Ambient Music : MK or MK XL ?

[Bran]

Hey guys !
I'm new on this forum, and l'm french !

I'm gonna buy a Microkorg, or a Microkorg XL. I can't make a decision...

I'll use it mostly for Ambient music. Which one is better ?

XL is better for polyphony, and Vocoder.

Maybe the sounds of the Original are warmer than the XL.

Well, Can you give me some advice ? The XL sounds are good too ?

Thanks a lot !

Bran.

[Spheric El]

Hi Bran,
This is my limited opinion as I've only played on the XL in the shop.
I like the original.The arpaggiator is very good,a highly playable one and useful for this type of music.The sound is simple but very good.Less dense than what I heard on XL but this I like (prefer).Its also easy to program fast with instant access to every parameter. Some one has just pointed out (afew posts down) that's its easy on the eye-it's pritty.Paired with its nice UI/arp interaction,this has me won over.

[monomo]

I own the XL+, but have tried the MicrKorg in the store.
Here's the thing.
The XL+ has more polyphony, which is needed in ambient music, as the pads will always have long release times, and you will need those extra voices to prevent note cutoff.

[JohnS]

The XL+ has more polyphony, which is needed in ambient music, as the pads will always have long release times, and you will need those extra voices to prevent note cutoff.

Disclaimer: I've only had my microKORG (original) a few days, but...

a) The lack of polyphony isn't anywhere near as noticeable as I expected it to be. It has a few tricks to allocate sounds intelligently and make the most of what there is. eg. It can restart old sounds seamlessly when you release other keys, stuff like that. Four notes goes further than you'd imagine.

Even in multi-timbre mode you can set it up so you get monophonic on one timbre and three note polyphony on the other. This will work well for long ambient sounds that evolve over time.

So I wouldn't completely discount the microKORG for ambient music.

and...

b) Pretty much all the built-in sounds are useless for ambient music. You *will* be creating your own.

The original microKORG is much easier to use then the XL for editing sounds. It has a lot more more knobs and buttons to work with.

"Full edit" mode on the XL is a joke IMHO, the only way to really edit the XL is via a PC. Wven then, twiddling proper knobs on the microKORG beats mousing around on the screen.

So: The XL looks much better on paper. In practice? I'm not so sure. I know I haven't had mine very long but so far I'm really happy I didn't get the XL.

[Jamie Munro]

Sorry john s but to counter.

Programming on an XL is easy, from Init to final sound once you are totally familiar, I've had mine since 08 ? when it was released. Personally I'd rather lose an arm than use the PC korg editor but that just shows we are different.

Poly has never been a problem for me but I'm sure some people think they need 8,10,12 or more voices, I don't know. Tbh if I needed a patch of double digit voices I would layer anyway.

To the op, there is no warmer or colder in versions, just the way you program.

My XL is one instrument that will never go, it stayed with me through hard times when I had to release nearly 15k of equipment, I kept it as it's so intuitive and flexible and also portable, I never thought I'd use the latter but sometimes I just wanna sit on the settee or the dinner table and it's perfect. I'm in the process now since last year of reinvesting in gear and I've now got back to 6 big synths with a couple more to go to get to where I was. The korgs staying. It mixes with everything I've got,

I don't think you'll be disappointed either way but my opinion is get the XL,

OF course I've not played with an XL+, I'd expect it to be better still. And all banks are interchangeable also.

[JohnS]

Sorry john s but to counter.
Programming on an XL is easy, from Init to final sound once you are totally familiar, I've had mine since 08 ? when it was released. Personally I'd rather lose an arm than use the PC korg editor but that just shows we are different.

I'm not saying it's more difficult but you will have to turn a lot more knobs on the XL to do the same things.

To the op, there is no warmer or colder in versions, just the way you program.

Yes. It's a DSP feeding a DAC in both machines. Neither will have "warmer" sound.

I kept it as it's so intuitive and flexible and also portable, I never thought I'd use the latter but sometimes I just wanna sit on the settee or the dinner table and it's perfect.

Yes, it's surprisingly powerful. I didn't expect such a variety of sounds or expression from mine (things like "envelope retriggering" don't sound important on paper but they make a huge difference to perceived polyphony and how you play ambient sounds).

I can't imagine needing much more from a non-sampling synth for performance (apart from longer keyboard)

(I can imagine a lot more in terms of built-in drums, step sequencer for bassline, etc.).

OF course I've not played with an XL+, I'd expect it to be better still.

There's no real difference apart from the PCM sounds (and they're not much use for ambient music).

[JohnS]

Just noticed: The XL has a keyboard split function. You could play one sound on one part of the keyboard and another sound on the rest.

It would halve your polyphony but it might be useful for ambient.