New Korg Minilogue XD synthesizer

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EnochLight
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18 Jan 2019

This looks prettt awesome - seriously considering getting back into the hardware game. Anyone else interested in this?




https://www.engadget.com/2019/01/15/kor ... xd-review/
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Kalm
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18 Jan 2019

Still don't know how I feel about this vs a Monologue. I'm picking one up soon.
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EnochLight
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18 Jan 2019

Kalm wrote:
18 Jan 2019
Still don't know how I feel about this vs a Monologue. I'm picking one up soon.
Well, the Monologue is less than 1/2 the cost, but it also has quite a few less features. Here's what I take the Minilogue XD has over the Monologue:
  • It's polyphonic
  • Built-in effects
  • More keys (37 keys, 3 octaves versus the Mono's 25 keys, 2 octaves)
  • Ditched the weird pitch slider from the Monologue and replaced it with an improved joy stick
  • Load custom oscillators and effects
  • Analog/digital hybrid
  • 2 x CV in (hello modular)!
The bottom line is, the new Minilogue XD is massively more powerful than the old Monologue. It can generate sounds that the Monologue is simply not capable of creating.
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madmacman
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18 Jan 2019

Two caveats:
  • There were severe issues regarding its bigger brother Prologue, where some keys were permanently out of tune (and autotune didn’t fix)
  • First reports in the web using a beta version were reporting that the digital engine is not (yet?) compatible with open source oscillator models, developed with the Prologue SDK
So I would be patient a little longer and watch the forums carefully after general availability of the XD

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O1B
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18 Jan 2019

I had the first Minilogue and sold it. The Bass was Weak.

I have the Monologue - and will NEVER Sell.
- Battery, 16 Steps, BASS, Sounds, Convenience.

The Monologue HD....? Tell me there isn't JUST a LPF on there. :thumbs_down:
Kalm wrote:
18 Jan 2019
Still don't know how I feel about this vs a Monologue. I'm picking one up soon.

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O1B
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18 Jan 2019

Proper Filter:

LP, BP, HP..... AND Notch!
FM on cutoff AND RM on resonance (pre-routed, but change-able)
Att1 to Cuttoff... Att2 to AMP.

tough to beat!
Image

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selig
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18 Jan 2019

O1B wrote:
18 Jan 2019
Proper Filter:

LP, BP, HP..... AND Notch!
FM on cutoff AND RM on resonance (pre-routed, but change-able)
Att1 to Cuttoff... Att2 to AMP.

tough to beat!
Image
Preach!
;)
Selig Audio, LLC

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Kalm
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20 Jan 2019

Went to Guitar Center just to play it. Yup the answer is monologue. The feature set doesn't entice me cause I want it for bass sounds and plucks. The hybrid setups never did anything special for me and FX are sometimes good sometimes meh. Analog synths I just care about the core sound frfr.
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sublunar
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22 Jan 2019

O1B wrote:
18 Jan 2019
I had the first Minilogue and sold it. The Bass was Weak.
I own a Minilogue and would have to disagree with this assessment. I thought the bass was weak at first, but then I dug deeper and rattled the walls.

Minilogue XD looks pretty sweet. Too bad I already have the non XD version.

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sublunar
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22 Jan 2019

O1B wrote:
18 Jan 2019
Proper Filter:

LP, BP, HP..... AND Notch!
FM on cutoff AND RM on resonance (pre-routed, but change-able)
Att1 to Cuttoff... Att2 to AMP.

tough to beat!
Image
What is this?

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O1B
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23 Jan 2019

Hey Sublunar,

No disrespect to Korg or the Minologue. I was speaking of my own experience.
At the time, I owned the
-Mintaur, Subsequent 37 CV (Still do... FOREVER), a Kaossillator, TR-8, MF 107 FreqBOX (Still do),
- System 1 (Aira), and the Abyss.

The Minologue paled in comparison. At the time, I was of the mindset that if an OSC needed filters to sound deep or high pitched, then it was substandard, out the box. It was just MY mindset. So, I boxed it.

When I heard the MONO-logue, I KNEW they got it RIGHT.
There are videos that back up that my 'ears' heard what others heard... WEAK BASS... 'Out the Box'


I didn't keep the MINI-logue long enough to experiment. So, you may be right.
Now, the BASS on the Behringer D. I stand behind it. Out of the Box. Wow.

Today, my Tone Gate Keeper SYNTH:

I own a Minilogue and would have to disagree with this assessment. I thought the bass was weak at first, but then I dug deeper and rattled the walls.
This, my Friend, is the Filter Section of the Arturia Minibrute 2s. It's Bass/Filter PASSES with Flying Colors. (IMO)
sublunar wrote:
22 Jan 2019
O1B wrote:
18 Jan 2019
Proper Filter:


LP, BP, HP..... AND Notch!
FM on cutoff AND RM on resonance (pre-routed, but change-able)
Att1 to Cuttoff... Att2 to AMP.

tough to beat!
Image
What is this?

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O1B
Posts: 2037
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23 Jan 2019

We can cut to the chase.
(sorry to highjack) I do want sound examples, etc of the Minilogue and the HD, as they come.

but, for a reference. the Minilogue has a 16 step-sea now, so...

sublunar wrote:
22 Jan 2019
O1B wrote:
18 Jan 2019
Proper Filter:

LP, BP, HP..... AND Notch!
FM on cutoff AND RM on resonance (pre-routed, but change-able)
Att1 to Cuttoff... Att2 to AMP.

tough to beat!
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/-xTDuMPqn4Q/maxresdefault.jpg
What is this?

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O1B
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23 Jan 2019

Daniel Fisher on the Minologue HD: (I jumped to the Bass example in the Video. Nice)


hear for yourself...
imo, played as a mono-synth, it doesn't move me like the NYX, or many others.

As a 4-voice Synth for full on FX, I'd really be hard pressed to choose a synth over the Minologue (for FX).

Sorry: Damn spell check 'Trumps' mini to mono .... and, well... Countryt. ....Amercakka

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EnochLight
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23 Jan 2019

The Minilogue XD and the Minibrute 2S are two completely different synths. I'm not sure why they're being compared - the Minibrute doesn't even have keys. :o :? :lol:

I love the Minibrute 2S, though. It's bad ass.
Win 10 | Ableton Live 11 Suite |  Reason 12 | i7 3770k @ 3.5 Ghz | 16 GB RAM | RME Babyface Pro | Akai MPC Live 2 & Akai Force | Roland System 8, MX1, TB3 | Dreadbox Typhon | Korg Minilogue XD

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O1B
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23 Jan 2019

- A Poster commented on my assessment of the Mini-Logue's BASS.
I own a Minilogue and would have to disagree with this assessment. I thought the bass was weak at first, but then I dug deeper and rattled the walls.
I compared the bass energy - and filter "characteristics" - of the Mini-Brute 2s and the Mini-Logue.
Then, the Poster wondered what synth the filter (in the image) came from.
What is this?
It was from - you guessed it - the Mini-Brute 2s.
___________
Now, back to the Mini-logue XD.... our regularly scheduled program:

Stereo OUTS.
- I Love how Korg - and Arturia - makes Clock I/O readily available - other than MIDI.
- The Joystick has absolutely IMPROVED - by the looks.

Now,
- Is there an Audio IN to the Filters?
- Master Tune? Top Left? OSC 1 AND 2 ONLY seem to have coarse tuning, regardless.
Those knobs better be specific.
- ONLY a LPF... that's kind of hard to understand...
- Love the LFO - but you get ONE? on a $600 Synth...? No Noise/S&H?
EnochLight wrote:
23 Jan 2019
The Minilogue XD and the Minibrute 2S are two completely different synths. I'm not sure why they're being compared - the Minibrute doesn't even have keys. :o :? :lol:

I love the Minibrute 2S, though. It's bad ass.

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EnochLight
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23 Jan 2019

The more I think about this, the more I think $600 on any of the synths mentioned above is an utter waste of money, IMHO. For the exact same price, one could get a Teenage Engineering OP-Z, which is arguably far more powerful than anything talked about above for a similar price.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... ynthesizer



Win 10 | Ableton Live 11 Suite |  Reason 12 | i7 3770k @ 3.5 Ghz | 16 GB RAM | RME Babyface Pro | Akai MPC Live 2 & Akai Force | Roland System 8, MX1, TB3 | Dreadbox Typhon | Korg Minilogue XD

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jayhosking
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23 Jan 2019

EnochLight wrote:
23 Jan 2019
The more I think about this, the more I think $600 on any of the synths mentioned above is an utter waste of money, IMHO. For the exact same price, one could get a Teenage Engineering OP-Z, which is arguably far more powerful than anything talked about above for a similar price.
While I don't disagree that the OP-Z is amazing (I absolutely love mine), I don't think that invalidates these analogue synths in any way. The MiniBrute 2 sounds phenomenal; I don't love the Minilogue as much, but I do think the Prologue has a really interesting and unique character and is a joy to make music with. In any case, they're going to make better subtractive synth sounds than anything on the OP-Z, so they're kind of serving different needs.

Honestly, I love the all-in-ones, like the OP-Z and the Circuit, but I still think there's a place in a hardware setup for a big ol' analogue synth. Personally, I'd go for a used SubPhatty in the same price range as these, though it's cool that the Minilogue XD has effects built in (for people who don't want to buy effects pedals).

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sublunar
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23 Jan 2019

EnochLight wrote:
23 Jan 2019
The more I think about this, the more I think $600 on any of the synths mentioned above is an utter waste of money, IMHO. For the exact same price, one could get a Teenage Engineering OP-Z, which is arguably far more powerful than anything talked about above for a similar price.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... ynthesizer



Maybe I just feel like being a contrarian in this thread, but I'm going to have to disagree with you there. For starters, the Minilogue is currently $519. But I coulda sworn I paid like 469 for mine new from sweetwater. Maybe I'm mistaken.

Either way, I think a distinction has to be made between a good all around straight up "classic" type of standalone synthesizer instrument that needs no extraneous keyboards/attachments to function vs a newfangled geek out box which needs said extraneous attachments.

I think the distinction is important because you're going to find very different people shopping those categories:

1. People like me; I'm a crappy musician who plays a a variety of physical instruments. I'm always interested in any synthesizer that sounds good and is fun to play and easy to hook up in a jam setting. It must have actual keys and standard connections like 1/4" out (1/4" input is always a plus). I don't want to spend a ton of time programming or menu diving (unless I'm in the mood to tweak them). Yeah I'll make my own patches but I don't want to have to spend much time learning the quirks of any particular overly proprietary system. Design that shit correctly using fairly standard knobs/functions with as close to 1:1 relationship as possible. And it definitely needs to work on its own without a computer. Am I excluding some awesome sounding/way more advanced units? Yes, probably. Don't care.

2. People who are synthesizer connoisseurs and spend countless hours geeking out/designing sounds/experimenting and always looking for the ultimate/new/shiny sound generating machine. People who know the characteristics of any given synth on a very deep level and require a certain type of (insert filter/osc/waveform here). Probably the same people who have a collection of 500 series modular stuff. These are the people for whom the OP-Z, and its peers, are marketed. This isn't a diss, BTW. I totally understand and am guilty of geeking out on gear.

The point is simply that there's a lot of people like myself who just want a standalone instrument to jam out on, not something they plan to endlessly tweak. So from my perspective, which I think is pretty common, these synths are fully in separate categories.

But if you ask me, the OP-Z is ugly and doesn't look like it'd be any fun to use. I mean, where's the knobs?!

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EnochLight
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23 Jan 2019

sublunar wrote:
23 Jan 2019
But if you ask me, the OP-Z is ugly and doesn't look like it'd be any fun to use. I mean, where's the knobs?!
There's 4 knobs on front, and one on the side, technically. The rest are buttons. But I get how looks can be subjective - if you ask me, the OP-Z looks sexy as fuck. Minimalist, sleek, complex, yet simple.
Win 10 | Ableton Live 11 Suite |  Reason 12 | i7 3770k @ 3.5 Ghz | 16 GB RAM | RME Babyface Pro | Akai MPC Live 2 & Akai Force | Roland System 8, MX1, TB3 | Dreadbox Typhon | Korg Minilogue XD

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eXode
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24 Jan 2019

The Minilogue XD has the same, or similar filter as the Monologue though. A 2-pole LPF that preserves bass even with resonance.

Not the same as the 4-pole/2-pole variant in the original Minilogue.

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eXode
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24 Jan 2019

madmacman wrote:
18 Jan 2019
Two caveats:
  • There were severe issues regarding its bigger brother Prologue, where some keys were permanently out of tune (and autotune didn’t fix)
  • First reports in the web using a beta version were reporting that the digital engine is not (yet?) compatible with open source oscillator models, developed with the Prologue SDK
So I would be patient a little longer and watch the forums carefully after general availability of the XD
The tuning issues were solved in a recent firmware update afaik.

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Jackjackdaw
Posts: 1400
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06 Sep 2019

Has anyone hooked up an XD to Reason yet? I'm interested in the XD module and wonder how deep I can modulate via midi.

kinkujin
Posts: 206
Joined: 01 Mar 2018

09 Sep 2019

I never thought of the Minilogue as a bass synth. For that, I chose the Monologue. I'm speaking of the original Mini btw. The new XD looks nice and I'm sure sounds nice, but the lure of loading other wavetables into it doesn't grab me, not enough to upgrade. I do like the new connections on the back though.

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O1B
Posts: 2037
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10 Sep 2019

Korg, Roland, Arturia.

Arturia - Deep, Buzzy, I/O, Hardware Layout, Sequencer [BRUTE].... but,Hardware Quality.
Roland - Bass [808], FX, Sample Rate/Bit Depth, Audio over USB, ... but, No/Little CV, Modular Connections.
Korg - Sweet, Brassy [Electribe 1.0 Raveness], Mod Depth, I/O, * Visual ....
Image
...but, Korg's UI is rough on the Eyes. It was hard finding a Picture that shows the wording clearly.
.. and, no CV in to the MODULE? ... just MIDI... any advice on a easy MIDI to 1/8 (3.5mm) cable and module?

This is a Nice Visual from Sweewater... I believe it's 1 to 1 with the Minilogue.
Image

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