Korg MS-2000

It has knobs, thus sounds can be expressed in real time. It took me quite awhile to imagine what I wanted and to go after it..The presets suck for the most part, but are a good starting point...At first, this synth is very confusing and to get sounds take alot of effort. But if your programming a synth and you get sounds immediately, where is the adventure?

4 note Polyphony(I used a Casio CZ, so I am used to this limitation)...Velocity can effect frequency, cut off, amp, noise, etc...No memory card..The sequencer is nice, I was programming some public television science sounds that you would hear in Reading Rainbow or a Richard Attenbourough special. While not as rich as analog, it shouldn't matter...
Now to the best part...The delay...Weird kosmische tracks can be made with the delay if you know how to use it..Split keyboard is great but requires alot of patience. But that my friends is an ancient secret shared only by those who seek it.

I love the sound....Though the leads are kinda weird...But I am a pad person(ambient/industrial person)..I made some neat bass lines and organic oceanscapes using the arpeggiator. Imagine Thora Birch as some kind of deep sea fish creature being enveloped by a swarm of transparent amphipods.
I've gotten alot of "asian" sounding stuff out of it, maybe because I listen to Kitaro's "Matsui" alot...I don't really know. But it can make some interesting "alone in the Himalayans during a snow storm flute" drones, gamelan percussion loops, moogy flutes, noise, metallic pads, angry bells...Last week I got very peculiar industrial sweeps that could easily cut through my ear drums like some mantis creature. I like this synth alot, but I am not going for a techno sound. The trance stuff it can do, sounds nice. Deep thick basses..It can do VCS3 stuff with no probelm.
Digital or analog? Who cares...It has lots of sound range.

I should also note it has a nice vocoder and the filter can be used to process samples. Since a large part of my music is based on sample modification, I found this perfect. I would like to check out an Korg ES-1 too.

I can depend on the synthesizer...I haven't spit Dr.Pepper over it yet...But its steel, so it should survive. I would like to have some CV equipment, but thats a pipe dream.

I got it used. Teeny knobs for my tiny girlish hands...

I would get another one...

i cant say i like the presets too much. there are some cool ones, but then ill put on a cd of bands using a jupiter 8 or ppg wave or some synth like that and those sounds are atleast 10 times cooler than this korg. editing sounds is not as easy as i would like it to be. ive been trying to make something like a harpsichord and a piano, i havent succeeded. the manual's helped a bit but not much. A lot of it is common sense that you don't need in the manual and the table of contents doesnt help!

the polyphony sucks! its that simple. Theres nothing good about 4 note polyphony, nothing! the delay is pretty good but the distortion is junk. i like the keyboard action, non-weighted. it is a beautiful keyboard, it's too bad it doesn't sound nearly as good as it looks! i haven't really figured out the step sequencer completely but im not very impressed with the presets with it. there's a lot of un-useable sounds on this. im selling it as soon as i can and getting a waldorf micro Q . its worth the extra money.

there are very few sounds on this thing that I'd use. many interesting sounds, but very cheap sounding. I'm a fan of bands like duran duran, kajagoogoo, howard jones, etc and this keyboard does not work for that! the lack of polyphony really messes this keyboard up i think. the sounds i make sound a lot better than the presets.

It's very light, which is nice but i would be very afraid if it dropped. i like the keys except the first ms 2000 i got had a broken E key after one day of playing it. It stopped making sound. I returned and got another one and it's worked fine. I'd use it without a backup, that is if i'd use it at all.

If it was lost or stolen, I'd be mad because I'd lose something with monetary value, not because i lost a good keyboard. I definitely wouldn't buy another one, or any Korg for that matter. I'd buy a Roland, or Waldorf.

you can basically jump right in this bad boy and start tweaking! Intuitive user interface very self-explanitory...no real need for manual...presets are ok, but why would you buy a synth for the presets anyways? Especially one as fun to program as the MS! Manual is written well if one needs a refrence...

Polyphony is (very) limited to 4 notes..very unfortunate, but the MS's sound is very raw and distinct-I just track one synth line at a time and the 4 notes I do use sound great, but still I would rather have paid a little more and got 4 outs and 16 note polphony-which would have helped the Ms battle the other modeling synths in this price range (nord lead, Waldorf Micro q, novation k-station, etc)

For my tastes-the MS is perfect...it can morph a 303 sounding bass line into some sonic white noise with the twist of a few knobs in a matter of seconds...the step sequencer is the real treat..you can adjust modulation properties for each step (cutoff, resonance, step lenght, etc.) to make some really unique sounds, and the patch function is great as well...route LFO 1 to modulate the cuttoff and Lfo 2 to pan, etc...lots of possibilities here...and take note, I read a review on this site that said the MS needed a step sequencer, it has one!!!! READ THE MANUAL!!!!!

I have had my ms for 2 years and it has not crashed one time...so yes I depend on it in the studio and on the road.

never used

I would and will replace my MS if ever the need arises..hopefully it won't...Bottomline: in comparison to other modeling synths at the time I purchased the MS (2000) -niether the A or K station were out-I went with the MS because I liked the sound and the ability to tweak knobs until it sounded like something I would store as a patch...

It's pretty easy to pick up the basics in one sitting. But to make specific sounds, you'll have to spend some time with the keyboard to learn it's ins and outs. I'm currently using the latest OS revision (1.07). The presets are OK. There are some much better sounds on the net, plus Korg released some more presets on a Promo CD recently. Manual is pretty good and can clear up most questions, but is no substitute for sitting down and hearing what all the knobs will do for you. I'm only giving it a six because it took me a long time to learn to take advantage of all the features this keyboard has.

4 note polyphony. You can buy a MS2000 rack and set it up so it doubles that. Keyboard action is alright. It's a non-weighted keyboard. I prefer a semi-weighted keyboard, but non-weighted seems to be pretty standard for this level of gear. The built in effects are great: delay, chorus/flanger, distortion. Onboard sequencer is pretty basic, but can add movement to static sounds. I prefer to lay down midi tracks on my computer and tweak them there.

The sounds are awesome. Anything analogue and beyond.. You can even get some FM sounds out of it using the cross mod or the dwgs waveforms. I've used a SH-101 pretty extensively to learn analogue synthesis on, but this thing blows it away in terms of features and tonal possibilities.

I don't know how reliable it is. For home or studio use, it would be fine. It feels pretty light and I would hate to drop it though.

I've only dealt with the online resources from Korg and they do provide some good info. They also have reps that reply to message boards which is pretty cool. Having the manual available online in .PDF format is fucking awesome (Unlike ROLAND/BOSS)

If it were lost or stolen I would definately buy it again (especially at the prices now). I've been playing with a SH-101 for four years or so. I've had the MS2000 for 1 and 1/2 years so far and I love it. I also own a Roland JV-1010 and a Korg ER-1. The only thing I dislike about the MS2000 is it's constuction, I've yet to break anything, but it doesn't inspire confidence. I played some other VA synths but they either lack in features or lack in sound quality. The only thing I wish this synth had was more polyphony, but for my playing it doesn't bother me that much. The sounds I make with it are very useful for my music and I have done an entire song using just this synth (drums too!).

I just want to say when I bought this synth, I was very disappointed in it. It sounds pretty good but.. Two patches/ two channels max for midi. That SUCKS! (After hearing the demos, I was expecting an analogue workstation.) A few months later, I stuck it back in the box and never unpacked it after I moved. For some reason I kept it, while I played with software synths on the computer instead. They were okay, interesting at first, but inevitably frustrating to use. I unpacked my MS2000 and started using it again. I was blown away at the sound quality and ease of getting "my sound". Now the two channel limit hardly phases me, I just lay down each track in audio like they did in the old days and enjoy the fruits of my labor.

(disclaimer) Softsynths can be useful and do have their place in audio production, but for playing/composing I don't feel they are a substitute for the real thing.

The Manual explains things fairly well

Needs an onboard step sequencer, can't be used standalone. Limited basically to simple synth lines, no big pads here.

Sounds are decent,

A3 key broke, seems faily tough otherwise

Customer Service is terrible. I broke a key easily on this synth. To get a replacement I can't go through Korg direct, but must use there sevice center. They won't sell a single key, only full octives. They want $40 plus shipping and service charges, which could be over $100. This is stupid, you should be able to replace their cheap breakable keys for less than that. I'm selling it as soon as its fixed. I doubt I will ever buy another Korg.

Im going to get a nice weighted midi controller and sell the MS on ebay. Don't get one unless you've used it before extensivly

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.

Extremely easy to use. If you just want immediate gratification twiddle away. Setting up virtual patches is a doddle too!

Knobs!! Oh this is knob heaven. Mod Sequencer is fabulous. Endless varieties. Polyphony could be more there's no doubt, but the sound is just killer so it outweighs this complaint. FX are quite nice too. Minimal but work well to complement the synth.

@#&*ing FANTASTIC! This is the love of my life currently (must apologise to my girlfriend). The variety of sounds is just fantastic. The Mod Sequencer adds many dimensions to the sound. I've never owned a true analog synth but to my ears I can replicate very accurately sounds of artists who have used real analog synths. The Virtual Patching can allow one to have FX orgasms :o)

No problems at all.

Well they've improved the OS so that's a positive thing. Beyond that I don't know.

No way I would sell it. It's too valuable. I would certainly buy it again if I needed to replace it. The only improvements I would like o see are:
1. Improving of key data into the Mod Sequencer. Currently done using numbers rather than being able to assign a note to a step on the sequencer by hitting a key.
2. More poly.

The manual is short, concise and actually very useful. I don't really edit patches too much except to add modulation and reverb but the operation of the MS2000 is extremely simple.

The MS2000 only has 4-note polyphony which works if you have a multitrack recorder. Otherwise, the only option is to buy a MS2000R rack which will give you 8-notes of polyphony. The built-in effects are great! I can run an audio line-in (acappella usually) and tweak the sounds. The vocoder is another feature that made me choose the MS2000. The keyboard is somewhat loose and has rounded tops on the keys. This is ok because, let's face it, noone is playing Chopin on this synth! There is no onboard sequencer but I just hook the MS2000 up to my Roland XP-60 and everything works great. The MS2000 has full MIDI support.

The sounds are what sold me on the MS2000. For $900 bucks, they are incredible. The only other synths that I like better than the MS2000 are the Supernova II and the Waldorf Q. Both of which cost twice as much as the 2000. The 2000 is very inspirational because every sound can be used as the basis for a song. Especially the British Organ! I love that one! The MS2000 is best used for dance music, remixing and/or new age.

So far, 4 months later, I have not had any problems with my MS2000. I don't play live but I think it would hold up with it's metal casing.

I haven't needed to call customer support.

I love this synth! It is worth the $900 I paid. It is everything I expected and more. The other analog modelling synths are quite a bit more expensive and more complicated than the MS2000.

My version is "05" which I believe is the latest. I have owned it for a month now and it's sound continues to amaze me, whether it be the presets or my own tweaked creations. Editing is a breeze and the "original value" light helps a great deal when you are really "going nuts" programming. The manual is good in that it does cover all of the features. One feature I found (not sure if it is in the manual) is when you are adjusting the MOD SEQUENCE knobs, there is a null point around "zero" which helps a lot when tweaking.

Four note polyphony??? Well I have to say that you can make good arrangments with one or two notes and when using a complex patch you can easily muck up your song with too many notes, so I am not disappointed. But if Korg can shoehorn another circuit board in the case to up the notes then I would do that, if only to prevent legato playing from cutting off notes abruptly. Yes, the keyboard is cheap but it may just hold up for my needs.

Expressive? Very. I am into the 70's/80's retro sound and this machine fills the bill. Listening to my Roland MKS-80 has not caused me to regret buying the MS2000. Yes, there are differences between the two but you would be surprised at the similarities. Also, I took a Roland SH-101 and duplicated it's patches on the Korg, by ear of course. The sound was the same! I don't care- VCO? DCO? XYZO? Just listen! Regarding the filter resonance- I really feel that it sounds too low when at the "00" setting, almost like a negative value. Try offsetting it with a "plus 8". "Where does the bass go when the resonance is turned up?"-some ask. Well the Roland Super Jupiter behaves in a similar way.

Don't know yet. I'll bet that it holds up but then I won't be roading it around too much... I would say don't gorilla fist the controls.

I have a fair amount of trust that Korg will come through if I have a defective product. The thought of it ever having to be left at some authorized service center for 2 or 3 weeks does not appeal to me though.

I'd buy it again. It helps me with my ideas. There's a ton of good gear on the market now, both new and used, and you have to study up on it. . I studied up on this stuff. I happen to like the MS2000 btter than the Roland JP-8080 and the Waldorf products. When I was in the store I would go over to various synths and strip away all effects such as delay and chorus from the patch. The Korg had a sound that I wanted whether it had 4 note poly or 32...and it looks great.

Is my first attempt with this kind of synth, and is incredibly intuitive. Virtual patch fetaure is quick, and real time knobs give a hands on feel. Manual is actually not as long as war and peace.

4 voice polyphony (could be more...) This baby is all about the sounds. Rarely have I heard a new school synth make synthetic sounds seem so natural, and for a begginer like me, not having to navigate too many menus is great. I use the midi well, but I think it could do more.

Feels more like an instrument and less like a computer than other synths I've fiddled with. Sounds are amazing, but obviously isn't made for realistic instrument sounds, but fortunatley i wasn't looking for them.

just got it

n/a

I am a beginner with synths (am primarily a bassist), and make music around my bass. I use the ms200 primarily to add textures to my music, and I couldnt have made a better by IMO.

9.1 Almost everything on the front panel and at MY age, and with my eyesight that's important!

9.5 The virtual patch bay...well, what can I say. This kicks ass like nothing else i have. I have an old MS-20 and the MS-2000 makes patching a breeze. This is the coolest ergonomic feature on this synth in my opinion. Hats off to the Korg designers.

Okay, here is where Roc Doc earns his money. I have a WAY HUGE collection of vintage synths for my vintage ears. Not bragging...i have some hearing loss from these monsters, but let me give you a point of refernce. I have an Arp 2600, a Minimoog, a Serge Modular, a Moog Prodigy, a Juno 60 and Juno 106, and a Roland MC202, as well as an Oberheim OBXA...and I can make this new MS-2000 sound like nearly all of these synths...i'm not saying EXACTLY, but close enough to get the pay check at the end of the gig. Got that...now, Doc says there are only a couple of synths in the Dog's bag of synth tricks that still can humble this whipper snapper from Korg. One is the Roland JD-800, which remains the bonafide Space Music Monsta' of all time. If you want to sound like you have just been jettisoned from a pod, in a Federation deep space funerary probe, one where the lights go out but the ears stay on sampling the vast stretches of cosmos before coming into orbit on some deep space prison planet, THEN GET AHOLD OF A ROLAND JD800. Now, the other synth that can humble the MS2000, but only in a very limited but montrous way, remains....tah dah, the KORG MS-20...alias THE HAMMER. If I come to the end of a gig, and there are still dental filings remain in place in the front row, I go to the MS-20 and I do some extractions...i always come up with the gold, so to speak, with this box. It is the all time earthquake inducing, concrete cracking, universe recentering, thunder of the analog gods. Put another way, it has a filter envelope that makes you feel like you're being electrocuted. The MS-2000 can't do the hammer trip...nothing but judgement day, can...but it does a VERY respectable imitation...well, not imitation...it actually seems to deliver MORE low bass...if you have the subwoofer for it, but the attack, the cut, the edge, the wave...well, tis not in the same league as the hammer, but then, as i said, the hammer rules.

Don't know yet

No reason for it. But in the past Korg has been great.

ROC DOC SEZ...TWO THUMBS IN VALHALLA

my first korg was the Z1.i loved the fattness of the bass and the x/y pad was great,but other than that the thing was a beast to program,the manual was juat as bad , overall it was elusive and hard to compehend.that being said i sold it and bought the MS2000,OK, so its not as fat in comparison to the Z1 and maybe even a little thin up agaist its competition the NOVA,which my band mate has.but its still sounds fat and has some earcandy sounds, besides i have plenty of that FATTNESS in my synth collection,this thing has got loads character and programing is a piece of cake, i love how easy it is to synch up and tweek, the mod seq is a riff factory . i'm going to stand by this little classic for a while until i get it to do what i know it can do .if you want to spend more time making riffs and less time programing sounds chsck out the MS2000

Honestly I don't know who these people ( reviewers ) are that are bigging this thing up so much. DO they work for Korg?...
..cause the MS2000 isnt all that great ( in my opinion ).
There is a reason why its so cheap.
The presets are alright ( only 128 though ), and to save your own, you have to overwrite the presets.
Editing the sounds is pretty easy, although the filters arent cutting-edge.
Manual is ok, but everything is scattered all over the place - for example info about midi: is not in one section, its bits and pieces
in every chapter. ( some people prefer that - I don't )

Polyphony = 4 voices!!!....um..that Sucks!! Yea ive read some reviews
where they say " it's all i need " but please, when youre buying a car
you don't say " well I only need to go 100kms /h max..-the more the better!! )......4 is way below todays standards.
FX are average - no complaints there.
MIDI - ok.. YOU cannot assign sounds to channels - ( no multi-mode )..your only option is to have the GLOBAL channel ( which is fine if you want to record one sound at a time )..but I like to hear how sounds sound together before I record them ( having that option is really nice )...the maximmum is two sounds at once and thats in split mode ( or so I've been told by a Korg rep that I emailed ).
It has a 3-track internal "analogue" sequencer - but I haven't used it yet so no comment.
2 oscilators.
Only 1 stereo out.

Sounds are pretty smooth, more soft sounds than agressive ones.
Im into psy-trance and techno, so I wasn't to impressed with what it has to offer for me.
The FX are average ( maybe even better ). Some of the sounds are actually very impressive, but I would expect more from a new Korg machine.

Seems pretty reliable ( although Ive only had this thing for about a month ). the MS2000 looks really nice ( dark green with wood side-pannels, and diagrams printed right on the top ).....
...untill you touch it. It is really light, the keys feel kinda cheap,
the knobs ARE cheap.
I'm sure it would do fine on a gig ( don't loose the wall-wart power supply ;)

I've emailed Korg ( UK ) for inquiries about MIDI channel assignment,
and they got back to me real quick - no problems there.
Din't get upgrades or repairs.

I would NOT buy it again, ( actually I'm returning it cause it just isn't for me ). I will invest more duckets, and get something of quality ( like a VirusB, or Waldorf Q ). It is just too limited with almost everything. IT IS however very inexpensive - and honestly, for the price that it costs - it is not a bad buy. If you have a whole bunch of other kool toys then pick this up, but if this is your first keyboard, then invest some more money and get something better. Korg
is a great company and they make kool stuff, but this one seems to be a econo-synth.

This is probably the most accessible of keyboards in my studio. When I sat down with it in the showroom, I was immediately cranking some really crazy stuff out of it - which is exactly what I was after at the time, i.e. something to use both in the live PA setup and when DJing as a flexible sound effect generator.

Some really nice pads and strings in the presets. I wasn't overly impressed by some of the preset basses, but then this isn't what I'm using this for.

The MIDI synchable delays are perfect for use when DJing. I use a RedSound MicroSync to extract tempo from the decks and drive out a midi clock. The MS2000 synchs up to this a treat!

You might need to drive it through external effects to really get the most out of it.

No reverb! I'm actually quite pleased Korg left this out...

Looks quite nice in a setup too ;o)

I've had several (uninformed) people coming on stage after a gig to drool over it thinking it's an old 70's analogue.

Superb! It genuinely sounds like a vintage analogue to my ears.

The keyboard does take a bit of getting used to though - it's a bit of a cheap effort. I reckon my fingers have almost adjusted to it.

Hasn't been a problem so far - except when the wall-wart power supply got trampled on after a gig.

I actually like the idea of the wall-wart since it means that you can keep a spare power supply in case the one you have breaks down. It's a back-to-manufacturer job for most machines if the internal power supply goes tits-up (as happened with my Z1).

No support needed on the MS2000 yet, but I've had positive dealings wih Korg.

They turned round my Z1 in around 5 days (including delivery times) - I was *very* impressed with that. Korg do seem ready to properly support the pro/semi-pro musician.

I would probably buy another if it were stolen - maybe a few years down the line the options would be different...

I also own (MDID sound sources at least) Supernova 2, Z1, Prophecy, e5000 Ultra, SPD20 - all of which have their uses. I reckon the MS2000 provides a good complement to the rest of my kit - definitely the easiest to improvise with on-stage.

Only drawback is possibly the build-quality. Does seem a bit flimsy. It's very light - I bet if I opened it, there'd be next-to-nothing in there.

Overall - definitely gets the thumbs up.

The presets are great. You can edit in real-time with over 30 knobs and a ton of buttons. This is easy to do after you make it through the manual once or twice. The manual is very good (compared to Roland's).

4-note polyphony with keyboard action similar to my Yamaha PSR-240. The arpeggiator seems limited at first but it can actually do quite a bit. I was surprised. I like the vocoder capabilities (one of the main reasons I bought it). There is no on board sequencer but I plan to run it into my Roland XP-60. All of the knobs and buttons are great for inspiration because I don't have to stop what I'm doing and try to navigate through a bunch of menus.

I didn't buy this for realistic sounds (i.e., piano, guitar, bells). The sounds on this synth are purely for groove oriented or new age music. They are much warmer and fuller than the average synth. I've noticed the Roland XP-80 sounds a little flat at times when compared to the MS2000.

This unit should remain in my home studio and I don't expect to have any problems with it. I've had other keyboards that have lasted for the past 15 years with no problems despite a lot of abuse.

I haven't needed to call the support line.

I would definitely buy this synth again because it is so easy to use and it sounds so great. My main criteria for a synth is the amount of inspiration it can provide me for writing songs. So far, the Korg MS2000 and the Yamaha PSR series are the highest on my list. My Roland is good but there's so much stuff to muck through before I can get it to do what I want that I've forgotten what I was trying to do in the first place.

Very easy to use. Almost everything you'd want to tweak is eminently tweakable. The virtual patch system is really cool. I think this synth is really strong, compared to the competition, in its ease of real time control, which definitely contributes to the fun factor when you just want to play around and explore. And that is, after all, a major part of what a synth like this should be about.

In many respects I'd say that of all the analog modeling synths on the market, this is the closest to a real throwback to true analog days. Its set up so that you can just start playing and turning knobs -- a very tactile experience. As others have said, a pity that the knobs aren't beefier. Its a beautiful instrument. I wish Korg had put more quality into the build.

The manual is quite good.

I won't bother repeating what others have said about its features. Clearly, you can find modelling synths with more features than this. The features set of the MS2000 works quite well for me. I'm not one to spend 3 consecutive days programming a keyboard. I want a synth to have great sounds and be controllable in real time. That's why this is my favorite synth right now.

The action is OK. It could be better. Again, the build quality just isn't up to par with the sound quality. The keys have a bit of side to side motion that I don't particularly like. The pitch bend and mod wheels are bigger than they need to be, and are hard plastic, not tacky rubber. I wish the keyboard was fitted into a more compact unit. Its hella-cool to look at, but in the final analysis, what's that really worth?

I don't mind the 4-voice polyphony. I don't sequence and I'm not making drum tracks. 4 voices is enough for me.

Like others have said, this thing rocks. Very analog-sounding. I owned a Virus a and was dissapointed in its basses and lead sounds (fantastic for pads and weirdness). The MS2000 is good at everything: basses, leads, pads, bizarre stuff. Basses are its forte. Amazing low end. I run mine through a Tech 21 Tri O.D. pedal and this beefs the low end up even more. This is a very good substitute for all those supposedly must-have analog bass machines.

The effects are OK. If you're really concerned about having a particular effect being great, you'll want to find something better and run the signal through it. I think the onboard delay is fine. I don't think much of the distortion, but then I almost never like digital disortion. That's what the Tech 21 pedal is for. Running the signal through analog effects will give even more analog character, but you'll lose some of the crisp definition of the sound, the filter movement will be shrouded somewhat. That's the tradeoff.

I'm worried about the knobs. I'm going to be gigging alot with this, so finding a case that keeps the knobs safe and sound is important. The odd shape of this thing might mean ending up with a bigger case than I would like. Uses a wall wart, unfortunately.

This is one of the better-sounding synths out there, and there's no question its a great value. You just have to get your hands on the different models and try them out. Each has its strengths and weaknesses. The MS2000 sounds remarkable close to analog. Many of the fancier synths can't compare to it in tonal fatness. But that may not be all that matters to you. Like I said, this is kind of a throwback in terms of its sound, its look, and its relative simplicity. I have no intention of buying a new $2,000 synth every year or so. I'm going to be playing this one for a long time.