Korg today released a firmware for the update for the Prologue analog synthesizer to address tuning problems some owners have encountered.
They say that OS 1.30 improves overall tuning stability for all of prologue’s analog oscillators, while also decreasing the amount of time required to fully tune them. They say the Prologue’s estimated warmup time is now around 5-10 minutes.
Here’s what’s new in Prologue firmware 1.30:
- Tuning stability and performance has been improved
- Communication with the prologue librarian has been improved
- Minor bug fixes and stability improvements
Here’s a video overview of the update process:
Details on the update are available at the Korg site.
If you’re a Prologue owner that’s experienced tuning problems, leave a comment and let us know if the update addresses your concerns!
Cool. Now they should fix that noise the Monologue makes.
A power conditioner or running on battery fixes that noise the Monologue makes
It doesn’t though. I’m not talking about hiss or hum. There’s a series of rising tones followed by two sustained tones. That’s the problem when it comes to discussing this is that everybody assumes you’re talking about the hiss. I don’t mind hiss (which, by the way, doesn’t go away when running off battery, and I’ve also never had hum issues with any Monologue). There’s a Reddit thread about this issue accompanied by a video. It wasn’t recorded very well so all you really hear is hiss but the sound is still there. I’m assuming you own a Monologue. Turn the volume and drive to max, don’t play anything and listen. What I’m describing will become obvious. Every Monologue I’ve tested has this problem. I’m sure for some people it’s quiet enough to not be an issue but I cannot record it in confidence.
The Minilogue’s tuning drifts like crazy, but comes home when you do the retuning. I actually like this feature since this is how fully analog oscillators actually work and contributes to the chaos. Don’t tune it for a while – more chaos.
There’s certainly no shortage of digital synths that don’t drift at all. There’s also clock driven analog synths that have perfect tuning stability as well. There’s still room in the market for fully analog, unstable, drifty synths, which sounds best polyphonic.
from the previous news item:
> Some users have reported that when they play a noted repeatedly on the keyboard, the pitches can vary as much as 15 cents.
Ah well this is a different issue. Drifting is good, inconsistency is bad. This is because they were using round robin voice assignment even when the note was repeated. So you have Voice A that has drifted +7 cents and Voice B that has drifted -7 cents and you play middle C twice and it happens to assign to Voice A then Voice B and you have inconsistency. Exact repeated notes on a polyphonic analog synth receiving on one channel are best to assign to the same voice if possible. Now if you are receiving in guitar or MPE mode across many channels you should not do that and reserve one voice per channel, so you can’t just implement this scheme across the board in every circumstance.
“Which sounds best polyphonic.” I have to disagree. Drifty vcos sound best, in my opinion, on mono sounds that need a little more thickness. They are a nightmare on poly synths? 8 or 16 vcos out of tune with each other on a chord? No way.
Fixed, also loving the free dirtboxsynth oscillator
Is there a detune knob?
I can’t afford this synth. So, I just pretend that I have one. I’m glad that Korg fixed the Prologue tuning issue. It was bothersome at times. You should see my awesome keyboard rig. It’s got tens of thousands of dollars worth of pretend synths. I just added the new Moog One polyphonic synthesizer and a Waldorf Quantum. I’m practicing for the 2019 world air synth championship.
you would be surprised. i saw an 8 voice on sale for like 849 on special the other week? seems people are dropping these things like flies due to the bugs.
$849 is a very good price. It’s definitely not the normal price.
Got my DeepMind 12 for $499 new. It goes out of tune only if I decide, via its many drifting features that are built in. But default the tuning is perfect. And it has 2 LFO’s!
No question the Prologue is way, way overpriced for what you get – a synth that is out of tune at all times with none of the sequencer or features that were loved on the Monologue.
It needs a redesign.
Have been hesitating to replace my Waldorf Blofeld keys with the Prologue. But still not sure as only one LFO and no aftertouch.
Looking for a fat analog VCO synth (with very fat low-end) to complement my Kronos. Behringer UB-XA will come in 2019. So, still waiting before taking a decision.
Any comment regarding the Prologue complementarity to the Kronos is welcome.
I have a Prologue 16. I updated with the 1.3 fix. Still seems a bit out of tune. Anyone else have this issue? I retune after it warms up but is still a bit out.