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Just curious from those of you with bith, has minilogue really added anything for you the Kronos couldn't already do or get darn close doing? All subjective, I understand just curious. I look at it as a fun device but haven't really decided it would really add much tone wise I couldn't get close to with my x61? Not that that would stop me from buying if I thought I get get some inspiration from it. I did chase down a minitaur and Karp because I couldn't quite get all the way there gone wise with the Kronos and I just liked them. That said what is your opinion now that you have had both?

I had the Minilogue for a short time, but I didn't like the way Korg implemented envelope triggering (for an analogue synth, it didn't act correctly in mono mode, it also had a few other annoying faults). I really enjoyed it while I had it, but the AL-1 is just as capable, and has far better parameter routing options.

I'm not particularly fussed if a synth is analogue or digital, it's the end result that counts, but I do like the immediacy of having a proper knobby control panel.. If someone made a hardware controller for the AL-1, I'd be in heaven.

Broadwave wrote:If someone made a hardware controller for the AL-1, I'd be in heaven.

+1 for the AL-1 hardware controller.

A kronos control would be great, perhaps that is the direction Kronos should go in the next couple years? A nice software tweak and a knobby controller for the Kronos with little led scribble strips or a large touch interface that changes its functions as you use or dictate different engines to work with.

We had a bit of a talk about this in the past and i remember some people using the behringer knobby box or controller with the fader doing something like this. I also seem to remember they would learn sysex as well.

I converted my Behringer BCF and BCR into knobby controllers for my Alesis Micron. It's fun moving multiple faders to fine tune cutoff, resonance and filter EG intensity. Dedicated rotary encoders for oscillator 1/2/3 level, waveshape, and tuning are really handy as well. A fader dedicated to the Micron's 19 wonderful filters is not only fun to sweep through filter types like a manual sample and hold effect, but is crucial to quickly auditioning filter sweet spots when coupled with the other filter faders in real time. TB303 ftw!

Korg's AL-1 engine married to a hardware controller with dedicated faders, knobs, and buttons for immediate tweaking of the most common and crucial parameters would be awesome.

It was possible to program the BCF and BCR as Micron hardware parameter controllers because there was a published list of MIDI NRPN values for each synth engine parameter. These are like MIDI CCs except that there are many more and they are higher resolution.

I wonder if there is a similar published list of values for the AL-1?

If so, a Kronos owner with a flexible enough MIDI controller like a BCF or BCR could create a dedicated AL-1 knobby hardware controller!

I adore my Minilogue. I use the portamento workaround to avoid envelope retriggering (turn portamento on, but set the rate at 0). The Minilogue is my go-to session synth on account of its extreme portability and analog fatness, this thing just rips it up whether I'm building ethereal pads, gnarly basses or massive unison leads. It is an aggressive synthesizer, and this has made it useful for many, many recordings in the six months I've owned it.

The Minilogue has its faults. It needs a pre-amp - unless I'm running the Minilogue innto a dedicated preamp or the 1/4" inputs on my Kronos or another board, the synth is pretty quiet and lacks headroom. Also, the wall wart is cripplingly short - I have it permanently plugged into an 8-foot extension cable, although I probably only need 4-6 feet.

The delay can be pretty noisy even after the firmware update, but overall make sure you have the latest firmware because it does make a lot of sonic improvements.

Absolutely complements my Kronos, the Minilogue has its own unique sound and warm presence that the AL-1 or any other digital engine I've heard can't touch. I can do a lot of work to emulate the nuances and qualities I seek on a digital synth...... or I can turn a few knobs on a Minilogue and get there in 30 seconds.

Tom

Tomdini wrote:I adore my Minilogue. I use the portamento workaround to avoid envelope retriggering (turn portamento on, but set the rate at 0). The Minilogue is my go-to session synth on account of its extreme portability and analog fatness, this thing just rips it up whether I'm building ethereal pads, gnarly basses or massive unison leads. It is an aggressive synthesizer, and this has made it useful for many, many recordings in the six months I've owned it.

The Minilogue has its faults. It needs a pre-amp - unless I'm running the Minilogue innto a dedicated preamp or the 1/4" inputs on my Kronos or another board, the synth is pretty quiet and lacks headroom. Also, the wall wart is cripplingly short - I have it permanently plugged into an 8-foot extension cable, although I probably only need 4-6 feet.

The delay can be pretty noisy even after the firmware update, but overall make sure you have the latest firmware because it does make a lot of sonic improvements.

Absolutely complements my Kronos, the Minilogue has its own unique sound and warm presence that the AL-1 or any other digital engine I've heard can't touch. I can do a lot of work to emulate the nuances and qualities I seek on a digital synth...... or I can turn a few knobs on a Minilogue and get there in 30 seconds.

Tom

Ya, I was thinking(I don't own a Kronos, ok) but no VA is gonna sound like a real Analog synth....not even the best ones.