I've been looking into getting some hardware synths (that aren't the monotron or its big brother.) I stumbled across a used ms2000 used in a local music shop, and I was wondering if anyone here had any experience with one.
So yeah, should I spring? It's 150 bucks, and it works fine, as far as the owner tells me. I'll admit, I'm considering purely for the fact that it has a ton of knobs on the front, and I'm a sucker for knobs and sliders.
Offline
my mom's basement
Offline
shanghai
worth it. It has a pretty gnarly metallic sound, its quite raw sounding, some people slag it off for this - but its capable of some warmth, nice pads for sure. Its always funny how synths get 'popular' and everyone wants a certain one and bashes on others......150 is a steal. I was looking at picking one up myself. Im baffled at people paying like 800 quid for a Monophonic roland synth, or a Juno - Its mental the prices on Ebay and shit.....i always dreamt of having a Juno - but not for that money, its sounds are so limited. Infact you can buy the way 'uncooler' and less sought after JX3P which is basically a 2osc Juno for like 300 quid. Same filters, but the programming is menu's and not knobs - and because its ugly as shit its not popular yet. Im picking one up next week for 300 and im well chuffed - totally worth it. Dont know what im talking about now. I like synth ranting : ) ....I just got back from Beijing to Shanghai from a show - I think ive been up for 36 hours now and my body is 80% vodka redbull and 20% ganja haha. In conclusion - BUY THE SYNTH SIR
Offline
IL, US
haha, yeah.. to elaborate... its a nice sounding virtual analog synth, i had one for about 6 years... has some nice built in distortion, same engine as the OG microkorg with a way better control interface (knobs everywhere).. on the chance it doesnt suit you personally, sell it at a profit... last i saw, even broken for parts ms2000's went for more than $150... sold my ms2000b for over $600
Offline
ohgodno, Indiana
Shit only $150, id jump on it before someone else does...First thing /artist that comes to mind that mainly uses this is HORSE The Band.
Messed around on one a few times, VERY fun.
EDIT: Last one i looked into buying guy was trying to charge $300 + shipping + have me mod a DMG
Last edited by b4by f4c3 (Mar 24, 2013 11:09 am)
Offline
hardcore, Australia
b4by f4c3 wrote:
First thing /artist that comes to mind that mainly uses this is HORSE the band
Is this official?
In summary though, buy that shit. Vocode errthang.
Offline
Tokyo, Japan
Also it is a GREAT machine to learn subtractive synthesis on. Very very clearly laid out routing, knobs for almost everything. I think it is somewhere between a Microkorg and a Radius? Kevin can probably confirm. The only thing I didnt like about it is the Xbox hugeness.
Offline
IL, US
some extra info from one of my favorite sites:
"This beauty from Korg combines state of the art analog physical modeling synth sounds with a very vintage Korg appearance. Yes, this sounds as good as it looks! Remember Korg's MS-series (the MS-10, MS-20 and MS-50)? That's right, the MS or MonoSynth series are some of Korg's most sought after analog synths. They were some of the only compact Patchable monosynths of their time, and had a great Korg sound too. While the MS2000 is somewhat "hard-wired", it offers just as much and more flexibility while maintaining a straight forward and hands-on approach towards old-fashioned editing via dedicated knobs, buttons and flashy lights. In place of actual patch cables and input jacks, the MS2000 features a cool "Virtual Patch" mode in which signal can be routed to various sections of the synth (ie: LFO, Filter or Keyboard Velocity) using the LCD display and paging through various screens.
The MS2000 actually comes up against the similar Roland JP-8000 and Novation SuperNova & Nova synths. Despite its amazing look, the MS2000 has some surprising limitations. It has only 4-voice polyphony so you won't be creating very lush or complex pads and sounds with it. In spite of this, its sound is clean, crisp and very flexible. It can easily conjure up beefy basslines, sub-basses, wonderful sweeping leads, pads and hits. Classic features include a 6 pattern arpeggiator, a very flexible LFO with sample and hold and even vintage wood side-panels and printed block diagrams and programming data on the face.
Programming seems just about as classic as its look. The two oscillators offer up to eight waveforms plus noise. A great self-oscillating filter section provides 12dB high and band pass filtering and switchable 12 or 24dB low pass filtering. A typical set of Envelopes modulate the filter and amplifier. Extensive modulation is provided by the two LFOs. A 16-band Vocoder section (a la VC-10) is also on-board and it does an excellent job! There are also on-board effects which include chorus, flange, phaser, delay, distortion and EQ. It also features a "Modulation Sequence" mode which is a 16-step pattern or sequence you create in either step- or real-time and any tweaking or editing can also be recorded into the pattern to add movement to it. The MS2000 is a very well designed and flexible synth with a look and functionality that not only honors but transcends its classic predecessors. It is used by BT, Depeche Mode, Apollo 440, The Crystal Method, Placebo, the Faint, Royksopp, Adrian Belew, Jean-Jacques Perrey, Saga, Klaus Schulze, Rick Wakeman, Yes, Yesterdays, Keith Emerson and Snoop Dogg."
http://www.vintagesynth.com/korg/ms2000.php
basically only got rid of mine because i got a dsi mopho and space is tight in my apartment, so the bulky ms2000b had to go
Offline
Gosford, Australia
Downstate wrote:
Infact you can buy the way 'uncooler' and less sought after JX3P which is basically a 2osc Juno for like 300 quid.
OT, but 300 british pounds should get you a mint JX3P with it's original box and documentation. it's cheaper than the PG200 programmer for it haha
okay maybe not cheaper but surely easier to find on the market?
mine has a couple of dead keys and the stock programmer fader doesn't work, i'd be lucky to get 150AUD for it :v
Last edited by Victory Road (Mar 24, 2013 12:39 pm)
Offline
Joliette, QC, Canada
I have a MS2000r at home, Really love this synth !!!
150$ OMG...Get it NAO !!! 
Offline
Montreal, Canada
For the price, it's not even a question. Buy it. It's a cool synth. Relatively standard first-gen-sounding virtual-analog substractive synth with a few cool extras like the semi-modular-is-kinda section. Don't expect a Moog and you'll be fine.
Offline
my mom's basement
I did buy and, and spent the past day or so mucking around with it. The presets suck vast amounts of ass, but I didn't buy it for presets.
It's got a nice workflow to it, so creating good sounds is a walk in the park. It's got a nice sort of crunch to it, the sounds really cut through a mix.
I've also gotten some decent pads, though it has only 4 voices, so they aren't quite as lush as other virtual analogs pads.
Offline
shanghai
Victory Road wrote:
Downstate wrote:Infact you can buy the way 'uncooler' and less sought after JX3P which is basically a 2osc Juno for like 300 quid.
OT, but 300 british pounds should get you a mint JX3P with it's original box and documentation. it's cheaper than the PG200 programmer for it haha
okay maybe not cheaper but surely easier to find on the market?
mine has a couple of dead keys and the stock programmer fader doesn't work, i'd be lucky to get 150AUD for it :v
yeah i figure 300 is the bar for one. Mostly around 200 quid on the ebay........but i can only find one in China. I mean ONE ! thing is no-one had money here in the 80's, if you find anything at all of VINTAGE-NESS the chinese dudes will tell you its a grand regardless of what it is. An example is like an SH 201, something that 2 or 300 tops on ebay - is listed at like 5 or 6000rmb (5-600 quid). Same for anything really that might be affordable for me like a JP8000 - they're double here almost its mental prices because they are so scarce.
So yeah i will get the JX3P for 280 quid - not bad, i figure if i get a cheaper one in the uk i have to fork out bucks for getting it on the plane and bucks for a flight case too.
Did you put a midi kit in yours ? Im thinking with the midi kit it will be rad for that price. I dont think i need the programmer thing thats like more than the synth haha, menu work dont bother me much as i grew up using soft synths anyhow, i mean knobs are nice - but not for more than the synth haha
Offline
Gosford, Australia
na no midi kit, i think they've been discontinued (the one i've looked at had been) and i'm a bit rubbish at electronics (it's one thing to fuck up a dime-a-dozen gameboy, but if i killed my jx i'd probably weep a little haha)
Offline
shanghai
seems theres a new batch coming in spring this year.....have a wee look.