Korg monologue Analog Synthesizer - Silver Reviews

This machine has a fat sound and I love it.

I bought this in early 2018 (a b-stock gold model) from Sweetwater at a great price. I was hesitant to invest much in a small synth that nearly looked like a toy. Two years later and I'm still loving it! I now own a Moog Sub37 and I've got to say I still reach for the Korg Monologue. In fact, if I want something really quick and fun it's the Monologue I'm grabbing first more often than not! My first keyboard was an FM synth in the DX family years ago... next, I got into digital synths with workstations like Korg's Triton, which is great but not a quick "on-the-fly" approach to music making like the Monologue. If you're looking for an affordable monosynth (don't let the "mono" scare you away) then this is a great choice. I played the Korg Minilogue as well as the Monologue in a local shop but couldn't see the justification in paying more. The Monologue doesn't offer the voice modes (which did sound great) but I really liked the visuals of the Monologue's sequencer and was sold. I didn't have much experience with monosynths and I was up and running in minutes after hardly referencing the manual at all. It's a small synth that's very inspiring; I don't see me ever parting ways with this wonderful instrument!

I bought this as a long-needed replacement for a long-missing Roland SH-101. It's not that. It's WAAAY more bonkers! The feature set might seem as simple at first: analog monosynth with an onboard sequencer. Resemblance stops there. I've been living with mine for several months now, and I still feel like I've not exhausted its potential. First of all, the sound generation setup with its waveshaping lets you go from straightforward monosynth to 'what IS that?' with a couple of knobtwists. The filter is capable of being smooth to totally yowl-screech raucous, and then when you toss in the overdrive, it can tear your head clean off! Envelope behavior can do most anything you require from sharp filter-snaps to slow washing. But like they say on the infomercials, BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE... First of all, there's a lot of hidden deep functionality in here, a lot of concealed under the sequencer controls. I'm not going to go thru all of it, because I don't like writer's cramp all that much; it's best experienced first-hand, not described, and there is a LOT there. The knob automation, also, adds a second layer of sequencing fun, since you can loop four channels of control behavior in sync with the note pattern and cause the machine to do a lot of preprogrammed screwing-around while you busy yourself with tweaking other controls. Kind of fun developing a few extra 'hands', yep. If you can't accomplish something with an instrument with what I call an 'abuse potential' this high, you should quit working with synths, period. So, yes, it was an equitable swap-out for the SH-101 from way back when...but ooooooh so much more, and so much more twisted, capable, and downright fun! Korg got this thing right...and I love the blue color scheme, which reminds me of the sort of dark blue you found on some of their early 1980s machines. Buy. Plug in. Go nuts. Good luck putting it down!

2 oscillators with a good range of sounds available. High quality build throughout, good knobs, switches and keys. Will be used for playing leads in my jazz combo. Also works as a midi controller for organ and clav patches from my stage piano (Korg SV-1 or Yamaha CP-4), as well as synth lead and pad patches (at least on the CP4)! It sends midi for multiple keys at once (polyphonic in that respect), and the pitch bend and octave adjustments work through midi too. I have started making my own patches and I'm not an expert. My last analog synth was a Juno 106, and this is just as much fun! Pretty crafty use of space by Korg. Can sound warm or cutting, includes noise. Would be nice if a sine wave was an easy option (it can be done). The truncated envelope generator is not a problem for me but it doesn't have the whole 4 stage ADSR, but it works well anyway. Especially for base and leads, which is what this is for. I like the silver color for visibility of the knobs and labels. Very powerful filter and LFO features. Very light. Will sit easily on a piano bench to the side of my main stage keyboard, and has plenty of outputs for my needs.

This is my second synth, after returning a volca keys after a few weeks (I wanted something more powerful that could save patches. After returning it though, I must say I would have both if I could afford it).
This thing growls. I've sort of ignored the presets for the most part, preferring to make my own patches. There are a lot of great features that stand out to me. I was worried I would be limited by a mono synth, but if you're debating between this and say, a minilogue, don't write it off. The two occilators have a great sound to them. The pitch control is, to my ear, very fine. And you can tell on the occiliscope when the pitches are in key. This adds a lot of heft to the sound.
The saw is cutting, the triangle is smooth. I kinda wish there was a square option in the second occilator but the noise option is nice and I suppose one is enough.

The menus really aren't too scary, you at most go through two to get to the option you want. You quickly memorize where everything is. It is by default, not velocity sensitive. And coming from a background with guitar, I find I don't typically turn it on. One of my favorite options (idk if this is unusual) is to map the velocity to the filter cutoff, which gives a ton of expression.

The LFO's range is insane. In its slowest setting, it takes a couple minutes to do a single up and down sweep. And it goes FAR into audio range. The one shot mode allows you to use it like an envelope, which is nice when the eg only has attack and decay.

There is no arpeggio but you can record a sequence and turn on step trigger which is sort of the same thing but arguably better.

There aren't any effects other than the drive, but you can jerry rig a delay, or detune for a chorus-y effect. I've got a combo drive/mod/delay pedal I use with this and it sounds great with a little revers or chorus.

Saving patches is easy, I just wish that the 'initialized' programs that haven't been written over defaulted to wherever the knobs are. As it is, they default to a basic one occilator saw, and you have to wiggle all the knobs to change it. Not a big deal but it would be nice (hey korg). You can also tweak a preset or one of your own patches to your liking and then save that patch to a new location, I like that.

Overall, it sounds great and it's quite powerful. It feels very musical and you can make it take up a lot of musical space, even as a mono synth. It can be a bit aggressive but you can back it off and add effects for more thoughtful sounds.
I also LOVE that it can run on batteries. I can put it in my backpack and play it in the park. Just plug it in when you can cause those AA's won't last forever. I like how korg's work together, and for that reason if I buy another synth, it will probably be a korg. On top of all this, it's very affordable.

Affordable and very fun to use.