Korg Forums

Hi all,
this is my first message here. I didn't know in which subforum posting it, most of the forum is dedicated to official discussions for a specific keyboard/synth, didn't find a section for advices and A/B tests.

Well, I'm a guitar player, but I want to enter in the synth world, so an analog o virtual analog synth with at lest 6-8 voiced polypohony. Monophonic is limiting for me, because I want play chords and pads, not just lead parts.
My attention has been captured by these 2 synths, a virtual analog and a real analog VCO.
I listened to lot of a samples and I was impressed by the KingKorg. It's a VA, but it sounds fat and aggressive like a real analog.
I'm esitating due to some perplexities about keybeads quality, that is the most important feature to me, together with tone. I read that the keybeads is the weak point of the KinkKorg, and this has been improved in the Prologue series.

What is your experience, and why the keybeads are not so good in the KK?
Thanks a lot

David,

I have the Kingkorg. The action is a fast synth action. You can get fast repeat notes on it. I think it works well enough. It doesn't seem to be the highest quality synth action I've ever played, the standard bearer for that to me being the DX action.

My only complaint about the action would be that sometimes I trigger black keys accidentally while playing white keys in between them. Granted that could be due to my own imprecision, but it hasn't ever been an issue on any other keyboard that I've owned.

I can say that I love the KingKorg, though. It sounds great.

Good luck!

Joe

Joe P wrote:David,

I have the Kingkorg. The action is a fast synth action. You can get fast repeat notes on it. I think it works well enough. It doesn't seem to be the highest quality synth action I've ever played, the standard bearer for that to me being the DX action.

My only complaint about the action would be that sometimes I trigger black keys accidentally while playing white keys in between them. Granted that could be due to my own imprecision, but it hasn't ever been an issue on any other keyboard that I've owned.

I can say that I love the KingKorg, though. It sounds great.

Good luck!

Joe

Hi, thanks a lot.
Well, I'm not interested in classic piano stuff. I don't want to learn Beethovern and Chopin, otherwise I would buy a master keyboard with hammer-graded keys. Or, more simply, I would play the 2 pianos I have at home
I'd play just synth stuff: Prophet5, Moog, Oberheim, 80s synth pads like DX7 or Juno/Jupiter, hammond and Rhodes sounds.

Synth action... is not a semi-weighted keybed? This means that the keys have zero resistance when you play?

I had the KingKorg and now the Prologue-8.

KK is very ambitiuos and offers a lot if you like to make you own sounds.
Plenty filter types, oscillator type and two parts and 6 cross modulations for each part. But really is not quite enough knobs on panel to be smooth, in my taste. Too much menu diving. Some shortcuts to enter menu just about where you want to go - just a bit cumbersome.

KK sounds good, all, if it was 300 preset slots can be overwritten.
But categories for sounds - you cannot if you use slot 257 and set that to lead- you cannot browse leads and find this one. It all goes by number - and certain number range are leads - so wanting by category you cannot do.

PL though has very clever system with 8 sorting options for presets, and 500 to use. True by category you chose, by name, recently used and such.

PL has all knobs you want are there on panel, and what is in menu is easy accessed through 8 buttons - which you quickly get a feel for.

And it sound terrific - and the multi engine is offering really nice options. The user oscillators as well as vpm oscillators offer really wide options in character for sound. So you have 3 oscillators available every preset - and two parts. Effect section also has user effects which can be bought from 3rd party, apart from good built in range.

PL also offer two parts, and once wanting to combine two parts you can browse and preview listen as you browse to find from main or sub in any other stored preset. Really well done.

Prologue 16 has some more options on panel when combining and layering presets. But had no issue with 8 either, it's Edit Button[3] and paraeters are there. But as master 16 is the choice I think.

I just find I am having so much fun with Prologue that I got rid of KingKorg which were unused real quickly.

I'm a guitarplayer as main instrument as well, and my keyboard gear is in my signature.

Hi Narioso,
the knobs on the front panel and the menu diving are other aspects I was considering.

The Prologue is more knobby than the KK, and than most part of modern synths. These are two other aspects that would make me prefer The Prologue, but the idea I made after listening to many demos and samples, is that the Prologue has a limited range of tones.
The KingKorg has a more consistent FX section, so it covers tones ranging from 60s to today.

The Prologue is more limited, it's situated between Prophet and Moog tones, but do them very well because it's true analog.

If I had understood something about gear in the last years, is that the "few but good" approach is the best! Few pieces of gear, few sounds, but of high quality!
For this reason I think I'll probaly get a Prologue8, I can use external effects (from my pedals, but from my Kemper Head also) to widen the range of tones. In the future I do not rule out buying a Deepmind 12D o a Blofeld Desktop to have access to more modern and dreamy sounds.

The KingKORG has a velocity sensitive semi‐weighted keyboard.

I've never played a Prologue but I love my King Korg. I especially like the "favorites" feature in that you can assign sounds to specific slots in I beleive 8 banks. It makes it very easy a a gig.