Back in 1985, this rackmount gem kicked off Korg's hybrid synth revolution, blending rock-solid digital oscillators with that irresistible analog filter warmth—perfect for the era when studios craved stability without losing soul.
It's an 8-voice polyphonic beast using subtractive synthesis, with each voice packing two DCOs drawn from 16 eight-bit waveforms like sawtooth, square, brass, bells, or even quirky ones such as saxophone and violin for instant character. A 24dB/oct low-pass analog filter shapes the tone, modulated by a versatile LFO (sine, triangle, square waves) or dual ADBSSR envelopes for filter and amp, while a built-in 12-bit digital delay—up to 512ms—adds chorus, flanging, or echo right onboard, savable per patch. MIDI In/Out/Thru, velocity sensitivity, monophonic aftertouch, and a programmable arpeggiator make it a studio workhorse, all in a compact 2U rack with stereo outs, headphone jack, and 64 user patches edited via front-panel buttons, numeric keys, and a data slider.
Players still chase these for their punchy basses, lush pads, and unique DWGS timbre that cuts through mixes—vintage magic that's inspired everyone from Depeche Mode to Juno Reactor, though some note the editing workflow feels dated without modern MIDI librarians.
