23″ rack rack, though would need an adapter kit that maybe someone will release in the aftermarket.
In retrospect, they should have tried harder to make that front panel board fit.
I think there is some truth to that.
Also, people just aren’t really buying traditional rackmount synths anymore.
The Mother 32 approach (making a desktop module that’s also Euro) has been copied a lot, but only really makes sense for monophonic voice modules.
For a module like this, the designers have prioritized hands-on usability over saving space, so this synth would not make much sense as a rack mount synth. The whole point is that you can reach over and tweak everything and then hit save.
When you look at classic synth rack modules, they compromise usability to keep costs. Most of them were used as preset synths, which is the opposite of how this synth is designed to be used.
So complaining about this not being a rack mount synth doesn’t make much sense.
The reason is the most popular is U-rack format, then modulars, starting from eurorack to moog, buchla etc. I agree with alacazam, after the keyboard version, the most popular will be the desktop version, preferably desktop-rackmount-able, as, for example JP-8080, Access Virus etc.
But is it? A lot of people, myself included, would be interested in this product in a 19” format. It’s not that unusual. The other formats you mention would be pretty impractical for this device. Besides, telling people what they will complain about is rather presumptuous!
That’s crazy, being released in eurorack (or any modular) format clearly has different implications, you’d never release a midi module for eurorack without any CV. Most people who use something like this professionally will not have it sit on their desk, it will simply be rack mounted. Nothing weird about that. It’s definitely bizar how this is not rack mountable, especially as it’s only a tiny bit too wide for even 3rd party accessoires to do the job.
The idea that if it was available in rack people would complain it’s not euro is just insane tho’, the two have nothing in common.
Design wise its just this way to save money, as much the same as the key unit.
It could have been much nicer, the most obvious one remove all the unused space of the housing to create a smaller sleeker unit.
Huh? This is news? I just got one on ebay – on a 15% discount even! Now I’m regretting not getting the Prologue after all. I purchased it entirely because of the oscillator and effects SDK. And Tim Shoebridge’s TWO oscilllator 🙂
How do you like the Tim Shoebridge TWO OSC?
As a fan of his videos, I was excited to hear he had created one!
Have you checked out the three Sinevibes multi-engine plugin options yet?!
https://www.sinevibes.com/korg/
Seriously, what are the best sounds designed on this thing? I like the knob perfection design on this thing, but everything I see sounds anemic and a little boring. There has to be some more dynamic examples out there right?
You do know that those buttons in the rack version don’t have velocity right? How can it be dynamic?
Wow, Jojo! I’m impressed with how you connected the effect of non-velocity sensitive buttons to the DYNAMIC comment.
From the context, I think Wilson was talking about DYNAMIC in a broader artistic sense, not as the literal definition of change in volume.
Cheers!
That price kinda sucks for a module, when compared to the full sized unit.
Pricey for either the desktop module or the keyboard here in Canada at the moment it goes for same price of $850 for either option, you’d think the that would be a bit cheaper minus the keyboard but not the case in some places i guess
Soo very tempted by this but mainly because of the 3 added FX in place of the crusty noisy delay of the original minilogue I had
awaiting to see what else may come next from Korg to decide further
“That price kinda sucks for a module, when compared to the full sized unit.”
It’s called economics.
The audience for synth modules is minuscule compared to synth keyboards.
It seems pretty clear the design of the XD module is based on reusing the keyboard synth pcb’s in a new format, so making this way is economically viable, completely redesigning it to make it more compact isn’t.
Also – they’ve designed it to make sense for people wanting to polychain. Redesigning it to make it more compact and putting the controls in different positions would be terrible for polychainers.