Korg MS-20 (1978)
First, a note on the name. There is no standalone Korg product officially called the "MS-20 Filter." What the record documents is the filter architecture inside the Korg MS-20 semi-modular synthesizer, launched in 1978 as part of the MS-series alongside the MS-10 monosynth. Both instruments brought aggressive analog synthesis to market at prices that dramatically undercut Moog and ARP.
The MS-20's filter is a dual design - one highpass and one lowpass, connected in series, both with resonance that could be pushed into screaming self-oscillation. The sound is raw and aggressive, completely different from the warm, round Moog sound. The later production revision of the MS-20 used a different filter board and produced less noise. Collectors and players have debated the sonic differences between the two versions ever since. The original, more aggressive filter is the one Korg chose to recreate in its 2013 MS-20 mini reissue. Open the left panel of an MS-20 and you can see whether it has the later filter board installed.
The MS-20 found a following among experimentalists, industrial musicians, and eventually electronic dance music producers.
Known specs of the original MS-20 filter:
- Dual filter: 12dB/oct low-pass and 6dB/oct high-pass, in series
- Resonance capable of self-oscillation
- External signal processor could convert audio (e.g., guitar or mic) into control voltages for filter modulation
- Patch panel on the front allowed extensive modulation routing
No numeric specifications - cutoff ranges, Q values, or noise figures - are documented in the available record. No original price for the 1978 unit survives in these sources either. The MS-20 mini (2013) was priced at $599 and included the original Korg-35 filter design.
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