Korg Volca FM2: A Tiny, Powerful Existential Crisis

Korg has released an update to the Volca FM, this time with more polyphony, a reverb, and other quality of life enhancements. It still made me feel weird. This video explains why. To be fair: I think this is a really cool synth. FM is a great and expressive synthesis method, and 6-OP FM is really capable. I just wish some things had been done differently.
Listen to what I made with the Volca FM 2 here: • Korg Volca FM2: 10 Min...
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[@FreeBeat]

I absolutely LOVE that you talked about the FM 2 with beginners in mind. I actually purchased an original Volca FM right before starting my channel, when I was a complete newcomer to electronic music, and returned it the next day, due to most of the reasons you mentioned. While I'm sure other channels have covered the issues before, I don't think that any of them have the pull that you do. I truly appreciate your words Jeremy!

[@illegalgiant_]

what would you recommend instead? i love the sounds you can make with fm synthesis, want something i can just pull out with knobs and want buttons (instead of dexed) to get me there.

[@amonkhavari8497]

@@illegalgiant_ I think the usual FM synth recommendations often include the Digitone (which includes a sequencer many people enjoy) and the Opsix for more in depth FM synthesis. I'd recommend the Opsix if you're looking for straight FM and not so much a groovebox type of device. They're both great tho.

[@janissaryJames]

@@illegalgiant_ try the yamaha reface dx instead. so much more accessible than the volca.

[@KaceyRepublic]

@@illegalgiant_ Elektron Model:Cycles seems like a good beginner fm groovebox, I have the Model:Samples and it's great.

[@MrBrandonLau]

@@janissaryJames I second this. There are plenty of amazing presets that KZbinrs and other reface users have shared online, all available to download and install

[@badchannelname]

I appreciate that you were honest about it's shortcomings, a lot of people's reviews are just commercials

[@WillieCarpenter17]

Your honesty is a huge reason why I watch your channel, just sayin’

[@kgbinfo]

I remember when the first volca fm came out, and some people were saying “it’s fm but easy to use”, so I bought it thinking it would be cool to learn fm. It was actually incredibly difficult and, between the cryptic screen that does not display Latin characters and the tiny knobs and data slider that skipped values straight out of the box, I ended up not wanting to learn anymore. About a year later my interest in fm had resurfaced and i bought a vintage DX7. Guess what? It was easier to understand than the volca, and I grew to enjoy programming it rather quickly. That was five years ago. I still have my DX7. Don’t remember what happened to the volca.

[@ianmorton1799]

Hm, I feel like most people who said it was easier probably used a dx7 first and then got a volca? Maybe going the other way around gave you just a little more experience and maybe that, not which synth you're using, is what makes the next FM synth you use seem easier? Just an interesting question to me in terms of how we learn things.

[@RSKT_music]

Really glad you took the time to make this video the way you did. Not saying I agree or disagree, it's just that so many music channels just promote the pros of a device and push aside the cons. I think what you did is so important for the developers to hear. It also allows your audience to get a clearer picture of what you do and don't value in a music device. Over time this lets us make more informed decisions, and I really appreciate your honesty in this one. Nice work dude!

[@BoBeats]

agree with you on the OPsix comparison and the frustrations of programming it. I enjoy the randomizer but totally wouldn't try and edit a sound on it. But like you say, at 170 bucks its hard to beat sound wise

[@chrisj5547]

hard to bo beat it sound wise, imo

[@ghostly606]

Liven XFM beats it hands down when it comes to diving into messing about with FM and editing patches. The Volca sounds way better though

[@keithzg]

Great, frank video. I only have two minor things to bring up other than appreciative agreement: 1. MIDI over USB is nice but I can't say it's always worked that well for me, and it especially complicates trying to control/combine gear without using a computer. Plus it seems like an increasing recipe for manufacturers to de-standardize, which they'll take seemingly any opportunity to do (as the minijack MIDI implementations show). Admittedly starts to be a bit more reasonable of a tradeoff with tiny instruments like the Volcas, but having full-size standard MIDI on instruments is really nice for establishing and keeping up a baseline of interoperability. 2. Am I wrong or did you mention Dexed but not mention that it's quite easy to just send the patches or full carts to the Volca FM via it? At least that's certainly what I've done with my Volca FM 1, whose default patches were mostly unusable. It's as simple as a few button presses, although at least for me it was really NOT obvious (right-clicking on patches in the loading interface and choosing "send to DX7"). Of course getting Dexed set up in a DAW is a very non-zero bar to clear before being able to copy presets onto the device, and there's more than a little irony of having to use an FM synth program running on a computer to put anything onto one's ostensibly-standalone physical FM synth! So your overall points on the matter definitely still stand.

[@effiksmusic]

After listening to all the cons, I think you are right. Many of these things can be improved and should be. There are workarounds for some of the issues, but in 2022 they shouldn’t be needed.

[@stingylizard]

@ghost mall what you said!

[@krazywabbit]

1. I respect those who respect their integrity to speak honestly in this space when it comes to having a relationship with a company and their audience. Thank you for what you do. 2. I do enough detailed research in my 9-5 job figuring out how to do something. When it comes to the music space, I just want to plug in and jam. 3. I currently in GAS therapy, so no realistic need for this in my toolbox based on what I have.

[@Farold_Haltermeyer]

Thanks so much for actually reviewing this thing properly...so rare to see in content providers these days!

[@mikemeengs5720]

Good video...thanks! I'm an old synth vet, and bought a DX-7 when they came out. But before that, I bought the DX-9 and brought it back...I didn't realize how important velocity response was to the FM sound. When I found out the Volca FM2 had velocity AND six voices, I ordered it straight away. The reverb is also a nice touch! Adding that FM sound to my mostly analog setup will be very useful indeed. And my space is limited, so I dig the small size...mostly. That said, I do have a Volca Drum, but it was the only Volca that appealed to me. It's capable of some amazing stuff, and I run it alongside my Roland TR-6S. But the form factor does irritate me at times...especially those jumpy knobs. But for the money, it's worth it's weight in gold. And it's FUN. I'm excited to add the FM2 to my growing arsenal of sound-making tools...even with the crap you mentioned. (Power supplies and MIDI adapters don't take away from the experience for me.) Hell... I never figured out programming the DX-7 way back then, so I'm expecting nothing more than that anyway. Except now, I'm paying $160.00 instead of $2000.00. Sounds great to me!

[@MrBenski]

Totally agree. I had one of these as a beginner and some other Volcas. I just didn't have the time to make my own patches. I tried a couple of times and made whistles. I used Synthmata too, but just couldn't get to the cool tones I know it can make. I do love FM though and have gone to software for it for now. I do want either a Digitone or Opsix (Or maybe an Akemies Castle??) but the UX has to be right, I can't spend an hour making something without good payoff. Nothing wrong with an honest review, a lot of demo guys tend to gloss over a devices limitations. Btw, other Volcas were great for a beginner, I loved the Sample and the Bass in particular.

[@Madmohawkfilms]

Go OpSix and be able to use the extensive library of Free DX7 patches and much easier Patch editing abilities or the PreenFM2/3 , Digitone is only a 4 operator FM Synth but fabulous sequencer but for same $$$ I’d get a Digitakt instead for 16 tracks and just use the FREE Dexed VST for FM to save on $$ PreenFM2 is $199 but you’ll be waiting for it to arrive from Former Soviet Union

[@MrBenski]

@@Madmohawkfilms thanks for the heads up, ive never heard of the Preen FM2, I will check it out. I have the Digitakt already, so the Digitone is appealing, plus ive seen enough demos - especially Jeremy's! - to get that it has a lot of sweet spots. Opsix, dont know, Im lacking real estate!

[@Madmohawkfilms]

@@MrBenski my pleasure I know the feeling, apartments in Brooklyn don’t get bigger the more gear I want to stuff in it :) PreenFM2 made more sense for me than the Reface DX from Yamaha tho been looking at Workstation Keyboards recently :)

[@robertsyrett1992]

Apparently you can connect the volca FM2 midi out to a Makenoise 0-Coast using a TRS minijack cable. Which seems pretty cool.

[@jamesbond339]

As a beginner, FM is hard to wrap my head around. Love the sound, but it can get weird REALLY quick and it’s hard to recover. I really like the Digitone because they made it so approachable. Thanks for talking through the usability of this. I agree that the Volca line is “My first ” and that seems to not be the case here. I always appreciate the humor and honesty. If Korg won’t marry you, I heard that Elektron was single again.

[@LookIMadeAThing]

To be honest, this is how I feel about all of the Volcas. I had three (the original FM, Sample, and Bass) and sold them because it became cumbersome working around their limitations. For the FM, I used Dexed to handle any patching that needed done, and used an RK-002 Smart MIDI Cable from Rektrokits for velocity and MIDI CC mapping. Sometime after I sold them, Pajen created an unofficial firmware for it for sending Sysex from Dexed to it. For the Sample, I again used the RK-002 to add single MIDI channel sample triggering, velocity, polyphonic play capabilities , etc. to my Keystep. Sadly there's no getting around its 4mb sample memory (?!) and it made you transfer sounds by playing a screeching digital noise to it via your phone or computer, which had to be just the right volume level or it would result in an error. Oddly enough, the Pocket Operators PO-32 and PO-33 use similar tech, but I've had a much higher success rate with it. The Volca Bass had the least wrong with it, I just couldn't jive with the sound. I think it made better patches for keys than bass patches. I also had a MyVolts 5-way Volca power splitter so I could stop using three outlets for power OR devoting 18 AA batteries to the three of them. It was my first jump from years of VSTs to analog and almost made me write off analog completely.

[@nahrky]

I'm such a big fan of your down-to-earth honesty RMR. Seen a few vids of it and yeah, it sounds good but that kinda seems like that's it. The original Volca FM was one of the first bits of synth gear I ever owned, had it for a couple of months, until I acquired the Reface DX. I realised that the Volca was just a harder-to-use version of that (comparing the keybeds is unfair, but the Reface had much better MIDI sequencing, onboard effects and sound design controls). It actually put me off the entire Volca line, oop. Great vid as always. I'm sure Korg still loves u.

[@joelandersmith2735]

I have the original volca FM and I love it, it’s the perfect synth module to bring to small gigs for various reason. I’m very tempted to get the new one because it is so much more powerful. Also even though it takes a while to dial in, I wouldn’t say programming it is hard exactly. I would agree it’s definitely not for beginners though

[@rainbow_mess]

I own the opsix, and I remember looking at the volca fm 1 and thinking, "how would anyone ever use that???" disappointing to see that they updated it without updating ... any of the patch editing whatsoever, but thanks for your transparency :)

[@alexsicko]

well for the price of it, i deleted all patches and use it a nice fm bass machine. the bass patches i made dont really need too much editing as i use the silder and carrier/modulator decay knobs for most of the performance. is the FM2 live editable with the modified yamaha sysex commands like with pajen firmware?

[@dvuemedia]

I have the original Volca FM and I'm thinking to get the FM2 and sell the first one. For me the only major limitation of the FM1 is 3 note polyphony. As for making my own sound, not too interested. DX7 has 1000s of patches made, and you can find them everywhere. As far as loading patches, I use Commodore Amiga with a Sysex program and MIDI interface. Works great!

[@nicholasiscontent]

Came for the synths. Stayed for the existential crisis.

[@johnchongsing7745]

This will rank with “19th Nervous Breakdown” as one of the greatest titles of all time!

[@josephs2791]

I appreciate this video and your content very much. From honest reviews to teaching synthesis, youre great! I woke up this morning to every KZbinr making a video on this thing. It's great to hear your opinions and I hope korg listens

[@nkozi]

Loving the Winterbloom shirt! I wear mine all the time.

[@NullFX]

It seems like Korg really wanted to cap both the beginner and experienced market and managed to miss both. But I’m still getting one because my biggest gripe with the MKI was the 3 voice polyphony. Idgaf about patches cause my favorite way to do sound design is to take pre-existing sounds and chain effect pedals and SP 404 effects so that won’t be a problem for me.

[@matthewgaines10]

Most of this is all perspective. My perspective is a beginner doesn’t even know what a DX7 is and isn’t looking to start out on a FM synthesizer. Most people who buy Roland boutiques and these small Korg synthesizers have a specific itch they are trying to scratch. I think most people who are looking at this unit know what this is supposed to be and should be capable of figuring this out power and MIDI connections.

[@mediaphile]

If you have an iPad, a USB MIDI host, and Patch Base, editing and saving patches is perfect.

[@gibusgamer93]

Honesty is appreciated. I bought one of the first generation Volca FMs, and as much as I loved how it sounded, I just couldn't get past how much of a headache editing on it is. I'd rather just use Dexed if it's not going to have a fun, easy interface. I'd love to get an Opsix but I just don't have the space for it, and I wish Korg had done something even a little bigger for the FM2, with a better interface. Like you said, even good companies fuck up sometimes. It's refreshing to know you're honest about it rather than trying to gloss over the cons.

[@zbsfm]

mad respect for not bootlicking Korg, thanks for the videos over all these years!

[@zbsfm]

also the winterbloom shirt 😍

[@oaoaow]

Appreciate the honesty, but I have to say I disagree completely. The volca fm IS a synth for beginners, or at least for musicians who don't care about sound designing and just want to be able to quickly and meaningfully tweak preset sounds. The simplification that it brings to the table is just amazing. Carrier Attack + Decay + Modulator Attack + Decay are four magic buttons that I have not seen on any other FM synthesizer and give the user so much power over the sound. I would definitely recommend the volca fm 1, even despite the 3 voice limitation, because it sounds so unique, and is so easy to modulate, compared to a "regular" FM synth. Congrats to KORG. I think the volca fm is amazing. Will most probably buy the rev2.

[@Chasing_Thoughts]

I love the green LEDs 🤤

[@MisterMajister]

"It's just a Volca, who cares?" is so spot on. So many decisions where seemingly made on this statement. E.g. the OG Sample file transfer was honestly a joke lol!

[@HansyPants184]

Totally! I'm so frustrated any time I borrow one of my brother's volcas. The keys is good, the bass is great, all the others come so close to being great and it's that closeness that is so frustrating. Especially the FM is exceptional on paper until you open up dexed or operator and realize FM doesn't have to suck to program or manage presets on.

[@doctorauxiliary]

@@HansyPants184 do you mean that dexed & operator actually make it easy like it should be? (I'm asking for real as I've never tried using either of them before.)

[@HansyPants184]

@@doctorauxiliary yeah I'm not being sarcastic. FM is pretty complex and needs way more of an interface than the volca gives to edit patches without wanting to take up smoking ha. Dexed is free and operator is Ableton's stock FM synth. I use operator for basically all of my FM stuff. Fun fact: you can use dexed to make patches for the volca FM (or dx7 if you happen to have one) but it's just so needlessly difficult to transfer them that I ended up not touching the volca again before giving it back to my brother and doing everything in the PC. YMMV and it's a still a great little synth but Jeremy really hit the nail on the head with exactly how I felt about using the volca FM.

[@RobinParmar]

It's easy to transfer. Choose a patch on the Volca. Right-click on a patch in Dexed and send it out your MIDI cable to the Volca. If you like it, hit SAVE on the Volca. Done!

[@HansyPants184]

@@RobinParmar I'll have to borrow it again to try this. I had no idea it was that easy!

[@johnallen8248]

Synth guy who doesn't like adapters, allrighty. As a beginner, if you can't figure this out, maybe hardware synths aren't for you. Get a MacBook. A freaking 6 voice fm synth in a tiny box that can be battery powered, and all you have to do is figure out how to hook up a midi keyboard of your size and quality choice and power the damn thing...

[@Om_aum_ohm]

The candor, honesty, and humor is what we have come to expect from you, Jeremy. Reminds me of the Push video where you are open about the initial challenges. How have you been incorporating the Push into your setup?

[@MrRozzwell]

I thought about the Push 2 video as soon as I saw it in the beginning of this video. I surprised to see it.

[@JJohnkkttran]

Really appreciate the honesty and can totally see where you're coming from. I even ended up finally splurging on the Digitakt after watching all your videos. That being said, as someone that has been collecting synths for years, but doesn't want to spend $$$, this still seems like a home run to me. I bought the keys when it came out BECAUSE it had the Univox K1 filter, even if it's a very limiting, sometimes badly designed machine for professional use. Volcas are great because if they're used right, they offer you very expensive sounds for next to nothing. Getting a 6 op synth for this price nowadays is unheard of, and even if the Dx7 were still cheap, I still found the original Volca FM to be miles more fun to play with. There may be UI problems with this one, but it's worth jumping through the hoops for the price.

[@beatnikcafe]

You got to admit, it's still a great deal if you like FM sounds. They just doubled the polyphony, added reverb, added midi out, and only raised the street price about $20 and that is really amazing. If they had changed much more on the hardware side it would probably have gone up in price a lot more and its true you can't please everyone. I think FM synthesis is complicated and therefore any menu is going to be a problem. Even Synthmata or Dexed is a bit overwhelming. I don't like menu diving but really don't think the Volca FM is all that hard to navigate. Digitone did a great job, I might be misusing the term, but it feels more like your are editing with macros that were finely calibrated and thoughtfully programmed, as it always seems that it's harder to find sounds outside the sweetspot than within when using the Digitone. I'm sure it would still not be welcomed by everyone but I sort of wish they had broken away from the Volca FM2 being a DX7 compatible synth. Clone it's sound but a refresh on how to program it would have been very welcome even if it meant losing patch compatibility. We know Korg can do this because the opsix proves it and if someone, Korg, released a software editor then patch compatibility would not even matter to like 95% of the users because you could just recreate them.

[@RobinParmar]

Korg has a software editor directly on their web page. Besides this, Dexed is free and works perfectly. The "problems" mentioned in this video simply don't exist.

[@jjbing3]

I just ordered mine. I can’t wait for it to arrive. 🙌🏾

[@james9789]

How you finding it?

[@0bsol3tist]

I think not only did you do an amazing job of balancing loves/hates with this, but you also exposed an intriguing challenge. I now want to get it just so I can master/tame it. Or at least... figure out the Midi ccs.

[@ritofuturito]

Very brave and informative review 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@elek-trick]

Korg, I love you... Please, no... Ouch, NO, OUCH, Please don't hit me again, Noooooooo, Pleaaaaaaaase... Ouch....

[@lofilockz2497]

Thank you for the honesty !

[@xdrabbit]

Jeremy. I couldn’t agree more. FM and sample were my first synths and were immediately frustrating for a beginner. Not to mention the “modem” style sample upload tool for the sample. I love Korg but Elektron and Roland get it better.

[@TheHippie27]

Eh, I gotta disagree to a certain extent. When I first got into synths, I got a volca beats, and a bastl kastle, along with some cheap keyboards from thrift shops. And I got months and months of love out that setup, without ever using midi. Beginners don't really need that, but the availability of having it gave me something to work up to, leading to me going deeper down the rabbit hole. Just my experience, but not giving folks a midi adaptor doesn't write this device off for me, it's a stand-alone piece of hardware. BUT I do agree the things gotta come with a power cord god damn.

[@teyoru]

yeah I’ve got a volca drum and an nts-1 and for what they are I’ve had a lot of fun, just that the volca fm in particular has a pretty lame ux that spoils the whole thing. volca itself is fine, but fm demands more ux real estate, imo.

[@Drinkyoghurt]

Especially when the adapter is propietary and costs around 1/4~1/5th of the device itself. I put in new batteries in my Volca drum and they were already low after 4 sessions...

[@Grimbakor]

Very fair review and as a beginner getting the FM it was pretty much a preset player because while I had a basic understand of synthesis at the time I was not prepared for FM and pair that with the odd menu diving I quickly relegated it to presets only. Love the synth and totally agree with your points.

[@willinwoods]

Thanks for being honest! Probably a lot of hard-earned dolares goes unspent (or better spent) thanks to you.

[@shveylien7401]

Jeremy for President.

[@playinmyblues]

There is a lot said in this video with which I agree. I agree that they could have added USB MIDI. And most companies are writing manuals that are horrible to read and not particularly useful in learning how to use the instrument. But look at the reality of the situation. You have the Volca form factor. It is small and does not have every feature they might be able to add. That is how they make it affordable. Once you figure out how to send DX7 patches to the FM using Dexed, it becomes quite easy. And there is your editor, Dexed. FM synthesis is not easy to use to start with. It sounds easy to understand but the ramifications of modulating carriers and modulating modulators at the same time makes it difficult to understand how the sound will turn out unless you hve the proper education. Subtractive synthesis is far more intuitive, in my opinion, and I think many others share that opinion. But there is at least one very good book on how to program a DX7 available for free now: "The Complete DX7." Download it, download the Yamaha information brochure for the DX7 so you can reference the top panel, and use Dexed or another VST with similar features - like the Arturia DX7 V.. Then go about learning how to program the Volca FM2 or FM. Another book on fm synthesis is "FM Theory and Applications," by John Chowning and David Bristow. If you are still complaining about the lack of features, make a list of all the features you would want on your Volca FM. Make a cardboard cutout on a 1:1 scale of the Volca FM. Now start adding all the knobs and sliders and whatever else you think should be there. When you are done, how easy do you think your physical interface will be to operate? Remember, most, not all but, most people buying a Volca FM or FM2 actually already have another Volca or two or three. They know how the form factor works already even if they have not thought much about it. And you also have another reference for comparison, another Volca. Once you design and build something like that on your own, you start to understand some of the choices manufacturers make. I am not saying do not provide feedback. Just give some consideration to the issue. There you have my rant.

[@gru_day]

Pajen did great work with OG FM that is comp with Dexed and velocity on keys. Midi CC are also extended.

[@thesrabbit]

They seem to put the same amount of effort into the SQ-64, which had (past tense because they seem to not give AF about it anymore) the potential to be an absolutely killer piece of gear. I guess what, $600 is the threshold then?

[@ToyKeeper]

Hands-down best FM2 review.

[@floralissa]

Thank you for your honesty ✌🏻

[@lundsweden]

I totally disagree, I'm ex-DX7 owner and love this thing. I find it easy to tweak the excellent built in presets, if you really wanna go deep just use Dexed or another DX7 softsynth. This thing is fun af and sounds really great!

[@danielpirone8028]

I LOVE the opSix - it can do everything from DX7 to subtractive VA to Buchla ish ( see OscillatorSync series of videos). It absolutely can do 6 oscillators / voice with a fun MS20 filter and a decent reverb + mod fx.

[@Alkatross]

Thanks for being candid. I've had my volca fm and never loaded my own patches because it's a pain.

[@BottleMakesMusic]

I own several Volcas (Keys, Drum and Bass) and love them to bits. Really versatile and work well with the MIDI workflow that I've established. Really been after a decent poly-synth for a while and had been seriously interested in the FM or FM2 (particularly at that price-point). Given the limitations that you and other reviewers have presented I'm more likely to favour the Op6 TBH. Thank you for your honest review.

[@RaquelFoster]

You love them because you have the best ones! 🙂

[@bboymac84]

The sounds are amazing!

[@speelius]

I just got into this hobby and totally agree with midi over usb and I would go further than that and say all modern synths need audio over usb as well, it super frustrating to manage all the extra cables and a mixer not to mention multitrack recording and the cost of all of these extra stuff. Usb should be able to provide power as well unless it's an ancient design.

[@mraymond77]

Thank you for being real with us. Totally agree, looks like ass to actually program which takes me out of the music creation process.

[@MoltenMusicTech]

solid thoughts, thank you

[@shix13]

The real question here is .. what is that delicious looking dark beer in the background!??!?!?

[@RedMeansRecording]

Coffee

[@Imetalman2000]

I would’ve preferred to keep the single midi in 5 din, instead of the 3.5mm midi in/out 😢. I have the first Volca and it works well as a utility synth. Plug in a midi cable and use it as an extra voice, or just have it arp, or play bass. Adding the 3.5mm and then having to grab another cable just kills the work flow, this is why I never use my NTS-1.

[@h2o1969]

I have felt this about most of the Volcas. The NTS, I had found to be pretty well thought out for a cheap synth. I guess there is sacrifices for the sequencer.

[@boriscat1999]

While I appreciate real MIDI even though 1/8" jacks, I think it's a weird step backwards that the Sample2 had USB and the FM2 does not. MIDI-OX is still the best (and free) way for Windows PCs to send SysEx files to MIDI devices.

[@baltimega]

LOL at "I don't have time for that". I just got the first volca fm, use it kinda as a preset player alongside my circuits. Might have to trade for the new one just for the added polyphony and effects.

[@distantcomets]

First off, shout out to you, Jeremy, for calling it as you see it, despite the corporate sponsorship angle. Second, sure, beginners are a key Volca segment, but I also know a bunch of seasoned guys that I've played out with from time to time that have built sets around two or three or four of these cheap and cheery sound modules and some advanced sequencing. I personally strapped a Volca Beats to my Digitakt for years, and ran it as a sort of poor man's Analog Rytm. Finally, again IMO, FM patch development isn't really for beginners, and never was. Back in the day, most musicians were so enamored of the variety of timbres the DX7 made compared to analogue synths that they rarely programmed them at all. I assume that, in a way, you've pointed out exactly what Korg hopes a lot of buyers will discover - that the sound engine is great, but that if you want more hands on controls you'll need to move up to the Op-Six.

[@GlennNicoll]

A lot of the (non FM related) complaints you have here are common across all the volcas. I can't speak to the FM stuff, I don't own a volca FM or have access to a FM 2. But I do own a volca sample 2 and a drum. Even before buying the drum (my first volca) I was aware of oscillator syncs synthmata editor for it. Being a web programmer myself I thought it sounded cool and useful. But despite owning all the required cables and trying it once, I don't use it. To me the volcas I have are great when I pick them up and play with them on the couch with headphones on. Learning all the functions hidden in them is fun. My point is, I think you're approaching volcas from a direction they weren't created for. That's why you're frustrated with it.

[@memorycanyon2259]

Really appreciate this video. I didn't realise there wasn't a patch editor, though I know Cuckoo used something to edit patches on the OG Volca FM. I love the sound of FM synthesis, and maybe as a beginner I could get enough fun from just plugging in a sync cable and using the existing patches, but I'd really want to be able to back up custom patches without too much hassle.

[@jdtorian]

Need more of this on the KZbin to keep it interesting -or In most cases, make it interesting.

[@alexwestconsulting]

thx for the heads up, I would have missed the update. I tend to never program mine directly so much as load patches via dexed.

[@yours_truly42]

Skip to 3:02 to actually see why it caused Jeremy to have an existential crisis.

[@cchoge]

It has a smaller operator set, but the editing capabilities on the Reface DX are awesome and fun. For the beginner who wants what's essentially an external module, the Reface has always been better than the Volca, even with this revision.

[@cchoge]

At the end of the day, Volcas have so many compromises I wind up filling those roles with VSTs. The only Volca I have left is the modular, because it's so much fun to patch with, but Korg still made the decision to not provide a MIDI port (despite the solder pads for it being right there on the board!) which takes all of that fun and turns it into the unnecessary pain of coming up with a MIDI to CV bridge if you want to connect with anything else other than a modular system. Does Korg introduce these limitations because they're afraid of Volca taking too many people away from the high end market?

[@mresquidgeward5965]

@@cchoge no these synths are limited because they are cheap af!! Why are people all of a sudden finding this hard to understand? These are budget synths and some of them are awesome. Do they do it all? No. But no synth does. I know people that don't go near things like this (because they are toys or whatever) but still have walls of high value, classic or just powerhouse synths which are obviously still not quite covering it. People have been spoiled over the last decade and its beginning to show now with all these tantrums

[@MIDERA]

I hate those fold out manuals. What is up with that? Roland does that crap all the time. I just cannot read that stuff. It reminds me of the junk I put together for my kids. If you want to find yourself in absolute frustration, put together children's equipment. I enjoy the honesty. DEXED is awesome, never was personally into the volca series... and I'm sure the OPsix is cool, but I recall watching some videos thinking it didn't seem to really do FM the way my brain works... so I'm over here with my SY77. Partly, the SY77 (and 99) seem like the Jupiter 8's of the FM world. I just love how the synth feels, the keys are amazing... I'm sure people would say the DX1 is the Jupiter 8, but I think the DX1 is more like the CS80 of the FM world. Anyway, obvious side rant... I love the SY77 and it's still probably one of the top 5 synths I have ever come across. Yeah - editing is kinda odd, but I'll take that over something that has a mediocre build quality but easier UI.

[@SamCouchman]

I love the Winterbloom tshirt!

[@A5h3n.]

Ordered in November. Finally shipped in April 🙃

[@doctorauxiliary]

as someone meandering somewhere between novice & intermediate, I have to chime in & thank you, jeremy, for advocating for musicians like me who are easily discouraged by shizz like this. I love the sounds I can get from the FM, but I'm just fiddling around until I find what I like. I have no real sense of how to repeat steps to get results a second time. the manual(s for all the volcas that I've seen) are absolute hell to navigate. that's the case for other korg bits that I have. they really, REALLY need help in that department. again, friend of the noob, your advocacy is greatly appreciated.

[@EricFrazierFRAZDOG]

I totally feel your frustration here. I'm a pretty big Korg fan as well, and I see you have some very valid points here. TBH, one of my bigger fears behind the OP-1. I'll either think it's one of the more FUN pieces of gear I've played with, or not give it attention because my interest was lost. Great honest video. Thank you!

[@futur_sunds]

You make valid points.

[@SnapImaX]

I watched loopops video and it was top quality as usual, but it struck me that most of it seemed to be a dexed tutorial (which ive already loved for years), and the device interface looked - to put it mildly - obscure, even to someone who's been using that exact synthesis algorithm for years. So your frustrations aren't all that surprising.

[@questionmarq]

perfect Rant and so on point too

[@Woodhead567]

Nice to hear the other aspects of the synth too. Maybe we can hooe for a software (update) that will fix some of the issues?

[@maquettemusic1623]

I don't think it is aimed at beginners. Here me out: much like TE Pocket Operators and other low price but powerful devices, these are aimed at users of synthesisers who have a bit too much spare change hanging around. Enough to shell out £120-odd just to 'have' FM synth in their set up, or just to have a volca beats. The kinda people who are like "wish I had bought a Dx7 10 years ago!"... They're trinkets to sell to people who own elektron etc as much as they are an introduction to beginners and the reason they're not a good intro is because they're actually expecting to sell more of them to people who already own all the peripherals. It's just consumerism for people with GAS.

[@_MattSauer_]

I agree. The use case IMO is someone with a desktop setup who wants an FM synth module for live jams that they can dump patches into. The sequencer/arp and the little bit of knob tweaking you can do are bonuses. The added polyphony and reverb are good upgrades in that context.

[@big-smoke-rc]

What if I just want to play the sounds with the ability to mess with them a bit if I want? I might want to just play it, without learning something I'm not interested in learning. I thought that was reasonably typical of the volcas target market. Seems like this achieves that.

[@MeerkatMuzic]

Their used to be a indie iPad app that you could edit patches with the orginal FM Volca. Agree with you comments. I Think Modal nailed the hardware / software combo with their mini synths.

[@Hhyperspace]

Its true. The new SP404 has mini midi but no jacks included in box. At least the 1st Circuit provided them and now the new Circuit has 5pin and rechargeable battery. The Volca Sample 2 was backward to. More sample space and USB C was new but they minimized pattern chain that had worked fine before like pocket operators.

[@lycosa2000]

AHHHHH It's 1985 all over again. (Still buying it.)

[@DubFreakuencies]

Mega FM is a great synth,IMO, a bit more pricey than the Volca FM 2 tough.Soft synts, FM 8 or Operator will do the job, you can get amazing tones out of it if you take the time to learn FM synthesis.If you take the time to learn FM it really doesn’t matter what tool you’ll use, but it will be worth it.

[@Jorn2u]

Applaud you for being honest. And the stuff you're saying is very true. Hopefully Korg takes is a positive criticism. Keep it up!

[@BirdBotBleeps]

You should check out the Volca Modular and Volca Drum. Those get the balance between complexity and depth right. I never understood the popularity of the FM because it is, as you said, essentially a box for Dexed presets.

[@TheBolt3366]

I think small modules like this with 6 or more voice polyphony is a great thing. They don't take up much space, and you can hook up a 88 key controller to it and have a full keyboard. Perfect for live use. I would also add, having a split voice to that along with after touch would also be fantastic. And, include rack ears for the modules.

[@nickkablokje]

That's my experience with the volca fm......may i suggest to korg to take all the great things from the nts-1 and incorporate this into the next volca.

[@TylerScranton]

great review, however.... MIDI 5 pin will live forever, and it should. MID over USB is frustrating as hell if you want to be dawless.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

oh snap! i love when successful youtubespeople do some shots fired, non ass kissing critiques! youtubeworld is too nice! i agree with the critiques, but also that the FM2 is an amazing mindblowing goldmine for $170 if you’re *not* a beginner and can use dexed and synthmata and have a little time to put in to learn how to get patches on there etc. I got the first FM when I didn’t know what I was doing, and sure it was annoying, but I learned a good amount and figured it out and it was worth it. This is 2x worth it with the reverb and 6 voices!

[@Highfiber123]

I thank you for being honest. my own observations were the same.

[@JustPassingByBaby]

DX Patches are actually quite easy to send. Just import into DEXED and Load it through it back to the Volca FM.

[@JustPassingByBaby]

Also the MIDI CC is part of its extra documentation. Should be up on KORG Downloads webpage. INformation is out there. :)

[@chupathingy5862]

That's true but it speaks more about the fact that you don't get a bespoke tool. You have to use a third party tool and third party adapters to get anything external going.

[@altogethernow]

Seems like if they get a good editor going with immediate access to the library could be great. I mean elektron took years after the release of the digis before they released overbridge. Remember that? Oh that was fun. But now it’s pretty rad.

[@lunchrevisited]

thanks for pointing out those important, yet often ignored aspects. I'm kinda used to fm synths being really obtuse and that's probably why my analog devices get all the action these days,,, op-1 excepted

[@remaly27]

Please drop a hint to Korg that we would buy modules for the OpSix, Wavestate and Modwave. We know they can do it since they made one for the Minilogue.

[@elarielo]

PLEASE. I don't have the space for keyboard versions of every single synth

[@RedMeansRecording]

God seriously

[@mikamulperi]

Appreciate the video and especially critisizing the process of sending sysex data to the device. It should be done via usb and software editor or even wirelessly via mobile device

[@PocketUnv]

You make a good point and all, but dude, that cup of coffee is getting cold!

[@DKH712]

IMO midi over USB shouldn't be the only standard. It's the best way to sync gear to a computer, but when it comes to syncing gear to each other without a computer, I rather just have DIN MIDI. In fact, in my current setup all my synths have both, which is great because I can sync everything to both my computer and my dawless setup (with a digitakt as a brain) without needing to change a single cable. So I really hope non-USB MIDI isn't dying

[@RedMeansRecording]

>midi over USB shouldn't be the only standard i agree

[@Andor.]

yeah cv should be the only standard! death to midi!!!

[@HOLLASOUNDS]

Midi over USB requires a PC no? I cant plug My Arturia keylab essential into My Peak desk top Sythersizor via USB?