FM | REVIEWS
Korg Modwave £699
Korg’s latest digital revival is a wavetable synth loosely inspired by the DW-8000. Si Truss rides the wave
CONTACT WHO: Korg WEB: korg.comKEY FEATURES Dual-layer, 32-voice digital wavetable/sample synth. Feature 3-octave keyboard, Kaoss Physics modulator, Motion Sequencing 2.0 sequencer, arpeggiator and digital effects
THE PROS & CONS
+ Deep sound engine with copious options for manipulating and morphing wavetables
Filters and effects sound great
Plenty of sample content and excellent presets
- Kaoss Physics is fun, but gimmicky
Not quite as unique as the Wavestate or Opsix
Modwave is the third of Korg’s recent line of digital synths, kicked off in early 2020 with Wavestate and expanded a few months later by Opsix. The Modwave follows a similar blueprint to those two; again, an all-digital instrument that wears its DSP-power on its sleeve.
All three synths present a modernised take on some of the synthesis concepts pioneered in the ’80s and ’90s. With the Wavestate, that involved updating the wave sequencing synthesis of Korg’s own Wavestation, while Opsix expanded on the FM format popularised by Yamaha’s DX series. For Modwave the focus is on wavetable synthesis.
The design is, at least according to Korg, loosely based on the company’s cult classic DW-8000, although aside from the broad concept and some DW waveforms there’s not that much to link the two. It’s to Modwave’s credit that it offers so many updates to the format that it feels no more like a clone of the DW-8000 than it does any other wavetable synth.
The hardware itself is similar to its siblings. As with those, Modwave is remarkably light for its size. Despite this, though – and the abundance of plastic in the build – it’s sturdy and neither looks nor feels cheap.