Korg Monotron Duo

I already had the Monotron DELAY which is great fun and I've even used it professionally in the studio on several commercial recordings. So I decided to get this one as well.

I must admit I was a bit disappointed. The DELAY was more of an effects device that could be used standalone with good results. This one... not so much.

First of all, this one works better when it's actually PLAYED rather than just making weird noises. But unless you mod it for MIDI it's rather limited. The small ribbon "keyboard" worked great for making effects with the DELAY but not so much for actually playing melodies on this DUO version.

A lot of the mojo of the DELAY was... well, the delay. Remove the delay and it quickly lost it's charm as a standalone device (even though the filter was excellent!). The DUO just doesn't impress me as much as a standalone device. It really needs to be used with other effects to get the best out of it in my opinion. And then it quickly gets less interesting because then you might as well start patching up a bigger and better synth.

The strength of the DELAY was that it was instantly fun and usable, even when used as a standalone device. Just patch it straight into a console or DI and you'll get great sounds. The DUO just isn't very exciting unless it's processed by external effects in my opinion. It's usefulness is also severly limited by the lack of midi connections.

Get the DELAY instead.

The Monotron Duo is a cool little box with plenty of fun sounds in it. Just don't expect too much from it. Adding a second oscillator and an x-mod to the original monotron design provides more cool sounds and possibilities. The filter is the same and sounds very juicy and breaks up really nicely at extreme resonance settings. Plus, you can use the filter to mangle any outside source you plug into it too! This is a real analog synth, so it sounds very alive and a little unpredictable.

I feel that it's a bit of a mix between a toy, and effect box and a real instrument. The filter, the oscillators and the sound are great, but a couple of things prevent me from taking it too seriously. Firstly, the little ribbon keyboard is pretty hard to play if you want to play melodies with it. The second thing is the noisy output, leaving a moderate amount of hiss to everything coming out of it.

I'd describe it as a cool gadget that can add spice to your music, or be fun to just play around with and create all sorts of weird and wonderful sounds. Can't beat the price considering it's fully analog!

I've had this monotron for over a year now and I still use it and it still functions perfectly.

Handling: It takes a while to get used to it, you really have to be a knob twidler so to say. But once you know the controls you can get the most amazing sounds out of it.

Features: I still discover new sounds from it, it is amazingly versatile. I use it in combination with a pedalboard which opens even more options.

Sound: The speaker inside the monotron is decent, not great but decent. It really shines when you plug some speakers in, it's like a new world opening.

Quality: I was a bit scared at first, it's all plastic but after using it for this long it really is quality made. Everything still functions great, not even some scratching when turning knobs, everything still goes smooth.

The monotron is great fun, especially if you're into weird synth sounds.

Batteries included, pop them in and fire this little synth up, you can choose how the ribbon reacts, therimin like sweeps, of chromatic scaling. The ms20 filter is here in all its glory with the ability to pipe external audio through it. But the jewel on this synth is the cross mod section, allowing you to add metallic FM like tones to the signal before slamming it into the ms20 filter. For the more DIY inclined you can pop it open and modify it, all the major circuit points are labelled and there all instruction on the web allowing you to add more control options.

Best enjoyed with a lead patching it into a PA system.