MINI SHOOTOUT: Akai Miniak vs. Microkorg XL

[percussion boy]

I spent a bunch of time with these two little synths and their manuals. Thought it might be interesting to pass on my impressions. See what you think.

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AKAI MINIAK

Overview: The Miniak is a kind of hardware update of the Alesis Micron --same software synth inside the case, apparently, but the new shell addresses some of the Mic's more egregious sins. The red-and-white Lego look has been replaced by a subtler black color scheme. The controllers are now three wheels (pitch and two mod wheels) plus the usual three knobs and pedal inputs. The audio output is 24 bit and sounds very clean. The keyboard shortcuts for editing functions are now marked on the case so you don't forget 'em. Unfortunately, the Miniak is not ready for the 21st century at all; no usb port or computer-based editor. There is a nice midi-based phrase sampler and drum machine, so it's fairly easy to max out the 8 voice polyphony. As with the XL, there is a dynamic gooseneck mic for vocoding.

Sound: Although the presets and marketing position the Ak as an analog-style synth, it's really more of a good little digital synth; a slightly cleaner, thinner, and much more elaborate version of old '80s minis like the Yamaha dx100 or the Casio CZ101. There are many extra programming options which are actually useful (linear and exponential FM, sync, 3 oscillators, 2 self-oscillating filters with many choices, waveshaper, ring modulation, tracking generator, 3 envelopes, modulation matrix, drive/amp simulation, and 2 basic effects including reverb). You will probably not get a truly thick and creamy analog pad out of this thing, but it can fake that stuff and does digital sounds (organ, electric piano, bass) pretty well. Since the phrase sequencer also records modulation wheel moves, you might be able to create elaborate evolving sounds by making a sequence of a single long note, with modulation changes.


Pros:
- Very fun to program, if you like synth programming. Has its own sound, which could be a nice alternative to your other synths.
- It's a great groove sketchpad. The phrase sequencer is high-resolution and easy to use. You can set up a "drum set" of different sounds easily. It's also easy to build up a multi setup with several different sequences and sounds.
- The build of the case, keyboard and wheels feels very solid. At this size and weight, You could easily take it on a gig as a second instrument.
- Three octaves of full-size keys and three full-size wheels.

Cons:
- Some people tire of the Micron sound. It tries to be analog but isn't, quite.
- Case is compact but slightly too long for some airport carry-on limits.
- Not a "do-it-all" synth, since it's not sample-based at all; You wouldn't use it for piano or horn section stuff.
- No eq in the effects section. EQ can cover a multitude of sins (see below).


MICROKORG XL

Overview: This is a ground-up redesign of the original Microkorg. Gone is the world's nastiest-feeling keyboard.
Gone is the old synth engine and sound (which some people like, actually, although I always found it somewhat plastic).

Still with us are the tiny keys in the tiny shell, the analog-style programming, the arpeggiator, and the gooseneck mic for vocoding. There is also a much-improved velocity-sensitive keyboard with a light action, and a new digital sound engine that includes fake analog stuff and a few samples, including piano.

Sound: There's something dusty about the XL's sound, no matter how you tweak it. It's not clear, like the Miniak, but it's also not rich like an analog synth, or aggressively cutting like some other synths. I found this irritating but you might like it. There's enough of everything except drums to sketchpad songs with. Some of the good sounds are built up from the XL's waves, like the ARP Odyssey bass imitation, while others depend on the samples. The samples are not great and sound as dusty as everything else, but they are usable. The effects section lacks reverb but includes a very powerful digital eq; for example, bass presets are sometimes boosted as much as 15 db in the low end and it helps.


Pros:
- Other than drums, you have all your instrument "colors" for sketching out a song.
- Very portable -- should meet carry-on requirements.
- The mini-keys have a good feel (though light) and velocity response.
- The XL would make a decent laptop controller (2 wheels, octave buttons, 3 octave keyboard). I could not get it to work with the usb port but it was fine with a usb MIDI interface. There is really nothing else this small and powerful out there as a lightweight controller, including the Microsampler (which lacks wheels, octave buttons, velocity curves, etc.).
- There is a computer editor, so you're not stuck with the awful programming process on the synth itself.

Cons:
- Mini-keys, if you don't like 'em.
- The two big knobs for sound selection feel like they could get knocked off in transit. The general build quality does not seem real solid, very plastic.
- Although there is a full-blown programmable synth in here, this might be a frustrating first synth since it doesn't yield much that sounds great. The original Microkorg might actually be better on this level, even though it sounds kind of cartoonish.
- No reverb.
- Very limited arpeggiator, with no other sequencing options.


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That's it.

fwiw, I initially bought the XL, then ended up swapping it for the Miniak. It's not perfect but I keep going back to it.

Hope this is helpful.

[calaverasgrandes]

FWIW Akai america and Alesis are the same company, Numark.
owned by Jack O?Donnell. So its not weird to see alesis/akai crossbreeding.

And if anyone at akailesismark reads this, could you re-release that cute little drum machine akai made, the X something. Or put those sounds in a new box with some alesis sounds.

[percussion boy]

Yeah, it's all the same company at this point, I guess.

The more I play with the Miniak, the more I wonder if that whole synth family, starting with the Ion, originated as some kind of computer model in the designing of the Andromeda, Alesis' big ol' "real" analog. The Ak exhibits the same loving attention to programming details (e.g., user-selectable slopes for every envelope stage), and the same weird "high maintenance" personality that people have described for the Andy: it will give you good sounds, but it won't give you good sounds *easily*.

It's a great little synth, I hope it sells and that people take time to push beyond the presets, it will go there. I'm even starting to get more big n dirty analogish pads out of it -- you can use the second filter as a sub-oscillator by cranking the resonance and tracking the keyboard, and there is also a nice natural distortion if the sum of the various sound sources overdrives the post-filter mixer.

The bigger issue, and I am probably talking to myself here, is that synth programming is no longer of any interest to anyone. Too bad, if so.

[calaverasgrandes]

The bigger issue, and I am probably talking to myself here, is that synth programming is no longer of any interest to anyone. Too bad, if so.

it is true that most synths I hear in music are the same clched sounds over and over again.
Though just a few days ago I found an editor librarian that some guy in france wrote specifically for orphaned gear that has no dedicated app (or not one that runs on anything approaching a recent computer, Ataris dont count)
His app, unisynth, works with DX100/DX27 synths (of which I have one) as well as Korg DW6000/8000's. He says he plans on adding the SCI 6 track as well as the motu mixer 7 and few other odd peices of gear.
The whole pedal craze seems to have sparked a resurgence in modular analog as well. And there is also that for the price of a miniak, Ion or Microkorg I could pick up an off brand vintage synth likea crumar or realistic MG-1

[JohnDavisNYC]

i might need to check out the Miniak... i have heard great things about the alesis line from another friend of mine who is a synth nerd....

i have some cool synths, and got WAY into synth programming a while back... i need a cool synth to get me back into it.

john

[percussion boy]

The bigger issue, and I am probably talking to myself here, is that synth programming is no longer of any interest to anyone. Too bad, if so.

it is true that most synths I hear in music are the same clched sounds over and over again.
Though just a few days ago I found an editor librarian that some guy in france wrote specifically for orphaned gear that has no dedicated app (or not one that runs on anything approaching a recent computer, Ataris dont count)
His app, unisynth, works with DX100/DX27 synths (of which I have one) as well as Korg DW6000/8000's. He says he plans on adding the SCI 6 track as well as the motu mixer 7 and few other odd peices of gear.
The whole pedal craze seems to have sparked a resurgence in modular analog as well. And there is also that for the price of a miniak, Ion or Microkorg I could pick up an off brand vintage synth likea crumar or realistic MG-1

Interesting. Unisynth has a good reputation, if I remember right. Any of the computer editors that have been around for a long time still grandfather in a lot of extinct equipment.

My issue is, a lot of my orphans are getting too old for the orphanage, and finding parts and a trustworthy tech to fix them has become a huge pain in the ass. I would never have bought the Miniak if my cz101 could be fixed, or if I could get the AC together for my dx100. So far the ax80, tx802 and mks70 are alive, so they'll still get used.

Gotta say the Ak is more fun to program, if less "analogish," than some of the more affordable dinosaurs. Depends what you like. I used to have a Six trak and it had some nice sounds but I was always bumping my head on its limitations -- one oscillator per voice, etc..

Calaveras -- if you know a good Bay Area tech for old synths, can you PM me? Thanks . . .

Toaster -- fool with the ak and see what you think, it's not a moog but it's fun and seems musical.

[kslight]

To each their own...but I think that most modern synths that you are likely to find at Guitar Center are really too preset-intensive for my interests. Even the really decent digital synths like Nords... I feel extremely restricted on something like a Microkorg...both because of the keyboard size and because of its relative lack of programmability. Maybe I'm not the target market, but for the money I wish they gave you more control. I really like programming my Nord Modulars (I use one on my pedal board as a guitar processor!), except for the fact that I have to program them on my computer... If I could turn back time I probably wouldn't have bought my Nord G2, for this simple fact...I want more hands-on control. And now Clavia doesn't even support it. My old bandmate had a Nord Wave and it was sorta cool...but not $2000 cool for sure...just a glorified sampler, which is one of those synth functions that I think VST instruments actually do right, so why spend so much for less functionality... And he never could figure out how to program it and use the librarian...I always had to program for him. He'd just end up taking some preset and tweaking it... *sigh*

For awhile Moog had a Minimoog Voyager "Old School" that had no memory/MIDI/etc and was at a somewhat reduced price (still over $2k...) and if I had money burning a hole in my pocket for a good analog synth that's where it'd go. That to me is the "right" idea to approach a synth..

[calaverasgrandes]

this is why my next project is to start buiilding a modular from scratch. The big price hurdle is the frac rack and power supply. After that its all pretty affordable when taken in small bites. And I just got a brother labeler!

[percussion boy]

Wow, I don't have the modular money you guys have . .

Just scored the Arturia virtual Moog Modular, it's pretty gorgeous for a software synth. Found a moog modular textbook from the 60s in the SF library and photocopied all 200 pages of it.

But yeah, hardware synths tend to be hardwired. With the Miniak, its few extra routings actually are real helpful, e.g., being able to add a prefilter source to the postfilter mix. Unfortunately, you can't use the audio oscilators for modulating other stuff (except the FM options, which are fairly generous). Haven't tried the tracking generator yet but it seems cool, rewrite the response curve of a modulation source from scratch.

[calaverasgrandes]

Wow, I don't have the modular money you guys have . . .

money?
The Paia modulae kits run about a $100 for each. Sure a fully kitted out synth will be over a grand, but you can start off with just a VCO, VCF and a power supply. the Fatman by Paia runs a little over $250 if you include the cost of their case.
there are others as well though MOTM stopped offering kits recently.

[percussion boy]

cool.