Korg miniKORG v1.0

Back To The Future

A limited edition authentic revival of the miniKORG 700.

The miniKORG 700 was KORG’s first mass-produced monophonic synthesizer released in 1973 at a time when the form of synthesizers as musical instruments had not been fully established. After a lot of experimentation the miniKORG 700 arrived bringing the world of synthesizers to a wide group of users by offering simple operations that could producing extreme changes in sound, and was championed by a strong base of admiring musicians.

The miniKORG 700FS is an authentic revival of the miniKORG 700S, (an improved version of the miniKORG 700) that was released the following year. The revised miniKORG 700FS offers added functionality such as an arpeggiator, spring reverb and aftertouch. The miniKORG 700FS is a fully-realized analog synthesizer that was developed in conjunction with the original designer, Fumio Mieda.

(Note: To avoid confusion in the following text, both the original miniKORG 700 and the miniKORG 700S are listed as “miniKORG 700” for the most part.)

Why revive the miniKORG 700 now?

The real beauty and awesomeness of the sounds produced by the miniKORG 700 could not be realized through analog modeling technology that uses computational integrated circuitry such as DSPs and other devices to model analog circuitry. And although KORG continues to produce analog synthesizers such as the prologue, the minilogue and many others, we recognize that these instruments owe their existence to the miniKORG 700.

While theoretical know how is important when designing analog circuitry, deep experience is also required to understand what the results will actually be once the circuitry is completed. Ten years have passed since the monotron, a next-generation analog product from 2010 was developed by young KORG engineers and analog enthusiasts. It took some time for the full vision of these engineers to be explored and delivered but at last we’ve finally arrived – at the start.

Our wish is for customers to experience the beauty and awesomeness of the authentic analog sound through the miniKORG 700FS designed by the KORG analog engineers under the supervision of Fumio Mieda, who designed the original circuitry, ensuring that the elements that go beyond the circuit schematics would be faithfully represented.

Beautiful synth leads, thick bass – and more

While the miniKORG 700 was KORG’s first synthesizer, it also produced some of the fattest and most dense sounds of all of our synthesizers. The miniKORG 700FS, features oscillators with a penetrating sound and an authentic recreation of the Traveler controller, one of the key features of the miniKORG 700.

The volca keys and volca bass use the filter circuit from the miniKORG 700, because the clear and penetrating characteristics of this filter were a perfect match for products that specialize in lead and bass synth sounds with a strong presence. The miniKORG 700 sound sits easily in today’s music, particularly with its lead and bass synth sounds.