In this video, Sonic State’s Nick Batt takes a look at the new Korg ARP Odyssey.
If you’re interested in the authentic ARP sound, Batt says ‘it’s absolutely bang-on’.
The new Korg ARP Odyssey faithfully reproduces the original’s audio circuits, but includes several updates and changes:
- It is reduced in size by about 86% from the original;
- The keys no longer extend beyond the case, to minimize the possibility of breakage;
- it includes all three versions of the original Odyssey’s filter, to maximum sonic options;
- It adds basic MIDI control;
- A new ‘Drive’ switch has been added;
- Headphone output has been added; and
- New sliders have been used that Korg says are smoother than the originals.
Except for the scaled-down keyboard, the new Odyssey is very close to what readers asked for in Synthtopia’s Korg ARP Odyssey poll.
If you like the track at the end of the video, Batt has made it available via Bandcamp.
Related posts:
- Korg ARP Odyssey First Look
- Vintage ARP Odyssey & Korg ARP Odyssey Compared
- New Korg ARP Odyssey (2015) vs. Classic ARP Odyssey mkIII (1978)
- David Friend On The History Of The ARP Odyssey
- Inside The Korg ARP Odyssey
via sonicstate
Lovely synth and as for the keys….stop moaning everyone, keyboard sizes have always been changing key size.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_keyboard
But with popular use in modern times it is standardized. The reason is that people spend a lifetime to learn to play an instrument and they wouldn’t be able to do that if they are adapting to a manufactures whim every 5 minutes – minikeys/slimkeys or any no standard keys, is 20 years of memory muscle down the tubes for a pro. Regardless of the keys, I personally don’t like this dwelling in the past, and I see this as a wank stain of a synth – if people aren’t doing new and exiting things in the workplace then I can’t respect such a lack of vision or insight. It is like when you ask people what they want to see in the next big film, people are completely unimaginative, they will say, I want to see a film like that one, I want to see Brad Pitt playing a GI, all the same old stuff they just watched. Same thing will happen if you ask people what they want from a synth, a bunch of dead and unimaginative answers – so you end up getting the same old shite, again, and again and again. At least it has a market, but sadly that market doesn’t have a pulse to speak of.
To a certain extent, I agree with you…However, the average artist/musician/producer needs immediacy, a friendly interface, and usable sounds.
Most of us don'[t have time to wrestle with new or complicated synthesis methods, so analog subtractive is usually the desired method.
For the record, I love the new Korg Odyssey. Sounds exactly like the original.
Lovely tune by Nick at the end!
Key size really is the least important thing about this synth, as it sounds amazing.
Key size isn’t unimportant but that key seems playable good enough for most situation suits to the synth.
I realy don’t understand why they made this nice synth with these keys. Think about a SubPhatty or a Sub37 with minikeys. Who invented this idea anyway.
Casio.
🙂
Someone who hates people who dislike small keys, who is now spending a lot of time reading comments on the internet and cackling evilly.
Are there any sliders that don’t have side-to-side wobble? Cheap or pricey, every slider I’ve slid has that same amount of sideways play. I don’t count DJ crossfaders, which are usually built differently than a standard slider pot.
You’d think a $1,000 synth (robo-mass produced with a simple analog voice board) would have sturdy controls, but maybe there’s no affordable part available that has a rock solid movement?
Manufacturers specify their parts with a maximum amount of lateral movement. For example, ALPS specifies “Lever wobble (Both side)” of 2.4mm to 3mm. The problem is compounded if the through-hole parts are wave or reflow soldered at too high temperature, because it can cause the sliders and potentiometers to loosen.
The long and the short of it: The parts are designed that way. Remember that the retail price is usually calculated at around 5X the component cost, so adding really expensive precision sliders could bump the price by several hundred dollars.
That computes!
There was speculation that the Korg Odyssey would be $500 or $600. When it was announced as $999.99 with mini-keys, I was guessing they used super premium controls to justify the cost. The price tag now seems like it’s a little bit high.
All sliders are wobbly. It really has to do with the slider only making partial contact with the resistance surface below. Too tight and they won’t slide. Unfortunately, enough slack to make them slide and contact the resistance element below without rubbing it off immediately, is also enough slack to make them wobble. Add the long shaft into the mix and the effect is amplified.
My Turning Machine Voltages expander uses semi-pricey led lit sliders similar to those on that upgraded Ody seen in the review.
They are 2.78 ea – down to almost 2.00 each in large quantities. And they are still wobbly.
http://www.mouser.com/Search/ProductDetail.aspx?R=RA2045F-20R-15LC-B50K-Cvirtualkey14860000virtualkey312-2045F-R50K
My Moog Rogue has brand new, old spec Alphas and they are very wobbly.
Even my mixers are pretty wobbly.
Sure, get a sub phatty then.
And don’t moan about having some parameters deep in some menu though.
Oh yeah you can control it with the computer then, grate stuff..
Keep in mind also that a bit of wobble will help absorb some shock. Seems counter-intuitive at first, but in reality, a stiff, strong feeling control is more likely to wear down the sensor, or transfer more stress to parts of the board when your depth perception may be a bit off and you smack a control from the side accidentally as you reach for it in haste.
Not a reason or excuse for wobbly parts, but something to consider
Korg could redeem itself by soon releasing a rack/desktop version of this thing.
Call it the ARP Avatar.
Release it in Kit form and drop the price.
Keys and pricetag discussion over.
Redeem themselves to who?
The moaners that won’t buy one anyways?
And MS-20 kits cost double or more what the base model costs. What makes you think this would be any different?
Tell us, which is the base model?
The MS20M is a kit and is significantly less expensive than the MS20 key version and includes a sequencer too. So tell us, how is this moaning?
Why is this thing way more $$ than the MS-20 Mini? I call price gouging.
And why didn’t they call this the Odyssey Mini?
I think the royalties and licensing to the original designer are what drives up the cost.
Copyrights expire.
Not in 40 years though
Copyright applies to works – books, music, movies, artwork, etc – not inventions, circuits, etc.
You can patent something like a circuit design, but patents do lapse. In order to sue someone from infringing on your patent, you have to A. Prove It wasn’t arrived at by some legal reverse-engineered loophole, and B. Still be a company that owns unexpired patents. Nothing to do with the Odyssey is sill under patent.
Patents are designed to expire to foster competition, not to protect companies. Affordable generic drugs exist because of patent expirations.
Anyone wonder how you can sell a clone or DSP version of a Moog filter, but they’re all named MG filter or something? All Moog owns is the name. You can legally make your own 24db transistor ladder filter that sounds the same. You think Moog is just a bunch of gentle people who wouldn’t sue? They sued in the 70’s, when they could. They even got ready to sue ARP.
Korg licensed what what was left of the ARP brand from David Friend, who was the legal owner of it. G-Force can still make the Oddity, Creamware made the Prodessy, Behringer is going to make it’s own version called something else. The concept of a slider-based analog synth with all the Odyssey specs is not owned by anyone, any more than Ford owns the concept of a car with an engine in front, a steering wheel, and doors.
The ARP trademark was abandoned years ago and is owned by no one.
The patents and designs but not the trademark were bought by CBS Musical Instruments during the bankruptcy in 1981. All relevant patents though expired decades ago and are totally irrelevant now.
Copyright would only be an issue if they are doing something like reprinting the original user manual. But they are not doing that.
Friend works as a consultant, and reasonably so. He owns no ARP IP assets, those were all lost in the bankruptcy. Nor does anyone else from ARP own anything to do with the company’s IP.
Korg is not paying Friend or anyone else licensing fees.
The instrument has a metal case and uses many tricky to source components. The price is fair and reasonable. Those unhappy are free to buy an original ARP Odyssey, or another instrument. But they won’t. The complainers complain because that is what they do. Complaining is much easier than writing music or performing and is a full time hobby for many people.
no “mini” means they can push the .rrp up however the MS20 mini was £599 when it came out..it’s now dropped to £369 so in a year or so so will the K-ARP mini key..then they’ll make a premium kit full scasle version if the mini sells well enough.
I think it’s reduced in size *to* 86% of the original, not *by* 86% of the original. (But I’ve not seen one in person yet.)
Another great review by Nick Batt of Sonicstate.com; his for the Roland Juno Di convinced me to get one of those, now have my sights set on the Korg ARP Odyssey! I did see a couple of originals years ago, should have picked them up too. Will do if I see them again, plus the new one…
Had always intended to get a Korg ARP Odyssey, but Nick’s review confirmed that my initial decision was the right one. This looks an awesome synth – and a way to get a piece of synth history in my studio without paying a huge amount and then having on-going problems keeping it going. It stays at the top of my ‘to buy list’ for 2015.
The review is clear, I’m going to buy a sub phatty.
Can’t wait to get this.
Nick….please take your time reviewing the Prophet 6…because everytime you review something I have to buy it, and my bank account drains. (even though it’s going to be some time before it’s released). And that one is going to be expensive.
Got to try one of these. I am concerned about the smaller keys. It is unrealistic to think that they would ever re-engineer this with normal sized keys as the potential market is so small. I guess I am just hoping to reclaim the past grooves, although I won’t feel truly complete until I can get an ARP 2600 reissue. My favorite new old synth is my MiniMoog Voyager because of the ultra high quality characteristics, controls and sound. I agree with the comments about the SubPhatty being a bit hard to get into the submenus and such. I have the Bob Moog tribute edition-an amazing synth but the controls are rather small and hard to see without some strong glasses and good lighting. I agree that easy to manipulate big controls are preferred, especially for live performances.
I have one of these. Note that the keys are not the same as on the MS-20 mini. They’re “slim keys” that are narrower and just a hair shorter than “standard” keys. I’m not finding them to be an issue at all.
The thing about synths like the Odyssey is that they encourage experimentation by giving instant feedback. You flip a switch or move a slider, you get a result (and, yes, sometimes the result is silence). No digging through menus, no syncing a knob or slider with a preset value.
True, it lacks the flexibility of a modular or semi-modular but it makes up for that with immediacy.
To my mind, it’s also an absolute necessity to run gear like this through effects like delay and reverb.
Should it be the only synth in your studio? I think you can answer that by asking another question: Should a guitar be the only instrument in your band?