It was great to get a look at the Korg Monotron at Musikmesse 2010, even though Korgs booth was in the drums & percussion hall, probably the worst place to have a hangover in the universe.

I was excited about the Monotron even before I went to the show, and when I saw it, I was very impressed. It sounded better than I had thought it would, it seems that the Youtube clips and MP3 demos you can find on the Internet now just don't do it justice. It's not a thing you can use for warm, sensual analog sounds though. This is  one angry, angry little synth.

And the Korg Monotron is SMALL, way smaller than I expected. The dimensions 120 mm (W) x 72 mm (D) x 28 mm (H) and 95 grams weight without batteries, makes this a little companion that can follow you everywhere.

And totally OK build quality, with pretty good knob-feel to it, even though the small ribbon keyboard makes it a bit hard to play (obviously).

But the best thing - the price! Only 70 euros! So, when the Monotron is being released in June, I'm definitely getting one. Considering that you get the MS-10/20 filter from the Legacy Collection, and an Audio In port, it's pretty much a done deal for me.

Since Korg showed it in the drum hall at the Musikmesse, we didn't get any clips where you could hear the Monotron over the thousands of drumsets being abused there, but below is a Youtube clip and two MP3 demos from Korgs website.

SomewhereOverTheVCO.mp3

TweakOut.mp3

Youtube via BorisAlexander2008

Monotron Specifications (from Korg.com)

Audio Path: VCO, VCF, LFO

Knobs: VCO Pitch; LFO Rate; LFO Intensity; VCF Cutoff; VCF Peak

LFO Switch: Assignable to Oscillator Pitch or Filter Cutoff

Controller: Ribbon Controller

Volume: Headphone Volume

Aux Input: 1/8" Stereo Jack

Headphone Output: 1/8" Stereo Jack

Speaker: Miniature internal; Disabled when headphones are in use.

Power Supply: AAA Alkalines (x2)

Dimensions: 120 mm (W) x 72 mm (D) x 28 mm (H) / 4.72" (W) x 2.83" (D) x 1.10" (H)

Weight: 95g / 3.35 oz. (without batteries)