Korg Monotron Delay

GENERAL OVERVIEW
I bought it as an fx unit to integrate with my synth setup, as the title implies this isn't intended to be a serious tool for music production but I personally always find a way to snuck it into serious (paid) projects because of the flavor it adds to sounds.

PROS
-compact and easy to carry around (nice party gimmick too)
-very intuitive and you will build muscle memory fast with it
-entirely plastic but feels quite rugged
-ms 20 filter makes everything you feed it sound fantastic
-the delay circuit sounds veery analog and definitely has a flavor
-the delay can self-resonate giving really interesting tones when coupled with the filter
-the aux input is easily overloaded giving the signal a very nice clipping (clipping a piano and then adding delay sounds fantastic)
-you can circuit bend it if you have the know-how and the unit overall is quite simple to take apart and mod (the internet is full of guides on this)

CONS
-VERY noisy, if you use it on a main mix element you will need to fix it in post
-powered by two AAAs, they need to be swapped regularly (this is why I modded mine to accept a micro-usb cable as a power supply)
-the synth part is useless in a musical setting, good for SFX tho

Overall I really enjoy mine and I would buy it again, it would be a cool gift for a musically incline friend too :)

So I bought this synth back in 2022 to explore music and get back into that hobby and I still have it to this day. Works like a charm and I've dropped it a few times already.

Pros:
- sturdy construction
- suuuuuuuper cheap for what you get
- You get a literal delay pedal inside a toy synth that's less expensive than harley benton pedals
- The sounds this little synth can make be fucking huuuuugggeee
- full control over feedback and time of the delay.
- built in speaker and headphone jack for speakers or headphones (duh)
- formfactor is amazing. Fits inside your back pocket if you'd want to put it there. super easy to bring with you to jams, chills and hangouts as a party trick

cons;
- the ribbon keyboard is not very accurate, but does the job
- batteries rattle inside, fixed with a few pieces of tape on inside of lid
- built in speaker does not do the synth itself justice...
- knobs are a little small and could be spaced apart a tiny bit more, but I'm nitpicking by now.

I want to add to this; plugging this synth into some good speakers unlocks it's full potential. The little speaker inside does it's job, but if you got a subwoofer and some decent monitors and you plug this baby in and start ambient-jamming? You'll be surprised by the massive soundscapes you can make with just this tiny little 'toy' synth.

Honestly, this synth reinstigated my love for music and I still use it every now and then to have fun with or use as a delay FX unit. Do yourself a favor and buy it already, either for yourself or as a present for your music-nerd friend!

Monotrons should be in everyone musicians, or music/sound lover pocket. I'd say, too, that the price is quite much for what it does, in compare for what you can get for just little more money. It would be great to have it as optional gift for buying bigger Korg synths, but reality is, it's great pocket generator to not have it anyway. Maybe not for clean musical person, but if you really feel joy in generating, exploring and analyzing true analogue and dirty soundwaves, Monotrons can made it possible everywhere.

To other reviews, I'd add, there's little screwdriver button on backside, which changes LFO type, so from default triangle, you can get saw and from square you'll get different pulsewidth. With saw, you can easily emulate techno-drum and play with it.
Also, ribbon touchboard (also on Duo) is programmed in way, that if you press two points, sound generates note in between. It's little help in quite random tone finding of Delay's ribbon wide continuous scale, but it's something.

Also recently, I put Volca Sample into Delay and had very adventurous two hour train jam.

I bought the Korg monotron delay as i wanted to play around with an analog delay unit for a budget price.

The build quality is ok, as with all the monotron range it is made out of plastic.

There is a ribbon synth but the markings are not in any scale but this can produce some interesting sounds. The filter is good quality.

The overall sound quality is a bit grainy but that can be ok if you are into that kind of effect.

overall for the money this is a fun little unit to play around with, however i do not find it to be much use for recording as i finnd the final sound is a little bit noisy for my liking but very fun to play with.

This is great fun to mess around with either on its own or with a synth.

Only issues are:
It has a plastic feel to it but still feels reasonably sturdy. This is to be expected though, given the price tag.
It can also sound a little white noisey at times depending on what you are going to do with it. It would be great if it didn't this problem but I'm sure it can be somewhat eq'd out if necessary. This can also be a good thing though if you are after something more lofi.

On the plus side I would have to say that it can be great fun and very easy to use. As a relative novice in the world of synths and delay / modulation effects, I was able to quickly and easily get it to sound great and produce some incredibly spacey sound effects. Just messing around with any of the knobs while a simple synth loop plays through it can immediately make it sound so much more interesting and professional (although maybe a little bit more on the lofi side of things given the slight static / white noise aspects of it)

Overall though, given the price, I would say that it is a great purchase and has tons of possibilities!