Korg MS-2000

This is the first hardware synth I've owned. Before buying this I used only software synths like Reason, FM7 & various other VSTi's. I wanted a hardware synth to give me more hands on control that would also be capable of creating a wide range of sounds. I considered various other synths (Nord's, Novation) but in the end I decided on the MS2000 based on price, Sound quality (Which stood out for me more than any other similar synth I heard) & features. Seing an artist who's album I loved (Ulrich Schnauss) using 2 of them at a festival (Big Chill, Eastnor castle) was another reason I was swayed towards the MS2000.

Compared to something like a Virus I think the MS2000 has more charachter & warmth to the sound whereas the Virus sounds a lot more powerfull & has a much bigger sound probably more suited to trance than the kind of electronica I'm interested in making.

A lot of similar synths like the Virus, Nord Lead & Novation K-station cost around double what the MS2000 does so for the money I think the MS2000 is excellent value.

A lot of analogue synth aficionados would argue that latest range of virtual/analogue modelling synths don't sound anything like as good as an authentic analogue synth. This may be the case but they are a lot less hassle, Have full MIDI capability, Presets, The same level of control & your not going to pick up a VCS3, SynthiA or Moog for what you can get one of the new breed of analogue modelling synths. At the end of the day though you pay your money you take your choice.

Easy to destroy any preset within seconds and create something unusual and weird. Thats good

Lots of knobs indeed. Twist and tear sounds apart.

This is why I bought it. Was sick of all these keyboards with canned sounds and this device can get some great sounds from scratch. I like to mangle presets I like I like.
Agree with other postings about the actual keys being somewhat cheap, like they arent exactly installed right, but its a minor annoyance

No problem so far

Korg has been helpful in the past with my questions and servicing over the months

I am a guitar player by trade and I got this for the way it sounded. I dont care about all the tech geek specifications, how does it SOUND?
I tried every synth in the evil bowels of guitar center and this was the only one that stood out. Then again I wanted to make evil noise and the like, and this suited my ears perfectly. If you want a low cost synth to get weird and unique sounds this is for you

It's easy enough to use for the most part, although some of the groupings of controls weren't to my liking.

Like most modern synths the MS2000 relies on stacks of 'features' to compete. Most of these features are just that--features; unfortunately features are useless when they are onbaord a synthesizer with such a weak, compromised sound as the MS2000.

Personally I think the MS2000 is a joke soundwise. It sound terrible. It's digital wank, filled with undesirable dithering and aliasing, is an insult to even VIRTUAL analog, much less real analog.

Unless this synth is hiding behind a wall of effects like reverb and chorus it sounds extremely lame. Turn of the effects one time and you'll see what I mean.

Anyone that thinks this synth sounds good obviously hasn't spent much time around quality synthesizers like the Jupiter 8, Prophet 5, OBXa, Minimoog or Odyssey. If you want a reasonable facsimile of these analog classics get a Waldorf, Nord or an Access Virus. The MS2000 is just a comprimised MARKETING product peddled upon the uneducated synth market.

I wouldn't trust it with its cheesy knobs, terrible wobbly keyboard action and shoddy construction. Why is it that half of the store demo's of these are broken? Take a look at the cheap, nasty knobs they use. This synth WON'T be around for years to come, and after the last MS2000 has tooted its last pathetic sounding burble the analog giants like the Minimoog will laugh at it.

I don't like Korgs much anyways and haven't dealt with them.

It's always been my contention that all virtual analogs are compromise synths--you pay for in sound quality for what you get back in reliability, ease of maintenance and so forth. However, the crappy construction and POOR sound of the MS2000 makes it not worth this at all. A wheezing hunk of junk made for the inclusion in forgetabble music... real synth tonehounds should just avoid this garbage.

For those MS2000 defenders out there, who actually laid down cash to own one of these, take the Pepsi challenge sans effects with an equally dry Nord Lead--or if you really want to feel foolish--a real analog. Don't even try to compare it to something powerful like an Oberheim OBXa or Prophet 5--just compare it to a Juno 106... and realize that you too were a victim of corporate marketing and naivety. Do yourself a favor then and sell it while the selling is good and hook up with something wortwhile. Heck, an Ensoniq ESQ-1 schools this thing and owns its world.

Out of the box you can warp and destroy any preset with a few turns of a knob. Impressive.

I am not a gear dork who is going to complain about polyphony or whatever, what does it SOUND like? Great! Many knobs to tweak, excellent virtual patching. I am guitar player first and there are so many features on this keyboard it will take me some time to get to them all but so far I highly dig it. Every time I use it I can go in a different direction and get great results.

Fat, thick, fresh. Very raw shapes you can mold and edit until you are exhausted. I use it for dark ambient drift sound scapes and it is perfect for textures and atmospheres. A 70s synth lover will enjoy this synth. Unlike Roland, Korg synths really allow the user to get their own identity. No matter how hard you try with a Roland, it still sounds like a Roland.

No problems so far.

I've contacted Korg before about other Korg products and they are prompt and professional in their communications.

Would replace if lost or stolen. I am not a keyboard player by trade and I purchased this for experimental soundscapes and am constantly amazed at the results I get. I have yet to tap its full potential but I am loving every minute of this synth.

Software version 1.05, upgrading to 1.07 soon. The presets are not very usable, but then, I never buy a synth for the presets, but for the sounds I CAN create. Editing the sound is very easy. Even a beginner to subtractive synthesis (analogue or VA) shouldn't have too much trouble creating new patches. Unfortunately, the manual layout seems a bit confusing. However, I still give it a 9 for ease of use (just tweak the knobs and save what you come up with!).

4 note polyphony doesn't bother me since I got this board to have a VA lead version of my 70's mono monsters. I multitrack extensively and prefer to record my leads live, so the MS2K fits the bill well. The virtual patch bay is very useful for creating new sounds. The effects are good, although I wish there would have been more control over them. The keys do feel a little low quality, however, with care they should hold up for a few years. The mod sequencer is very useful for giving the sound life. From what I've heard, the new upgrade should repair the arp lag. We'll see...

The sound...hmmm. My main analogue axe is a 1978 Moog 35 modular. There is NO WAY I can duplicate all the sounds of the 35 on my MS2K. HOWEVER, the MS2K has a very analogue sound to it. The bass sounds are very deep and warm, and I can get very convincing mini moog lead sounds out of it. And no patch cords! I really like the filter, even though it doesn't sound like the old Moog transistor ladder. The only problem I have with the MS2K sound is that the wave form breaks down on the high end, but this is typical of most (if not all) VA synths. I liked the sound of the MS2K so much that I bought two additional MS2000r's. I rent my studio out to younger musicians, and to my surprise, alot of them prefer the sound of the MS2Ks over my Moogs and ARPs! Go figure...

I no longer gig out live, but in the studio these synths have held up very good.

NA

I would definately buy it again. I like the Korg sound. I have too many old boards including a Moog 35 (my baby), a mini moog, two ARP2600, a polymoog that doesn't work, and a Prophet 10 dual manual. I use these along with my Korg M1, Korg Triton, and Yamaha Motif 76 (my main workstation). I even have two Darkstars that I have found alot of use for, but that's another review. IMO this is the closest analogue sounding VA synth I have ever heard. It may not have all of the features or polyphony of those higher priced boards, but if you want classic analogue sound without all the problems associated with old analogues this is the VA to get.

Regarding the Arp/MidiClock timing problems, there is now an OS update to very dramatically improve the situation
The new operating system, version 1.07 and associated documentation can be downloaded from the following page on the Korg USA website :

http://www.korg.com/service/downloads.asp?A_PROD_NO=MS2000

Daz Richards - Moderator MS2000 Chat Group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/korgms2000/

Free MS2K Librarian/Random/Sysex Utilities http://www.btinternet.com/~daz.richards/

Software version 1.05.
Very easy to use, almost everything right in front of you.
Presets are OK but I replaced them all within a few weeks, to many sequences and arps for my taste.
Manual is fine if you read it more than once ;)

4 voice poly isn't much but for leads it's OK (at least for me most of the time). Keyboard isn't the best but it feels OK for me.
Only got a very few FX, the quality of the modulation FX is OK but they are not very flexible. The delay is a bit noisy on some sounds but only when you hear it very loud and got the mod sequencer running.
The Distortion can only be turned on or off but it does the job.
The mod sequencer is nice and can be used very well for FX sounds, basses, pads and also simply to give the sound some motion when used with decent values.
The arp is not really syncable to midi so if it's an important feature for you think twice.
The virtual patch is really nice.
No preset sounds in here, all sounds are editable. No multi mode.
All in all the features of this thing aren't that great but the mod sequencer and the virtual patch system are for me worth a 7.

Sounds are great. Great basses and leads as well as FX sounds.
I use it for electronic/industrial and it fits perfect.
With all the knobs you can tweak the sounds while playing live or record the tweakings to your sequencer, not very static I would say.
You can program a lot of motion into the sounds, nice LFO's with S&H give you the extra random factor for FX sounds.
I really like the sound.

Seems to be reliable. No problems so far. The knobs are a little bit small and they will maybe break if you play live and get into the action.

Very friendly. But they are not able to fix the arpsyncing problem so far.
A 10 for the friendly people, a 5 for not being able to do anything.

If it were lost or stolen I would get a new one. I simply like it.
I also own some other stuff (Waldorf XTk, Waldorf Pulse, Roland alpha Juno 1, Korg EX-8000, Nord Micro Modular and some others) and they are playing very well together.
For me it's a very creative tool, I like to tweak sound while playing/recording and the MS2000 is ideal for that.

OS.1.05. Factory presets sound more professional and are more usefull for melodies compared to user presets from the internet. When editing patches the knobs are to small and to close together. I would never use a computer patch editor, because if I would chose to use a computer I would also use then a soft synth.

Considering it's a solo synth the polyphony is ok. Keybord action is a little to deep and hard for fast licks. Midi capabilities are ok exept maybe that I would like the expression pedal to control the cutoff. It has an onboard "Mod-ulation Seq-uence" which is not an sequencer so you cannot make patterns

For techno it does not have the sound of an Rebirth or TB-303 it is also not as wild as the RubberDuck nor it has the expression of an AXS. But the saw leads and delays sound good. In the mix and compared to sampled sounds leads taste like bear over soft drinks. The cutoff to velocity function is not strong enough. I don't like the basses or pads to much either.

Yes, yes.

I'v upgraded the OS from 1.02 to 1.05 myself from the internet, and I think it sounds better. I have the impression that with the new OS the knobs have a better "bite" on the sound. Could use more user banks on korg's site though.

I think it works best with keybords that don't have front-panel sound editing feaures (like the Yamaha PSR series). It' for playing melodies not techno riffs.

For all Users of an MS-2000: IF you have the Problem with the Arpeggiator (Playing a Sequence and he hangs for a short Time):

Go to the Instument Editor, Locate Side "A25" and switch the "KeySync" to "OFF" and look: IT WORKS!!!! NO HANGING ARPEGGIATOR!

OS V.5

This is a very easy synth to use. 75% of the editing features are right infront of you, KNOBS. The rest of the functions are nested in some very easy to navigate menus.

The manual is very good. It's a short, easy read that gets you up to speed quick.

The preset sounds are very good. There are many soundsets out on the web for free, and even 2 up on the www.Korg.com website.

I give Ease of Use a 9, compared to other synths. I don't give it a 10 because nothing is perfect.

Polyphone is 4. That is pretty limited, but it's certainly usable.

The keyboard is very cheap. The keys don't feel tight nor do they have much cushion when you push them down. But it works.

There is no expansion for the Ms2000. You get what you buy.

The FX are Phaser, Flanger, and Ensemble. They sound good and are easy to use, but they don't touch a nice FX processor. There is also Delay. You have the choice of Cross, Stereo, or L/R Delay. The delay syncs to midi just fine.

The Modulation Sequencer is cool. It does some very interesting things to sounds, and it makes this synth as cool as it is.

There is a problem with the Synth. The arpeggiator lags behind a master midi clock. I and others have tested several different Ms2000's and the Arp starts 25-30 milliseconds later than then when it should at 120bpm's. It runs 45-50ms at 60bpm. That doesn't sound like a lot but you can hear it. So if you sync your ms2000 to a master midi clock to look foward to a tight Arpeggiator. Kor is supposed to fix this (more on that in the Support Section)

The sounds are great. Sounds very analog and very deep. I recommend it to anyone that wants a VA. I also have an Access Virus and the Ms2000 (although not as deep or full sounding) holds it's own fairly well, especially considering the Price.

Well everything works well other than the Arpeggiator. In the older OS version certain Delay FX would make a strange "Static" type of noise, but it has been fixed in the most recent OS.

The case and keys are cheap, thin, plastic. Don't drop it or bang it to hard. No metal here.

I've never had they synth crash on me or get hung notes. So I would gig with it.

Well this is a long story. I've talked to Korg support dozens of times and they have always been very nice. But they are really slow.

I needed to get the newest OS for my ms2000 and it took a while for them to send me an updater for it. From what I understand they didn't have any updater for the Ms2000 previous to my calling, but they did write a simple .exe file that would update the Ms2000 from a Windows PC for me. It didn't work well with my Midex-8 midi interface and left my synth with NO OS, and it wouldn't work! I had a nasty conversation with someone in a "Authroized Service Center" and I ended up doing the update on a soundblaster midi port.

As for the ARP. I have been waiting for months for Korg to fix that. The Arp lags behind a master midi clock alot and it almost unusable. Korg has told me they would fix it but it's been months.

However, they are very nice.

I've had it for 6 months. I wouldn't buy it again because I would rather have a more full featured synth (but this one was a gift from my fiancee and that is all she could afford so I love it and I won't ever get rid of it), plus it sounds good. If I where to get something else I would save my money and get an Andromeda or a Super Nova.

For the money you can't go wrong. It does sound good, not as good as my Virus but close. It doesn't touch the Andromeda (which I have played 3 times now), but neither does my Virus.

I don't think anyone that owns it would be dissapointed.