# Korg Prologue



## chillbot (Mar 31, 2018)

I was going to put “review” in the thread title but then I realized I’ve never actually “reviewed” anything and wouldn’t know where to start. But if anyone had any specific questions about this synth I could try to answer them.

My review In summary:

- Looks pretty
- Has cool sounds
- Sits on organ well
- Is black

Couple other things of note:

I got the 61-key 16-voice version. Serial #000059. Was hoping for a lower number just for fun, because Sweetwater says I got the first one they received. Oh well.

Uses a standard power cord and an internal power supply instead of the old wall warts that all my previous Korgs had. Which is fantastic for me because I just swapped the Prologue out for the Prophet, and moved the Prophet into the assistant studio (I found myself using it the least). So now all four of my synth toys in the living room can be easily interchanged without dealing with any cabling (Matrixbrute, Moog Voyager, Prophet, and Prologue).

The keyboard is very smooth and silky for a non-weighted synth keyboard. I didn’t buy it for the keyboard but I really like it. Feels more like an old organ keyboard than the cheap plastic feel of the Voyager and Matrixbrute.

Though the buttons feel very cheap and plastic. Guess they made up for it there. The display is kind of cool but annoying to not see the preset displayed, you only see it briefly when you're changing presets. Maybe there is a way to change this. Otherwise you get a dancing waveform. Kind of neat but not sure of the point.

The manual comes with a list of presets, which is a big plus for me. (I have a lot of synths and it’s surprising how many don’t list this info.) I have INS files in Sonar for every synth I own to select patches… pretty sure no one has made one yet for the Prologue so I made my own. If anyone ever stumbles across this thread looking for an INS file for the Prologue send me a PM I have one. There’s 250 presets and another 250 empty slots for making your own.

BUT… grrr… why no printed manual?? Near the top of the list of chill bot’s pet peeves. I hate that. Yes, there are online printing services and I already uploaded the PDF to a site that will print it and bind it and ship it to me. But it cost me an extra 25 bucks. And until it shows up, I don’t have a computer near the keyboard so I can’t read the manual at the same time as fiddling with the keyboard. No I don’t have a laptop.

The presets are fantastic so far. I will maybe post more when I have a chance to go through all of them and get the manual in a week or so. I guess I can print out the manual a few pages at a time for the pertinent stuff. Still aggravating though.


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## muziksculp (Mar 31, 2018)

Hi chillbot,

Congratulations on your new Korg Prologue. 16 Voice Synth !

It looks very sharp, I might be ordering a Korg Minilogue 4 voice Synth in the near future, I kind of like the sonic character of the Minilogue more than the Prologue in demos. But that's just my taste. I'm sure you will have lot of fun using, and integrating the Prologue in your musical productions.

Have fun with your Prologue, It looks very cool sitting on top of that organ.

Cheers,
Muziksculp


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## mac (Mar 31, 2018)

Nice! I've been on the fence about ordering one since the reveal. Decided to wait on some real world opinions, even though it seems cool as hell in all the promo vids. How does a simple saw patch sound compared to the matrixbrute?

How do the digital (wavetable?) sounds, er, sound?


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## chillbot (Mar 31, 2018)

mac said:


> How do the digital (wavetable?) sounds, er, sound?


It is the "warmest" sounding synth of anything I have. I've been going through the presets and they are very nice, everything sounds super "warm" and "round" and "organic". Compared to the Matrixbrute which is more aggressive-sounding and the Voyager which is more simplistic and with less evolved sounds. The pads and presets have a ton more motion and movement than I expected, probably partly due to the onboard FX. I know all these words aren't really helping (doing my best to describe the feel) but I'm very happy with it so far. It's the kind of synth that I wish I could score Blade Runner with, so perfect for that sound. Wish I had more time right now, I haven't begun to try to create any sounds with it and it would be fun to throw together a demo track to feature it. But I know if I start working on a demo I will want it to be smoking and I'll waste a day I don't have at the moment. Maybe in a week or so...

Only complaint so far is only about a dozen presets use the arpeggiator, which is really cool... they could have done a bit more with that.


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## gsilbers (Mar 31, 2018)

when i 1st saw the release info my only issue with it was that it only has one LFO.


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## storyteller (Mar 31, 2018)

Unrelated: your mod wheel and pitch bend look like holograms in the 2nd photo. Right on space man!


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## synthpunk (Apr 1, 2018)

Nice, first first one in LA I presume.

Takes the place of the Prophet 08 ? 

I like the Prophet 12 as well. HGW main synth on The Martian.




storyteller said:


> Unrelated: your mod wheel and pitch bend look like holograms in the 2nd photo. Right on space man!


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## Piano Pete (Apr 1, 2018)

I had messed with one at NAMM and thought it was pretty silky smooth. Out of curiosity, with your blade runner comment, have you checked out the Deckard's Dream?


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## chillbot (Apr 1, 2018)

Piano Pete said:


> Out of curiosity, with your blade runner comment, have you checked out the Deckard's Dream?


I've checked it out? It looks crazy pricey for what it is. And it's still in pre-production or no? What am I missing?


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## Piano Pete (Apr 1, 2018)

I was just asking if you had looked into it at all. That was literally it.


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