Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Korg: the worst-kept secret is out

10/01/2020

A mighty synth is (re)launched... Its been rumoured for months, and the speculation has been at fever pitch on-line since December, when no less than Jean-Michel Jarre let the cat out of the bag (we suppose because... he could. What are Korg going to do, ban him as an endorsee?). But we can now confirm it. Korg have just launched the i3 budget workstation synth.

The new Korg ARP 2600 FS.

Oh no, hang on, that was yesterday. We mean... Korg have finally confirmed that they are issuing a new, limited-edition version of ARPs world-renowned 2600 semi-modular patchable analogue synthesizer. Following the companys acquisition of the ARP name in the mid-2010s and the subsequent release of first a miniaturised reissue of the Odyssey in 2016 (see SOS April 2015) and then an FS (full-sized) version in 2018 (see SOS August 2018), the new ARP 2600 is here. Its being launched as a full-sized reproduction of the original (including a hard-shell flightcase, shown below, and full-sized recreation of the 49-key duophonic 3620 keyboard). It is thus officially known as the Korg ARP 2600 FS.

The new synth is supplied in this neat flightcase.

Like the Odyssey recreation, the new 2600 was created in collaboration with two key members of the original ARP team, David Friend and David Mash, and also sticks fairly closely to the sound, feature-set and capabilities of the original, right down to the built-in spring reverb and speakers. Only aftertouch, XLR outs and MIDI (on five-pin and USB connectors) are included as concessions to modernity (and while theres no news of any stand-alone step sequencer along the lines of ARPs separately sold hardware Sequencer - at least, not yet! - Korg have also built a simple onboard step sequencer and arpeggiator into the keyboard). The 2600 FS sports the ladder filter design featured on early 2600s, which was later withdrawn under alleged threat of a lawsuit from Bob Moog, and also the ARP filter design used on later editions of the original synth (you can select the active filter design with a toggle switch). Unlike the original 2600, which was available in various colour schemes over its original life from 1971 to 1981, the 2600 FS is, for now at least, only available in a white-on-dark-grey colour scheme, like the original 2600s sold in the mid-1970s.

Its certainly a thing of beauty...

At an anticipated price of around £3200 £3500$3900 including the flightcase and keyboard, the 2600 FS is a bit of a bargain compared to the current cost of a working original 2600, and seems destined to be very popular. We anticipate that the limited-edition run will sell out pretty fast...!

SOS Features Editor Sam Inglis was lucky enough to get a sneak introduction to the new 2600 FS at Korg UKs HQ before Christmas. See below for a video shot then!

Video of Korg ARP2600 FS

http://www.korg.com/uk
LINK: https://www.soundonsound.com/news/korg-worst-kept-secret-out...
See more stories from soundonsound

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

02/05/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Search, Faster Editing, and an AI-Ready Foundation for Modern Media

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

21/04/2026

Live From NAB 2026: BitFires Colin Bonzey on Growing Spark Platform for Live Cloud-Based Productions

Cloud-based production isnt going anywhere, and BitFire is doubling down by prov...

21/04/2026

Live From NAB 2026: AWSs Jason Dvorkin, Regina Rossi on Driving Innovation With Al-Based Workflows

The topic of artificial intelligence has a stranglehold on the sports-video-prod...

21/04/2026

Live From NAB 2026: T-Mobile for Business' Jason Schnellbacher on Enhancing 5G for Sports Fans, Broadcasters

5G is still a hot topic in live event production, and this workflow continues to...

21/04/2026

Live From NAB 2026: Appears Ed McGivern on Fox Sports Deal, New XM Platform, and VX Software Debut

At the 2026 NAB Show, Ed McGivern, GM and President of Appear US, discusses the ...

21/04/2026

NAB 2026: Studio Network Solutions launches on-premise AI suite for media production workflows

Studio Network Solutions (SNS) has announced an on-premise AI suite designed for...

21/04/2026

NAB 2026: Suite Studios integrates file-streaming technology into Frame.io Drive

Suite Studios has integrated its file-streaming technology into the newly announced Frame.io Drive, a desktop application from Adobe company Frame.io. The colla...

21/04/2026

NAB 2026: Net Insight integrates InSync FrameFormer into Nimbra Edge for media processing

Net Insight has integrated InSync Technology's FrameFormer into the Nimbra E...

21/04/2026

NAB 2026: Fox Sports selects Appear X Platform for live production infrastructure

Fox Sports has selected Appear as a technology partner to support the next phase...

21/04/2026

NAB 2026: Diversified appoints Tyler Affolter as Chief Revenue Officer

Diversified has appointed Tyler Affolter as Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) to lead the company's commercial organisation. The appointment follows the firm'...

21/04/2026

NAB 2026: Layercake integrates Bitmovin into Streamcake platform for end-to-end media orchestration

Layercake has formalised the integration of Bitmovin's video streaming infra...

21/04/2026

NAB 2026: International Judo Federation extends global content distribution partnership with SES

The International Judo Federation (IJF) has extended its distribution partnershi...

21/04/2026

NAB 2026: Glookast integrates Cinnafilm Tachyon plugin to enable GPU-accelerated video processing

Glookast has launched the Cinnafilm Tachyon plugin for its Media Producer and Me...

21/04/2026

NAB 2026: Cadena Tres selects Eutelsat for television signal distribution in Mexico

Eutelsat has entered into an agreement with Cadena Tres, a division of Grupo Ima...

21/04/2026

NAB 2026: Dolby and TV Azteca deploy Dolby Atmos for free-to-air broadcast

Dolby Laboratories and TV Azteca have partnered to introduce Dolby Atmos immersive audio to free-to-air television broadcasts. The implementation utilises the A...

21/04/2026

Verizon and FOX Entertainment leverage 5G and AI for remote production of Extracted

FOX Entertainment partnered with Verizon to overcome significant production hurd...

21/04/2026

NAB 2026: Osprey Video to showcase expanded IP infrastructure and orchestration at NAB Show 2026

Osprey Video has announced its technology showcase for the NAB Show 2026, highli...

21/04/2026

NAB 2026: Riedel introduces IP-based production updates including multiviewer, commentary control and audio connectivity solutions

Riedel Communications (Booth C4908) introduced a range of new solutions at NAB S...

21/04/2026

SportsTechBuzz at NAB 2026, Day 3: Live Reports From the Show Floor in Vegas

The NAB Show is in full swing, and the SVG and SVG Europe editorial teams are chasing down the hottest stories from all over the Las Vegas Convention Center. He...

21/04/2026

NAB 2026: Blackmagic Design Announces URSA Cine Immersive 100G and URSA Cine Live Encoder

Blackmagic Design has announced the URSA Cine Immersive 100G, an immersive cinem...

21/04/2026

Live From NAB 2026: Clark Wire & Cables David McCarthy Showcases New Connectivity, Enclosure Solutions for Modern Broadcast Workflows at NAB Show 2026

Clark Wire & Cable is continuing its evolution from cable supplier to full-scale solutions partner for broadcast and live production. At the 2026 NAB Show, we s...

21/04/2026

Ricky Sensitively Portrays a Post-Incarceration Coming-of-Age

Rashad Frett attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Ricky at Eccles Theatre on January 24, 2025, in Park City, UT. (Photo by George Pimentel/Shut...

21/04/2026

5 Years of Spotify in Pakistan: The Trends Shaping the Country's Music Scene

Five years ago, Spotify arrived in Pakistan, opening a new chapter in the country's music scene. Since then, local listeners have explored across genres, ge...

21/04/2026

The Next Wave of RADAR Spain Artists Arrives for 2026

Since its launch in 2020, RADAR has been our program for spotlighting emerging artists around the world. This year marks the sixth edition of RADAR Spain, our o...

21/04/2026

EverSync SP-10 from Cloudvocal

Offers compact wireless solution for pedalboards Taiwanese audio brand Cloudvocal have announced the availability of a new pedalboard-friendly wireless syst...

21/04/2026

Arturia launch Augmented Persia

Latest hybrid sampling/synthesis instrument arrives Arturia's Augmented series offerings rely on a mixture of sampling and synthesis, allowing users to ...

21/04/2026

Rohde & Schwarz to host Power Electronics Online Conference From Design to Validation in May

Rohde & Schwarz to host Power Electronics Online Conference From Design to Vali...

21/04/2026

MAS and Lockheed Martin Announce F-35 Sustainment Partnership in Quebec

MAS and Lockheed Martin partner to establish an F-35 depot in Canada, enabling in-country sustainment and creating high-skilled aerospace jobs....

21/04/2026

Nielsen data shows Australian outdoor and sport retailers are changing how they advertise to win over outdoor enthusiasts

Advertising strategies shift as competition grows for a large, active and qualit...

21/04/2026

ATSC Celebrates 3.0's Global Expansion

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

21/04/2026

Cinematic Feel Makes Survivor' Built to Last

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

21/04/2026

Live Event Technology Expands Fan Engagement

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

21/04/2026

MS NOW Uses Community to Build Up Its Brand

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

21/04/2026

Why Broadcast Is Well-Positioned to Safeguard Freedom of Speech

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

21/04/2026

AWS Demos AI Tools to Deliver Vertical Video

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

21/04/2026

Video Podcasting Leaps in Popularity

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

21/04/2026

Audio Systems Get Boost From Cloud and AI

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

21/04/2026

Layercake Deepens Bitmovin Integration to Power End-to-End Media Orchestration with Streamcake

Layercake Deepens Bitmovin Integration to Power End-to-End Media Orchestration w...

21/04/2026

Cobalt Digital Announces Launch of blueCORE at NAB Show 2026: Compact Powerhouse Signal Processors for SDI and ST 2110 Workflows

Cobalt Digital Announces Launch of blueCORE at NAB Show 2026: Compact Powerhouse...

21/04/2026

On-Premise AI Suite from Studio Network Solutions Debuts at NAB Show 2026

On-Premise AI Suite from Studio Network Solutions Debuts at NAB Show 2026 Melanie Ciotti April 21, 2026 0 Comments Unlimited processing, no cloud depe...

21/04/2026

IBC appoints Tim Banham as Chief Commercial Officer to dr...

London, 21 April 2026 IBC today announced the appointment of Tim Banham as its first Chief Commercial Officer (CCO), a newly created role that reflects the or...

21/04/2026

Motion Design Tools - April 2026

Motion Design Tools - April 2026 Roland Kahlenberg April 21, 2026 0 Comments Within 2 days, Maxon and Canva announced pro-level motion design apps - A...

21/04/2026

Chaos and Zero Density to Showcase Real-Time Ray Tracing for Virtual Studios and XR

Chaos and Zero Density to Showcase Real-Time Ray Tracing for Virtual Studios and...

21/04/2026

Diversified Appoints Tyler Affolter Chief Revenue Officer

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...