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Korg MS20

19-Mar-2024

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Korg MS20



Category:  Products / synthesisers / analog synthesisers

Added: 13-Dec-98  |  Author: admin

New price: discontinued  |   S/H price: ??


Korg MS20



Released in 1978 the Korg MS-20 was the 2 oscillator bigger sister of the single oscillator MS-10 & is a patchable semi-modular analog synth. VCO 1 is selectable as triangle, sawtooth, adjustable-width pulse or white noise. VCO 2 can be set to sawtooth, square pulse, narrow pulse, or "ring mod" which is achieved by the sum & difference between VCO 1 & 2, in audible terms it allows the MS-20 to produce that tearing, ringing & rasping type ring mod flavour. The filters are two in series: a 6dB/Octave Hi-pass & a 12dB/Octave Low-pass, both with resonance controls Korg labels as 'Peak'. The VCO Frequency modulation & cutoff frequency of either filter can be modulated by EG-2, the LFO (Modulation Generator in Korg speak) or an external source.



 



The MS-20 is a classic synth of it's semi-modular vertical console type, encapsulating everything about the design form & the sonic variety such a synth should and can offer.



 



Original MS-20 synths are rare & costly, but the sound can be had in software plugin form from various companies such as Arturia, Korg themselves & Cherry Audio. For a physical hardware emulation, Korg themselves re-issued the MS-20 in hardware form with their 2013 released MS-20 Mini - so called because Korg choose to scale down the instrument to 86% of it's original size & it has Mini Keys rather than the full sized keys of the original.



 



The Korg re-release is however as circuit accurate as they could get it and sports a reproduction of the earlier MS-20 iteration KORG 35 filter circuit which is generally considered to be superior to the later OTA filter which for some reason in the Korg MS-20 yielded a somewhat uncharacteristic harsher / thinner sound that the usual 'fat' or 'warm quality OTA filters tended to deliver in most synths. Finally Behringer  released their own circuit accurate MS-20 clone the K-2 in 2019 which is the obvious bang for buck option while being absolutely on the money in terms of sound.








Product Videos


Korg MS-20 - Sample & Hold

Random cut-off frequencies, controlled by the control wheel. KNOB SETTINGS: VCO1: [Rectangle] [(...


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Messing around on my Korg MS-20

Messing around on my new (old) Korg MS-20...







Product Manuals or Files





Product Resources










User Comments

Product:  Korg - MS20
Name: Ganesha
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: Hobby-ist
Date: 24-Apr-99

I own an MS20. It sounds really great but there are a few problems.
When I use my Kenton pro 2 Midi/CV convertor the portamanto doesn't work.
It just triggers the next note without gliding to it. Twidling the portamento knob has no effect at all.
Another thing is that it's impossible to sync the modulation generator to another device as it only has two outputs and no reset on the patchpanel.
I also read on a website that the transfo is attached with nylon plugs which eventually will melt with a smokin' synth as the result. I haven't checked this myself though.

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Product:  Korg - MS20
Name: Mike Dutson
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: Hobby-ist
Date: 31-May-99

I also own an MS20, superb for sound effects due to the patch bay and also the fact that exyernal sounds can be put through both filters and then modulated. It also has an external signal processor so external sounds can be used to control the synth...its a bit hit and miss but sometimes useful.
The only prob I have is that the pots on the front panel have gone a bit noisy, out with the electrical cleaner someday!!!

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Product:  Korg - MS20
Name: JB
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: Professional
Date: 28-Oct-99

The MS20 has it's fair share of good points and bad points. The main bad points being that the oscillators, envelope generators and LFOs are all pretty plain. It's good points are the fierce filters, one low-pass, one high-pass, these both self oscillate when you wang the resonance up past 3/4. The other slick feature is the External Signal Processor that takes an input signal, say a mic, and converts it to a control voltage that can then be patched in as a modulator. The MS20 is basically a two oscillator, dual filter, dual envelope version of the cheaper MS10 but suprisingly lacks the MS10's patchpoint to be able to modulate the oscillator pulse width. The Korg MS's used the Hz/Oct standard rather than V/Oct as adopted by Roland and Sequential so standard MIDI to CV convertors are only useful for triggers and not pitch.

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Product:  Korg - MS20
Name: Sandy Burnett
Email: Email supplied but hidden
http://www.bbp-uk.com
Activity: Professional
Date: 15-Mar-00

Hi Kilo, long time no speak! Just thought I'd drop in a few words about my beloved MS-20. IT ROCKS!! The number of commercial releases that have left my studio bristling with MS-20 sounds is getting silly now! :-) Clients love it, listeners love it, I love it! Ever tried overdriving those filters? Gotta give it a go. There is one design fault that I've had to deal with... the wire that connects the main transformer to the volume/power switch is stretched tight. This means that if the switch works loose it flexes the solder joints on the wire and eventually they'll break. I fixed this (after mine broke) by simply soldering in a longer piece of wire and tightening the collar nuts on the switch. It works *superbly* well with the Kenton Pro-2000 interface but does need a few minutes to warm up! Not bad for £23 off a car boot sale eh? :-)

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Product:  Korg - MS20
Name: Bellandi
Email: Email supplied but hidden
http://www.ovophonic.net
Activity: Professional,part-timer
Date: 19-Mar-00

love !

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Product:  Korg - MS20
Name: herbert
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: part-timer
Date: 03-Jul-01

"Musikkreis MS20" is a group which uses only these old synths MS10, MS20, MS50, the vocoder VC10 and the sequencer SQ10. Infos under: http://plagdichnicht.sil.at/mkms20.php3,
mp3 under: http://mp3.lion.cc/MusikkreisMS20.
German text only - sorry!

Herbert

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Product:  Korg - MS20
Name: B
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: part-timer
Date: 17-Oct-01

Top semi modular synth, never does exactly what you think it will but a world of f#*Ked up synth sounds and effects.
Find one now.....with a MS10 if possible for wild routing possibilities.

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Product:  Korg - MS20
Name: Raviv
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: Hobby-ist
Date: 07-Aug-02

How can I get One ???

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Product:  Korg - MS20
Name: Iain Kelman
Email: Email supplied but hidden
none
Activity: Hobby-ist
Date: 11-Oct-03

My 20+ year-old MS 20 started
"crackling" when I played it. Upon
opening it up I found a lot of fluff
around where the power supply
came in at the back. This seems to
be attracted by the component's
electromagetivity. It could cause a
short or even a fire if undetected but
is easily remedied by removal of the
fluff.

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Last added comment

Product:  Korg - MS20
Name: frankenzappa
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: Hobby-ist
Date: 17-May-09

[quote] Ganesha wrote: I own an MS20. It sounds really great but there are a few problems.When I use my Kenton pro 2 Midi/CV convertor the portamanto doesnt work.It just triggers the next note without gliding to it. Twidling the portamento knob has no effect at all.Another thing is that its impossible to sync the modulation generator to another device as it only has two outputs and no reset on the patchpanel.I also read on a website that the transfo is attached with nylon plugs which eventually will melt with a smokin synth as the result. I havent checked this myself though. [/quote]

Try using the kenton's portamento, the hz/v jack and gate bypass the portamento knob, as that is part of the built-in keyboard control.

and you can use the kenton's lfo's as well :)

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