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 itās been robust for me - it would be better if it had the feel of even behringerās 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
1 Like
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 moreā¦
2 Likes
I actually prefer the loose/fast feel of the korg Vs behringerās weighty, syrupy pots. makes it faster to dial in sounds. the keyboard is pretty bad but that was the only real issue with mine.
3 Likes
I donāt own one but one of my band mates plays one in our band and Iāve 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. Iāve fixed so many things on it Iām 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 canāt help. And while I fix it all the time the repairs are all pretty easy.
Itās a budget remake of an old budget synth (which is awesome). The old school ms20s were sturdier but they had their issues. Iāve repaired a few of those too.
If I found a killer deal on one of the minis Iād buy it and upgrade a lot of the parts. Someday Iāll probably buy a broken one on the cheap.
2 Likes
What is most likely to break on the MS-20 mini? Iāve owned a Minilogue before and that seemed pretty well built. It doesnāt sound like an MS-20 though. 
Oh yeah, minilogue is a different animal. I wouldnāt say that the ms20 mini is at all representative of Korg build style, itās kind of its own thing.
The things that seem to break first are the jacks, which really sucks on a semi-modular. After that itās 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 wasnāt 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.
1 Like
A good solution to much of this would be to replace all of the pots and jacks with better quality parts (which Iāll do on the one Iām talking about if itās owner decides itās worth buying the parts) and going over the circuits with a magnifying glass and reflowing all questionable solder joints and wiring jumpers wherever thereās a bad trace, which I did.
The keyboard/ keybed is a little trickier. Iād be tempted to use an external keyboard since the built in one isnāt anything special even when it is working.
All of this being said, it sounds good enough to keep fixing it. Iām curious if my band mate got an especially flaky one. Also curious about the longevity of the behringer offering, time will tell with that one.
1 Like
Thanks for that information. I doubt Iām skilled enough to replace the pots and jacks. Youāve pretty much confirmed everything bad Iāve ever read about the MS-20 mini. Like you said, this synth sounds so good though! Nothing else in that price range that really does it for me. Maybe the SE-02 but itās a totally different synth. Iāll keep thinking about it some more. Thanks again!
Mines held up fairly well for the ~5 years Iāve owned it. Main out jack stopped working about a year ago and then shortly after middle C went. Minor bummer that I have to use the headphone out as the main out, instead of feeding it back in for more gain, but Iām sure itās an easy fix whenever I finally get around to it.
Other than that, an incredibly fun synth I use on almost everything.
2 Likes
@foam your account is in line with what Iāve heard from a lot of owners. Iām glad to hear it. Itās such a great sounding synth and I do think that the one Iām talking about has had a harder life than your average ms20 mini. Gigging in a band (very broadly speaking, a rock band) is hard on gear. The situations are chaotic, even compared to gigging in an electronic music context. We also fix our amps, drums, guitars, pedals, cables, speakers, mics, cases, etc (you get the idea, basically all of our gear) regularly.
@movement Please donāt take my experience as par for the course, just one personās experience. I talked to the band mate who owns it since my last post. We havenāt practiced or gigged since the lockdown and he says heās been playing it regularly without problems. Itās in his living room on a stand and hasnāt moved an inch all of this time which I doubt is a coincidence. The manner of usage seems to have a profound effect on its longevity. But while most peopleās problems with it arenāt as bad, they do tend to break down to some degree. I would be curious to hear more peopleās experience in this regard. I donāt know your experience but anyone who is decent at soldering, or can at least do it correctly, can perform the repairs Iāve done on this synth. Itās simplicity is its strength. Iāve worked on a bunch of synths and gear and itās one of the easiest.
1 Like
Mine is still holding up fine too, had it since they came out more or less, but it has sat in my setup for its whole life, I donāt think it would stand up to gigging though. Compared to the K2 I think the Korg benefits from much more authentic sound, going from the Starsky Carr video shootout, especially the filter/resonance response, even he preferred it and he always gets the Behringer stuff pre public release AFAIK.
1 Like
Mine arrived from Japan in a box looking like it been through WW3, like it had literally been thrown from the plane to the tarmac and then run over by an army truck. I thought for sure no synth would come unscaved from that pile of paper that once was a boxā¦ But what do you know, no damaged at all and works like a charm.
4 Likes
Wasnāt sure which thread to post to, so hereās somethingā¦
Somebody on the Electric String Players group asked if he could sound like Keith Emerson or whatever if he ran his violin into an MS-20 Mini. Since I have both an MS-20 Mini and an electric violin myself, I decided to test for myself. Thereās only a couple of videos demoing guitar into MS-20 and both of them are missing some details, which I tried to document in my Youtube video description.
So now I have a better understanding why folks historically have used MS-20 to process drum machines and other percussive tones, more than processing melodic material. 
3 Likes
This is MS-20Kit, but same family.
IMO the MS-20xx has a great WYSIWYG Mod Matrix!
2 Likes
WISE FWOM YOUR GWAVE
Melter / ć”ć«ćæć¼ ā¢ Playing a Korg MS-20 Mini through CBA Mood MKII
2 Likes
I was playing with the ESP section today and hereās some of my noise.
2 Likes
Iāve wanted an ms20 since ā¦ maybe 1997? Any thoughts on the mini vs the full-sized version?
Iād imagine that the Korg versions are in the same ballpark soundwise, although there is more flexibility with some of the FS gear - ports/filter-versions/pwm?
but if teh og layout is your thing (at 72% scale or thereabouts) and your not thrashing it then you can have a ball with teh sounds of the mini, the 3.5mm jacks work better for me, but teh jacks on the mini are fake, not too big a deal, but looks cheap - the pots feel a bit wobbly ā¦ but it all hangs together just fine for normal use and still has a mojo, but it doesnāt seem like something a keyboardist would have in their tour rig
requiring something a bit more robust would take you towards the FS and 1/4" jacks and a bigger asking price
but if itās all about the sound and the experimenting then the same fun is there to be had on the mini - the filters are amazing, the best and you get the better one for the Mini, the first unruly one
a performing synthesist would want a FS i think, studio based sound designers would be well served by a mini
I couldnāt justify a FS, but itād be a quite special to own an og or FS i am sure ā¦ it wouldnāt feel right in module form to me, even though the keyboards are restricted to just notes (no other mod cons, within the synth)
very happy with my mini, it gets a work out less than it otherwise would on account of the Hz/V s-trig basis which just makes it less flexible if paired up with V/Oct V-trig gear, which most is
2 Likes
No PWM on the FS either 
Well, no patchable modulation. You can set it, but not automate it.
Other than that, the FS is a joy 
3 Likes