2018 releases (NAMM, Superbooth, Musikmesse)

[greyscales]

It's interesting to me that Korg decided to go right after the Rev2 market. I was expecting them to aim at the $800-$1250 price range and maybe do a 6/8 voice poly, just a slightly bigger Minilogue. That's where I personally see a hole in the market.

Seems especially strange to me that the 8 voice is 49 key vs the Rev2 being 61 regardless of voice model (maybe some people are cool with that, I like the large range with an 8 voice and the fact that it can be expanded by the user). Lack of LFOs/modulation options and the 2 pole only filter is odd as well. Rev2 also has twice as many outputs (really handy for those split timbre patches) and MIDI thru. If they had managed to hit a lower price point it would be a lot more sensible IMO.
Maybe the digital oscillator is a lot more appealing to some people but without more LFOs to use at the same time it seems limiting.

Not that I was holding out for the Polylogue but I'm definitely still happy with my Rev2.

[MrNovember]

It's interesting to me that Korg decided to go right after the Rev2 market. I was expecting them to aim at the $800-$1250 price range and maybe do a 6/8 voice poly, just a slightly bigger Minilogue. That's where I personally see a hole in the market.

Seems especially strange to me that the 8 voice is 49 key vs the Rev2 being 61 regardless of voice model (maybe some people are cool with that, I like the large range with an 8 voice and the fact that it can be expanded by the user). Lack of LFOs/modulation options and the 2 pole only filter is odd as well. Rev2 also has twice as many outputs (really handy for those split timbre patches) and MIDI thru. If they had managed to hit a lower price point it would be a lot more sensible IMO.
Maybe the digital oscillator is a lot more appealing to some people but without more LFOs to use at the same time it seems limiting.

Not that I was holding out for the Polylogue but I'm definitely still happy with my Rev2.

Huh, so I was pretty excited about the Prologue until reading the Rev2 comparisons.
I really like the demos I've heard of the Prologue and I'm really happy that it has full sized keys, but in that price range, I think I'd just go for a Rev2

[repoman]

That TC chorus and vibrato/leslie pedal look really cool.

[greyscales]

It's interesting to me that Korg decided to go right after the Rev2 market. I was expecting them to aim at the $800-$1250 price range and maybe do a 6/8 voice poly, just a slightly bigger Minilogue. That's where I personally see a hole in the market.

Seems especially strange to me that the 8 voice is 49 key vs the Rev2 being 61 regardless of voice model (maybe some people are cool with that, I like the large range with an 8 voice and the fact that it can be expanded by the user). Lack of LFOs/modulation options and the 2 pole only filter is odd as well. Rev2 also has twice as many outputs (really handy for those split timbre patches) and MIDI thru. If they had managed to hit a lower price point it would be a lot more sensible IMO.
Maybe the digital oscillator is a lot more appealing to some people but without more LFOs to use at the same time it seems limiting.

Not that I was holding out for the Polylogue but I'm definitely still happy with my Rev2.

Huh, so I was pretty excited about the Prologue until reading the Rev2 comparisons.
I really like the demos I've heard of the Prologue and I'm really happy that it has full sized keys, but in that price range, I think I'd just go for a Rev2

Yeah I really don't know who Korg is marketing with the Polylogue. It's at the price point where they've got so much competition.

Looking at the 16 voice, they're competing with a lot of DSI synths (some without keybed but that's a selling point for many), Roland's JD-XA (which has digital features), Nord Lead A1, Moog Subsequent 37 (paraphonic but a lot of modulation and MIA), Waldorf Blofeld, Behringer Deepmind12, and Novation Peak (more of the 8 voice competition but still).
I just don't see the Korg bringing much new or that interesting to the table with those other options.

Maybe they're relying on their market reach to outsell DSI.

[MrNovember]

Maybe they're relying on their market reach to outsell DSI.

Unfortunately, I really think this might be what they're going for. I feel like the Minilogue really filled a hole in the market, which would have lead to a ton of sales. There really weren't many (if any?) inexpensive polyphonic synths available when it came out. Sure it had a limited number of voices, so the obvious next step is to produce a more robust version with more voices, but that does really put you right in the middle of the synth market. I think you're right, they probably would have been better off targeting something a little less expensive in the 6 to 8 voice range.

[Inconuucl]

[Eivind August]

This goes here as well, right?

[oscillateur]

I'm going to save you money and time right away : that thing does not support variable length per track, all have the same duration. Which sucks donkey balls, as otherwise it would have been a very nice looper...

[actual]

To me, it only makes sense that one of the classic major players finally have a professional "real-sized" analog poly in their range again. 1500$ for an 8-voice synth is really not a bad price, whether you like the sound or not, and it's the one I can see most players going for. Paying an extra 33% for a doubling of the voices and another octave is not a bad step-up either. It's right in the range of most mid-level synths, even from the smaller makers. I also think that people are more accustomed to paying relatively high prices for music gear today. High of course being relative to whatever the cost of making the synth is. A high price will also have the opposite effect on some people than it's having on some of you guys here, as people tend to equate high price to quality, or maybe they will feel more "pro" cause they got something expensive. I imagine a low price on a piece of gear could be damaging to sales as well.
I'm not sure they're "targeting" any specific company either, but simply expanding their range, after having succesfully tested the market with their other offerings, Volcas and Logues. Brand loyalty is also important to consider when discussing this synth, as the fact that it says Korg on the back, will be enough reason for many people to choose this over whatever other offering.

[Dandolin]

This goes here as well, right?

ooh wants more infoz

[echorec]

I'm not sure they're "targeting" any specific company either, but simply expanding their range, after having succesfully tested the market with their other offerings, Volcas and Logues.

Exactly one year ago DSI released 8 & 16 voice options at the exact same price point. That's not a coincidence. Korg was absolutely looking at DSI, when they chose this pricing structure.

If DSI hadn't released a 16-voice synth for $2K one year ago, then I'd say there's a 99.5% chance we're not seeing a 16-voice Prologue. With the success of the Minilogue, I certainly thought we could eventually see an 8-voice Korg in the $900-1200 range. Instead they took away the Minilogue's sequencer and tripled its cost. Why did they triple the cost, instead of just doubling it? That's what I find maddening.

[echorec]

Brand loyalty is also important to consider when discussing this synth, as the fact that it says Korg on the back, will be enough reason for many people to choose this over whatever other offering.

Maybe they're relying on their market reach to outsell DSI.

Absolutely. Korg's launch of the Prologue was much more modern (and I believe impactful) in its approach than the REV2. This was similar to pedal launches, where on day one, you've got 15 different demos with contrasting styles and musical backgrounds. DSI unveils stuff at NAMM and you get a quick teaser, along with a designer standing by his booth and talking. It was quite vanilla, compared to the variety and volume of Korg's launch campaign. Korg has a larger built-in audience, but their rollout was also much broader in scope.

In terms of features, the REV2 is a much more powerful and better-designed synth. It blows the Prologue away in 5 major areas (presence of aftertouch, 2 types of sequencers vs none on the Prologue, double the user presets, more LFOs, more modulation routing). That's not going to matter to less-savvy buyers and to Korg fanboys. If you've never had these features or don't understand their usages, then you're not concerned about missing out on them.

[echorec]

It’s a Theremin, a gestural controller with CV & MIDI outs, oh yeah... and it’s also a fully functional synth. Theremorph!

Dark Energy III is coming.

https://www.gearnews.com/namm-2018-doep ... top-synth/

The triangle VCO no longer needs time to warm up, it has a wider frequency range and an additional wave. A reset input has been added for the LFO’s and the envelope has had an upgrade. The filter, however, remains completely unchanged.

Apparently, they have deliberately laid out the internals to provide access points for DIY modifications. These include VCO outputs (triangle, sawtooth, square), hard sync, soft sync, linear frequency modulation, VCF (lowpass, highpass, bandpass) outputs, ADSR envelope output and ADS envelope CV inputs, and LFO outputs ( Triangle, rectangle).

[$harkToootth]

Piggy backing off of Prologue thoughts...brand loyalty etc. my initial thought was "maybe this is for Korg costumers who grew out of their minilogue and monologues...". The irony in that is 1. Prologue doesn't really add anything 2. The name (moving on to the Prologue )

The modulation is rather unfortunate. My shitty GAIA has way more modulation parameters than the Prologue (don't read that as 'I think my GAIA sounds better...I don't )

It is going to interesting to see how far prices fall on the monologue. It was already inexpensive but, kind of like what happened to the mini and microbrute, it's going to be hard to resist when you see the occasional one popping up on the second hand market for $150 (I REALLY REALLY don't want another synth but...if I see a Monologue for $150...it's going to take a lot of effort to resist )

[Olin]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDVkqWq80AI[/youtube]

Well here we are.