Korg AG-10

Designed to go with a computer rather than as a performance synth module this thing couldnt be easier to use, plug it into your pc and away you go, depending on the software you are using.

32 note polyphoney (if I remember rightly)
GM chorus and Reverb, the latter being the betterof the two
no expansion capabilties that I am aware of
Midi in/out/thru pressure and aftertouch

as with all gm devices some sounds are beterthan others
great for classical
I imagine it was designed for multitimbral sequencing rather than solo performance sounds
all sounds are a little thin, but this can be an advantage...
I find they work better in a mix than as stand alone voices, you can sequence track after track without things getting clutered
Beatifully designed sounds that layer well
The best sounds to my mind are
the organs (very Hammond)
solo woodwind (very expresive)
and the Piano.

Now I've tried to replace this with several piano modules or similar boxes (Nano synth, Emu proformance for example..)
but the grand on this still comes out a winner for me
Its far from perfect, but then again, look at the price

definatly good for classical
a bit thin for dance

I have used this as my main home studio module and gigging module for over ten years and it has never let me down
not once

korg who ??

If I lost this I would probably go for someting more modern, but when it was new it blew the socks of anything up to and way beyond twice its price
I have almost replaced it so many times but nothing in my price range even comes close
the chap who sold it me (10 years ago) was right, this was the thing I was looking for as a home sequencing musician. When I went on to become a performance keyboard player the module came with me
I love its reliability
and the fact that nobody knows what it is , its like
oh yeah , an ag 10 , whats that, then the sounds come out and its like, woah
and now so cheap on ebay etc,
but I would never part with mine
no way
not ever

I also use a roland a33 to control it
a cheatah mk5 for layering performance patches
and have just started using a viscount d9e (hammond module) for organs
but thats mostly to have drawbars to play with, not because these hammond sounds are lacking...

My advice
If you see one of these

buy it
I doubt anyone will be asking silly money
but dont think that means ths insnt a serious bit of kit...

Very simple "plug and play" GM sound module. I have no idea where to find all the information I would like, even though I do have the (very basic) manual which came with the module. There are some compatibility issues with other Korg modules which I have still to try (see sounds)

I can't remember the polyphony, but I tend to use it as a single note or low polyphony instrument (guitars, flutes etc)so it's adequate for my needs.
It has both MIDI and "to host" connections (mine is sold for use with a Mac, but it looks like I could get a suitable cable and driver software to use with my PC).
It has a basic GM compatible effects section (chorus & reverb) - again, I haven't yet played with how flexible it is - it does the job OK without tinkering so far.

Now the fun part...
I got this as a bargain on eBay. As often mentioned, the seller didn't really know what it was. To enlighten all, this unit is basically the GM sound-set found within the much better known Korg X5DR. The only difference to the sounds are the effects applied to them. It may be possible to tweek these so that they sound the same (I've only had it a week or two so haven't tried yet).
Given the similarity between this unit and the X5 family, it may even be possible to dump sounds into this unit - I haven't tried yet partly due to time & partly because I'm nervous about damaging one or both of my modules - I also don't really need to, since I have enough synths to just use this as extra for when I want more from my X5DR than it will give. If anyone else has tried, post the results fro all to know.

Haven't had it long enough, but it sounds good for its age.

Haven't tried dealing directly with Korg (prefering to exhaust the web for info first).

I think this is a great buy - especially given how few sellers seem to know about it, letting them go at bargain rates.
If it can do some of the sound sharing that I hope to try one day, then all my views of the module will shoot up off the scale.

It has no controls save for on/off and volume. Just a little very light (one pound or less?) beige box. Plug it into your rack using the RCA in/outputs. Since it has no controls I set it back out of sight in my rack (it's not rack mountable) But because it has no controls only using the midi guitar can I make program changes. I bought this to replace my broken down E-MU Protius. I needed a module that was light and had good sounds. I loved the Protius (it is pretty light too) but the bargain hunting for this module is hard. Too many people with too much "mad money" don't know the meaning of bargain hunting on ebay. I ended up with this unit by default. No one knew what the heck it was even the seller!
That's all folks!

Features? What features? It's a simple little box. I think it was meant to be used as an external computer card. ??
It's hard to find any info on this unit. If there's a way to layer sounds and/or alter sounds or effects and other features (velocity or aftertouch etc..) I'd appreciate this. Combining the strings and piano for instance would be nice.

I use this unit as my midi guitar module. It was cheeeep used on ebay and had the nice Korg sounds I like. Yes, the hammond is really nice. A few of the horns (breathy sax and flute to name 2) are sweet too. The piano is a little thin but I like the rhodes. Someday I'll find a better way to tap into it's potential. As I said I just contol it with my midi guitar (Casio) as a sound source.

So far so good. It just sits in the rack and is still working. What could go wrong except for a solder break inside? I'll keep it until it dies (like the Protius).

Korg's web site (the last time I bothered to look) was dedicated to only it's current line of products. It was hard to navigate and was just too cool for me. It was almost useless. While I'm at it I'll slam the manual I got with my Korg X5dR. I need to take a college course just to get through it. It is hard to figure anyhting out about "how do I...? while using this manual.
I can't find any info about a manual for the AG-10 anywhere.
I'll rate them a 2 for at least having a web site.

If I lost this unit I'd replace it but with anything close I'm not dedicated to it particularly. I would want to replace it with something light and had good sounds. (I'm getting too old to lug around so much heavy racks anymore... mixer, power amps, reverb units,guitar amp and processors ect...) Any half rack or single space rack unit would do me fine.

Its compleatly midi controled, so if you have good software your golden. good for plug and play.

It is compleatly standard midi, it can be limiting, but its old.

For its time this was an amazing box, still is, drums are great, so is the piano and organs

It will drop notes sometimes, but it can add some human qualities.

It was great for the price then, you cna probably find one used for an even better price, good starter module.