Korg R3 37-Key Synthesizer/Vocoder

No mini-keys here! With 37 full-size velocity-sensitive keys, the R3 is a powerful little synth with the guts of the Korg Midas, plus a mic for vocoder fun.

Overall User Ratings (based on 16 ratings)
  • Overall:
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Sound:
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Features:
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Ease of Use:
    3.5 out of 5 stars
  • Quality:
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Value:
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Manufacturer Support:
    4 out of 5 stars
  • The Wow Factor:
    4 out of 5 stars
Overall: 4 out of 5 stars
(16) (see rating details)
Submitted November 2, 2011 by a customer from gmail.com

"Good Synthesizer for the price"

Overall: 4.5 out of 5 stars
(see rating details)
Verified Customer zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.
I will probably be using this for a while. May get another keyboard from the same manufacturer at some point.
Sound
Has great sound presets. Controls are easy to manipulate and are very responsive. Vocoder has low latency.
Features
Oscillators, Filter, Envelopes, Vocoder, Arpeggiator, Weighted Keys. It has all the desired features and even has formant motion that can be applied to all presets.
Ease of Use
For a beginner, it will take some time to get a hang of the controls, but for someone with experience using synthesizers, it shouldn't present any problems.
Quality
Sturdy construction. Knobs do not wobble.
Value
A mid range price point. Seems to keep value pretty well.
Manufacturer Support
Have not experienced compatibility issues as of yet.
The Wow Factor
A good layout for easy use. However, some of the text printed on the layouts can be hard to read.

Musical Background:

Hobby Musician/DJ

Musical Style:

Electronic, House, Techno, Rock
4 of 4 people (100%) people found this review helpful. Did you?
Thanks for your opinion!

Submitted August 30, 2008 by a customer from gmail.com

"Way beyond underrated"

Overall: 4 out of 5 stars
(see rating details)
It's a good synth not being overused. Korg is one of those companies that makes great synths and "meh" workstations. They also cornered the market and the baby synths like this one. The micron is good, novation one is good, but Korg rules the world at least until Yamaha and Roland make baby synths.
Sound
Everyone is so obsessed with the retro sounds of the microKorg. The R3 is all things to all people. It has that retro flavor that is the craze right now as well as neo - electronica and stomping hardhouse and trance sounds. For cheap money you get a REAL synth. People say it sounds too digital. I say it sounds like a synth instead of a toy. The R3 is great for the shear fact that the sounds you don't hear yet. The microKorg sound (that the R3 has too people) is all over the place. This is way more versatile. I actually owned both.
Features
It comes with some software that people rave about that I haven't gotten around to using yet. The vocoder mic is sexy.
Ease of Use
People say that it is hard to navigate through the menues. I whole heatedly disagree. It's a little different but if you get the concept of synthesis (even just a little) you will work your way around it.
Quality
Sturdy, small, and sounds like a giant.
Value
I wish it was $100 cheaper but it is worth the money.
Manufacturer Support
Korg? Support? You'll never need it.

Musical Background:

hobbyist/active musician

Musical Style:

Electro/New Wave/Electronica
11 of 12 people (92%) people found this review helpful. Did you?
Thanks for your opinion!

Submitted October 30, 2007 by a customer from gmail.com

"it is the R3al thing"

Overall: 4.5 out of 5 stars
(see rating details)
it should have batteries like the microkorg and a case like the micro-x
Sound
sound-wise..it is nice,very warm and the sky is your limit for sounds you can create.
Features
software was in-depth
Ease of Use
easy as mary
Quality
better in built than the microkorg
Value
value for money,no matter how many synth you have you can always have room for another
Manufacturer Support
still new so not much support
The Wow Factor
i saw it on monday morning and i bought it in the evening

Musical Background:

active muician

Musical Style:

experimental
8 of 10 people (80%) people found this review helpful. Did you?
Thanks for your opinion!

Submitted December 6, 2008 by a customer from hotmail.com

"Decent entry level digital synth."

Overall: 3 out of 5 stars
(see rating details)
Iv already sold mine after discovering the vocoder is so poor, i replaced it with a second hand jx3p that was half the price and about 100 times better and real analogue!
Sound
The sounds are ok, you get the standards youd expect but nothing mind-blowing or truely analogue sounding warmness. The vocoder sounds are really not very clear and isnt really usable in a recording or live enviorment, more a gimmick, they really shouda put more into it.
Features
It has standard features of a cheap synth, menu-editing means it aint great for quickly changing, controlling or editing sounds.
Ease of Use
Like I said, the lack of knobs is really annoying, its a good sized synth though, perfect for gigging.
Quality
The quality is quite good, ok its suprising light, I wouldnt want to drop it cos Im pretty sure it would be over!
Value
A bit overpriced for what u get.
Manufacturer Support
N/A
The Wow Factor
It looks good!

Musical Background:

producer, dj, musician

Musical Style:

synthpop
5 of 10 people (50%) people found this review helpful. Did you?
Thanks for your opinion!

Submitted January 15, 2008

"This product is"

Overall: 4.5 out of 5 stars
(see rating details)
This guy will follow me to the grave (might have to change a battery and service a thing or two on the way though).
Sound
Simply superb sound quality! Sounds smoother than the radias and has so much depth and clarity. Expansiveness of sound is better than an Access Virus. This will go well for electronic music. The sky is your limit!
Features
A lot of great features. Polyphony and multitimbrality can be limiting for people spoilt by today's hardware. But if you do like they did in the 80's and 90's: multitrack recording (one by one), this will be great. Mod sequencing is the best feature. The vocoder sounds awesome as well. Being able to record is a great plus. The Sound editor/librarian is a must in my opinion, it makes editing a piece of cake compared to the front panel (Use the panel only for live situation).
Ease of Use
Pretty straight forward. I read the manual only a couple of times.
Quality
Made in Japan: That says it all. Lexus, Sony, Roland, Nakamichi, Infiniti, Panasonic...anything worthwhile with superb quality and reliability generally comes from this little country (the other being Germany).
Value
Its amazing for the value. In the past, you had to spend 10 grant to get a synth this powerful. Wow, times have changed!
Manufacturer Support
Dealt with korg once. They are ok.
The Wow Factor
Amazingly sexy with the circular led knobs and black color, orange LCDs...makes the M3 look like a cheesy toy.

Musical Background:

Active Musician

Musical Style:

Electronica
19 of 21 people (90%) people found this review helpful. Did you?
Thanks for your opinion!
Please wait.