Korg MS-20 mini love

Thanks thats cool. I might do some research and try to build one myself (strig conv), should be fairly basic circuit.

I grabbed my a mini as soon as they were shipping to Toronto. Right away I was in love with finally being able to manipulate drums the way I could with the EXT IN. Once I began making my own drum sounds I began thinking about the kinds of things that led me to grabbing an Octatrack, but not before I ran out and bought a second mini. The way twin MS-20’s work together is unlike any synth out there, im really happy with them. In a pre Prophet-6 world they are my main hands on board(s).
I have since picked up an A4 and have been excited to be able to think about these guys even more with the CV control the A4 brings to the table.

That must be cool 2 mini’s, I only wish you could get the outputs of each filter for some feedback madness.
Can you give me some ideas how you use drums with the ESP please
Do you mean running loops thru it, or single hits to be resampled ?
Thanx.

Either or. Always loading single hits on to the OT, making new drum kits. Or running loops. All depends on the result you are after. Never be afraid to try somethi g, and keep digging!

Came across ipppei the other day, his patches are completely insane, never thought I’d hear sounds like that coming out of the MS20. The analog zaps and blips make for great OT food too.

I haz the mini love too - but i have another pressing thought, chip in here … MS-20 *ThumP* (with audio)
it’s about the thump !

Had a fun evening with my mini and wanted to revive this and share a video

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Great patch! Care to share if you remember it?


Loving the oscilloscope as well, is that coming through a laptop? I have an old CRT TV that I’ve been meaning to mod for ages.

Great patch! Care to share if you remember it?


Loving the oscilloscope as well, is that coming through a laptop? I have an old CRT TV that I’ve been meaning to mod for ages. [/quote]
Thanks! It’s an older Critter & Guitari videoscope, the first one which was much more limited as well as cheaper.

I’ll add the patch it to that site when I’m not on my cell, here’s a pic in the meantime http://imgur.com/ZhKWKRt. sorry if the wires are a little impossible…

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Great patch! Care to share if you remember it?


Loving the oscilloscope as well, is that coming through a laptop? I have an old CRT TV that I’ve been meaning to mod for ages. [/quote]
Thanks! It’s an older Critter & Guitari videoscope, the first one which was much more limited as well as cheaper.

I’ll add the patch it to that site when I’m not on my cell, here’s a pic in the meantime http://imgur.com/ZhKWKRt. sorry if the wires are a little impossible…[/quote]
Hey, that pic isn’t there…?

Great patch! Care to share if you remember it?


Loving the oscilloscope as well, is that coming through a laptop? I have an old CRT TV that I’ve been meaning to mod for ages. [/quote]
Thanks! It’s an older Critter & Guitari videoscope, the first one which was much more limited as well as cheaper.

I’ll add the patch it to that site when I’m not on my cell, here’s a pic in the meantime http://imgur.com/ZhKWKRt. sorry if the wires are a little impossible…[/quote]
Hey, that pic isn’t there…?[/quote]
Here: http://i.imgur.com/ZhKWKRt.jpg

Great patch @giftown
And thanx for the link @Anfim , look at all those patches to try out :astonished:

NP, Check out the ipppei patches above too, they’re wonderful!
giftown that video synth looks great, good price too. Have you ever looked into the more complex ones like LZX or Tachyons +? Really cool stuff.

For anyone that owns one, how is your MS-20 mini holding up? I am considering getting one because I love the sound of this synth. But I recall reading about loose knobs, bad input jacks, and poor build quality overall. Is it still a problem? (or was it limited to a few early units?) Thanks.

i doubt they are made any differently - there is no doubt the feel is less encouraging, but it’s been robust for me - it would be better if it had the feel of even behringer’s budget offerings - those pots are firm and the jacks are solid - Korg cut a few corners to keep the cost down - i think having the Korg in that iconic format is better than the Behringer offering despite the build/feel advantages of the K-2

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Agreed. I would never buy a Behringer knockoff. I can probably deal with the shortcomings of the mini. The MS-20 FS looks tempting also but costs a lot more…

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I actually prefer the loose/fast feel of the korg Vs behringer’s weighty, syrupy pots. makes it faster to dial in sounds. the keyboard is pretty bad but that was the only real issue with mine.

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I don’t own one but one of my band mates plays one in our band and I’ve borrowed it to record a few times. It sounds great but is so poorly built. We have semi regular band gear fix-it nights and the ms20 gets worked on every single time. I’ve fixed so many things on it I’m starting to feel like I should have just built one. My circuit bent casio mt-40 feels like a tank comparatively.
Not hating on it though. It sounds amazing, especially through a big pa. Also, to be fair, we gig with it so it sees a lot more abuse than it would in a studio which can’t help. And while I fix it all the time the repairs are all pretty easy.
It’s a budget remake of an old budget synth (which is awesome). The old school ms20s were sturdier but they had their issues. I’ve repaired a few of those too.
If I found a killer deal on one of the minis I’d buy it and upgrade a lot of the parts. Someday I’ll probably buy a broken one on the cheap.

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What is most likely to break on the MS-20 mini? I’ve owned a Minilogue before and that seemed pretty well built. It doesn’t sound like an MS-20 though. :tongue:

Oh yeah, minilogue is a different animal. I wouldn’t say that the ms20 mini is at all representative of Korg build style, it’s kind of its own thing.
The things that seem to break first are the jacks, which really sucks on a semi-modular. After that it’s a toss up between the pots and the key contacts. Also had the power jack separate from the board like the original electribes did. Found some lifted traces and a couple of cold joints inside while poking around too. Most of this stuff would take way longer to become problematic if it wasn’t being subjected to gigging life (transportation, questionable power, humidity and the elements, etc). If it was a studio piece it could be treated more carefully and probably last longer before needing repair.

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