Korg is announcing a new synthesizer inspired by their legendary Mono/Poly: the Multi/Poly Analog Modeling Synthesizer. Breathing new life into old, celebrated analog designs with modern digital power and flexibility, the Multi/Poly is Korg’s first new instrument to use their next-generation analog modeling technology.
The Multi/Poly is like a polyphonic modular system in a single compact, hands-on package, providing players with a limitless playground. Create hardware mashups with east coast, west coast, and wavetable oscillators, along with a wide selection of newly modeled filters. Make your patches come alive with various models of different envelopes, VCAs, and portamento circuits. Virtual voice cards create organic timbral variation.
Original Mono/Poly features are here, such as its four stacked oscillators. You also get the unique, experimental Mono/Poly functions like the flexible x-mod (for ring modulation tones), sync routing (for FM-like sounds), and round-robin oscillator triggering. Each virtual voice card mimics the real voice cards from the original synth, down to variations in the oscillator, filter, envelope, LFO, and portamento circuits. This produces naturally rich timbres, and you can dial in as much or as little variation as you want for each sound. You can even control pitch drift for oscillators, emulating the way old analog oscillators tended to drift in pitch over time.
The Multi/Poly includes envelope curve presets for the Mono/Poly, MS-20, ARP Odyssey, and more. The Multi/Poly even features modeled VCA responses from these vintage synths, plus the Prophet 5 and a linear option, to capture the way that a VCA responds differently to different voltages, thus changing the amp character significantly. The synth comes with six different portamento models to choose from, matching a wide range of vintage synth portamento styles.
Now let’s take a detailed look at the synth architecture. The Multi/Poly offers an impressive four oscillators per voice (60 voices total polyphony) for thick, complex tones. Each oscillator can use Classic, Digital, or Waveshaper types. Classic provides traditional analog oscillators with high fidelity and thickness. 11 options include both single and dual waveforms (for modeling synths generate multiple simultaneous waveforms). You can control pulse width, triangle lean, dual-waveform blend, and more.
Digital oscillators play wavetables with up to 64 steps, like vintage hybrid synths and modern eurorack modules. You get 200 factory wavetables and using the Editor/Librarian software for macOS and Windows, you can import your own wavetables or convert wavetables from popular software formats. 30+ modifiers change the way tables are loaded for subtle to extreme changes in timbre, plus eight Morph types like Stretch, Flip, and Mirror.
With Waveshaper, you can engage a west coast approach to synthesis, using a shaper table to process simple sine or triangle waveforms. Modulating gain into the shaper creates glassy, dynamic harmonics. The Berkley shaper is great for traditional wavefolder timbres, or you can select from 90 alternative shaper types. Pulse-width modulation adds an extra dimension of rich motion.
Expanding on the original Mono/Poly’s oscillator sync and x-mod functions, the Multi/Poly offers timbres otherwise possible only on large modular setups. You can create unique sounds with oscillators 2, 3, and 4 following with oscillator 1 for sync, x-mod, or both. Alternatively, you can split either function into oscillator pairs with separate control.
The Multi/Poly sports a fantastic suite of vintage filters, including five different 4-pole self-resonating models. The M/Poly model delivers the strong, sweet sound of the classic Korg Mono/Poly. Mini offer the ladder filter from a beloved American mono synth. Pro is from the first programmable polyphonic synth. Ladder HP and BP are 4-pole self-resonating high-pass and band-pass filters respectively. You also get the MS-20 LP and HP, 12 dB per octave Korg 35 filters, and the SE M/P 2-pole filter with continuous sweeping between lowpass, band reject, and highpass, plus a separate band-pass mode. Or blend your filters together in a modulation-friendly Frankenstein’s monster with the unique Multi Filter. You can also use any two filters simultaneously in series or parallel.
Programs are built starting with four oscillators, a noise generator, ring mod, sync, and x-mod. These can then be processed through two independent filters and modulated with four loopable DAHDSR envelopes, five LFOs, and six Mod Processors. You can add complex per-voice motion with Motion Sequencing 2.0 and polish with three studio-quality FX inserts.
All of that creates just one Program (timbre) which can then be layered for up to four Programs in a Performance. Switch between Programs round-robin style using the Layer Rotate function, which can be triggered from a single key press or driven via the arpeggiator. With Kaoss Physics, you can create fluid, evolving modulation from simple, intuitive gestures on the X/Y pad. Grab the four Mod knobs for hands-on control and put on the finishing touches with two more Mod Processors, master reverb, and EQ.
If all the options feel overwhelming and you just can’t beat that writer’s block, a dedicated front-panel control marked by a dice icon generates new sounds via intelligent randomization. You can randomize the entire sound or just part of it, such as the oscillators, filter, and effects.
Built to play and to last, the Multi/Poly features a new 37-key semi-weighted keyboard that is smooth and expressive and features both velocity and pressure sensitivity. Knobs give just the right amount of resistance for naturally dialing in your sounds. The front panel is built from solid aluminum and the side panels are made from wood, with a distinctive blue-on-black color scheme that evokes the original Mono/Poly and will survive the abuses of touring.
Finally, connections are plentiful. A dedicated stereo headphone output is ideal for private playing or onstage cueing. 5-pin DIN MIDI connectors ensure easy integration with a wide range of MIDI-equipped gear. The USB port is class compliant and offers a pain-free method of slipping your Multi/Poly into your modern computer-based MIDI setup.
For more information about the new Korg Multi/Poly Analog Modeling Synthesizer, including additional features, specs, and highlights, be sure to check out the detailed product page. Or drop us a line below, and we’ll do our best to answer all your comments and questions.
