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This is a cool little synth. I bought it for the vocoder and admittedly I'm just learning how to use it, but WOW what great fat sounds. It's something I'll use to play a little lick here and there, the mini keys and overall small size don't make it very playable, BUT if you need special effects, especially the vocoder, this thing can sit on top of your rig and give you that little special effect here or there. I'd think hip hop and dubstep producers would LOVE this thing - small, powerful, big assignable knobs to mod the sound on the fly. Heck, it's so portable you could be putting together new tracks in an airport while waiting for your flight. Crazy noise from a convenient package.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Comes with one key damage, G it goes up because limiter-bar is so thin and easy to brake inside. Have to disassemble and repair with heat solder tools. It sounds awesome, tried to control it with BCR2000 with PunkNew Wave setup overlays and so on. Will use it later with Zaquencer firmware applied to BCR2000 already. Keys are small, have to use M-Audio 88 keys midi keyboard to play it.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
I bought this product because I wanted the great RADIAS engine, for live use, in a small package. I have a full RADIAS rack, so I had reasonable expectations. The RADIAS engine does rock and, if you choose, you can get down and deep in the synth engine. The size is perfect for the gig, the key bed is decent (but the black keys are SUPER thin) and getting used to the velocity sensing is tough on the VERY plasticy feeling board. Lack of Verb is a real minus, too, for live. Editing: don't even bother without the software. Nowhere near enough live control for something in this category, especially considering what is under the hood.... Pros: great sound engine and a nice variety of sounds in a small package, VERY nice vocoder. Looks cool. Much improved included mic from the original microkorg. Vocoder is outstanding, although it cuts polyphony by half (4 from 8) Cons: Build quality is subpar for an item of this price. $59.00 Casio PT keyboards were built better than this back in the 1980s. It is so cheap feeling, I domt trust using it live, which is a shame, because the size is right, and it's a nice alternative to the original microkorg engine (which is also cool). The pictures make it look great, but it feels like a $20.00 dollar store keyboard. No verb, no aftertouch, minimal front panel control for live tweaks. I own the following shortboards and mono boards to directly compare this to: Novation ultranova; Dave smith mopho and mono evolver keyboard; SCI Pro-1; Moog minimoog, little phatty II, voyager sig; avid venom; Akai MINIAK; Korg microkorg, microkorg XL, micro sampler, R3, Micro X, prophecy; Crumar Spirit; Yamaha CS01, DX100; Casio Cz101, PT10/20/30/50/82, VL1; Roland JP8080, SH1000, SH2000. not related: I also have the RADIAS rack, which this piece is descended from. what did I end up using on stage - the Novation UltraNova and a Korg Micro X. The micro X is essentially a mini triton - it's built decently but is not VA - so it's not a great direct comparison to the microkorg XL. One of my all time favorite VA's is my Novation Supernova II EXP (so the ultranova is great, although monotimbral...). The ultra nova is a little more money but KILLS. Without verb and the VERY minimalistic interface, the MICROKORG XL just does not cut it - - if you like the sound of the Microkorg XL, spend the extra $50-$100 and get a R3 (it is bigger, but I can't stress the lack of faith I have in the XL's build quality) or really treat yourself and find a true RADIAS...Read full review
Microkorg XL+ ....this little synth is packed with power and potential....the vocoder is excellent....the effects are great....the menu system is not too difficult....and it's great value and sounds like a nice analogue sound.....with the benefits of digital control....plus the software editor works easily enough and makes editing and savimy patches and entire libraries a breeze....cannot go wrong with this little beauty....
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
Loads of great sounds out of the box; electronic, classic (pianos, keys), dubstep, space-y. Lots of cool vocoder modes, Besides out-of-the box greatness, there are many parameters to tweak. Runs off batteries! I'm totally in love with this thing, even before exploring it in-depth. Doesn't have drums, though.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
The Korg microKorg XL is a lot of fun to play. I continue to discover what I would call "useful" voices that can be use to expand your creative instincts. My favorites are the clean piano and vintage synth. I just finished trying to emulate a bass line from Aerosmith's 'sweet emotion'. It is easy to use and I would recommend it for fun. I wanted to plug my guitar into it and synthesize my guitar but couldn't figure how. The keys are smaller that what I would call standard and there are only 37 keys so my hands are getting a little cramped. I am thinking of getting a full size keyboard to expand my capabilities. I would also like to be able to hear the metronome rather than just look at a blinking light. I am still playing with it and probable will figure it all out in a month or so. Lot of fun and suedo professional.Read full review
Got the MicroKORG XL (not XL+) about 3 weeks ago, and it's great. Have used it onstage once, and the vocoder was a total hit. The bank of sounds is quite good, modifying the sound parameters isn't difficult, but the menu structure isn't all that simple. The editor software (free download from Korg site) makes this a lot easier. Great little synth, love the small package, it's got a really big sound, I'm quite happy with it. Bonus: it can run on (6) AA batteries if you'd rather ditch the power cord, which can be really nice on-the-fly. Two thumbs up.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Excellent Vox Organ samples. Simple switch settings for classic sound banks. Love it! Chassis was warped enough to require a 1/4 inch pad on one corner. Easy fix for 13 year-old classic keyboard.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
fantastic little synth with huge sound. radias sound engine, can load converted ms2000,ms2000b,radias,original mk and r3 patches which makes it a steal. the pc editor is basically sylenth,laid out even clearer. some say the original micro has a bit more punch, they should be ignored. if companies like sample magic were making soundsets for this instead of plugins,this synth would be in everyones studio. i cant praise it enough and this is coming from someone that owns a jupiter 8, monopoly, ms20, 303, and a voyager. *Edit* Some would lead you towards an r3 purchase because it has 25 full sized keys.what they forget to mention are the PCM waves, and the fact that the r3 does not have the extra virtual patch destinations that are found in the xl and Radias which create much more sound design possibilities. Some even say it doesnt sound quite as rich as an r3, i used to have an r3, its a ridiculous claim.i sold the r3 and bought an xl after a side by side and used the extra money left over for some other gear. Connected to an ipad to access every parameter live takes it to another level.Read full review
This synth is very portable, and with a couple days of tinkering, very easy to use. Patches are easy to find and assign, and usb connection is very stable and user-friendly. The sounds found on this system are very good quality, with a phenomenally sensitive vocoder. Interestingly enough, I thought that the 37-minikeys would be terrible, but they actually feel and respond great. If the minikeys are really an issue, this synth can be setup and controlled via MIDI with ease. I find only two things I would change: 1) The chassis feels very cheap. This, however, does not necessarily mean that it is not durable. 2) There is no place to store the gooseneck microphone. This is a potential problem if you plan on gigging with this instrument. Patches and support is abundant online & @ Korg.com.