Korg SQ-1 Reviews

Looks good, smells good and feels right ;)

It is fairly cheap. Excellent solution for the beginners... but at the same time, very usefull for advanced synth lovers.

There are so many features that it can take a while to explore all of them.

I personally use it to connect my DAW with some new and popular analog synths that I own.

I will actually buy one more Korg SQ-1 to get even more flexibility!

For any synth with CV connectivity. In fact it serves as a kind of ''PC to midi/CV'' converter. ;)

Sync in/out is very usefull and clever feature. For Volca Series and far beyond. From DAW to Eurorack.

It will give you a lots of fun and exploration - guarantied!

Must have

If you have an MS20mini you must get one of these. It's a no brainer

Great sequencer, full of options at a great price.

As usual, Korg knows how to offer a product that satisfies a lot of needs at a great price. Right out of the package you can see the good quality construction: metal enclosure, nice rubber buttons, good pots. The sequencer works great with both CV and MIDI (normal and USB) and has a ton of operating modes and options - I managed to control a lot of gear with it, some of which I'm sure the manufacturers didn't think of when designing the product. I especially liked the random mode. I would really like too see a bigger version of it.

Excellent little gadget!

I really got to like SQ1. What I like the most is the linear pitch just like it used to be on classic vintage sequencer.

Pitch imperfections (or pitch fluctuations, or micro tuning) is very important aspect of music articulation and I wonder how synth manufacturers cannot grasp it. For example Arturia with their Beatstep, my second sequencer. Now that I got SQ1 I hardly touch it.

Another thing, SQ1 is two channel, a huge advantage in itself.

The only complaint is the programming and the manual. It made me scratch my head more than once, especially setting the clock divisions and gate polarity. Korg should give it more attention and at least provide some more tips and FAQ's.

Great, affordable, built like a tank

Only cheap sequencer I could find to drive an old Korg MS-10 and easy to use for people learning too!

Incredibly flexible little sequencer

Piece of cake to use, and far more advanced that you'd first suspect. Scale modes give a musical result quickly, but there is also a pure voltage mode for total freedom. Effective control over duty and glide, and if you can't be bothered to do any programming select random and let rip.

Fun to use but limited...

I had high expectations for the SQ1: a small, affordable and solid hardware sequencer is something I always wanted.

The SQ1 has almost all the features needed to be a useful sequence sketchpad, but a few issues makes it rather limited for serious production. Here are the most critical ones:

-There is no transpose and the root note is always C3. This is a very strange decision from Korg! You cannot go lower than C3 or use something else than CMajor or CMinor.

-You can change the pitch and gate (duty) of notes but not the intensity.

-There is no memory. Turn the unit and everything is gone. This is a shame.

-There is no MIDI in.

I really hope Korg will solve the first problem I mentioned with a software update, otherwise I won't be able to use this unit frequently.

super sequencer

This is an awesome add on for the ms-20 or any of the korg volcas. You can use it to control the volcas via the midi out and it works great. I also had great results using it attached to my macbook to control soft synths in ableton live.

After setting up the correct voltage and duty cycle for the ms20 its a doddle to use and although limited to C major or C dorian (along with chromatic and linear) its still very flexible and by using tricks like holding the step jump while you change pitch values you can easily set up complex harmonic sequences.

I will definitely buy another to create even more complex patterns.

Brilliant!

Sync And Sequencing!

Cheap two-in-one unit that has a lot to give!

The fact that it's also battery powered is a great feature for people on the go or just to save you from those wall-warts.

Korg SQ1

Is a great bit of kit for the money but when sync'd from an external sequencer it appears to take 2 steps to every one. Same goes for syncing it from a square wave LFO. Korg haven't responded to my support request for this issue yet.