Korg MS-2000

Ease of use is one of those relative terms. In the context of synthesiser programming, in general it depends upon how new to the art you are- however I have only been a synth head for five years and find it simple and intuitive. Perhaps it would have been nicer to have some of the modes of operation set on dedicated buttons, such as a button for single, dual, or split timbre mode; but then again engineers must design a product to be cheap to manufacture - the fewer the physical buttons, knobs and lamps, the cheaper to produce. However I digress; when it all comes down, modes such as this as well as mono or poly mode could have had a button, but do we really need one? My general contention is that it does make more sense to have functions that you don't need as immediate control over to be filed away in a menu anyway. Most-used parameters that you need to tweak to get the sound you want are right there on the panel. The "original value" indicator is a gigantic plus, useful in two major ways: You can adjust several parameters and then go into compare mode, come back out and start over if necessary, or just use the original value led instead of having to mess around with one knob at a time and constantly rely on going back and forth with the compare buffer. All in all it is a solid design.

First of all the synthesis method is straightforward, classic, (2 VCO)and does offer the three coveted types of modulation there are: cross modulation (FM) ring modulation (AM) and Sync. Interesting you can do all three at once, but its sort of overkill. The lfo's are audio-speed (capable of +20 Hz.) The envelopes are fast and smooth and also may be used as additional modulators in the mod matrix. Whoever wrote that the MS sounds thin doesn't know how to program and just listened to a few of the pad patches and can go stuff themselves. The MS-2000 can sound like a classic analogue bass like nobody's business, with balls that drag on the ground.

The polyphony issue doesn't really upset me. It doesn't really matter when you can get so much depth out of one note by itself anyway. Some may bitch , four notes is unacceptable or whatever-- I don't think they realize what its all about actually. Weighed against its other features, especially the step sequencer and arpeggiator, its no big deal. I haven't really messed with the arpeggiator much, I'm sorta bored with arpeggiators now.. but I really dig the step sequencer. All the knobs on the front panel stand for the currently selected (1 or 2) timbre in dual or split mode and you can assign any knob (filter cutoff, resonance, pan, amp level, pitch etc.) to a sequence track (three per timbre) and then either manually adjust the parameter value with its dedicated knob at its relative step or use the REC button (which does act as a mode to select a knob for a sequence track but DOES also sample the parameter value at each step as in the word 'record'.) The effects are pretty simple, you have a delay and a chorus on each patch, there are four delay types and four mod types. Control over more specific effect parameters is lacking. On a sub-rating level, I would have given the effects a 5 if it had not been for one thing- and therefore I rate them at 7.5: They sound good, but there's one thing I noticed that puts it above middle-of-the-road in the ratings that I really dig- the output gain is compensated so that the signal doesn't clip if you crank the delay feedback to the max and the delay time to the min--- as someone else mentioned, very good for getting gritty industrial noises.. But without it being at the expense of your monitoring equipment. Same goes for the filters-- output gain seems to be compensated, so you can crank the resonance wherever you want it and not blow any speakers. But in general they are just ok. I haven't tried running external signals through the effects yet.

The only expansion capability I know of is a feature which routes only odd or only even notes to the ms-2000 so that you can use two at once to double the polyphony, But personally I'm set with the rack version alone.

The aftertouch issue is like this: the keyboard version does not have pressure-sensitive keys, However you CAN assign aftertouch to one of the external midi parameters in the mod matrix (there are two, midi 1 and midi 2) This is what I do anyway since I have the rack version. You can also assign the pitch bender, or any continuous controller to midi 1 or 2 in the mod matrix. (Velocity, midi volume, midi pan, etc.) Pretty cool.

The vocoder positively kicks ass. I compared it to my Electrix WarpFactory and have to say it gives a lot more control, sounds fat as hell, but still nothing can touch my warp for fatness, shrillness, and immediate, no-brainer ease of use. If you're just in the market for a vocoder, I recommend demoing both of them and deciding for yourself. They both deliver a killer sound.

We're talking about a machine that is designed to sound like all sorts of digital shit going nuts if you want to - then also sound like a punchy minimoog, then sound like a dreamy synth pad all in the same set. Sure it works well for the techno and house folks out there, It is a dandy dance music synth. But its one of these machines that lends itself to the experimentalist in all of us-- if you stop thinking about what sound you're trying to achieve and screw around aimlessly for a while, you'll come up with entertainingly bizarre results.

So far, so good. I don't expect any glitches and haven't experienced any either.

First Korg product I've owned.

Overall It's a very cool machine. I'd say I pretty much covered it in the above sections, not very much to complain about, and for the price we're talking major league value. Knobs may be small as some have mentioned, but be careful with your stuff. Should be perfectly safe from damage in a studio environment. In a live situation, might be a good idea to put the front cover on your rack case while you are offstage, just to be on the safe side.

Intuitive user interface. Easy way in easy way out. Korg did a very nice job on the MS-2000.

No flaws at all in my opinion. I know people complain about just 4 voices. Well Korg might have put a little more effort on this one sure. But in general I don't feel the need for more voices. Aftertouch would have been nice. Midi is just fine and capable of almost everything needed. The editmenu has (at least on my MS-2000) a little glitch: when writing a program into memory the MS-2000 states that it is WRITTING instead of WRITING. Strange but not a major lack.

No realistic instruments whatsoever. It's a modelling synth remember.
I've read reviews stating the MS-2000 was sounding a-little-bit-thin.
Don't beleive them this synth kicks real ass. A great pro in my opinion is that it actually sounds more analogue than most of its contestants like Nova, Virus and Nordlead. Very very usefull as a true 70-synth. With a little (I realy mean little) effort it's easy to make it instantly sound as an ARP synthesizer. The MS-2000 shure is a distinctive synthesizer in its own right. I love it.

Knobs are a little small. Dependable operation so far. No comments.

Nver had to deal with Korg support so far. I've owned a lot of tehir stuff and never had any problem whatsoever. I don't expect any trouble with the MS-2000 either.

I certainly would buy it again. And I'm even thinking of hooking up the MS-2000r for even more fun and greater polyphony. In my opinion a must have for anyone who doesn't want to play music on-the-middle-of-the-road.

Super easy, the only thing that was confusing at first was the sequencer, and that's not so hard once you realize that the "rec" button isn't really a record button so much as it is a "seq->knob" assign button. Also, getting the thing into multitimbral mode could be clearer. Overall nice and fun.

Features? Hmm.. well, it's kinda skimpy versus something like the Virus, but then again the Virus is more expensive. There isn't alot of control over things that you would expect there to be control for, such as the amount of distortion, and a few other things. Also, dammit, why are there only one stereo pair of outputs? I guess it's not such a big deal, since you can pan and all.. still though.

Schweeet. I like it alot. It sounds really warm. Try patch C08 and C09. Great EP and Minimoogy sounds. Alot of folks will use it for dance, but I also encourage all the indie rock kids to check it out, authentic sounds, and it has little buttons to choose patches instead of dialing though menus, which I don't think has been done in a long time. THE VOCODER! Oh, it sounds really really nice. It is smooth and glassy sounding, for instance on preset H10 (i think). I like it alot, though I don't really know how it stacks up against other vocoders, though Keyboard Magazine recently had a "Vocoder Shootout" and it did well.

I think it is reliable, but the build quality is a little cheezy. The knobs and the keys feel like they could be broken off pretty dang easy. But it looks really nice. Dang Korg!! I'd be willing to pay $200 more if they made a "industrial strength" version of this thing, with harder casing and studier knobs and keyboard.

Never delt with them

Overall, this synth is a great addition to my studio. I am considering returning it for the module version though, since studio space is pretty limited for me.

Let me start by saying that when I first saw this thing in the music store (I didn't know it existed prior), I was drawn immediately to it by its look; when I played it, I fell in love (to my girlfriend's dismay). Then I was astounded to see its relatively low price tag, hence I did the only logical thing and bought it. As far as ease of use, it is very intuitive, and the parameters that are not assigned to a button or knob are easily found on a menu on the front panel. The virtual patch section (ie, modulation matrix) is very nicely laid out. The preset sound are very cool. The sounds are very analog-like and fat. The manual is fairly straight-forward as far as manuals go.

The parameters are moderately extensive. The modulation matrix makes for some really cool sounds. The built in effects are very nice and easy to use. I really like the distortion button. The arpeggiator is also very nice, as is the mod sequencer. The bad thing about this synth is its limited four note polyphony. The keyboard feels typical for a synth in this price range. It is velocity but not pressure sensitive.

The sounds are very very cool indeed. As earlier mentioned, one can get some very nice analog sounds....anything to fat basses to nice silky leads. The modulation matrix allows for some very complex, unique sounds.

It seems dependable; I have other Korgs (Trinity V3 Pro X, Electribe ER-1, and on old Poly 61) and never have had any problems with them. It seems sturdy enough; the front is metal and the sides are pseudo-wood. If I played gigs, I would certainly use it. Its small size and light weight makes it very convenient to lug about.

I have never had to deal with Korg customer fingers knock on wood (or pseudo-wood).

This is such a fun synthesizer, simply because it is easy to use and creates very cool sounds. I think of this as the minimoog I never had. I also own a Waldorf Q, but it is not fair to compare the MS 2000 to this monster synth. In a nutshell, if you don't want to be bogged down by endless parameters (ie, the Waldorf), and you like nice analog sounds (forget acoustic sounds on this....buy a sample playback synth for those), then I would definitely recommend this. You simply CANNOT beat it for the price.

Haven't gotten into the nitty-gritty yet, just had it for under a week

Polyphony sucks, but again, i knew that when i was buying it (although i didn't know there were going to be so many pad presets :P how sad...)
fx are easy to use, very easy to create grungy sounds, ala Dub/Industrial.

sounds are hardly realistic, but geez, get a wavetable synth for that. the genre, however is probably more suited to electronic, experimental... but could also be good for the new pop army (britney, christina, etc) due to the leads, and sweet ass basses it has.

Haven't owned it long enough. Feels solid, at least :)

Haven't owned it long enough, knock on the wood side paneling.

Don't know if i'd get something else, i'm still in my honeymoon period with it... getting to know it's ins & outs. *nudge nudge*
i love the sounds, and the sounds i can get out of it. i hate the lack of polyphony, but again, that's not it's forte anyway :)
I still have yet to play with the swank vocoder too!

At first glance, interface is not very intuitive, but just takes a little getting used to. Presets are very geared towards dance/techno, but can be warped beyond recognition with a few knob twirls. Manual is
nice and thin, and pretty easy to follow.

Only 4 voice polyphonic, but I knew that when I whipped out the plastic. This ain't a workstation, so this isn't a problem. Key action is pretty nice. The keys are 1 cm shorter than normal...no big deal either. Built in effects are very satisfying to my ear, and can further distort the sound into the ZONE. Nice arpeggiator, sequencer, virtual patch (just like having 4 additional, programmable mod wheels!). Not expandable, but Jimmy Crack Corn, and I didn't care about that either. 2 LFO's...delicious!

Ungood for emulative sounds, but this machine is unparalleled for sound effects outside a true modular. Sharp, crisp highs, lush midrange and deep, butt-shakin' bass. Distortion adds a new dimension of DUUUURT which is lovely. Super lead synth...will cut through warm butter like a room-temperature chainsaw. Extremely nice looking synth, too.... wood and metal casing. Teal blue/green is easy on the eyes.

So far, so great. It's a Korg.

No need or perceived need.

If it happened to walk off during the night, I would search the woods with a flashlight and some Little Debbie Snack Cakes in case I got hungry. Yes, I would buy one again tomorrow. Also own a Triton Pro, a JP-8000, a DX-11 and a Nord Micro-Modular. The MS-2000 is a modern classic...wish it had a disk drive and sturdier knobs. Inspirational!

Although you can just play 'n' twiddle to a certain extent, it's not as quick and easy to use as, say, a JP-8000. There are some really good presets, and it is easy to make changes once you're used to it's nuances. Starting from scratch would be difficult, I imagine; the presets are quite inspirational though. After hours of fiddling, I still don't know how to change between mono/unison/poly modes, which is rather a bummer.

Again, once you get used to it, it seems unlimited! I was able to make DJ 'scratching' sounds while I played! The sequencer is a bit strange; I couldn't figure it out, so I gave up.

You can make it wail or softly tinkle like mercury in the wind, though, obviously it's not a MiniMoog, so it doesn't get that True analogue warmth. This is why I give it nine and not ten. There are fantastically squelchy basses also. Nice, simple key action; I liked it, but key action is a very personal thing.

I would bet you could drop it 100 foot.
Not that I'd recommend that, though!

The #700 price tag is rather too much in my opinion. I hear it's only $700 in the US, so I'm thinking of importing one. I still prefer it over the #900 JP8000, despite the ease of use issues. Some more easy switching would be nice, however; I'm one of these analogue traditionalistas who like everything to have a knob/switch of its own, but you can't have everything now, can you?