>With the Monotrons, Korg made a risky reputational bet on the idea that Pick-and-place assembly technology and tiny modern components could deliver the low cos

>With the Monotrons, Korg made a risky reputational bet on the idea that Pick-and-place assembly technology and tiny modern components could deliver the low costs and satisfying sound that synth nerds expected >Several years on, Even Roland is making analog again and there is an absolute renaissance in terms of both classic synth clones and wild new innovations. So much of the contemporary synth market can be traced directly back to that gamble by Korg - the Volcas obviously, the Arturia Brute series, Yamaha's Reface series, Roland and Behringer's desktop modules, the IK Uno, most of Modal's products, perhaps even the modular renaissance. Korg proved to everyone else that the market was crying out for instruments that harked back to the heritage of classic synths but at an affordable price and in a portable package. They reinvented the hardware synth for the VST generation - customers who didn't want a full-size keyboard and a tour-worthy chassis but did want a tactile experience and authentic sounds, customers who were used to buying instruments in affordable bite-size chunks. The Monotron doesn't look like much, but it started a revolution in the synth business.