KORG miniKORG 700S v1.1

The Origin of the KORG Synthesizers is Revived in Software

At the beginning of the 1970s, many compact monophonic synthesizers appeared on the market. However, most of them were used mainly by famous musicians who could afford rare instruments or as research devices in the academic world. KORG wanted to give the average musician the chance to experience this new type of musical instrument. After much trial and error, the company’s first mass-produced synthesizer was announced in 1973: the miniKORG 700. With a simple appearance that belied its ability to produce diverse sounds beyond imagination, it charmed many musicians who loved its unique and thick tonal quality.

The miniKORG 700S, the improved version with an additional VCO, was announced the next year, and has now been recreated as a software instrument.

The miniKORG 700S for Mac and Windows is a faithful reproduction of the original analog hardware, with powerful new features only possible in software.

Now the unique sounds and capabilities of this historic KORG synthesizer can be enjoyed on your computer.

Features

• A Faithful Recreation of Unique Circuitry
• Unique Software Functions
• Diverse Preset More Than 150 Programs
• A GUI that Prioritizes Realism and Ease of Use
• A free demo version is also available.

A Faithful Recreation of Unique Circuitry

The original miniKORG 700S was a 2VCO, 2VCF, 1EG, 1LFO monophonic synthesizer. Because synthesizers were not as common as they are today, its circuitry was unique. For example, when developing the triangle wave oscillator, the engineers aimed to create a circuit that produced a beautifully musical sound rather than a scientifically accurate one.

In addition to the oscillator circuit, the low and high pass filters were combined into a single, unique part called the Traveler Controller, which was a distinctive feature of KORG’s early synthesizers.

Instead of a more traditional ADSR style envelope, the miniKORG700s allows the user to control the shape of the sound with two sliders; one that controls attack time and decay time, and one that controls sustain level and release time. These quirks and more have all been faithfully reproduced in the software version.

Unique Software Function

The miniKORG 700S for Mac and Windows not only faithfully recreates the functionality and sounds of the original miniKORG 700S’s various parameters, but also includes many additional capabilities that bring the synthesizer into the modern era, and make it suitable for any music production environment.

Polyphonic

The original was monophonic, but the software version of the miniKORG 700S for Mac and Windows makes mono/legato and polyphonic sounds possible. It also features a unison function to thicken up your sounds, a spread function to widen the stereo image, an analog function that creates the unique instability of analog, and more.

Virtual Patch

In addition to the miniKORG 700S’s original parameters, there is also a virtual patch bay that makes it possible to create even more diverse sounds. Users can choose two modulation sources, such as note velocity or the joystick, from the 33 available options, and assign them to one of up to 80 different destinations. With up to eight such combinations available, the virtual patch offers an extremely high level of freedom in sound creation.

The virtual patch destinations are not limited to just synthesizer parameters, but also include effect parameters, giving you the freedom to make any sound you can imagine. The three built-in LFOs with six waveforms, key sync, and BPM sync, in addition to the three ADSR-type envelope generators offer even more possibilities for controlling the wide range of parameters available.

Effects

Effects are an indispensable tool for getting the most out of a synthesizer. In the miniKORG 700S for Mac and Windows, there are five different stompbox-style effects (distortion, EQ, chorus/flanger/ensemble, delay, and reverb) to expand the available tonal palette.

Diverse Preset Programs

There are more than 150 preset programs included with the miniKORG700s, split into 13 different categories like leads and basses. Ranging from sounds overflowing with vintage flavor to complex timbres you wouldn’t think could be created with such a simple interface, there is a huge variety of sounds available to choose from. Of course, you can add your own sounds to the library as well.

A GUI that Prioritizes Realism and Ease of Use

The graphical user interface (GUI) of the miniKORG 700S for Mac and Windows has realistically recreated the appearance of the original miniKORG 700S in both 2D and 3D. You can freely switch between the two, opting for the experience of using a hardware synthesizer or the convenience of a software synthesizer. There are also three screen sizes you can easily switch between to fit your environment without affecting the image quality for both the standalone and plugin versions.

In addition to the GUI, the various plugin parameters can also be controlled using MIDI CC, allowing you flexible, real-time control via a MIDI controller or Digital Audio Workstation.