Korg MiniKorg-700S

Korg MiniKorg-700S Image

MiniKorg-700S

The MiniKorg-700S is an old and simple monophonic analog keyboard from Korg. It is a dual-oscillator synth related to Korg's first monosynth, the single oscillator MiniKorg-700. Most of the controls are located in an odd place beneath the keyboard so as to make room above the keyboard for a sheet-music stand. Some controls have bizarre names like Bender, Traveler and Expand for the auto-bend, filter and envelope, respectively.

 MiniKorg-700 Image

MiniKorg-700

It has three ring modulators for some strange sounds and noises. Sometimes a decent bass sound for techno music can be achieved using the MiniKorg's hi-pass and low-pass filters. The two oscillators can be de-tuned and they offer triangle, sawtooth and square waveforms. There are some strange analog effects built-in as well such as portamento, a rudimentary repeat-delay, auto-bend (bender), vibrato and Chorus and Noise waveforms.

This limited and quirky little synth is a nice collectors item but rarely seen or used anymore. It has relatively no performance controls like pitch/mod, but for ancient analog technology, this synth is quite stable and reliable. It is still quite capable of generating a very analog bass sound, thud, thump, growl or squeal. The wood side-panels and large primary colored knobs and sliders are a sure sign of Vintage status. It has been used by The Cure, ComaTeens, Kitaro, Human League, N-Trance, Vangelis, the Normal, Stevie Wonder, The Cars and Paul Hardcastle.

70 Visitor comments
Justin Havu
April 13, 2012 @ 11:52 am
Sold in the US by Unicord under the Univox name, and was given the model number K2 (the MiniKorg 700 was the K1.)
donsynthy
April 3, 2012 @ 2:04 am
an absolute classic analog synth. If you have tried or own one of these you know what I'm talking about! it has a very phat buzzy organic sound. rock solid tuning and it just breathes disco, electro funk and techno. one of my favourite synths ever.
Chris
March 5, 2012 @ 10:35 am
I have a 700 for sale if any one is still looking? I've had it around 12 years but mostly been carting it around for the last 6 and it now doesn't want to switch on. Not entirely sure why as worked fine beforehand. It also now has one broken key. I no longer use or need it so thought someone might find it useful here as I've seen a few requests. Mail me at chrisatkombine.co.uk
henrik
December 22, 2011 @ 4:01 pm
Rex the Dogs first single consist entirely of the MiniKorg700s. Are we witnessing a renaissance for this magic synth? He uses the Minikorg as his main synth and it´s quite amazing what he gets out of it,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYHFR7pKleU
Henrik
December 19, 2011 @ 5:35 pm
Steve D'Agostino used the 700 recently while playing with John Foxx. Much good, analogue gear from the event on this video, where they present them all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGfQzFIZabk
 
Post Comment!
VSE Rating

Humdrum

User Rating

Rated 4 (258 Votes)

  • Demos & Media
  • YouTube Thumbnail
    Video 1
    - MINIKORG KORG 700S Analog Synthesizer 1974 | HQ DEMO | Mini Korg

    Audio Clip 1 - A full pallette of sample hits of various patches from the MiniKorg synth.

    Manual - Download the original owner's manual from SoundProgramming.net.

  • Specifications
  • Polyphony - Monophonic
  • Oscillators - 2 VCOs (sawtooth triangle, square)
  • LFO - Yes
  • Effects - 3 Ring modulators, Portamento, auto-bender, Vibrato, Repeat, Chorus, Noise
  • Filter - High-pass and Low-pass filters
  • Keyboard - 37 keys
  • Memory - None
  • Control - None
  • Date Produced - 1974

Errors or Corrections? Send them here.