Korg MS-20 mini "Breathing noise" and Sustain beha

[PLX15]

Hi.

I've just bought a second hand MS-20 mini from a guy that said he bought it from Japan before it was awailable in Norway. According to himself he's barely used it, and he doesn't seem like an synth expert, so to speak...

I own many old analoge synths, both poly, mono and modular synths, and I'm considering myself to be an experienced user. The MS-20 mini differs to what I would consider "normal behavior" in two ways...

1. The Sustain control on EG2 seems to behave a little strangely from what I'm used to. It seems like it's fasing out the Decay without actually raising the level when it's turned up. As a result the filter cutoff must be turned up.
When the Sustain is turned down, and the Decay starts to have effect again, the filter must be turned down again if you don't want a very bright sound...
Put in other words the Sustain seems to have no effect on the filter level. It just fades in/out the effect of the Decay, while the Decay on the other hand has great effect on the filter level. Is this the way the EG2 on the MS-20 mini is supposed to behave?

2. There are some "breathing" noise on the output when a key is pushed. When both VCO 1&2 is turned completely down you can still hear some noise that seems to follow the EG setting. It's more noise than I'm used to with other synths, so I just wonder if this is just how the MS-20 mini is or if there's something wrong with my unit?

Hope someone can help me with these questions It will be much appreciated. Btw, the MS-20 mini sounds fantastic...

[kvitekp]

Yeah, this is your typical MS-20 Mini ... in fact, it sounds like you're lucky not to have a very noticeable thump when you press a key with both VCOs level low.

1. This Sustain -> VCF Cutoff behavior is a well known unique feature of Korg MS-20. Good or bad, that's exactly how the original MS-20 behaves.

2. Korg MS-20 designers mentioned in one interview that they were unable to procure transistors used to build KORG35 IC used in early KORG MS-20 filters, so they had to use alternatives. Alternative parts were such that they either had low noise but affected sounds character, or where noisy but preserved the sounds character. They went for the sound character, and i cannot blame them for this decision, given the design goals.

Korg MS-20 Kit and Desktop module have two filters: the one that recreates earlier KORG35 based variant, and OTA based filter used on later models. The latter filter is MUCH quieter, however it does not have that much MS-20 bite.

/Peter

[PLX15]

Thank you very much for this information Saved my day!