You’ve got the inexpensive, compact gear, like the volcas that started it all. Now you need a mixer. KORG finally responds.
Volca Mix is the hardware everyone’s been predicting for about as long as we’ve had Volcas, only now, it’s real. And it also reveals KORG’s answers to some questions that weren’t so obvious. How many channels should this thing have? Mono or stereo? What would make it special?
Well, here you are:
4-channel analog – two mono, and one stereo pair.
Three faders: so mono, mono, stereo
Low/high-cut filter on each channel
Analog stereo expander/compressor with sidechaining
Master clock with sync out – so you can clock all your other KORG gear (or other stuff that takes that signal, like the Teenage Engineering Pocket Operators)
Patchable power: you get one DC power in, three out
Dedicated stereo send out
Stereo line out (phono)
Stereo speakers! And a switch so you don’t have to hear them if you don’t want.
All the cables / power are in the box: AC adapter, DC-DC cables, and audio cables. That’s a huge change; in the past, those volcas were actually priced deceptively cheaply by not including a power adapter in the box. (AA batteries don’t grow on trees, that is!)
We’re of course really keen to use this with our own MeeBlip, too. (Heck, we should make new stuff to plug into it, huh?)
But there’s your winning answer, I think: it’s just enough channels, and the effects are built-in. So it’s not just a utilitarian solution to this problem – it’s really a performance tool. You had me at sidechaining compressor.
The stereo send is useful, too – I’m just double-checking that in fact there’s an aux return you can use so you still have 4 inputs.
That said, it’s really the effects I’m interested in testing – and noise floor and overall sound performance – to determine whether this is the Mixer We Really Want.
US$169.99, available this month.
This is a rough field at this point – there are loads of little mixers out there, including popular models from Behringer, Yamaha, and Mackie, among others – below this price point. But those tend to be bigger and heavier (once you count their power supply). And it’s clear KORG will benefit from adding these extra, volca-targeted features.
Of course, what KORG didn’t do was give you a whole bunch of channels. The Kickstarter-backed Vixen Mixer from KVgear does that – though with a much more cramped layout, no faders, and a US$249 price tag. That said, it is more like what you’d expect from a conventional mixer – panning! – and it’s not hard to imagine the two working together really well. The Volca Mix does clock, power, and effects, and the Vixen brings it together (and allows adding still more gear). We’ll just need to see the Vixen shipping.
It looks like there’s an aux in for the effects return. Shouldn’t cut down on channel count.
this is also a worthy option:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5idY_u9DeQ
yes THIS is the volca mixer we were waiting for
the Volca mix that Korg gave now is missing at -least- one channel, can’t run off batteries and has a silly speaker…,booooooo
am I the only one who things this would not have happened on Tatsuya’s watch?
Probably, as I’m pretty sure this *did* get spec’ed out on Tatsuya’s watch. 😉
You’re not alone in the other complaints; I am hearing them.
The power thing I’m okay with; I think the battery compartment would have eaten up too much space. I do wish it had one more channel – speakers really aren’t essential to me.
We can talk more with the creators about why they went this direction. On the other hand, given other options *do* the things you’re talking about, that’s not only reason to consider them, but also reason for this to go somewhere different… my headline maybe being a bit over-optimistic.
yeah i guess so, gotta hand it to korg for not being afraid to go in a different direction
(even if it doesn’t personally seems useful…)
> We’re of course really keen to use this with our own MeeBlip, too. (Heck, we should make new stuff to plug into it, huh?)
You said it!
The fact it doesn’t run off batteries is an absolute killer for me.
I’ll be sticking with the Xenyx 1002B.
5 volcas… 3 inputs.
cute. I know people who gig with just a collection of Walkmans who could use this well. Although at this physical size, rotary level controls might be a bit more exact.
Of course I haven’t touched or really heard it but I’ll go out on a limb here:
Funny how we used to adapt (technique-wise as much as actually hacking) hardware to create specific sound-worlds that became ‘music styles’. This is almost like the opposite ie. if you hang out with the SP404 freak crowd – this device could be almost a royal path to the lofi sidechained world you want to achieve.
Glad they finally did this but, other than the size and maker, this just doesn’t feel like a Volca. PSU required? Think there are a lot of Volcaesque things Korg could have brought to the mini-mixer table that others would have trouble doing. Main one: a ‘traditional’ Volca sequencer with motion sequencing for all the knobs. Could have had a lot of fun with LFO style motions for the filter, rhythmic gates with the mutes… Or just plain old jumping to a new sequence to reset the mix for part two of your song.
“Your Volca clock master” is neat sales pitch but other than the tempo display, is it any more of a “clock master” than the other Volcas? Indeed, all of the others have a BIG advantage: MIDI IN so you can sync your other gear. This is meant to be a clock master… on an island of its own? If they’d added something like clock out per channel along with 1/1, 1/2, 1/4 clock divider switches it’d be more tempting to use it as the master. As is, only seems useful for Volca-only die hards.
Yeah, it’s a useless feature. You can master clock off any other volca.
Yamaha AG06 is 6ch USB powered alternative
Behringer, Yamaha, Mackie, and Soundcraft all make robust mini-mixers that retail at half the Volca price too.
Looks good, but like others have said it seems decidedly non-Volcaesque that there’s not at least a battery option. Regarding the boutique options like Bastl Dude and Vixen, the Korg will have the advantage that you can actually easily buy it, and also return it if it doesn’t work out. Bastl makes cool stuff but in my experience you sorta get a hold of the one you’re looking for by chance.
I don’t understand… the Volca mix doesn’t hold a candle feature-wise to other mixers in the $60-$175 price range. It’s small, but you can get eight channels w/ mic pres for half the volca MSRP from just about everybody else.
Well I think one of the main advantages of this device is that it can power Volca’s.
yet they forgot include 4.8V for the miniKaosspad which is battery hungry device
Yes and they also forgot to include power ports for all other devices in the world.
It’s a VOLCA mixer, aimed at Volca’s..so I don’t think it’s that strange that they didn’t include something for a miniKaosspad.
They advertise the volca mix being used with the miniKaosspad. It would make sense to power it too (it’s also a korg product, a cousin to the volcas; not “all the other devices in the world”). Hell, the volca mix should have a KP built in.
A volca power brick is $12 new. You can power three with a slightly more robust design. What exactly is in that plastic box that warrants the price premium? A mini kaos pad2 retails for $120-160. A full nanoKey bluetooth controller retails $150. They could have included a full dsp engine, better controls, and power – all in the same package, for the same price. The volca mix is a terrible value. The design makes some sense, but it’s feature-poor, and the price is ridiculous.
What’s with all the wasted space and speakers? And then it doesn’t even mix 5 Volcas? WTF?
Another multiple-Volca-friendly feature that would have pushed me into the buy column: a 1×3 MIDI splitter/thru-box.