Due to its semi-modular concept and integrated patchfield, the MS-20\u00a0is also\u00a0known as “the poor man’s ARP 2600”.<\/p>\n “A budget classic – the poor man’s ARP 2600. Probably a good half of the facilities – at a quarter of the price – although that’s starting to creep up to a third of the price as the MS-20’a popularity grows rapidly.”<\/em><\/p>\n (Peter Forrest: The A-Z Of Analogue Synthesisers<\/em>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n Let’s start by comparing these two instruments. While sound programming and patching, in particular, is done quite easily on the ARP 2600 (thanks to its clear layout and logical overall concept), musicians trying to do the same on the MS-20 could get pretty desperate …<\/p>\n Chaos dominates the MS-20 patchbay, which is surely the most confusing patchbay on a commercially-produced market synthesizer. Am I exaggerating? Maybe. But I think it’s impossible to combine, while playing, the MS-20 pre-patched signal and the puzzling patch area in realtime. Simple routine-modulations might work, but don’t try patching a dozen cables …<\/p>\n So “poor man” could also mean “poor musician” …!<\/p>\n “A<\/span> maximum of features at a very low price”…<\/em> That might have been Korg’s philosophy when constructing the dual-oscillator MS-20 synthesizer. Maybe it didn’t mutate into an ARP 2600, but it is a sort of a cut-down version of the gorgeous PS-3100. Some people even say its predecessor is the small Korg 770. My ears tell me the MS-20 comes closer to a PS-3100 than to a 770 …<\/p>\n![\"Korg](\"https:\/\/greatsynthesizers.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/Korg-MS20-Synthesizer-01.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nConcept of the “Small ARP 2600”<\/h2>\n