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Is microStation a synth or a sequencer? It's both!

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Those old enough to remember the arrival of Korg's legendary M1 will know that the 'Workstation' tag it gave birth to is an accolade Korg only applies to keyboards which combine synthesis and sequencing - in other words, those instruments they consider a one-stop shop for track creation.

Fast forward to the here and now and Korg has developed a second series of instruments, the 'micro' range, which includes the microKorg and microKorg XL synths/vocoders and the microSampler, all of which combine serious sound-making potential with ease of use and a fun factor.

Combine the two concepts and you end up with something pretty exciting - an instrument capable of producing tracks and editing sounds 'internally', while also offering immediacy and an intuitive approach without bogging the user down in endless menus. Enter the microStation - Korg's latest addition to both its workstation and micro ranges, which promises to do all of the above and more besides.

Overview

Appearance-wise, the microStation has a foot more firmly planted in the micro camp than it does in that of its workstation big brothers. It's a slimline, lightweight instrument, featuring 61 mini keys and a remarkably shallow depth - about the same as the length of a DVD case.

The top surface features a central two-line LCD display in the middle, with a sound 'ladder' to the left to display which category of sound you're currently playing, with the internal sequencer transport buttons below. To the right, a series of small grey buttons and corresponding LEDs keep you in touch with selected timbres, while to the left, a matrix of three rows of four parameters can be manipulated in real-time by four prominent rotary dials, with a selection button to jump from one row to the next to their left.

A pitch-bend/modulation joystick lies in the top-left-hand corner while, round the back, you'll find stereo outputs, MIDI I/O, a USB connector for instant plug-and-play MIDI transmission to your DAW and an SD card slot for data load/save.

All in all, the compact nature of the instrument is both a success and a frustration - there's a lot packed into a slender space to complement the other micro products, but we're yet to find a keyboard player who likes mini keys. If there had to be a compromise here, we'd have preferred an octave fewer notes in favour of full-size keys but, as gripes go, it's by no means a deal-breaker.

Sounds

As previously mentioned, sounds are organised into nine categories, from synths to basses to leads to drums and so on. These all employ Korg's EDS-i sound engine and there are 480 presets in total awaiting you when you switch on, with room for 512 sounds in total.