Korg M500 Micro-Preset

Back in 1977, this little powerhouse helped define the preset synth era, delivering instant classic tones that OMD turned into new wave anthems like Enola Gay and Messages.

Its single analog VCO offers preset waveforms—pulse, square, sawtooth, white and pink noise—across octave ranges from 2' to 32', feeding into a luscious lowpass traveler filter akin to the Korg 35 design, with dedicated attack and decay controls on the Synthe presets. A 32-key keyboard spans the action without velocity or aftertouch, but shines with vibrato from the LFO, auto-bend, and portamento for expressive leads. Controls live on simple switches and sliders to the left, selecting from six core presets like flute, brass, oboe, strings, and mixable synth voices, all in a compact wooden-endosed body measuring 730 x 250 x 125 mm and weighing just 4.9 kg, with a single mono HiZ/LoZ output.

Vintage hunters love its raw, Minikorg-like bass growl and mixable presets for unexpected textures, though its monophonic limits and fixed nature keep it best for leads and effects rather than complex patches—still, that gorgeous filter keeps players hooked decades later.