Korg

Reviews | Korg Montron Duo and Delay
72
feedback around half way, the unit can
even produce a twangy sound similar
to a spring reverb. For such a simple
unit, there’s a surprising range to the
effects which can be created and the
results are excellent.
A quick look inside reveals that the
delay is based around Princeton
Technology Corporation’s cheap
PT2399 echo processor chip. In true
Monotron style it’s not particularly
quiet, with high feedback settings
resulting in a rising swell of white noise
along with the signal, but for a special
effect tool it’s not really a problem.
Plenty of old analogue delay units are
noisy but it didn’t do them any harm. If
you’re looking for clean delays, the
Monotron’s not for you, but you’d be
missing the point. This is meant to be
dirty and nasty. The auxiliary input will
even allow you to add a bit of fi lth to
external signals.
Surprisingly, the one weakness of
the Delay is its fi lter section. The
feedback control feeds the delayed
signal back into the fi lter for extra tone
shaping before it hits the delay circuit
again, but the only adjustment comes
in the form of a cutoff control. Given
that the MS-20-based low-pass fi lter
was the main selling point of the
original Monotron, it’s very surprising to
fi nd that the version included on the
Delay omits the ‘peak’ (resonance)
control. The MS fi lter really comes
alive as the resonance gets cranked up,
turning from a mild-mannered tone
shaping control to a self-oscillating
monster at higher levels.
The only logical reason I can see for
its absence is that the Monotron front
panel and PCB are designed for a
single slider switch and fi ve rotary pots.
> The original Monotron was an
all-rounder. The new models are
specialists. The Duo is the ideal
choice for pitch-perfect notes, but
the Delay is awesome for FX.
> Modders will be pleased to hear
that Korg have once again labelled
the circuit board to make modding
easier. We’d love adjustable
resonance on the Delay and to
modulate fi lter cutoff with VCO2 on the Duo.
> The most fun comes when you
hook the Monotrons up to each
other via the headphone outs and
auxiliary inputs. Our favourite
combination is the Monotron Duo
playing riffs into the original Monotron for LFO-
modulated fi lter effects, then into the Monotron
Delay for a few spacey echoes. Incredible sounds
for such a small setup.
The Good and Great
Here’s what we like and love about
the new Monotrons
impossible to play melodies on with
any degree of tuning accuracy. This
version of the Monotron seems to be
designed specifi cally for FX, with the
analogue-style delay circuit playing a
major role in sculpting the sound.
Delay time is adjustable from a few
milliseconds to around one second.
The feedback control can effectively
bypass the delay at its lowest setting,
but turning it up moves gradually from
tight slap-back echoes to dub-style
spacey, never-ending repeats. With the
delay time at its shortest setting and
When we reviewed Korg’s
Monotribe back in FM240 we
loved the introduction of the
new ribbon modes – narrow,
wide and chromatic – which
affected the response of the
Monotron-derived synth
engine’s tiny keyboard. In
chromatic mode, the Monotribe
quantises your fi nger’s position
on the ribbon to the nearest
note, making it much easier to
play in tune with other
instruments. The Monotron Duo
expands on the idea with Major
and Minor modes, each of
which limits the keyboard to a
basic scale. A small red button
on the back panel toggles
between four modes:
continuous, Minor, Major and
Chromatic. Hooking the Duo up
to a tuner with Chromatic mode
activated, its oscillators track
accurately across the full
keyboard range with only a
couple of cents deviation from
perfect tuning.
Korg tell us that an
auto-tuning circuit is used to
keep keyboard tracking stable
at any temperature. Even
taking into account the fact
that the full keyboard range is
only just over an octave, it
means the device can be used
to play melodies and riffs much
more easily than the fi ddly
original Monotron. You’ll still
have to tune the Duo to your
other gear by holding down a
note and adjusting VCO1 until
you hit the right pitch, but it’s
a small price to pay for
near-perfect intonation. Of
course, continuous ribbon
mode is still available for FX
sweeps and legato styles.
Duo Tuning
ALTERNATIVES
Korg Monotron
£42
The main rival to these
Monotrons is… another
Monotron! The original
unit’s different feature set
makes it more suited to
some uses. We don’t blame
you if you’re tempted to buy
them all.
www.korg.co.uk/monotron
Gakken SX-150
£47
The cute little SX-150 is
still the closest thing on the
market to the Monotron.
We’re big fans but the
self-assembly concept
might put some people off.
www.juno.co.uk
Dub Mekanix Dub
Siren
£100
If you really want the true
dub siren experience, you
need a hand-made special.
Dub Mekanix will build you
a truly authentic analogue
monster and they’ll even
work it into an enclosure of
your choice.
www.dubmekanix.co.uk
FMU249.rev_korg.indd 72 12/22/11 2:04:36 PM