Korg 01/Wpro (1991)

Seventy-six keys, a floppy drive, and the AI2 engine that carried Korg's workstation line past the M1. A big slab of early-'90s digital.

Overview

The Korg 01/Wpro is a synthesizer and digital workstation, released by Korg in 1991 as part of the 01/W series. It is described as the successor to the popular Korg M1. The M1 defined what "music workstation" meant at the turn of the decade, and the 01/W family was Korg's answer to what came next. The Pro is closely related to the 01/WFD, differing primarily in keyboard size, with the same core sound engine and features.

The Pro's most obvious distinction within the family is its 76-note keyboard. The base 01/W is a 61-key instrument. The Pro's extra fifteen keys give enough range for two-handed piano-style playing without stepping up to the 88-weighted-key 01/WproX at the top of the line. For a lot of players that middle ground was exactly right.

Korg's own service documentation fills in what the catalog stubs leave out. The tone generator is listed as 32 voices and 32 oscillators in single mode, or 16 voices and 32 oscillators in double mode, drawing on PCM waveform memory of 80 Mbits. Programs number 200, Combinations another 200. The sequencer holds 10 songs and 100 patterns with a maximum of 48,000 notes across 16 tracks and 16 timbres, using dynamic voice allocation. Two digital multi-effect systems are on board. The floppy drive is a 3.5-inch 2DD unit. It handles Program, Combination, Drum Kit, Global parameters, Sequence data, and MIDI data, plus Standard MIDI Files, which was not a trivial thing in 1991.

The panel carries an LCD of 64 x 240 dots, full dot matrix with backlight. Power consumption is quoted at 20W. The 01/Wpro measures 1266.5 mm wide, 344 mm deep, and 115.5 mm high, and weighs 16.5 kg. That is heavy enough that gigging it is a commitment. The case is metal and plastic.

Key Features

76-Note Keyboard

The base 01/W stops at 61 notes. The 01/Wpro stretches to 76, which is the biggest difference between the Pro and its siblings. Players who came to workstations from a piano background and found 61 keys cramped got a wider span here without the bulk and weight of the 88-key 01/WproX.

AI2 Square Synthesis Engine

The service manual names the tone generation method as AI2 square synthesis, full digital processing. The 01/W family is described in the surviving documentation as based on an improved version of the sound engine used in the M1 and the T3/T2/T1. So the Pro carries the harmonic-content approach Korg had been refining since the M1, with the PCM sample set expanded to 80 Mbits of waveform memory. The exact character of that engine is a matter of taste, and the Archive has no balanced owner comparisons specific to the Pro to lean on. The spec sheet is clear about what is inside.

Built-In 16-Track Sequencer

Korg's catalog copy for the 01/W line calls it one of the first digital workstations to feature a built-in sequencer, and the manual backs that up with a serious implementation: 10 songs, 100 patterns, 16 tracks, 16 timbres, up to 48,000 notes, with dynamic voice allocation. For a player in 1991 who wanted to sketch arrangements without a computer, that was enough to justify the purchase.

Floppy Disk Drive and Card Slots

The 3.5-inch 2DD floppy drive handles Program, Combination, Drum Kit, Global parameters, Sequence data, and MIDI data. It reads and writes Standard MIDI Files, which made the 01/Wpro a bridge between the workstation world and the then-new world of computer sequencing. There is also a PCM card slot for PCM data and a separate PROG/SEQ card slot for programs, combinations, drum kits, global parameters, and sequence data, plus rewritable ROM cards for patch storage.

Dual Digital Multi-Effect Systems

Two digital multi-effect systems are on board, and the manual's editing notes make clear they are not decorative: deactivating effects like chorus and reverb can significantly alter the timbre of the piano sounds already in the instrument. That is worth knowing before deciding the 01/Wpro's pianos are not for you — the effects are part of the sound, and they are editable.

LCD and Joystick Control

The 64 x 240 dot full-matrix backlit LCD is the window into the whole instrument. The joystick assembly, documented in the service manual with its own parts breakdown, is the primary performance control. The Pro's joystick uses a different assembly from the 01/WproX, which matters if you ever need to source parts.

Historical Context

The 01/Wpro arrived in 1991 as part of Korg's 01/W series, positioned as the successor to the M1. The family structure is straightforward. The base 01/W is a 61-key instrument with a built-in 16-track sequencer. The 01R/W is the rackmounted sound module version. The 01/Wpro adds the 76-note keyboard. The 01/WproX tops the line with 88 weighted keys and, per Vintage Synth Explorer, a large wood surface.

One caution for researchers: some catalog pages carry a sentence describing a model as "the successor to the Korg 01/W, featuring an improved sound engine, expanded memory, and a larger LCD display." That sentence appears to describe the 01/WproX rather than the 01/Wpro, and the Archive treats it as ambiguous. The 01/Wpro's own documented lineage is the M1 succession, not an intra-family upgrade from the base 01/W.

Period coverage of the 01/Wpro specifically is thin. A 1992 EQ advertisement (June 1992, p.70) for the 01/W line describes the original 01/W as "the 0 that started it all," with 32 voices, 200 programs, and 200 combinations, and presents the 01/W Pro as starting with all of the sounds of the base model — consistent with the manual's spec sheet for the Pro, which lists the same 32-voice, 200-program, 200-combination figures. Contemporary classified listings in Sound on Sound (January 1996, p.191) show a KORG 01/W in immaculate, never-gigged condition listed at £875 ono, a sense of how the line held value through the mid-'90s.

Collectibility & Value

Pricing on the 01/Wpro is murky. Catalog sites list a street price of 400.00 U.S. Dollars, but that is a current catalog figure, not a dated sale, and the Archive has no confirmed original MSRP. A used-market listing has been recorded at around $652.99 in auction format, and a separate resale listing noted $400.00. The realistic range sits somewhere in the four-to-six-hundred-dollar band, with condition and completeness doing most of the work.

Completeness is the recurring issue. Units are sometimes found without ROM cards or manuals, and the manual runs 224 pages, so a complete example with documentation is worth more than a bare keyboard. Aftermarket support exists for patches, software, and technical information, and there is a known floppy-disk sound library circulating for the 01/W series that covers the FD, Pro, and ProX. Parts are findable. A new rotary potentiometer with center tap for the joystick is listed for the 01W, 01WFD, and 01WPRO at $9.99 plus shipping, and a replacement value slide potentiometer for the 01/Wpro is also available new. Display replacement is a documented service, and a Spanish-language repair video covers changing the display on a 01/Wpro. A dim or dead backlit LCD is the kind of fault that scares off casual buyers. One forum owner reported a 76-key 01/Wpro with the screen backlight out but still easy to read and otherwise in very good condition.

One caution on valuation: an eBay listing at $178 that references the 01/W, 01/WFD, 01/Wpro, 01/WproX, and 01R/W together is a custom multi-model accessory, not a synthesizer. Do not read it as a unit price. There is also a reported fault, an instrument stuck in a piano song regardless of Combi or Program selection, reverting to the original sound after manual selection. The model attribution between the 01/WFD and 01/Wpro is unclear in the source, so treat it as a family-level anecdote rather than a known 01/Wpro failure mode.