Microkorg at thrift store for $200

I went to a thrift store and found a pristine Microkorg, mic still intact, with gator carrying case, 1/4" cable, all the worx.

It is being sold for $200.

I sat down and messed around on it for awhile. It seemed to be fully functional.

This is pretty much one of those situations where you just have to buy it, right?

I would be getting rid of all of my money, though.

What do you guys think?

$200 is a decent price for it, but you could get one on ebay for around the same amount $175-$250 seems to be a pretty common ending price for them being auctioned.

If you know what you're doing, the MicroKorg is a beautiful and powerful synthesizer that makes very analogish sounds. (I have played many vintage analog synths and the MicroKorg hits my vintage analog g-spot).

However if you don't know what you're doing then the MicroKorg is a shitty ROMpler with 90's euro/house/rave presets.

What limpy says is true. I got mine in 2003 and didnt delve into the programming for a couple yrs. Once i taught myself the programming a whole world opened up to me. Especially with learning to make my own arps. It became a great learning tool for me when i started buying bigger analog synths.

Another plus for me is that the mikrokorg can run on batteries so its great for taking to jams.

it wont sound like analogue at all

but you can do interesting tunings and program scales? thats the fun part

  On 6/6/2013 at 12:07 AM, chunky said:

it wont sound like analogue at all

 

 

lol

I have a Juno-106 sitting right here and a Juno-60 in my practice space and I've crafted a handful of MicroKorg patches that were indecipherable from them.

I think some people simply don't like the idea that a cheap VA can get you classic vintage analog sounds.

fuck microkorgs in the ass with a big stick.

i like the idea but im tired of reading these untruths. the idea that a microkorg sounds like a juno 106 is just not true. dont want anybody to waste his money for that reason. they're as different as rice crispies and coco pops. i wouldnt buy coco pops for the snap crackle and pop. i wouldnt buy rice crispies so that my milk would be chocolatey. and i wouldnt take lumpy poo's advice in case of wasting my dosh and being disappointed by an unrealistic expectation. :-D

i found a box of rice crispies in original shrink for $200.

are you saying i shouldn't buy it??

the microKORG is basically a cut down MS2000.

and they can both certainly make analogue-type sounds.

^{Here's about as close as I got to a nice warm analog pad with my microkorg. The bassline & vocoder are also from the microkorg. It's digital, and the imperfect soul of live analog electricity isn't there behind the pad, but it's close. For $200 it has a lot of tools that are very practical & educational for a synth enthusiast. Song was made in a couple hours, and I usually don't drink but I was very drunk for those couple hours.}

^{http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UXFbMtCFqc}

  On 6/6/2013 at 11:44 AM, chunky said:

i like the idea but im tired of reading these untruths. the idea that a microkorg sounds like a juno 106 is just not true. dont want anybody to waste his money for that reason. they're as different as rice crispies and coco pops. i wouldnt buy coco pops for the snap crackle and pop. i wouldnt buy rice crispies so that my milk would be chocolatey. and i wouldnt take lumpy poo's advice in case of wasting my dosh and being disappointed by an unrealistic expectation. :-D

Like I said, if your synthesis chops are up to snuff and you are comfortable with the Microkorg's interface then yes it is capable of making some pretty damn convincing analog sounds.

Just curious, Chunky: what's your experience with analog synths and/or Microkorgs?

I owned a microkorg back in the day. It was stolen unfortunately. Brilliant piece of hardware once you learn your way around the controls. It's not the phattest or widest sound in the world, I found the bass slightly lacking (apart from the delicious organ oscillators), but try making some arps and pads, coupled with the excellent FX, and you get an unbelievably massive sound for that little box. You could really twist those FX all the way to 11.

Raw sound-wise it's very boring, but I was always amazed at the tricks you could pull off with it. You could make a basic acid squelch and 4/4 bass drum pattern in one single patch, add some of the built-in distortion and you got a good foundation for a full track. But arps are really where the microkorg shines - The delay and chorus FX are delicious. I remember getting lost for hours in my arp patches.

As a plus you can use it as an extremely trippy guitar FX unit.

I got a Microkorg. I like it just for the fact that it seems to have a wealth of possibilities. The presets are reasonable but don't blow me away if I'm honest though but then as others have mentioned it helps if you delve into it. I think $200 for a Microkorg isn't that much of a bargain though. I got mine secondhand for £125 I think which is about as low as I've seen it secondhand uk wise.