3 Tips For Getting More Out Of Your Korg Minilogue Synthesizer

In this video, Sonic State’s Nick Batt shares three tips for the new Korg Minilogue:

  • The oscilloscope works with the audio input;
  • You can add motion to a sound using the motion sequencer without recording any notes; and
  • The sync input is designed to work with the Korg Volcas; to get it to sync ‘analoguely’ from something like the Beatstep Pro, you need to use a short gate and attenuate the level.

Have you discovered some tricks or tips of your own? Share them in the comments!

For more on the Minilogue:

76 thoughts on “3 Tips For Getting More Out Of Your Korg Minilogue Synthesizer”

  1. I try not to leave random, negative comments however this synth is uninspiring. A lot of people talk about the price point when comparing to other analog, poly synths but, this thing just sounds flimsy and derivative. At its best it sounds like a digital Roland. I was immediate reminded of the System 1. For the money, I would sooner purchase a used Mopho X4 or Tetra. Maybe even a Slim Phatty and track 4 detuned layers for bigger sounds.

    I’m obviously opening myself up for argument here but it’s just my two cents.

    Xo

    1. I’m not saying it’s the greatest synth ever, but at this price it really is fantastic, and I’ve had one for about a week – doesn’t feel derivative or uninspired to me at all.

      It doesn’t have the thick, funky kind of bass you might want, but the sub bass is abundant if you turn the filter down and the resonance up. I mean really powerful, will rattle cheaper headphones. Everything in the filter section is just a joy to play. All the switches are a joy to adjust and the 2-pole is nice and nasty. The 4-pole is nice and contained.

      I’ve been having a lot of fun finding all the quirks in this, and there are a lot. It’s a fun synth to me that feels new. Maybe not your only synth. Not gonna give you a DSI sound, but I like it for what it is.

    2. 100% agree
      The more I see of this synth the more I hate it.
      It looks embarrassing and sounds god awful.
      Save your cash and invest in a real piece like moog or something from dsi, instruments made in the states with respect and decent conditions for the workers, not cheap crap mass produced in china that abuse workers under sweatshop conditions.
      Korg are on the road to flooding the market with cheap crap made under dubious labour conditions, and if people give in to it, it will sink local manufacturing.

      1. Very good point. Fact is, we don’t know under what conditions (social, environmental) products like the korg minilogue are produced in countries like china etc.

        1. I think that even Moog manufactures circuit boards in China. I’d be more concerned about the computer you’re reading this comment on.

            1. Hand ‘final-assembled’ not hand made.
              PCBA’s come manufactured and tested from their contract manufacturer in China or Malaysia.

      3. Is the computer you are typing this coment on a fair trade product? I don’t know. A lot of this shit is going on. Look at Apple. They have entire cities of slave workers for them in China. But everyone is showing off their iphone 6-7 whatever is the newest right now. I get your point about cheap labor etc but i don’t enjoy seeing more and more pictures of dave smith and other “godfathers of synth” in private jet planes and living the “good life”. In my eyes if you get filthy rich out of honest work or through “honest” work is one thing. The problem is when individuals start gathering more and more wealth for them selves. it somehow does not look like it’s very efficient vision of a being. If you are very rich you most likelly have so much money deposits everywhere that you will never spend. What banks hand in hand with weapon manufacturers and other nice people use this money for is mainly killing, gathering power, expanding. Dave smith reminds me of steve jobs in a way. He looked like a nice guy too. The company he grew though…. First competing through inovation and later taking over the world through expansion. Lets see what history will Record. I don’t see Korg as a huge threat and Dsi as the holly ones to be honest. I might be wrong. Who knows. The best we could do is learn how to build synths our selves

      4. Preposterous argument…I’m sure most of you have a mac or an iphone or whatever crap people buy nowadays…And it has been proven Apple use sweatshops to manufacture their very pricey items…And people still buy more. Now you ahve no proof Korg is doing the same.
        Also this synth does sound a bit like a toy and the filter is really low-quality compared to Moog or DSI synths…But that’s where your skills come into game! After a week I wanted to return it…Then I really worked on it, and learned a bit more about synthesis and I came up with amazing results. Some people are just lazy or maybe so rich they don’t care…But this synth is a great piece for its price and thank you KORG for giving us (poor people) the opportunity to get a polyphonic analog! I’m out!

      5. LOL,
        3 Tips For Getting More Out Of Your Korg Minilogue Synthesizer.
        And here you are having a smear campaign.

        Bravo good sir, Bravo.

    3. That’s unbelievable wrong comment.
      It’s sounding better than any roland digital offer on market and head above tetra/mopho.
      Filter is really good for poly and dwarfs any cheap digital dsp based filter (boutique, system 1, etc)

      1. It´s not wrong. It´s an opinion and that´s okay.

        My opinion is that the Minilogue sounds very nice, but I´ve never really liked the DSI sound anyways. I have also used a Sub Phatty and got a bit bored with it quickly. I´m definitely going to get the Minilogue.

      2. I don’t hate this synth at all, but it doesn’t sound “better” than a digital synth. The system-1, boutiques, and others, are definite competitors.

        The filter is the only feature about this synth that turns me off completely. It loses a lot of volume, and lacks the character and harmonics you’d expect from any filter, let alone an analog one.

        There is no comparison between the minilogue and the 4 voice DSI synths. I find them too thin, but they are way thicker, and have a much better filter, and over all sound than the minilogue.

        All in all it lives up to it’s price, and that’s just fine. But it’s not the powerhouse analog poly come to liberate synth fans from getting what they pay for. It’s easy to get swept up in the ideal of an amazing cheap piece of gear, but as soon as you play the real thing again, you wake up from that fantasy.

        1. Consider that with its cross and ring modulation, sync, and wave shaping capabilities, the Minilogue is capable of producing a wide range of timbres even without the filter, and could be considered a complete synth even in its absence.

        2. the DSI’s DCOs sometimes have a stronger sound but VCO gives a nice lively strange sound that is more receptive to modulation, when going for an atmosphere or growl that provokes emotion.

          To me, The minilogue is at very least a nicer sound than minibrute, bass station, and any volca so far, and at very least also offers a *different* set of features and sounds than DSIs at any price point.

          The sequence at the end of the vid here evokes it all nicely, tho not too monstrously. I think one day someone will finally post a vid showing a nice big jupiter-worthy chord and all will be silenced haha. Few people seem to have experimented with xmod and ring mod and differing octaves between the voices, to make classic big poly sounds we’d associate with fatness.

    5. People hWho don’t have it seem to bitch about it. People who have it seem to love it. Funny how that is.

      Count me in the latter group. Had mine for about two weeks now and it’s one of the best purchases I’ve ever made.

    8. Have you actually played with it? It has a unique organic sound and a low end that can’t be found in anything else under 2000 euros. Don’t start with the “digital” nonsense. This synth sounds anything else but digital.

    9. I agree with you, to a point. First let me say that I’ve been a synth enthusiast for 30+ years, & I own dozens of synths, ranging from vintage 80s digital/analog hybrids, to low end VA synths like the Microkorg, to high end Workstations like the Kronos. Ultimately I’ve come to the conclusion that there is really no such thing as a “bad” or crappy sounding synth. There are only dull synth users, who lack creativity & imagination. I’ve heard people make cool & interesting sound/music using a Casio VL-1, or even a modded electronic alarm clock. That being said, I do think that some synths are more “inspiring” that others. The Kurzweil PC3K is the most inspiring synth I’ve ever used/owned, but that’s just my opinion. Over the last decades, I’ve developed -or redeveloped) a strong preference for VA & Analog Modeling synths. (in the 80s-90s, I preferred ROMplers) I picked up a Minilogue last week. It’s my first analog polysynth. (I also own a Waldorf Pulse 2)
      I am not impressed with the Minilogues sound. (I actually prefer the Microkorg’s sound) Actually I was even a bit disappointed. That being said, I don’t dislike the Minilogue, & wouldn’t go so far as to return or sell it. It is what it is, & you get what you pay for. I have some good effects processors., both high/low end. (Sony DPS V-77, Kurzweil KSP8, Lexicon PCM81, Digitech DSP 256XL, Alesis Quadraverb, Roland RSP550, & the effects on my Kronos & Triton (which I often use) When you run the Minilogue though an effects processor & add a bit of chorus, delay, reverb, etc…..you can create some very interesting sounds.

    11. The minilogue is an amazing sounding synth but it depends on what you’re looking for. I’m getting wild string/pad sounds out of it. I can believe the depth and variety of sounds i’m getting. I really think anyone who isn’t getting satisfying results needs to dig a little deeper into it.

  3. the thing is that when it comes to music, there are no valid arguments, only valid, subjective, opinions.
    This is why you never hear anyone complain about the lack of ingenuity whenever a new piano comes out.
    You’d rather use a mopho x4, or a Tetra, Maybe even a Slim Phatty and track 4 detuned layers…..and you’d probably make it sound really nice, but there are others who wouldn’t even consider your workflow of choice. All that matters is whether an instrument moves you or not, cause there is no right or wrong imho which admittedly came after your own.

  4. it doesnt sound bad, it sounds alright, like a few hundred bucks synth. but good is something different, this thing is anything far from lush, deep, warm, fat, or simply beautiful sounding .and i was stoked first too and i’d love the idea of affordable synths and it to be true – but it isnt. you simply cant get that for 500 dollars, period. for beginners its absolutely fine, if you have worked with other synth and other gear, forget it.

  5. I’ve had the Minilogue for about a week now and I absolutely love it! I buy and sell tons of gear but I know already that this one is a keeper. Beautiful sounding and the controls are great. So much fun to play. I’m not an analog purist or anything but there is something very “analogey” about this synth. It sounds and just feels (and looks) nice. I love the filter and I especially love the motion sequencing capabilities. The oscilloscope is cool as hell too. I thought it was gimmicky when I saw it online but after using it I can say that it comes in handy and just looks super cool! The screen also displays parameter changes so the addition of the oscilloscope was just an extra awesome detail to throw in there.

    I agree with :::kobamoto::: above. These are all just opinions. Some people will inevitably hate it, I happen to love it. There is no such thing as the perfect synth. Or the perfect anything for that matter! Of course, some people just love to hate. The whole of the synth world has been waiting for and talking about an analog poly for what seems like forever and we finally get one and people still whine and complain about it. At this price I can;’t see how anyone could complain. Again, just my opinion. I think Korg is killing it and I look forward to the future.

    1. Korg is doing its best to make those compromises look as perfectly normal. Analog is the hype of the moment, that’s an objective statement.

    1. Nick was refering to the analog sync from the Beatstep Pro. It needs attenuation for the Minilogue as the Beatstep’s signal is too hot for the Minilogue.

  7. Does not play well with others. The midi implementation is pretty hahazard. Not good for a Communication Protocol. Hoping the volca fm does it better….

  8. so much hype and reviews like sonic states are becoming jaded when you realise the links between them and the industry, it just leads to more questions.

    their are considerable questions over the envelopes and pitch wheel, the former may be(?) fixed by an OS update and the latter by a screw driver or a recall, but little talk is been generated in these reviews.

    is it worth jumping in to these buys on evidence that is obviously manipulated by the relationship of the reviewer and his access to the product, in this case illustrated by a confidentiality agreement which gagged nick from any comment leading up until NAMM. Nick is a nice guy and his opinions are worth listening to but are these reviews now becoming a little bit transparent as the bugs they seem to miss or play down are being discovered as the hype recedes and the money has left the bank account.

    1. “Considerable” is subjective.

      There are reports of “clicking envelopes”; however, it is possible that this is caused by very short attacks (knob at zero) on amplitude such that those clicks were leaking through a closed filter (i.e. with a slow attack). This may not be an envelope issue. Rather it may be that the filter allows a short DC signal through when a zero-attack amp-env passes a quarter-phase wave. I would consider true zero-attack envelopes to be a feature, rather than a bug.

      As for the pitch lever, that tear down by Fuller showed it to be nothing more than a small amount of loose play from a spring around a post. Not very serious, IMHO, and can be fixed if a person was truly bothered by it. It would be a considerable issue if it caused the lever to not zero-out at rest, but I haven’t heard whether that was an issue.

      As to conflicts of interest with Nick, he has always been quick to point out problems with equipment he reviews (I think more than many online reviewers).

      All that said, a person SHOULD do their homework and try to sort out which are legitimate criticisms and which are easily attributed to various “coping mechanims” run amuck. And definitely, folks should listen to as many demo vids as they can to see if they are hearing what they want from it before buying.

      1. @stub I started copying and pasting bits of your message to say ‘absolutely’ and ‘exactly’ and ‘amen’ but it wound up being a copy of every sentence you wrote.

        Wish I could +5 your reply.

    2. As already mentioned in these comments, this isn’t a full review, just a few things we found that were useful. I fully intend to give the synth a thorough going over.

      Regarding NDAs, usually they are signed so that we can get advance warning of forthcoming products, or if we are filming something before the release so we don’t jump the release date – in this case, it didn’t work out that way, so we will certainly consider before signing any more of them with anyone.
      It doesn’t prevent us from saying what we think about products.

    3. I have yet to see ANYONE that has an informed opinion suggest that the envelopes are a problem.

      Anybody that’s got experience with a variety of analog synths and modular gear will have encountered this before and realize that it’s not a problem.

      Suggesting that the Minilogue’s envelopes are a problem is just advertising to the world that you’re not very inexperienced with synths, or that you’ve only used digital synths.

      Yes – if you turn down the oscillators and set the attack to 0, you’ll hear a quick click. That’s analog’s way of telling you that you’ve got fast ****ing envelopes. If you don’t want that click, open them them up a little and you’ll have as fast of an attack as you want, with no click.

      What questions are there about the pitch lever? I haven’t had any problem with mine, it actually works better than a mod wheel for a lot of things, because of the spring loading.

      2. No Taisia, the click at the beginning of envelopes is NOT fixed by turning the attack up a little. It has to be turned up quite a bit before the click goes. If you are using percussive sounds, this isn’t a problem but if you are looking for slow pads, forget it. I returned mine immediately because it was just unacceptable. I do have experience with a wide variety of analogue synths, I have even built them from scratch over the past 40 years. I won’t even start on the ‘midget’ keyboard!

  9. Oh God, another article about the Minilogue. Quick, I must comment and tell everyone how awful it is and how much I hate it because I need to feel secure about my purchases of more expensive things.

  11. As mentioned before; Take a look at the You Tube videos of Marc Doty. Already three parts of video’s that gives a good overlook of every part so far.

    1. This is not the Sonicstate review yet, just a bag of tricks (and very good ones at that.) Personally, I much prefer Nick’s videos than Mr Doty’s verbose elucubrations. And Nick always slips some actual music in his presentations…

  12. If you don’t like it, don’t buy it, but stop pretending like there’s a problem with the people who love this synth, because there is not.

    An instrument is as good as the person playing it can make it. People on this forum hate the Alesis Ion/Micron, and yet Nine Inch Nails used it on several of their greatest albums. Trent also uses a Prophet 12. And I don’t think he cares how much either one costs.

    I hear this instrument and I hear possibilities. What Nick just did — easily sequence motion controls — is what I could do with a significant amount of menu diving on many synths. But he did it in minutes (if he weren’t explaining it, seconds) and he did it on an instrument that costs $500.

    Yes, the envelope clicks. That’s a shortcoming. It is what it is. I don’t understand the hate. The limitations and possibilities of this synth are becoming clear. That’s the job of these reviewers. Why there are so many who want to pass some sort of judgment on this device I will never know. Nobody’s making you buy one.

  13. Here’s some objective stuff for potential buyers, especially if you just want a cheap, decent analog polysynth:

    – This is not a high gain instrument. If you’re playing live with other instruments, you might want to boost that gain, especially if there are guitars and drums. It may not cut through to the front of a mix live.
    – The delay is more of a novelty. It’s noisey. There’s lots of white noise when you turn the time up. A behringer delay would probably serve you better.
    – The envelopes CAN click but don’t have to. Turn up the decay and release about 1/8th from zero and you’re good.
    – Check out the Marcus Fuller teardown. It’s a pretty solid build inside, including the bend lever. But overall this is no tank.
    – A Roland Alpha Juno 2 or JX10, Akai AX60/80, or a used DSI Mophox4 are alternatives that are very worth looking into.

    A lot depends on what you’re using it for. If you’re playing live in a band, noisey delay and clicking envelopes are pretty insignificant. If it’s you and DAW, the gain of the instrument actually makes it blend into a mix really easily.

    I personally like the noisey delay and clicking envelopes, fwiw, and I’m sure people will have lots of opinions of how this fits into a mix, but I feel like this is the stuff you should know if you’re broke and just want to play some music.

    1. I don’t understand why output level is an issue. If a synth has a low output, you just turn up the mixer input. As to whether a synth cuts in a mix, that seems to have more to do with filter cut-offs, and whether you can have nice bright oscillators (which this appears to have).

      The noise on the delay is a concern, but as you suggest, output effects make a lot of sense, especially if you want to have stereo sounds.

      1. The delay is designed to sound like a vintage BBD delay, which get noisier as you increase the delay time. So you can question the design choice for the delay, but there are a lot of boutique $200-300 BBD style delays that sound just like the Minilogue’s.

        I personally would have liked to have seen a full set of good quality effects on the Minilogue and stereo outputs. This would have substantially increased the complexity, though, so I can understand why they left them out.

        This isn’t designed to be a Cadillac – it’s more like a Cooper Mini, small and quirky, but also affordable and fun.

        1. Ok, there’s no way you can compare this delay to a BBD pedal.. Any BBD pedal. It’s a cool delay, but it’s no where near even the 25$ behinger bbd, let alone their 50$ memory man clone, or anything more expensive.

          1. I’ve got several BBD delays, and to my ears, the Minilogue delay is designed with the BBD sound in mind. It sounds very clean with short delay values, but gets noisier as you increase the delay time.

            I do question the decision to put a BBD style delay on this – but it does replicate that old school sound.

  14. I am looking at it this way…i have some 1000$+ synths and they are excellent…

    but for $1000 i have three volcas and a minilogue….once i get them onto a pedal board i’ll have a portable analog sound creation station

    …with multiple ways to create sounds, sequence and perform changes that will always stay in sync…they sound good to great (Except for volca snare..ugh)…

    i think a big part of these latest korgs is how playable they are and how they are designed to record the tweaks…

    $1000 for all that.

    I’m in

  15. I look at it this way…I’m going to keep my MicroKorg that I was going to help fund the Minilogue with. In my mind the micro just sounds better. The value of the Minilogue seems amazing on paper but for me…sound for the money determines the overall value, and IMHO the Minilogue just doesn’t live up to the value…it just sounds flaccid.

    1. The microKorg isn’t a bad synth, and they benefits of analog are way over-hyped.

      Other VA’s – like the MiniNova or the JD-XI, completely blow away the microKorg’s ancient design, though.

  17. I love my minilogue, but I do agree that the filter isn’t amazing. So I hooked it up to a moogerfooger low pass and it sounds incredible! The way the Moog colors the tone, even with the filter fully open, is a plus. The real fun of the minilogue is the lack of menu diving. Heads up knobs that do so much.

    I use the MS-20 for big bassy tones, feel like that unit is better suited for the purpose anyway.

  18. i have a *LOTT* of analog synths…Jupiter 6, PolySix, Prophet 6 , etc.

    Just ordered a Minilogue. Played it in a shop and was sold after 5 minutes of demoing. SOLD!@

    Im going to use it for killer basslines. Free up my other bigger synths for more serious duties. It probably wont ever leave Unison mode …but those 8 oscillators all lined up on one big note sounded fricken AWSOME! REally like this thing! and for the money its a no-brainer.

    Im not sure how others would judge it on its own, if you were stuck on an island and only had a Minilogue im not sure it would be all you ever need….for me it wont replace my bigger synths but its going to compliment them really well. Now i just have to wait for my order to arrive! Nice one Korg you win again!

  19. Hi! My friend tried to update his new Miniloge to firmware 1,04 and the USB driver V 1,2,3 r4 and now he can’t start up the synthesizer. Have you any idea how to reset the Minilogue. We have tried with the reset combination Power + Right button + exit button but it is totally dead. Kind Regards

  20. I have the exact same issue as Tarek Mansur.
    After updating from 1.04 til 1.11the Monologue is completely dead!!! What the f….??
    have tried every combo to wake it up without success..

    Thankful for tips and trix in this matter.
    I updated using a Macbook pro..

    Cheers from Sweden

        1. I fixed mine.
          Left it unplugged. Waited 24 hours. Turned it on following the firmware update mode power up instructions. This time it powered up in that mode. Then I used my wife’s Windows laptop to force firmware update. It flashed a message saying that the firmware was up to date but you can force the update anyway.
          It was up and running with 1.11 in just a few minutes.

  22. Honestly it would be hard finding a better synth for this money. I totally agree it’s not Moog it’s not the great DSI either. But the sounds you can make for the money is quite mind blowing I can tell you that. First days I wasn’t to impressed by it. But doing the sequencer the arp the filters and so on has made me using this more than my Jupiter 6 at least for a few weeks. Thanks Korg make them analogue in the future as well!

  23. Waited two months for my order to ship. Got it today.
    Hardest part was getting it out of the box. It was wrapped in sticky cellophane.
    Love It!!! I have a 1980’s Oberheim OB-1 so I understand a few things. This is not an OB-1, but it is a great musical instrument.
    Most issues with this synth are probably due to a lack of Musical ability or Creativity by those who try and play them.
    A wonderful instrument!!!!

  24. huh. maybe i’m too easy to please. i find keyboardists and synthesists all over the internet just whine and whine and whine…. and almost always toss out horrific advice and impressions on pretty much every piece of gear i’ve tried and owned. I wonder why? I have golden ears, perfect hearing from 80k to 18,000k (House Ear Clinic doesn’t test beyond these frequencies, i am sure i can hear more), and these ears are my main tools for deciding whether i like a synth or not.

    the minilogue is amazing. period. forget the price point – i would have paid more for this thing as is. at its current price it was a pure impulse buy as i have been saving up for a Prophet for some time now (my favorite polysynths of all those I’ve tried) and really needed to scratch this analog polysynth itch for the summer. I waited several months for mine to show up, and I was rightly excited for the day.

    this is a beefy, incredibly loud, and ferocious synthesizer with a totally unique sound. the digital delay is great and lets me add a little finishing touch to the sound without requiring outboard effects, and is more than flexible enough for experimental sound design implementations of its own accord. i think the minilogue looks cool. when i pull it out, people go “ooh, aah” and wanna know what it is, they’ve never seen such a neat little synth before. yeah, the bottom panel is cheap plastic but the aluminum chassis front panel and wooden rear panel are eye-catching and at this price, they had to cut corners somewhere.

    the filter is dope, I have no complaints!!!!! fat and smooth as a 4 pole, and the 2 pole gets snarly and highly characterful. sweeping the filter is a lot of fun, the timbres that come out of the minilogue belie its compact build. ring mod, cross mod, it all sounds fantastic. it has a unique architecture and is capable of some really amazing sounds you’re not gonna hear out of any boards in this price range – through my 1000W ELX115P the minilogue is HUGE and sounds distinctly analog. That classic organic fatness. My digital synths – System-1M, the Integra-7, Kronos and even the KingKorg (a righteous vintage-emulating VA) do not come even remotely close to a basic sawtooth poly patch on the minilogue. Unison mode lets you dial in some epic detuned leads, and as a pure mono-synth, the 2-VCOs-per-voice are truly thick as a brick.

    this synth would be worth it if it had all its other features but didn’t include the sequencer or 200 memory slots for your own patches. but it DOES. the sequencer is SO much fun. And i can store double the patches of my Moog Little Phatty!!!!!!! in many ways, the minilogue is the most fun synth I own because so much is possible in such a low profile. i mean, this is crazy for 500 bucks. there is no catch. this synth kicks ass!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    maybe it’s because I’m a prog keyboardist and on a light night with limited space, i lug a dozen keyboards to a show, so it doesn’t bother me if the synth has little design and signal flow quirks. i like that about synthesizers – they all do their own thing and sing with their own voice. the minilogue doesn’t have to be my go-to synth or even part of a two or three-board synth rig in my setup. it doesn’t have to be better than my moog or my kingkorg or my kronos or my integra-7. In fact, i didn’t want the minilogue to be anything CLOSE to those instruments, i wanted the minilogue to be its own instrument with its own character and it is just that.

    it’s fun, it is powerful, the oscillators and the filter are both excellent, and i really can’t see why someone wouldn’t wanna pick one of these up. it’s a blast and is quickly becoming my favorite little secret weapon (despite huge sales I don’t see these saturating the stages yet, that day is coming though….).

  25. I bought the minilogue. I love it. I switch it on and can’t stop having fun.BUT. i hate this thread here. The hate-informative ratio is really shifting towards hate. Once again i got caught reading so much negative garbage that i have to go to sleep earlier cause everything seems less bright right now. So much negative garbage…Jesus. It’s like “i am happy!” And the other one says “you say that cause you don’t know how much happiness there can be and obviously can’t be that happy”. Yes. This level of conversation is what is happening here

    1. You get what you pay for, & currently there is no other new, modern, 4 voice analog polysynth on the market, for $500. I got my Minilogue last week. Honestly I was a bit disappointed, & personally I prefer the sound of my Microkorg & XL+. However, I don’t dislike my Minilogue, & wouldn’t dream of returning or selling it. I alos own a Waldorf Pulse 2, which is a MUCH more comprehensive & feature packed analog synth, that has a much more aggressive sound. But it does cost 50% more, & is a mono-synth. (Waldorf should really pack 4-8 Pulse 2s into 1 package, & make a killer analog polysynth)
      When I run my Minilogue through my effects processors & add some multi-tap delays & lush chorus & reverbs,….it sounds magically delicious. ???????????? ???? ???????????????????? ????

  26. I’m an old chap, started in the ’70s with (obviously) analog monophonic synths, later some polyphonic. When I’d compare some of my smaller oldies with the Minilogue, I just can’t help laughing at Korg. I mean, crying … why because this Minilogue does not deliver me the evolution I would expect from 40 years of synth design and engineering. The Korg Minilogue gives me a lot less than my vintage hardware.

  27. Though it’s true that I’m a noob as far as the EDM production world is concerned, I was greatly impressed with the minilogue on arrival. As someone who is moving out of DAW into the analogue world, I got used to controlling my computer with midi controllers and even using my iPad apps to make music. Its quite a joy to know that the economic barriers of entry into music production and synthesizer science are slowly getting chipped away. This isn’t to say that using aforementioned instruments are of a lower quality, but people want the experience of turning actual knobs on a stand-alone device to create sound without fear of not making ends-meat or rent. And that’s still totally possible nowadays since $500 is a LOT of money.

    After reading some of the comments, not just on here, I have to say that rejecting this synth because it fails to match up to other antique excaliburs (#Roland) is a little classist, considering that not many have access to them or can even afford their own even if they had it. So if I have $500 and I really want to expand my repertoire, piece by piece, should I just discard my dreams just because I’m $1000 short of the next moog? Should I stare at eBay ads for 30-year-old synths praying their prices drop? Both thoughts practice defeatism and promote hopelessness when, in reality, it’s the artist that shapes the sound.

    If you’re like me, you may have to tell yourself that these relic synthesizers aren’t coming back, and if they do, only to a semblance of what they once were. I recently got the Roland VP-03, and while many comments were saying that it’s nothing like the 330, I love working it and adding effects to it. The minilogue and the VP-03 actually complement each other pretty well. Referring to the minilogue, is it the last synth I’ll every buy? Definitely not. But like a first car, it’ll always have a place in heart, no matter how cheesy that sounds ;-).

  28. I own a 1988 Roland JX-3P and love it. I also own this new Minilogue, along with a few solid softsynths- and I think everyone should take a close look at how much music they actually create before spazzing out about the value of any synth. I think the Minilogue is awesome for what it costs- and regardless of the price point, what the hell are you doing to create music with it? Tycho was just nominated for a Grammy- and he (Scott Hansen- check out the iso50.com blog and the techboard.com link dedicated to his gear) is very open about the musical value of this synth- and many other synths- both analog and software-based. Focus on making music- the rest is pretty much worthless details. Stop reading this and focus your efforts on creating actual music.

  29. after having mine for a few years I still find it not only Inspiring, but then having a built in sequencer to help you take an idea kind of further to sample what that soundscape can do. I have found the original to be an outstandingly designed wonderful, both teaching tool with the oscilliscope, But also, super intuitive with built in Tuner, assignable slider control. Almost Modular routing capabilities. JUST BECAUSE IT DOESNT HAVE A WOODY MOOG SOUND. My answer has been not evrything IS MEANT to sound like a moog. I have gotten AMAZING cinetmaic results from this. and I do kind of see this just about everywhere so it inspired someone. still my favorite synth and im fully modular now with the SWN and SQUID SALMPLER minilogue is a bad ass synth. Further you can recall your patches. Thats alot for an analogue

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