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Should I get a Mother 32 or a Korg Minilouge?
Hello. A question for the analogue synth users out there. I can only make one big purchase this month. I started buying hardware again and so far I own a Arturia Microbrute and some groove boxes.
Although it only has one oscillator, the Mother 32's CV will work nice with the Microbrute's modular features. The Minilouge on the other hand is lacking in CV but is a more powerful synth with two OSCs, delay, 4 LFOs, etc. The question is which do you think is better: stand alone Minilouge or the modular power of the Mother 32 and Microbrute combined? Thanks.
Comments
Minilogue. I'm a Moog fanatic, but if I had a Microbrute, I'd definitely go for the poly synth.
Edit: and to answer your question, you'd wield more power with the Korg and the Microbrute independently than with the Microbrute and Moog working in tandem.
also, the minilogue has that funky automation recording the volcas have. say you want a slight pitch wheel movement to have some wobbly pitch, then you can record that and it plays and i belive it might save on your patch too?
look marc doty minilogue on youtube, dude goes through everything and explains everything.
Thanks for the info.
This is an interesting question, what about either or? Only the Minilouge or the Mother/Microbrute combo? With the combo you are getting two different sounding VCOs, VCFs, etc. You can also use modular patch cables for filter cutoff, LFO rate, etc to link the two machines.
The Korg has great sound too and is polyphonic, but has two of the same VCO, VCF, and lacks modulation. If you had to pick one what would it be?
the minilogue has modulation, kinda, you automate things by recording the movement of a knob. i believe you can record 4 of these total. like the filter sweep, maybe change the osc waveform, mess with the effects and the pitch...
i am not sure exactly how it all works, and if everything is automatable, but i know its up to 4 things total. its like the volcas, which let you do the same.
not saying the minilogue is a fancy volca though, just that automation feature thing.
but like mkell424 said, the micro and the m32 will give you lots of options on sending one thing to the other, linking them to create a weird hybird via the gate connections and so on.
I just got a minilogue and I love love love it. I am a complete technological dumbass, and yet I find this synth very intuitive. (And yeah, the Marc Doty videos really helped me understand what all the knobs and switches are for). Most importantly to me, I think it sounds fantastic! Very accommodating for making music, which for me is the entire point.
A while back, I watched some videos about the Mother 32. I thought it sounded really cool, but that was always in demos where they were using like three at once (or if they had only one, it was hooked into a ton of other gear). I was a little put off by that- my thinking was if I was gonna spend several hundred on a synth, it should be able to stand on its own and sound kickass. Never did get around to trying out a Mother 32, and now won't be bothering, as I really dig the minilogue.
I also have a microbrute, by the way.
the minilogue has 4 independent tracks of motion sequencing that you can apply to anything you want, how's that for modulation
On a side note the Microbrute, Mother 32, and the Minilouge are all on Future Music's top 20 synths list.
Out of those my heart says Mother 32, my head says Microbrute, and my wallet says get out of this thread Monzo before it gets expensive...
Stick to IOS soft synths, you know Mrs Monzo would want you to.
And then there's the Behringer..
If you’ve already got a Microbrute, just think what you could do with two Microbrutes! Especially different coloured ones.
lol Yes it comes in black, blue, and red. Instead of another Micro I'd go for Arturia's other synth the Minibrute. I've caught the modular bug after using the iPad's Model 10. Having physical cables and jacks to plug them into is intriguing!
Just saw the audio input. So I assume I can combine the output of the Microbrute with the VCOs on the Minilouge and run the entire thing through the Minilouge's VCF? If I connect them through MIDI I think I could have an 3 OSC synth.
I personally lust after a Minilogue (especially as I’ve now sold the old Mono/Poly) but seriously, of all the contemporary synths out there that make sense to buy, I’d have to say that the Microbrute is the first one to get, and probably second and third too, before bothering with a Minilogue. Mother 32 is appealing and everything, but in terms of actual use, it’s way down on the list. Of course, this is from my personal perspective, in which I’m personally very interested in harmonic complexity at source combined with the chance of good modulation dynamics thereof of the aforementioned. The Microbrute is seriously well designed for what it is — i.e it seems like ‘only’ a single VCO mono synth, but put it beside a Mother 32 and it will offer far more varieties of timber and other woods. Considering that a Mother 32 will buy about three Microbrutes, and a Minilogue will almost do that too, I wasn’t being flippant about adding another Microbrute or two instead, for the money. Plus, another Microbrute only costs a bit more than a volca.
She's even struggling with that, based on my 'I'm going to buy everything' approach over the last few months...
@u0421793 Two Microbrutes would be cool and you're right about the price. I'll pick up another some day but right now I'm looking to get something different.
Here's a video of a Minilouge's audio being run through the Microbrute's filter.
I haven't yet because only midi connect. I have a Roland MV8800 driving both the Mini and Mother. Mini has sync in and out but that is for connecting to the Volca series. It's not cv and gate. Beatstep Pro would be a good one to connect up to both and drive them.
Never heard of the MV8800 before. It's a big sucker! Looks like a great groove box with a lot of features.
Sound on Sound review:
http://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/roland-mv8800
so underrated, it was way ahead of it's time and is still quite competitive on a feature by feature basis
I have my eyes on a Minilogue myself at some point in the near future. I'm a bass player and it's the first analogue synth I've ever been excited about to own and learn. A large part of it is its excellent price point but the nice layout and oscilloscope appear to make it a dream to learn synthesis. I had thought about an MS-20 before this but the Minilogue is now exclusively in my sights.
Much though I love the idea of a Minilogue, there’s one spanner in the ointment for me and that is the partial analogue implementation. All the control elements are digital — envelopes, modulation generators, everything. Only the audio signal path is analogue. Why would this matter? In most cases it shouldn’t. After all, the first things to go digital in synths were the CV-generating control modules, not the audio path. Such early synths as the Korg Poly-800 have analogue VCF/VCA but the mod gen and cumbersome envelopes are digitally generated. Similarly with the Oberheim Matrix 1000 — the LFOs and envelopes are digital. It’s perfectly logical to do so. However, I contend that there’s something a bit “academic” about clean perfectly generated digital envelope curves, compared with analogue ones that might not actually generate the curve you think it is, but rather, an ‘affected’ version of the curve, due to particularly technical implementation.
It’s difficult to explain precisely, but a lot of the design of the envelope response is shared between how the env generator generates the rise and fall, and also, how the VCA/VCF etc cv mixer input stage responds to it (and the consequent fudges and balancing adjustments between this opposition). What happens at the peak of the attack can have a significant effect on the perceived “weight” of the sound of a specific synth design. If you simply ramp the numbers up and then down, you get a perfect envelope shape on paper, but that’s not what we like to hear.
I liken this to how audio purists don’t like Bose speakers because they are full of compromises, fudges, design adjustments and bends. It doesn’t look ‘correct’ on paper, and if all you’re going to do is look at the numbers, you won’t like what is going on.
I definitely confide in your knowledge of analog synthesis.
My desire for one is based solely on reviews I've seen and listened to online and the crunchy and funky and punchy sounds I hear coming out of the Minilogue. The other thing is the layout and oscilloscope. For a newbie it looks like a good learning device.
@u0421793 -
Interesting. I'm headed out today to look at a buying a "first" synth (not counting the Volca series, which I own several of, but are more like analog modules that you control with a sequencer or external controller, IMO). My choice is basically between a used MicroKorg XL+ ($249) or a new Arturia MicroBrute ($299). They also have a used Mininova ($239) but I actually think I prefer the MicroKorg to that one, even though many disagree.
You mentioned that the Microbrute is a great "first" synth (and also a second and third), and that it'd be more immediately valuable to a person new to hardware. Even more than the Minilogue, which is $500, but looks to be loaded with features.
Can you expand on why you feel that way about the Microbrute? I actually owned one for about 4 days earlier this year - I bought a used one that turned out to have an oscillator defect, so I ended up flipping it for a Volca Bass instead. Initially, I had no clue what to do with it, but I was sad to see it go, as I was just starting to unlock the possibilities of sound design in that ballsy, straightforward monophonic synth.
Also, any thoughts on the MicroKorg XL+? This is the 2nd updated version of the MicroKorg, and it adds 8-voice polyphony and a whole bunch of PCM content to the base "virtual analog" synthesis engine. I guess the value of something like that is reduced for us iOS musicians, who have almost infinite access to synths, samplers, and modules with tons of polyphony and other features, and at dirt cheap prices. I'm pretty sure I would be thrilled with a new MicroBrute, but the MicroKorg just looks like a great value at that device, and would be capable of much more varied sounds. Thanks!
There's one fundamental problem today if you want to judge a(ny) synth without actual access to the device:
It's easy to make anything sound great by smart post-processing.
Without a lot of hearing experience you may not be able to tell what's actually the synth itself and what's added by 'effects'.
To get an impression, turn off any effects, polyphony, unisono (if there is) etc and listen to just one single oscillator voice, it's evelope and it's filter response (but that's rarely covered by 'reviews').
'Good' synth will stand that test, but I wouldn't hold my breath on today's cheapos...
Whatever a supplier may suggest by declaring his stuff 'analog' - it's not a quality attribute by default. Crap is crap and great is great, regardless of the signal mode.
cheers, Tom
I'm no expert on hardware, but having dabbled into it recently with my only prior experience coming from softsynths, there were a few things that really surprised me:
P.S. - I opted for the Korg MicroKorg XL+ (talked them down to $235 because it was missing a power supply, which I'll have to order - it also runs on 6 AA batteries, which is damn cool). But I won't rule out looking at Minilogue sometime in the future because it looks like an awesome synth at a reasonable price. Guess I'm just an accidental Korg fanboy at this point...haha.
I think it's a matter of what kind of music you are playing. If you've got a blues or rock band a digital synth that emulates organs, electric pianos, and pianos would be ideal. For prog and new wave synths, the warmth of analogue is better than digital. This of course is a generalization.
lol That's true. You can buy a lot of apps for the price of an analog synth.
Now looking in the digital options i. the $400 -$500 range like the JD-Xi. I've read on the forums that someone returned it because they were using it as a groove box. I'm looking at it because it sounds great and has a vocoder and pitch correction, which is something I don't have yet.
Think it depends on the music you want to make. If you want to do sequenced minimal tech bass music, the M32 is probably the better companion. If you need to play chords, or need to be able to recall presets...
One thing that's hard to capture via videos is just how much fun the Minilogue is to play. It's also got a pretty distinctive sound, I reckon largely due to the sort of compromises Mr U was on about.