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Korg Volca Keys

220 Customer ratings

4.4 / 5

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55 Reviews

Korg Volca Keys
429 AED 110,92 €
Plus 269 AED shipping
The price in AED is a guideline price only
Since we ship from Germany, additional costs through taxes and customs may be incurred
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b
(Too) many features in a small box
bertel3 18.07.2014
Many features packed into a small synth. I'm sure this works for some people, but I found it to be way too limited. Although, I know, it's very cheap.

Here are some limitations that I found annoying. Some of these might be hard to guess before actually using the unit:

- It's not polyphonic, it's paraphonic. There are 3 VCO's but they share the same VCA. In practice it sounds like the held notes would be triggered again when you play a new note.
- Although the Keys receive velocity when played live, the sequencer does not record it. So the velocity of every note is 100%.
- No ability to bypass recording midi (key) notes from an external midi-keyboard.
This means that if you simultaneously play live on a keyboard and record your automations on the Volca itself, the notes you played get recorded on every loop, over and over again. You have to record the automation separately.
- Sequencer has only 16 steps. Although the scale can be adjusted: 1/1, 1/2 and 1/4.
- Peak (resonance) cannot be automated or affected through midi.
- No MIDI out. Although you can relatively easily make your own. Similarly to Arturia BeatStep, I would suggest a 1/8 TRS jack (next to the MIDI IN jack).
- Only headphones out. If you plan not to use headphones, you need (half of) an insert cable or some other special configurations.
- The scope of the sounds that you can produce with this is very limited. Although the automation helps a lot, but still.
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C
Great little synth for its price
Crane 11.06.2021
The volca keys is a nice little box of character. It has plenty of different flavours to choose from and can sound very lo-fi if you play around with its onboard delay and aggressive filter.

I like the fact that the volca keys is a one-knob-per-function synth without any hidden menus or settings. That way you can get really hands-on with it and makes it a great synth to learn synthesis as well.

The only quirk of this volca is that its sequencer starts skipping steps once you plug in a mono TS cable. When using regular stereo TRS cables, I get a really soft and noisy signal from the Headphone OUT. When using a mono TS, it's really loud and clean. But due some technical flaw in the keys, the sequencer might skip steps because of it.

Generally it's a great little box for the money and certainly works well when jamming with other volcas!
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gl
Korg Volca Keys
george l 07.08.2019
First of all you can't find other real analog synths in the market with up to 3 part polyphony at this very low price.
Sounds like a real analogue synth all the VCO, VCF, LFO knobs help you create beautiful vintage sounds
the delay is a bit noisy it's dirty and imperfect but it could be useful in certain situations.
the mini keys are ok for functions but very bad as keyboard especially for chords.
The sequencer and recording is not for me and I prefer using my DAW sending midi to volca
for the price is a good instrument
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A
Cant beat this, it just works perfectly
AnthonyO 07.11.2019
Cant beat this, it just works perfectly
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B
Good for writing and filling spots
BigP 15.07.2022
Handy little device, the features make it very useful for writing and coming up with ideas because you aren't endlessly tempted to just twist knobs. Lots of sounds but definitely limited, it's good for filling spots. The battery power is nice but get a power supply.
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P
Great with Midi
PADPA 28.10.2021
If you can line in with a Midi keyboard that produces analogue sounds, this is an awesome piece of kit. The in built sounds aren’t the best.
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M
Nice entry into the synth world
Maximizer 15.03.2021
Simple but efficient little poly-synth. The filter sounds good, especially with the resonance cranked up. The lofi delay is fun to play with!
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M
First time synth
M.A.K2020 08.01.2020
For being one of the first synths i have ever tried. It is quite easy to understand. Over all think its a great product
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B
Quality fun
Bernard8458 29.01.2015
Korg have outdone themselves with the volca series and the volca keys is the pick of the bunch. Synced with the beats and bass its just class. Im not a big synt head and dont claim to know much about them but thats the point you dont have to and you can still get a great little groove going. Would recommend them to anyone looking into setting up a home studio or just looking to have some fun. Haven't come across anything else that compares for the price.

One word of warning though you need a 9 volt power adapter as you'll loose hours playing with it and the batteries will break your bank balance. Also the internal sound is not going to satisfy you for long but I expect most buyers will already have an audio system of some kind. I'm using KRK Rokit 5 monitors and the sound is awesome.
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JV
amazing sound
Jean-Claude Van Damme 04.12.2022
I can't really comment on operation, because I've just been using it for a couple of minutes. But GOD, does it sound good !!! The features are of course not that of a 4-digits priced synth, but the sound quality is honestly that of one of them big analog monsters. I'm blown away.

On the minus side, some complex connection setups already created a lot of background noise, while in other situations it's pretty clean... so that aspect is a bit of a coin toss it would seem.

I would have liked shorter minimum decay times on the envelope, but besides that, the bare bone architecture is perfect for showcasing its beautiful sound.
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Korg Volca Keys