This one isn’t a remake or reboot: KORG’s new generation of analog synths is growing, with 8- and 16-voice polyphonic Prologue keyboards.
And whereas the Minilogue and Monologue are all about affordable, new synthesis, the Prologue is something else: it’s really a new analog flagship, something KORG haven’t had in decades.
Case in point: the keyboards, in 49- and 61-key variants, come with the action shared on the KRONOS. You get 8-voice / 49-key, or 16-voice / 61-key – all with discrete analog circuitry.
There’s another departure here, too: an open, programmable multi engine, which will feature an SDK for developers.
But the basic argument for the Prologue is this: maybe you want a different architecture that lets you mix up sounds and voices in interesting ways. So you get the ability to play two timbres at once, layering and splitting, or playing in Poly, Mono, Unison, and Chord modes. (New, indeed, but that also shares some of the kind of musical thinking that made the KORG Mono/Poly great.)
To that, you can add a deeper multi-effects unit – making this more of an all-in-one sound creation workstation than the entry level units. Two effects slots give you Mod and Delay/Reverb.
But I think it’s the openness that could be most interesting. You can actually program your own oscillators and modulation effects or download community-contributed code. I’ve asked KORG for more details.
That’s up our alley, of course, so naturally I’ll be finding more about that soon for y’all.
Available this month:
8-voice, 49-key US$1499
16-voice, 61-key US$1999
www.korg.com/products/synthesizers/prologue/
Aw, I still wanted Polylogue, even though that’s not a word. 😉
I’d been anticipating a 6 or 8 voice Minilogue with an extra octave and maybe full-size keys – but I didn’t expect Korg to go up against DSI with 8 and 16-voices (not to mention DSI’s price points).
Lots of questions about the digital oscillator: Is it a wavetable loader? Can you just drop in a wavetable like a hardware Serum? Or is it truly programmable, in that you can feed it something like Pure Data a la Critter & Guitari?
Also, in terms of names, I’m still holding out for a “logue” series drum machine called “Logarithm.”
Not really a full wavetable à la Serum/PPG/Codex/Massive/Nave, but there are sixteen slots and a bit of morphing:
“The user oscillator section lets you load oscillator programs of your own creation. Sixteen slots are provided, and one type of morphing wavetable oscillator is built-in as a preset.”
http://www.korg.com/caen/products/synthesizers/prologue/
To me, it sounds a bit like the wavetable option in SynthMaster 2.8 (before the recent updates). You could already morph and modulate the wave index, but the wavetables were limited to 16 frames and it was difficult to add them. (SynthMaster 2.9 and SynthMaster One allow you to drag and drop soundfiles to extract full 256-frames wavetables.)
Dave wins. if these were less expensive they could have been competitive but at those prices it’s a no-brainer to go for a Dave.
Right now, Prophet Rev2 8-voice is USD 1499, 26-voice is USD 1999 @ Sweetwater. If the above are Korg’s suggested prices, they will be a good deal cheaper in street prices. So, in the end, it is not necessarily exactly the same. Also, the feature sets are different in many details. Ok, they are both 2 oscillator, analog polysynths – but that’s pretty much where it ends.
But since it is Korg, I would have expected a price point somewhere more inbetween Behringer and DSI – not right next to the latter.
good points. i’ve been eyeing a new analog poly for quite a while now and my comment was based on my interest in a DSI Rev2 Module, so as i wait, my interest in Rev2 module keeps getting confirmed. although i might just continue to wait, so many interesting things are surfacing and honestly my Akai VX90 continues to be quite satisfying. if the Minilogue had 2 OSC’s per voice in poly mode i’d be sold, i’m big on detuned chords.
Not sure what you mean? Both the Minilogue and Prologue has 2 VCO’s per voice.
so crazy, all this time i’ve thought the Minilogue was 1 VCO per voice. thanks guys, or maybe i shouldn’t thank you, i can hardly fit another piece of gear on my wish list. 😉
Except The Prophet Rev2 sounds thin and kind of terrible.
Rev 2 sounds great actually, far better than this insipid korg. VCOs? well it sounds like a VA next to the Rev 2 and has a massive lack of features.
8 voice versions:
Korg has 1 LFO rev 2 has 4… 2 envs vs 3.. .no sequencer vs dual sequencer .. 49 keys no aftertouch vs 61 keys with aftertouch…
REV 2 is the clear winner and not just on spec, but on sound too. Rev 2 (better sounding itself than Prophet 08) has been on more pro records since it’s launch than this Korg will ever be. If it sounded terrible it wouldn’t be used by the big bands it’s been used by.
It depends on what you compare with, you could also compare it to the Prophet 6, another dual VCO synth. They are not identical feature wise of course (both have their strengths), but consider the price of the Prophet 6 vs that of the Prologue.
It’s nice but… no aftertouch, no poly portamento, only one LFO…
Did they fix the res to prevent it from cutting out the lows? If not, this is just a gimmick.
Looks nice, but with out the motion sequencers of its predecessors, it’s leaving me kinda cold on the modulation side. The open source oscillator is a cool idea. But not even a hit of a mod matrix? Unless I really like the presets (and i *never* like the presets) i can’t see spending my money on this.
Yup. From the press photos, it doesn’t look like there is any sequencer included, which is a shame, because that’s one of the best features on the mini/mono-logues.
Microtuning?
The interesting take in this piece is that it’s about a new flagship analog from a company with a deep past in this world (Mono/Poly) and some recent explorations in unchartered territory (Monotron, Volca Bass).
So, they “dropped the other shoe”. We get a clearer idea of where things are going for them. It might be the synth for everyone, but people are also critical of their other -logues. Korg is enough of a mainstream brand that it might sell an analog synth to people who aren’t really into analog synths.
Wonder what Tats thinks of it.
key sensitive?
You mean velocity? yeah but not aftertouch.
Forget it man, get a REV2 it’s not much more and destroys this korg on sound and spec + has 61 keys on the 8 voice and aftertouch, 3 more lfos 1 more env, a sequencer etc…
and this korg doesn’t even sound VCO, in fact it sounds VERY VA.