This is STILL the perfect first synthesizer... 

It’s the best first synth because it is so usable and hands on. You get to be very active in its variety. It’s only flaw is that it will inspire you to seek out more synths!

This helped me understand so much more what is happening. Thanks!

My first, and it may still be my favorite. I love the minilogue ❤️

This is the best video ever. I'm a newbie and I learned a lot of stuff. Been loving this channel for a while but I just stumbled across this one. Awesome job

I've been learning synths for a while, but your beginner stuff is so good and i see that i've missed learning some stuff which you showed me. Thank you very much for both very easy explanations and keeping them just short enough! You're a great teacher! Thanks! :)

Superb! this has taught me so much

Stoked to see you this video. I love the minilogue series. Xd was my first synth. Just bought my girlfriend the original minilogue today for her birthday as her first synth. Great video. Thank you.

This is one of the best introductions to subtractive synthesis I have seen. Really great video. Wish I could have seen this a year ago, would have saved a lot of confusion!! Thanks!

I have a korg monologue and I learned more from your video than any video I watched made specifically for the monologue. Thanks!!

Dude this video is the easiest to understand rundown of the Minilogue I've come across. Thanks for helping out this synth-beginner.

Enjoyed this vid - thinking of picking up one of these. Subscribed

that KORG sound is still so distinctive. back in the day i gravitated to Roland, Yamaha and Oberheim more but Korg definitely has its place in th e eighties panthéon of synth.

Nice job on the knob pointers :D

Very useful video, thanks for sharing

Just picked up one of these locally for a steal cause it had a blemished corner, and this vid is so helpful for getting me familiar with the controls and signal routing options!

Your content is getting better and better everyday jorb

Jorb! I'm new to synths. This is my first RU-vid comment ever. Thanks so much for this video and the explanations -- this really helps me understand the process of creating patches and which features do what. Thanks again and keep up the amazing work!

The minilogue is my first analog synth. I had a Yamaha TQ5 fm synth module and a Roland D10 but I didn't have a manual for either one at the time so there was a lot I didn't know about their operation. Now I have the minilogue and microfreak.

What I love about Minilogue is its analogue sound and that this instrument feels like... real instrument. Knobs, buttons and levers all have a purpose and the are no gimmicky features found there. It feels that it might be a toy but only in hand of someone like me but in hands of someone who can play Minilogue becomes powerful tool, amazing instrument. Also love how it looks. BTW. I like the idea with white paint for indicators - especially for YT video.

bro you posted this the day after i got the KORG MS-20 mini as my first synth. great synth, might pick this one up eventually.

Thanks for uploading, yeah the white markers were the first thing I saw on your vid and that is exactly what I did with mine almost as soon as I got it out of its box. A great synth, especially when you start using the motion sequencing, it somewhat makes up for the lack of modulation routings present on bigger more expensive synths. ... and that 'scope for feedback on what is going on is a real help.

totally agree

I just bought a new Minilogue this year. I am not a beginner musician or new synth user. The Minilogue is not "just" a beginners synth. I have added the Minilogue to my studio of 7 synths to replace the sound of a menu driven synth I didn't like. 54 years now playing keyboards, this is a good addition. I do not consider the Minilogue a true poly synth because I can't do much with a 4 voice limitation, I think of the synth as an extended mono synth where I can blend long envelope notes together. Normally I don't buy analog poly synths because of massive voice limitations, my go-to poly synth is my Roland Gaia with 64 voices....and I use every one of those. The secondary use of the Minilogue in my studio is to sample to my sampler, I never sample digital synths.

Firmware updates on this are crucial. I didn't realize my Minilogue wasn't updated and wondered why the release on notes weren't ringing out as much as it should while triggering new notes. Well they fixed that problem. Lesson learned, check for firmware updates!

I took a friend that was interesting in getting into electronic music production to Patchwerks, in order to give them a rundown of some of the basic concepts of synthesis. They have a fantastic showroom, and I kept coming back to the KORG Minilogue XD to demonstrate most of what I wanted to cover. I had tons of options, but that was the one that made everything the most approachable to a beginner.

I LOVED my Minilogue, although I sold it I love it’s sound, it was so easy to learn and program sounds and I would say it has a certain sound of its own

Omg that pass through of Nick Batt on the PWMM🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 He is treasure.

This one and basstation, all you ever need.

Can't wait for you to review the Monologue XD!

Great video, thank you. Been looking for something that’s basically one knob per function with all of these specs for a while. Halfway through your video I bought one on eBay. I am broke now, but that’s almost entirely not your fault. Almost.

That was great! Have had a minilogue for the past year (my first synth) and bits of it were still a bit of a mystery tbh, so that was super useful. My main frustration with it was that a lot of the presets sound pretty horrible, but knowing a bit more about it now I can see them more as jumping off points to build my own sounds. Anyhow, great job and a follow up would be awesome :)

I love the way they just threw a cheap Bucket Brigade Delay in there, that loops and hisses, and loops the hisses. Not sarcasm, I love it. I got an XD shortly after with the idea to sell the Minilouge, and for some reason the original Minilouge sounded better to mine ear. So sold the XD. It just didn't sound as warm as the original, and it upset me that Korg didn't put an Audio in on the XD! To utilise the excellent effects with external sound. So a better option, to those who have a Minilogue and are thinking about upgrading to the XD, just get a Korg NTS-1 instead, feed the output of your Minilogue to the NTS-1 for the effects, and midi it up and its exactly the same but with a bonus. The bonus being that you CAN input sound from any synth / guitar or mic to the NTS-1 and use the effects.

Big dubs for local synth man

Nice trick with projecting the minilogue's screen on the tablet.

I came back for 3 reasons…. 1. I love your content 2. You’re very knowledgeable 3. Watch you record videos using that handheld dynamic mic.

Man, that thing has that Korg filter sound! Classic sound that will never go out of style IMO. Sure it’s simple, but for 350$ish you’re spot on that it’s an amazing value for a poly capable of classic, bread and butter sounds. (Hey Jorb, I’ve vacated the workforce for the time being and was wondering if I could bounce some things off you. You know, video stuff.)

Totally agree! I have a bunch of synths, and it feels ridiculous to say the minilogue is underrated now, but it really feels that way to me

I was looking at getting a minilogue for my first "real" synth last year, but I found a used minilogue XD module for just $50 more, so I went with that, and now I use an old beat up DX7 as the MIDI controller.

Nice video man. You should try the Monologue. Its brilliant sequencer make it almost like an analog groovebox. Also a perfect 1st synth.

The Minilouge XD was my first "serious synth" after starting out with some volcas. It is a great first synth and is still in my setup. Not too complicated but can get tons of sounds out it especially with the multiple motion control paths. I still think it is probably the best analog synth for the price.

the arturia microfreak is great value for money and is a great first synth and can do more interesting patching its sub 300.00 quid and offers so many different synth engines , a powerful arp, a sequencer, a cycling envelope , it is purely digital though so that might be an issue for some, it does sound fantastic with a touch of reverb , and the touch sensitive keyboard is an incredible way to modulate whatever you want by adding more skin to the keybed.

Oh my god man. I was literally just researching for a first synth and I was leaning heavily towards the minilogue. How can you read my mind?!?!?

One thing I wish I would have known about this synth is that it sounds amazing threw a good reverb. So if some one is getting this for there first synth, get your self a good reverb pedal to go with it too. I ended up getting the Strymon Big Sky, but something like the Zoom 70CDR or the Korg NTS-1 would do the trick. Anything really. I say those two because they are multi FXs, if you stack a chorus and reverb it makes any synth sound awesome. Unless your going for that’s raw sound, which I do like on some songs. Watching this video makes me want to play it. I think I’ll do that.

Wow I never heard the formant before, still more to learn! When the XD came out I initially felt a little cheated, like it was conceded by Korg that the minilogue wasn't fully fleshed out before release. The click on the attack at 0 got "fixed", etc. Well, I LOVE that there's a click on the attack. It's the first synth I've played with a click. You're right, this is the perfect first synth. I really wish for a firmware upgrade that expands the sequencer to at least 32 steps and also implements the probability function that Volca Drum has to incorporate some variability. This would activate a minilogue a lot more

I think of pole or decibel slopes on a synthesizer as electronic sounds and acoustic sounds. Without a 4 pole filter it is very, very difficult to make acoustic natural sounds.

El Minilogue fue mi primer sintetizador, y fue el que me hizo engancharme con el mundo de los sonidos sintetizados. Al inicio dediqué tiempo para ordenar la lista de efectos y descargar de Korg todos los efectos que ofrecían. Así, tocarlo se hacía más fácil y rápido encontraba presets que me gustaban. Con el Minilogue he hecho la mayoría de la música de mi banda: Maldito DeLorean. Espero que la escuchen. Lo único que no me gusta del MInilogue es la palanca de bend, porque como a mucha gente, se me dañó y la puedo usar poco. Creo que la construcción no es la mejor.

I wouldn’t rule out the Hydra Explorer as a great first synth either . More complex...sure , but easy enough to get to grips with and offers several forms of synthesis to learn .

Haha @19:51 This ! That zoom is an accidental meme on the tron-volca era of Korg synths 🤣

I'm saving up to buy a Moog One, until then, I'm getting this and/or a microfreak.

I wound up with a Mopho as my first synth and while there were cool presets, it was super unwieldy to try and make custom sounds or even figure out the sequencer. With the Minilogue I was up and running super quick. Sold the Mopho but I'm going to be using the Minilogue for awhile.

Yes I know, old video... My first synth was a Mininova. Which I still love. Lots of menu diving though... I've noticed I'm more into grooveboxes and drum machines than actual synths. I do like the Minilogue though...

Nice video, I sold a XD and got a Prologue 8 💙 instead 😊

The best for beginning is keyboard with inbuilt soundboxes. 223 dollars was my Casio CTX-800 and more like enought for me as beginner.

After vacillating for a couple months between this, the XD, and Minifreak, I have a used Minilogue on the way. This video was very convincing, so it’s on you…😉 Seriously, this is a great video, and between this, my Rob Papen book/vids, and all of @Bobeats great Minilogue vids, I plan to immerse myself and really get to know this guy. The couple hundred I saved can go toward a high end unit when I have a much better idea of what’s out there and what I like, although I’m sorely tempted by the Take 5….

I had to raise the audio level on my system.

I had an xd and I returned it and ended up With an mpc one… Trying to think about what fits nice in my setup and those new roland boutiques look nice. I do really like minilogues though. It would have to be desktop for me cause I got too many controllers. Cool stuff man. Got me thinking again.

As much as I love the Minilogue, there's just no way I could ever, ever, EVER recommend anyone go for that over the XD, given how close they are in price. You're getting, in many ways, almost twice the synth, for about $140 more. I realize it's cool to love the original Minilogue, and I do enjoy the silver color scheme, but... the XD is just so, SO much more synth, and would future-proof a beginner (AND give him/her more power and flexibility) for such a small additional cost. For me, the only way to justify the original Minilogue is if you're a collector and just want it for the sake of having it. It's like... "Hey, would you like to add a carwash and a dinner for two at the restaurant of your choice with your movie ticket for an extra 5 bucks?" Uh... yeah. I better do that.

:D Good times :)

So I have a DeepMind 12, but I LOVE a lot of these sounds you're getting here with the Korg and I've never gotten anywhere near them with the DM. Is there a lot the Korg can do that the DM can't or is it just me needing to spend more time with it?

My first synth was a bass station 2 and I haven’t sold it which is crazy considering I’ve gone through pretty much every big name synth you could name from the last few years. Nothing really compares to the BS2 or the digitone in my opinion.

I got the Minilogue XD as my first analogue synth and it is bloody great, the user oscillators are an extra bonus and give it an extra layer of goodness. While it's missing sustain and release on the envelope, I think for beginners it's good enough and there are plenty of ways to use it, plus sounds great. Always enjoying the Jorb, also are you related to Seth Rogen?

I personally only ever use decay on my filters.

hey Jorb, how do you get the panel adjustment text coming up on your scope? presumably using a midi signal but what does the code to text conversion and puts it on the scope?

To be more perfect it could probably also do well with sine wave in the oscillators and some additive synthesis. I wonder if #Korg is listening. ;) #Minilogue - All #synths could use a mini #oscilloscope though. ;)

Is the Minilogue XD like the microKORG XL, in that it appears to be an improvement on the prior version, but I’ll seem to see a lot more of the first version (Minilogue) in the world than I’ll ever see of the second (XD)?

I’ve been playing around with a couple pretty cheap synths so I feel like I know the basics of synthesis. I feel that the deepmind 12 would suit me better but I’m not completely sure. Should I spend the extra for the deepmind??

Any suggestions to find and install good (vintage sounding) presets on the minilogue?

I have found the Korg Minilogue 2 very difficult to use. Compared to the Korg Kross, the sounds seem very low quality. And there are very limited patches available on the web. The best thing about it was that I could link the midi arp's to the Korg Kross & trigger it's high quality keyboard playback simultaneously.

Hi I really love your videos I watch all of them, can you tell I was going to buy a mopho module, but I like the woldorf Pulse 2, as well but I can't afford the 2 of them what do you think I know they are tow different synthesisers can you give me your opinion 🎼👍

Tks. Good vid. Do you prefer the XD?

Probably a stupid question but how limited is automation on hardware synths? I love the sounds and aesthetic of these hardware synths but it feels like VST's are way more flexible in automating parameters. Please correct me if I'm wrong because I'm a scrub lol

how did you get the little white lines on your knobs? That actually helps visualize the patch much better!

I'm torn between the minilogue, Moog Sub37, and the Moog Grandmother as first hardware synth.

No modwheel sucks - but I love your knob hack!

I'm looking into getting started with synths, but the prices on this one have increased quite a lot since you made this video. Is there a different one that offers similar features for a lower price?

I’m curious as to what brand of oscilloscope you’re using?

Hey Jorb - Nice one! I'm not a beginner but I oscillate between this and an XD just for VFM 😁 Any thoughts? Not sure if I missed it but what is your oscilloscope?

Hello Jorb, Curious about the oscilloscope how it is hooked up to the Korg.

It's either this or the microfreak for sure, if your a total beginner the original mini is more straightforward your rite, a lot more people do have some knowledge of synthesis these days, I think the freak is the better bang for the buck if you have some knowledge especially if you have a midi keyboard.

Update, Minilogue ordered

Also what’s the little waveform screen?

I've been using my Logue for 4 years now - I'd love a portamento knob - but I'm not sure what I'd sacrifice... Anyone feel the same about portamento? I know you can access it via the menu but still.🎹

@10:02 😂. Poor Nick.

Mini keys?

minilogue > reface CS?

The sound is better when you don't hold the mic with the grill ;)

If you're gonna chop it, try to keep as much of it as you can undamaged please. I think the Minilogue will be around long enough that people will want to repair them in the future, and maybe some keys will be just the thing. BTW I really recommend Zoom's MS70-CDR pedal in combination with a Minilogue. If you search Adam Borseti on RU-vid you'll see what a Minilogue can do. It's a wonderful synthesizer. Really is the perfect beginner synth.

Mine needs a clean ,

I'll stick to my Wavestate

I bought a Roland HS-60 (aka ugly duckling Juno 106) for the price of a microKORG in 2003; had there been a Minilogue available, I would’ve gone with that, in retrospect. (Sold the HS-60 for parts not long before I met Bell Tone Synth Works, who could’ve fixed it, but I used the money to contribute to paying for a DeepMind 12, so it’s all good.) You say $300-$350, and suddenly I’m wondering if I want a Minilogue… first time I’ve wondered that in awhile, after not getting an XD several times (no audio input on the latter?? And, other downsides? 😩)

I think it misses a dedicated portamento knob..😊

oh i hate placement of the knob for chosing presetts.

I am not seeing them for $350. At their lowest, currently, on eBay, they are around $400 and, in some cases, $600. So, keep in mind that the price has risen.

I must have a bummer of this instrument. From day one it goes out of tune as soon as I start changing the filter even after 2 hours of warm up.

Who hasn't sold a few Microkorgs?

OMG...this MPC from a 14 Years old Bong smoker looks sooo depressing. I´m getting Goosebumps from that Spectacle. hihihi :) PS: for Dub Techno Chords the noisy Delay must do a good Job.

Yeah, it's not cheap enough to be beginner friendly. What about the Volca line?

Jorb, do you use instagram?

It's all about the "I" word.

You hold your MicP very weirdly…! umm hmm, anyway - I agree its a nice synth for beginners as a good consideration. I am sure those who are just starting out would benefit with this little synth.