Korg Minilogue In-Depth Review

We are pleased to bring you this in-depth review of the Korg Minilogue, a polyphonic analogue synthesizer that we use frequently here at 344 Audio. This review comes courtesy of Alex from online musical instrument website Consoirdini.

The Korg Minilogue is a 4 Voice, Polyphonic Synthesizer created by Engineer Tatsuya Takahashi over at KORG in Tokyo, Japan. It comes in at around the 400~450 dollars mark in the US and can most certainly be bought 2nd hand online for an even lower price.

The features of the Minilogue is really what makes this Synthesizer stand out from the crowd. With Mono, Poly, Duo, Unison, Chord Memory, Arp and EVEN Sidechain modes ready for you at the click of a button, it can provide a wide variety of sounds and inspiration with the flick of a switch!

For the price point, this analogue Synth is a definite recommended no brainer, but while it is great at what it does, as with all synthesizers, there are a few things to watch out for.  

1. POPPY ENVELOPES  

A common issue with the Minilogue is the quick and poppy envelopes. With the Attack knob all the way down at the lowest setting, a very noticeable click is present. While other synth manufacturers compensate for this issue in various ways for you, you will have to manually find the sweet spot in each patch to make sure that you avoid this issue.  

2. NOISE  

The synth, compared to a lot of other synths, is quite noisy. ESPECIALLY the Delay section. I advise you to use a separate unit or a software reverb in your DAW to get a cleaner and more pure sound. The pure waves are very nice however and the LFO and mangling features are definitely worth the price tag. Just consider your how it will fit in with your setup as much as you can.  

3. BASS  

While the Minilogue does and can pack a punch in the low end when used correctly, it’s very well known for the Resonance knob removing a lot of the Bass from patches.  

A way to combat this is to use the ‘Mono’ Function and add the Sub Bass to taste underneath your patch which has lost its original bass frequencies due to this quirk.

In conclusion, The beauty of this Synth lies in its ability to create UNIQUE sounds on the fly and very quickly. While other analogue synths provide lush and warm sounds which stand on their own, it’s the LFO, Synthesis and ‘Easy-to-use’ Sound Design features more than anything which makes this Synth a Winner and a Mainstay in the Modern Studio.

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