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Hi everybody. I'm somewhat new to the world of synthesizers, although I used to build small sound modules as a kid in the 80s. With that kind of background in electronics I was drawn to analogue synths, and came across the Minilogue.

On paper at least it seems very flexible, and able to do almost everything an MS-20 can even without having a ptach panel. Looking through a few MS-20 patch libraries the only missing feature I could come up with were noise-to-VCO, which doesn't seem to be used very often. Does the Minilogue have any significant limitations, compared to other analogue synths?

Hi, having both, I can tell that the MS20 and minilogue are two very different beasts, they have very little in common to begin with.

The minilogue is indeed very flexible but within its own limitations, as a result, it does have lots of character and takes some time to really get the most out of it.

The MS20 has fewer limitations, being semi modular

While the minilogue may seem a little more docile than the MS20, once you get to know it better, you can really push it very far.

So to answer your question, what the minilogue can't do, is complex and detailed modulation, for example, you couldn't get the lfo to modulate only one oscillator (that being said, the MS20 can't do it either)

The minilogue definitely lacks a modulation wheel, although the pitch bend can be routed to many parameters, but then you lose your pitch bend.
if you want to do a tremolo with the LFO intensity pot, you'll then lose the LFO for something else.

The minilogue doesn't have a high pass filter (the delay filter is not that useful)



What the minilogue does that the MS20 doesn't

- polyphony, obviously
- midi sync'd lfo
- sequencer
- patch memory
- arpeggiator (and all the other modes)

the minilogue is easier to explore, you just got all your controls here.
the ms20 has more of a learning curve

Thanks for the advice, Emmanuel. At first I was keen on the MS-20 module kit, as it would let me tinker with add-on electronics. But the mod-cons of the Minilogue are pretty compelling. Polyphony, patch-memory, and a powerful sequencer are features not to be sniffed at. It looks like it'll be a while before I can get hold of one though.