Korg Collection

Although we loved Korg Gadget when we reviewed it, we thought that Korg had missed a trick by not offering users the full programmability of the classic Korg synths upon which some of its Gadgets are based. Enter ‘Korg Collection’ (stage right), which offers faithful recreations of 6 of Korg’s best loved analogue and digital synths, all classics in their own right.

If you think this sounds familiar, that’s because Korg Collection started life back in 2004 as ‘Korg Legacy Collection’ and went through various editions before being being updated to this modern 64 bit version, which is augmented with the Korg Arp Odyssey, and had dropped the ‘legacy’ from its name.

The 6 synths included in Korg Collection are the MS-20, Arp Odyssey, Mono/Poly, Polysix, M1 and Wavestation. Each uses Korg’s Component Modelling Technology (CMT) to, as you might surmise, model all of the circuit level components (and interactions between them) of the original hardware. However, rather than be constricted by the inherent limitations of that hardware, Korg has enhanced its features whilst keeping its sounds.

https://www.korg.com/us/products/software/korg_collection/cmt.php

The originally monophonic MS-20 is now polyphonic…and has no less than 32 voices! It also offers up to 16 voice unison and MIDI clock synchronisation. The only thing it lacks is the ability to switch between the much loved Korg 35 filter that appeared in early versions and the filter that subsequently replaced it.

The ARP Odyssey, on the other hand, being based upon Korg’s and original Odyssey designer, David Friend’s, acclaimed hardware reincarnation of said synth, provides a switch on the front panel that enables you to change between all three versions of the Odyssey’s filter.

It also has a bank of presets for each filter, which are labelled ‘MK1’, ‘MK2′ and…’Factory’ (why ‘Factory’ instead of ‘MK3’ is beyond us). When a preset from one of these banks is selected, the Odyssey is re-skinned to look like the corresponding version of the synth. However, there is no front panel switch or menu option that lets you re-skin the Odyssey at will, which is a bit of a shame.

Like the MS-20, the Odyssey has acquired polyphony. It has also acquired a very clever little arpeggiator and 6 effects, both of which have been designed to look and function like they were part of the original. With a little creative programming this arpeggiator can be made to function as a 1-16 step sequencer, not just for notes, but for three additional customisable synth parameters – think motion sequences. The only thing it lacks is the ability to switch of individual steps.

The six added effects are distortion, a phaser, a ‘chorus flanger ensemble’, EQ, Delay, and Reverb. Although they may look simplistic, they sound spot on and have clearly been designed to reflect the sorts of effects that were typically used with the ARP Odyssey in the ’70s & ’80s. No finer example of this can be found than in ‘Preset 003: Curried’, which combines some of these effects with arpeggiated sequencing of VCO1 FM Depth & VCO 2 Coarse Frequency, for instant Billy Currie style lead synth solos from Ultravox’s heyday.

The Korg Mono/Poly, offering as it does, a voice count of up to 128 (or 16 in unison mode), an 8 slot modulation matrix with 159 sources and 35 destinations, and two integrated multi-effects processors, appears to have spent the last 35 years necking ‘roids. Without these augmentations it sounds classic, with them it sounds next level and offers perhaps the widest range of sonic possibilities of the four analogues in Korg Collection.

Rounding out the analogues is the Korg Polysix, whose enhancements include up to 32-voice polyphony, up to 16-voice unison, two modulation slots each of which offers 8 external parameters (such as velocity, pressure, pitch bend & breath), MIDI clock synchronization of the modulation generator and arpeggiator.

On the digital side, the M1 includes all of the patches and PCM data from the original M1, the expanded M1EX, and the entire T-series of keyboards that followed in their wake, plus all 32 of the optional ROM cards for the M1/M1EX/T-series and an additional card’s worth of Legacy Collection patches. All in all that’s about 33,000 sounds! It also adds the one thing that the original M1 lacked…resonant filters – HALLELUJAH!

The Korg Wavestation similarly offers over 1500 presets and waveforms from all four versions of the Wavestation i.e. the original Wavestation, Wavestation EX, Wavestation A/D, and Wavestation SR, plus additional waveforms and wave sequences. The only thing it lacks is the Wavestation A/D’s ability to process external audio signals. This is a somewhat surprising omission considering that the Korg Collection includes two stand alone audio effects processors, one of which is the MS-20FX, which is literally an MS-20 dedicated to processing audio; and that the Wavestation A/D’s effects include a powerful vocoder. A Wavestation FX would be a nice addition.

The other effects unit in the Korg Collection is the MDE-X, which uses an algorithm derived from Korg’s Triton family. It offers 128 programs based upon 19 different types of effects that include a range of Reverbs, Delays, flangers, phasers, choruses, a talking modulator, wah wah, compressors, limiters, EQ, distortion, overdrive, and mastering effects.

So how does everything sounds? In a word, fantastic. In another word, authentic. Close your eyes and you’ll think you are playing the real things. As for the MS-20FX, try putting a drum loop through it and you’ll wonder how you ever managed to live without it.

But it doesn’t end there, because Korg collection has one more trick up its sleeve, in the form of ‘Legacy Cell’. This provides you with an additional instrument in which you can combine two MS-20s, or two Polysixes, or an MS-20 and a Polysix, assign dual MDE-Xs to each one, mix their outputs and then send them through a further dual MDE-X. Furthermore it adds 16 real-time performance controllers, laid out as 8 knobs and 8 sliders, and tempo sync. It’s an incredibly powerful tool that’s capable of generating some seriously impressive sounds. It would be even more powerful if one could add the other instruments from Korg Collection (and perhaps combine more than two of them). We hope this is something that Korg will add in a future version.

The only real complaint we have about Korg Collection is that none of the windows are resizeable. This isn’t a problem per se with the ARP Odyssey and Mono/Poly, as they have large, friendly, single window interfaces. Nor is it a major problem with the M1 & Wavestation, which are easier to program than the original hardware, though we think they would benefit from large single window interfaces instead of medium sized multi tabbed ones. But it has to be said that the MS-20’s/MS20-FX’s and Polysix’s GUIs leave something to be desired, particluarly the MS-20’s/MS-20FX’s, which requires programming to take place in an edit window into which not all of the MS-20’s controls fit, forcing you to scroll back and forth using the integral scroll bar, which does not respond to scrolling on an Apple Magic Mouse; and whilst the MDE-X is perfectly usable, it seems needlessly small. However, to be fair to Korg, they have told us that a GUI update is in the works.

Aside from improving the GUI, Korg Collection is pretty much perfect as is. However, as anyone suffering from GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) will tell you, there’s always room for more synths in any collection, and as Korg has an embarrassment of riches upon which to draw, here’s our list of what else we’d love them to add.

Top of out list would be a Korg Mini 700s or 800DV (which, along with the 770, Micro Preset, and SB100, were a large part of the sound of Synth Britannia), followed by an MS50 (and SQ-10/SQ-1), then a Delta (as used by the Human League on ‘Dare’), then perennial favourite the MicroKorg, then an Oasys…and as we already have the effects from the Triton, it seems almost churlish not to include the rest of one…we could go on, but we’d end up just listing everything that Korg has ever made, so let’s conclude by simply saying that Korg Collection is one of the best virtual instrument collections we’ve heard and deserves to be a part of everyone’s sonic arsenal.

More info: https://www.korg.com/uk/products/software/korg_collection/

© 2019, The Technofile. All rights reserved. Moral Rights Asserted.

Native Instruments Absynth 4

MC Rebbe The Rapping Rabbi reviews Native Instruments Absynth 4 in The Technofile

Absynth is one of the best sound design tools out there. Like its brethren, ‘Battery’ (reviewed below) and ‘FM8’ (review coming soon), it has recently had a makeover.

If you’re not already familiar with this soft synth, then check out my Absynth 3 review. If, on the other hand, you already know the score, read on. Continue reading “Native Instruments Absynth 4”

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Cakewalk Rapture

Cakewalk Rapture reviewed in the Technofile by MC Rebbe The Rapping RabbiRapture is the third in Cakewalk’s trilogy of soft synths (as opposed to their soft synth, trilogy) and builds on its forerunners Zeta and Dimension Pro, by combining the superior sounds of the former, with the superior programmability of the latter. Intended primarily for electronic musicians, it ships with over 500 presets aimed squarely at the dance floor…the ambient…and everything in between.

Unfortunately the copy I was sent was missing its manual. Fortunately though it has a well designed, easy to use  interface that’s very similar to the big Z and DP, so I felt immediately at home. Continue reading “Cakewalk Rapture”

© 2006 – 2010, The Technofile. All rights reserved. Moral Rights Asserted.