MS2000
Analog Modeling Synthesizer

 
 
This is a famous "VA" synthesizer (VA stands for Virtual Analog).  One of the first VAs to come on the market, after the groundbreaking Clavia Nord Lead (inspired by the great "RA" - short for Real Analog - Sequential Circuits Prophet-5), and together with the equally famous Roland JP-8000 and Yamaha AN1x from the other two "historical" Japanese synthesizer manufacturers.

This synthesizer was seen as Korg's rebirth of their classic mono, the MS-20 of the late 1970s.  To confirm the similarities between the two, the MS2000 offers a virtual patch matrix, where it's easy to assign sources to destinations, although in digital form, while the MS-20 made use of patch cords to connect the various components to each other.  The MS2000 is an incredible machine, capable of warm, analog pads to digital craziness, with basses capable of shaking a concrete floor, soaring leads, electronica-style arpeggios, lush synth strings, special FX and much more.

With free, easy access to a myriad of knobs laid out in a very logical form, it's possible to customize sounds rather fast and efficiently.  The on board effects and most notably, the arpeggiator, do a great job of expanding the sonic horizon of this machine.  The Korg MS2000 doesn't disappoint, and at the time of its debut, I remember many reviews that reported how this was the first virtual analog that really sounded analog, like the real thing.

Another great addition is the splendid vocoder, that successfully emulates Korg's own VC-10.  Patch H12 - Vocoder Pulse in particular nails down the classic, funky vocoded sound of the era in which the VC-10 was produced.

Korg MS2000 factory demo songs

01 - Grooven Dugan  06 - Past Memory
02 - Neon Lamp 07 - Fragmented
03 - Pink Doll 2001 08 - Pineapple
04 - Joker 09 - Next Wave
05 - Tube 10 - Jingle ''MS2K''

Korg MS2000 factory preset audio demos in mp3

 

Preset with audio demo My comments
A01 - Stab Saw Incredibly fat and analog sounding synth brass patch
A02 - Synth Lana Beautiful, haunting arpeggiated synthesizer that pans in the stereo spectrum
A03 - Evolution Marvelous warm pad
A04 - Boost Bass Classic '70s funk bass, "liquid" and resonant
A05 - Dirty Sync Oscillator sync at its best
A06 - Zoop Mania Complex patch that utilizes the great sounding arpeggiator
A07 - Ice Field Beautiful, "cold" sound, great for soundtracks
A08 - Lounge Organ Incredibly realistic '60s organ, in easy listening, lounge vein.
A09 - MG Bass Only one of the many great Moog synth bass emulations on this machine.
A10 - GatesOfHell Very cool and modern gated synth, for techno or trance
A11 - PWM Strings Perfect 1980s strings, with Pulse Width Modulation
A12 - Turn Wheel Classic rap whistle or monosynth
A13 - Synth Tp Cute synth trumpet sound, very expressive
A14 - DWGS WaveSeq The DWGS waveforms were featured on Korg's classic DW-8000
A15 - Drive Bass Excellent drum 'n' bass bass
A16 - Surrounded Nice fly-by whirly synth special fx
B01 - Lazy Pitch Resonant pad - key release triggers pitch drop
B02 - Stairs Pad Marvelous soft pad adorned by beautiful arpeggiated dew drops
B03 - Silk Pad 5th pad, typically digital
B04 - Zap Bass Nice rubbery bass, mod wheel opens filter and mutates it in FMish, ring modulated syn bass
B05 - Uni Synth Incredible, beefy lead synth, perfect for trance and other dance styles
B06 - PsycheTrance Great example of the Mod Sequence, a very nicely arranged trance pattern
B07 - Deep Bell Very nice, simple but intriguing new age bell patch
B08 - Synth Clav Excellent recreation of a Clavinet
B09 - Line Bass Typical 1980s synth bass, reminiscent of some sounds used by Front 242 and other similar bands
B10 - SearchEngine Nice arpeggio line
B11 - Voice -A- Excellent syn voice patch, similar to an early 8-bit sampler - great use of the vox wave.
B12 - Far Horizon Another excellent lead synth
B13 - Glass Glacial and supremely digital ensemble
B14 - Random Soundtrack for a party on an alien spaceship
B15 - Jami Bass Bass sound inspired by a few of Jamiroquai's songs perhaps.
B16 - Loomy Nice fx with slow portamento time and pitch drop at release
C01 - Poly Line The perfect analog polysynth.
C02 - Krazy Arpy 1 Put this arpeggiated pattern in sync with your beat for more interesting textures.
C03 - Mod3&4 Squad Rising resonant synth - the modulation wheel opens the filter
C04 - What D' Time Modern sounding bass
C05 - Healing Aggressive synth lead - mod wheel engages ring modulation to great effect
C06 - Auto Disco Automated electronic disco setup
C07 - Candy Box Cute door bell sound
C08 - Vintage EP Outstanding reproduction of a Fender Rhodes through fx
C09 - Mini Bass Classic Moog Minimoog bass
C10 - Tap Lead Beautiful and animated sequenced lead
C11 - Royal Pad Very warm and regal soft pad
C12 - Freq Lead Reso synth with crazy LFO effect
C13 - Solemn Brass Outstanding analog emulation!!!
C14 - IZDISA-WS Modern sounding
C15 - House Bass Classic muted synth bass, typical of early '90s house
C16 - Invaders Robot speech
D01 - Ana Fuzz Trendy distorted synth
D02 - Water Edge Super beautiful, moving soundscape... sea waves and alien birds flying by
D03 - Reactor Pad Very nice soft pad
D04 - MS-101 Sqr Simple and yet classic square waves
D05 - Edge Lead Distinctive and very expressive synth lead
D06 - Goa Trax Another great, busy trance lead, this time tailored for Goa trance
D07 - Retro BD-SD Excellent representation of the classic Roland TR-808
D08 - Wet Reed Nice squiggly synth that reminds me of a certain type of sound used by the Yellow Magic Orchestra
D09 - Fat Bass Very fat - downright obese
D10 - Flashlight Great pulsating pad
D11 - Stream Pad Beautiful, supremely synthetic analog pad
D12 - EP Fusion Ld Very expressive fusion sound - the classic electric piano layered with synth
D13 - TremoloSynth Nicely done
D14 - Motion Pad Beautiful evolving pad
D15 - Banana Bass Great sounding digital synth bass!  Incidentally, there was a German synthesizer named "Banana"...
D16 - Bad Dream Very good synth fx
E01 - Century Stab Another great sounding analog emulation
E02 - Simple Arpg Beautiful '80s arpeggio
E03 - Tin Memoreez Hollow and metallic
E04 - Organ Bass Classic organ bass, this also works as a regular dance organ
E05 - High Voltage Another excellent osc sync synthesizer lead
E06 - Trip Planet Great pattern going, trip-hoppish.
E07 - Dry Plant Simple but useful
E08 - Reed Piano Classic Wurlitzer electric piano patch
E09 - Magnum Bass Gnarly, meaty analog bass
E10 - Mad Lead Great trance lead with some ring modulation going.
E11 - Belly Outstanding vocal pad, reminiscent of the classic Mellotron choir for some reason.
E12 - BackInTheDay Typical '70s synth
E13 - Synth Brass Typical early '80s polysynth brass
E14 - ElectroShock Great industrial patch
E15 - Bakin' Bass Perfect synth bass for hip hop
E16 - Telephone Nice emulation
F01 - Golden Synth Nice show-off of how powerful the MS2000 can sound.
F02 - Blue&White Amazingly beautiful pad with sequence in the background.
F03 - Pan Tran A very beautiful new age pad
F04 - Warp Bass Acid bass at its best
F05 - Killa Lead Absolutely killer lead - useful for many genres.
F06 - Tribe'n Beat Complex beat, very industrial
F07 - Bound Ball I have heard this type of patch in several other synths of the last years... there's a similar sound on the Alesis QS series called "Dew Drops"
F08 - Cutting Arpg Excellent emulation of a wah-wah guitar being strummed!
F09 - Bass Machine Bass is definitely a strong point on this machine
F10 - Trip 2 Ibiza The darker side of trance
F11 - Ana Strings Classic, full analog strings
F12 - Past Mind Incredible split setup that reminds of Vangelis, Tomita and other classic '70s electronic composers.
F13 - Future Vibe Interesting patch
F14 - Euro Synthe Complex, vibrating synth with sparks flying all around
F15 - Digy Bass Classic TB-303 emulation
F16 - Thunder Very well done.
G01 - Square Comp Classic VA sound
G02 - Krazy Arpy 2 More arpeggiated patterns, perfect to be placed "under" the main rhythm.
G03 - Sweep Pad Highly resonant, mysterious pad
G04 - Sub Bass I hope your speakers can reproduce this kind of bass... the MS2000 can go low!
G05 - Phenomenon Simple and effective synth
G06 - Ready 2 Air Yet another good goa / trance / rave sound
G07 - X-Mod Perc Cool patch
G08 - BritishOrgan Nice emulation of the Vox Continental
G09 - 80's Bass Absolutely.
G10 - Min.Deal Classic happy house sound of the early '90s
G11 - Astral Vox Outstanding!!!  This reproduces perfectly certain vocoded atmospheres of the 1970s.
G12 - Rez Lead Useful
G13 - Soft Brass Pure analog
G14 - CPU Talk Strange but intriguing
G15 - Phunk Bass Super fly...
G16 - Jet Set 2000 Accurate emulation!
H01 - Poly400 Very powerful resonant synthesizer
H02 - Diginator Another excellent moving synth
H03 - Light Pad Exactly
H04 - Bass&5thLead Very nice split
H05 - Woody's Lead Who's Woody?
H06 - Filter Muzik New millennium style electronica.
H07 - TimeZone SFX Excellent sci-fi fx
H08 - Pulse Comp Nice staccato synth
H09 - Vocoder Ens I am saying "This is the Vocoder Ensemble of the Korg MS2000 - Vocoder Ensemble patch"
H10 - Vocoder Cho Korg MS2000 H10 Vocoder Chorus
H11 - Vocoder Wah Dee, Dee, Dee Wah, Wah...  Dee, Dee, Dee Wah, Wah
H12 - VocoderPulse "This is the typical vocoder sound from the 1970s... Robot...useful for... sci-fi effects... and similar"
H13 - VoiceChanger "This vocoder patch... will change the sound of your voice... and will make you sound like somebody from the Lord Of The Rings movie"
H14 - Vocodevil "Hello... this is the Devil... and I'm speaking to you from the Korg MS2000 Analog Modeling Synthesizer"
H15 - AudioIn INIT n/a
H16 - INIT Program n/a

 

Features at a glance
Year of release:  
Polyphony: 4 voice
Presets:  
Rhythms:  
Keyboard: 3-octave
Responds to velocity: yes
Sound generation method: VA
MIDI:  
Sound expansion capabilities:  
Effects:  
Controls:  
Outputs:  
Display:  
Misc:  

MS2000 description from Korg:

Since its introduction in 1978, the KORG MS series of synthesizers caused a sensation by its sound, looks, and flexibility in sound creation. More than twenty years later, a new MS instrument is born, fusing the functionality of the SQ10 analog sequencer and VC-10 vocoder that were also part of KORG's lineup. The MS2000/MS2000R simultaneously returns to the origin of synthesizers and opens a new universe of possibilities.

Unparalleled analog modeling power
The tone generator of the MS2000/MS2000R uses a DSP-powered analog modeling system. The analog modeling system acclaimed on the KORG Prophecy, Z1, and Electribe series has been refined to produce an incredibly wide range of sounds. From sharply cutting to powerful and thick, all the awesome sonic power that can be produced only by DSP technology is packed into a compact keyboard or module. All major sound parameters are arranged on the front panel, allowing you the total freedom of manipulating knobs and switches in real time.

Powerfully awesome waveforms
The oscillator section consists of two oscillators and a noise generator. Oscillator 1 lets you select from eight oscillator algorithms, including basic analog synthesizer waveforms such as sawtooth and pulse waves, to unique selections like VoxWaves and 64 DWGS (Digital Waveform Generator System) waveforms first featured on the Korg DW-6000. Each waveform can be modified by applying a suitable type of WFM (Waveform Modulation) for an even wider timbral selection and movement.

Oscillator 2 lets you select from three types of waveforms. In addition to detuning Oscillator 2 relative to Oscillator 1, you can also use it to apply sync or ring modulation to generate complex sounds. The audio input jacks allow external sound sources to be used in the same way as the internal oscillators, and even processed by the internal filters, etc.

Sound control
The EG (Envelope Generator) that applies time-variant change to sound parameters uses a familiar four-parameter ADSR (Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release) configuration. The LFO (Low Frequency Oscillator) used to apply cyclic change to sound parameters allows you to choose from four types of waveform. Two EG's and two LFO's are provided for each timbre.

The MS2000/MS2000R provides four types of filter: two types of low pass filter (-12/-24 dB), band pass filter, and high pass filter. Resonance is provided, and can be adjusted into self-oscillation. The effect section provides a modulation effect (three types), a delay with three selectable types, and an equalizer. In addition to volume and pan controls, the amp section provides a Distortion on/off setting so that even soft sounds can be transformed into aggressive solo parts.

Virtual Patch function allows wildly creative possibilities
The MS2000/MS2000R provides a "Virtual Patch" function that simulates the patching
capabilities of the legendary KORG PS series and MS series synthesizers. Not only EG and LFO, but even velocity or keyboard tracking can be used as modulation sources to affect parameters such as pitch, noise level, and pan.

Mod Sequence function generates dramatic tonal changes
The Mod Sequence function applies time-variant change to sound parameters in a way similar to varying the control voltage on an analog synthesizer of the past. In addition to the 28 parameters on the front panel, you can apply time-variant change to the pitch or step length and adjust it in real time.

Back to the future
The MS2000/MS2000R is dressed in a retro teal blue body with rosewood side panes and is packed with other great features of the past, like a powerful built-in 16-band vocoder and an arpeggiator with six types of arpeggio patterns. The arpeggiator, Mod Sequencer and LFO's all sync to MIDI for ultra-cool rhythmic effects. Both models allow the panel to be tilted for excellent visibility and easy operation.
 

MS2000 specs from Korg:

Sound Generation Method:
Analog Modeling Synthesis System-Synthesizer Program Multi Timbral = 2 (max., Split/Dual Mode) Voices = 4 voices Sound Source = 2 Oscillator + Noise Generator, EG x 2, LFO x 2, Virtual Patch x 4, MOD Sequence 16 steps (max.) x 3 -Vocoder Program Voices = 4 voices Sound Source = 1 Oscillator + Noise Generator, EG x 2, LFO x 2, 16 Channels vocoder, level and pan of each channel can be edited, Formant Shift function
 
Programs:
128
 
Effects:
Modulation effects (3 types), Delay (3 types), Equalizer
 
Arpeggiator:
6 types
 
Inputs:
AUDIO IN 1, 2, Level switch LINE / MIC, [AUDIO IN 1, 2(LINE)]Input impedance = 39 k-ohms, Maximum output level = -3.5 dBu (Audio In knob maximum), [AUDIO IN 2(MIC)] Input impedance = 22 k-ohms, Maximum output level = -33 dBu (Audio In knob maximum), Input source impedance = 600 ohms
 
Outputs:
L/MONO, R, Output impedance = 1.1k-ohms (MONO = 550 ohms), Maximum output level = +6.5 dBu, Load impedance = 100k-ohms, Headphones, Output impedance = 10 ohms, Maximum output level = 35 mW, Load impedance = 33 ohms
 
Control Inputs:
Assignable Pedal, Assignable Switch
 
MIDI:
IN, OUT, THRU o Display : 16 charactors x 2 lines with backlight
 
Power Supply:
DC 9V (AC adapter)
 
Power Consumption:
8W
 
Dimensions:
MS2000 = 737.8(W) x 371.3(D) x 147.7(H)mm / 29.0"(W) x 14.6"(D) x 5.8"(H), MS2000R = 482.0(W) x 233.2(D) x 87.1(H)mm / 19.0"(W) x 9.2"(D) x 3.4"(H) 4U rack-mountable
 
Weight:
7.1kg/15.6 lbs
 
Accessories:
AC adapter (DC 9V, 600mA)
 
Keyboard:
44 notes
 

 

Korg MS2000 pictures (click on thumbnails to enlarge)

       

       

           

Korg MS2000 manual

available at www.korg.com

Links

 

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www.korg.com