Currently in my studio setup at my
house I only have one analog synthesizer, in which I had been recently
interested in looking for an upgrade or another analog synth containing more
features and plenty of different uniquely designed sounds. I researched and did
some comparing of my current synthesizer the MicroKorg versus the newer model
called the MicroKorg XL. The first element of the newer model the XL is
off-putting at the first glance, but to some people may not be a big deal. It
is not made up of solid materials of wood and metal like the original MicroKorg
is. So immediately this posed the question will it be sturdy and a long-lasting
piece of gear if I were to purchase and will it sustain if I were to take it on
the road for shows. One feature in
particular that I did notice at the first sight was the XL has deeper keys in
which are slightly larger and depending on one’s preferences can be of easier
playing ability. In my case I would rather keep the smaller keys for consistent,
smooth movement being an amputee. On the older version it displays a program
select for choosing the genre. Then it has a corresponding program number under
each genre with eight different sounds containing both an A and B-side. Which seems
convenient, but in reality can be quite confusing at times when trying to
recall numbers rather than names. Whereas on the XL, the newer version it has a
program genre and program category. Genres range from Trance, Techno/House,
Electronica, D N B Breaks, Hip-Hop/Vintage, Retro, and S.E. Hit on the
MicroKorg and for the XL: R N B/Hip-Hop, Rock Pop, Vintage Station,
Techno/Trance, House/Disco, D N B Breaks, and a favorite selection where you
have the capability of saving any of the unique sounds you manipulated from the
original sound. Also the XL lets one choose a sub category of one of the
following: Poly Synth, Bass, Lead, Arp Motion, Pad Strings, Keyboard, Bells,
S.E Hits, and a Vocoder. So the XL can provide a quicker way of getting to the
desired sound instead of playing the guessing game on what program number makes
what type of sound. Both the original
and newer version has an Arpeggiation feature as well as a Vocoder. In terms of
layout and design I would go for the MicroKorg XL for the easier navigation as
well as it has a USB port, which can make for portable equipment if going out
on the road. The key advantage the MicroKorg has over the XL version is the
edit select features. It has five controller knobs at the top right for the
following: the cutoff, resonance, EG attack, EG release, and tempo. Use these
five to control the sound or use the two-edit select knobs to alter the parameters
of the sound as well. The XL has a similar feature, but it is more complicated
to control and edit. So the conclusion I have came across is the XL is a better
choice in terms of navigation, but not for editing. The XL is portable for
doing shows on the road and can plugin USB rather than a power outlet making it
a smoother transition of carrying equipment from point A to point B to setup a
set. Overall the XL is a better decision in my opinion.
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