Korg miniKORG 700FS

Analog synthesizer in 70s living room furniture design

The miniKORG 700FS from Korg is a monophonic analog synthesizer in a 70s living room furniture design with a few modern extras. The instrument is an in-house clone of the miniKorg 700s released in 1974, which was based on the 1973 predecessor miniKorg 700 and was also Korg's first synthesizer.

Forming the sound of the 700FS are two analog oscillators along with a ring modulator and noise generator, which together form a good foundation for classic analog sounds. The legendary Traveler filter is a parallel combination of a lowpass and a Highpass filter, both adjustable without resonance. For modulation there is an attack/decay envelope that modulates filter and VCA and a vibrato LFO. Sonically, the 700FS covers everything the solo tastemaker could want from rich basses to distinctive lead sounds.

The design of the miniKORG is on the one hand typical for its era, on the other hand also unusual, as most of the controls are not to be found on the surface as usual. This is an advantage when the instrument is placed on an electric organ, for example, and can be played on two keyboard instruments.

What's new?

The reissue has been enriched with several details for which an old original would at least have to be extensively rebuilt: 14 memory slots are now available for custom sounds; those who want to do without them simply work in panel mode, so that what they hear matches the settings. The keyboard now processes aftertouch and passes the values on to the tone generation. A joystick for pitch bending and modulation control is also integrated. If required, an arpeggiator can be activated; communication with the outside world is possible via MIDI, USB and CV/Gate. The sound gets the final touch in the analog spring reverb, which can now be mixed in.