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miniKORG 700FS


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New limited-edition release from Korg: miniKORG 700FS.

 

[video:youtube]

 

[video:youtube]

Yamaha: Motif XF8, MODX7, YS200, CVP-305, CLP-130, YPG-235, PSR-295, PSS-470 | Roland: Fantom 7, JV-1000

Kurzweil: PC3-76, PC4 (88) | Hammond: SK Pro 73 | Korg: Triton LE 76, N1R, X5DR | Emu: Proteus/1 | Casio: CT-370 | Novation: Launchkey 37 MK3 | Technics: WSA1R

Former: Emu Proformance Plus & Mo'Phatt, Korg Krome 61, Roland Fantom XR & JV-1010, Yamaha MX61, Behringer CAT

Assorted electric & acoustic guitars and electric basses | Roland TD-17 KVX | Alesis SamplePad Pro | Assorted organs, accordions, other instruments

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What a dumb place for the controls. It may have been smart to add that feature........accessibility. Plenty of room above the keys.

 

Nice that it's programmable though.

Kurzweil Forte, Yamaha Motif ES7, Muse Receptor 2 Pro Max, Neo Ventilator
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What a dumb place for the controls.

You mean the preset recall buttons?

 

 

Everything that's under the keys.

That was my initial, pre-purchase reaction to the Jupiter-80 which has a row of bank and program selection buttons under the keys. I now use them frequently when playing live and would greatly miss them if they were gone. Very convenient to slip your thumb down to press one of those buttons while playing, and often a shorter 'reach' to change a program during or between songs. I do wonder about the ergonomic utility of the other controls.

"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing."

- George Bernard Shaw

 

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Everything that's under the keys.

Ah. Well those controls have to be where they are, or it wouldn't be authentic! ;-) Really, having had the original many years ago, I never found it to be an issue. In fact, I think front panel controls can be an advantage. If it's a top-tier board and you want to tweak with your left hand while playing with your right, your left hand doesn't have to reach so far away from you. Especially if you sit while playing, it can be awkward to operate controls that are behind the keys on a board that is placed on the high side. Of course, this board's design is also from an era where having 3 (or more) boards on stage was more common.

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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What a dumb place for the controls. It may have been smart to add that feature........accessibility. Plenty of room above the keys.

As others have pointed out, that isn't 'dumb' at all... it's just different.

 

At the time this synth was launched, there was a significant market for synthesizers that could sit easily atop an organ, had a low profile and NO controls on the top because the player wouldn't be able to see them there, and were almost or completely operable with one hand while the other hand was busy elsewhere. That meant pressure sensors for expression control, and controls that could easily be seen at a distance and handled with the thumb WHILE the fingers were on the keys.

 

While there were variations and changes over the years (top panels eventually came back, for example), there were a lot of great machines that used this design, including the ARP Soloist, the Moog Satellite and Minitmoog, at least one Roland board, and the miniKORG. I could have gotten one in a pawn shop for $100 many years ago but I passed on it because the previous owner had covered it in hologram-etched sticky tape and the control labels were unreadable, so I literally had no idea how to use it.

 

This new one looks incredibly appealing for a variety of reasons. It adds a pressure sensor that the original lacked, and my current studio is actually suffering from an ergonomic issue that this machine would handle nicely. It sounds great and has nicely updated features, and the only thing we don't know is what it's going to cost, which may stop me dead if the price is really high.

 

The "FS" does hint that they'll make a smaller one at some point, but with my luck they'll use that shitty no-pressure keyboard that all the other mini versions have, which will make it a nonstarter. Sigh.

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For sure! Although probably not applicable to this board, synths that feature such controls are probably ill-suited for a bottom tier. Rather easy to bump into the controls while playing (especially when standing) unless there is some type of panel-locking/disabling function.

"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing."

- George Bernard Shaw

 

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....This new one looks incredibly appealing for a variety of reasons. It adds a pressure sensor that the original lacked, and my current studio is actually suffering from an ergonomic issue that this machine would handle nicely. It sounds great and has nicely updated features, and the only thing we don't know is what it's going to cost, which may stop me dead if the price is really high..

 

My morning just went from "Cool, a new miniKorg 700 that I can buy to replace my original one for live gigging!", to "Yikes! - Thatsa notta gonna happen!"

 

"The miniKORG FS will be in limited supply for 1,999 and you know you don"t have the New York apartment looking out over Central Park that this synth deserves or the right sort of organ to sit it on."

https://www.gearnews.com/namm-2021-korg-debuts-minikorg-700-fs/

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which is sad... I've written more melodic, catchy "hooks" on my miniKorg 700s for original tunes than any other keyboard (that's why I still keep it around).

 

Very limited in what it can do, but what it does, it does extremely well - like painting with watercolors, limitations can be a strength - I find it is pretty expressive to play, in part because of the limited controls, which helps you focus on what the riff you are trying to play (like a horn player). Also the limited controls are designed to make it very hard to make a "bad" sound. Almost everything you tweak still just "sounds" right.

 

Kind of a one-trick pony, but like a Telecaster, that one trick is pretty fab!

 

Maybe we can have hope that this means Uli will be making a cheap knock-off clone?

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I used one on loan for a few weeks when they were new, and ended up buying it's big brother Maxi-Korg. I swear that synth had nine lives - I used it regularly for 20 years (key bass towards the end) and nothing ever went wrong with it.

 

I originally bought it because it was 1/2 the price of a Minimoog, and with it's chorus waveforms sounded pretty phat - although in a different way. It ended up being a blessing in disguise because of how fast it was to program on the fly onstage - with just two stage envelopes and filter sliders where you could easily grab them.

 

It ended up being stolen five years ago when I lost a bunch of stuff in storage.

 

Do I feel nostalgia kicking in? Nah... you guys go for it :laugh:

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Pricey. Usually these classic recreations go for less than well-maintained vintage units, but I don't think anyone is paying that kind of money for an original MK.

 

BTW, I bought mine brand new shortly after it came out, for $350. It was my first synth. I certainly could not afford the Minimoog I really wanted. ;-)

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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I actually think "controls", as you're calling them, under the keys is a brilliant idea, as it falls into line with console organ construction so rings a bit familiar when stacking keyboards, as this was designed to do.

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Currently $1700-$2700 on Reverb

Wow. And asking $3,400 for a MaxiKorg, which I own! It hasn't been turned on in many years, I wonder how healthy it is. Because I think it's time to sell!

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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Pricey. Usually these classic recreations go for less than well-maintained vintage units, but I don't think anyone is paying that kind of money for an original MK.

 

Currently $1700-$2700 on Reverb

 

https://reverb.com/p/korg-minikorg-700s

So a real-world price of 1200-1800.

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Pricey. Usually these classic recreations go for less than well-maintained vintage units, but I don't think anyone is paying that kind of money for an original MK.

 

Currently $1700-$2700 on Reverb

 

https://reverb.com/p/korg-minikorg-700s

So a real-world price of 1200-1800.

 

Their Price Guide chart falls within that range at the moment. Best time to buy was April 2020, which is what Scott might be thinking of.

 

https://reverb.com/p/korg-minikorg-700s#price-guide

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While there were variations and changes over the years (top panels eventually came back, for example), there were a lot of great machines that used this design, including the ARP Soloist, the Moog Satellite and Minitmoog, at least one Roland board, and the miniKORG.

Wow, I never knew there were so many. Kinda makes me feel slightly younger. ;)

"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing."

- George Bernard Shaw

 

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Pricey. Usually these classic recreations go for less than well-maintained vintage units, but I don't think anyone is paying that kind of money for an original MK.

 

Currently $1700-$2700 on Reverb

 

https://reverb.com/p/korg-minikorg-700s

So a real-world price of 1200-1800.

Here's what they have actually sold for... https://reverb.com/marketplace?query=minikorg&show_only_sold=true&sort=price%7Cdesc

 

and for good measure, the maxikorgs... https://reverb.com/marketplace?query=maxikorg&show_only_sold=true

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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Here's a better working link

 

I wonder why my first link didn't work, but my second link did!

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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What a dumb place for the controls. It may have been smart to add that feature........accessibility. Plenty of room above the keys.

As others have pointed out, that isn't 'dumb' at all... it's just different.

.

 

I get that, and I get that a lot has changed since then. No disrespect is intended to the original designers or to the legions of folks that still love that board, but in the Kitaro video, when he BENDS OVER to change a setting, it illustrates the reasoning behind my comment.

Kurzweil Forte, Yamaha Motif ES7, Muse Receptor 2 Pro Max, Neo Ventilator
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Really, a Mini Korg? For $2000?!? When I first heard it in the 70s, I thought it sounded a bit poor. And of course very limited in features. In perspective, there's a reason why musician asked for a fatter sound, and Korg delivered the following year with the Maxi Korg. To me, those synths are to be considered more of a test bench for their next generation of instruments - a way to get their feet wet. Even my Italian Synther2000 sounded better, and it didn't sound very good.

But yes, they are rare... so they *have* to be mythologized and overpriced. But I suspect that if they haven't been seen often outside of Japan, there is a good reason. As a curiosity, for a few hundreds, maybe it could be a thing.

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Really, a Mini Korg? For $2000?!?

 

Where did you see that price?

 

 

....This new one looks incredibly appealing for a variety of reasons. It adds a pressure sensor that the original lacked, and my current studio is actually suffering from an ergonomic issue that this machine would handle nicely. It sounds great and has nicely updated features, and the only thing we don't know is what it's going to cost, which may stop me dead if the price is really high..

 

My morning just went from "Cool, a new miniKorg 700 that I can buy to replace my original one for live gigging!", to "Yikes! - Thatsa notta gonna happen!"

 

"The miniKORG FS will be in limited supply for 1,999 and you know you don"t have the New York apartment looking out over Central Park that this synth deserves or the right sort of organ to sit it on."

https://www.gearnews.com/namm-2021-korg-debuts-minikorg-700-fs/

Yamaha: Motif XF8, MODX7, YS200, CVP-305, CLP-130, YPG-235, PSR-295, PSS-470 | Roland: Fantom 7, JV-1000

Kurzweil: PC3-76, PC4 (88) | Hammond: SK Pro 73 | Korg: Triton LE 76, N1R, X5DR | Emu: Proteus/1 | Casio: CT-370 | Novation: Launchkey 37 MK3 | Technics: WSA1R

Former: Emu Proformance Plus & Mo'Phatt, Korg Krome 61, Roland Fantom XR & JV-1010, Yamaha MX61, Behringer CAT

Assorted electric & acoustic guitars and electric basses | Roland TD-17 KVX | Alesis SamplePad Pro | Assorted organs, accordions, other instruments

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