KORG Collection 6 – Trinity Reborn and a PS-3300 for Everyone!
4,7 / 5,0 | 
KORG’s family of software synths grows again to KORG Collection 6, this time including a software recreation of the mighty PS-3300, the oft-requested Trinity and the SGX-2 Piano.
All About the KORG Collection 6
KORG were one of the first major hardware synth manufacturers to dip its toe into the software waters when it launched the KORG Legacy Collection. We could now, for a fraction of the price and without losing valuable room in our studios, own instruments like the Wavestation, M1, PolySix, MS-20 and Mono/Poly.
Slowly but surely, the Collection has grown into a formidable and hugely useful collection of instruments that saw the likes of the Prophecy, Triton, ARP 2600 and miniKORG 700S welcomed into the fold. And now it is time for three more instruments to step into this rather cool club.
KORG Collection 6
The headline addition to KORG Collection 6 has to be the PS-3300. This legendary synth, of which somewhere in the region of only 50 original hardware units were produced, made an impressive comeback as part of KORG’s commendable reissue series that has seen the likes of the miniKORG 700S, ARP2600 and KORG MS-20 reborn.
KORG PS-3300
The hardware PS-3300 reissue was an immense undertaking and one that came with a hefty price tag as well as the requirement for a sizeable empty space in the studio. Many of us drooled over the units when they started appearing at shows like NAMM and Superbooth, knowing that we’d never likely be able to afford one.
Well, now, we can, in the form of the official KORG PS-3300 software synthesizer. This is a perfect recreation that emulates the entire beast and adds a lot more that couldn’t be in the hardware, such as a wealth of FX, the ability to store many more presets and up to 60 voices of polyphony!
It won’t break down, it won’t run up huge electricity bills, and it won’t require a bank loan to acquire! They’ve also added the ensemble effect found on its siblings, the PS-3100 and PS-3200. Other additions include a choice of modelled PS-3300 or MS-20 filters per synth panel, pink and white noise, tempo-sync options and much more.
KORG TRINTY
When KORG introduced the TRITON in the last couple of versions of the Collection, there was a significant number of people who asked KORG to go even further back in their classic workstation range to the TRINITY. And now, their calls have been answered in KORG Collection 6.
From the M1 onwards, KORG’s family of workstations have become staples amongst many people’s studios and live rigs. So much so that the sounds contained within are now deeply rooted within the brains of users and listeners alike.
KORG have meticulously modelled the ACCESS (Advanced Combined Control Synthesis System) sound engine, along with the original Trinity D/A convertors, all of which was supervised by the original TRINITY developers
So to now have all of the classic TRINITY sounds available, as well as all the subsequent expansion packs such as Megapianos, Orchestral Elements and Dance Waves and Drums, is going to make a lot of people very happy. Plus, there is now a big, lovely graphical interface with which to dive in and manipulate those classic sounds.
KORG SGX-2
The new trio in KORG Collection 6 is rounded up with the SGX-2. This acoustic piano instrument is lifted from the same SGX-2 engine found in KORG’s NAUTILUS and KRONOS workstations and features the Italian, German and Japanese pianos seen in those instruments.
Each of these pianos has been deeply multi-sampled, featuring up to 12 velocity layers per key and absolutely no looped samples across the keyboard. Many variations have been carefully crafted and curated for your pleasure. Each piano has a range of controls over things such as string resonance and mechanical noise, as well as damper noise and resonance.
The lid position can be adjusted, and you can manipulate things like velocity bias, key touch and the stereo perspective, be it the audience or the player. Then there’s a host of effects and a large modulation matrix for you to truly experiment with these beautifully sampled pianos.
The Rest of the Collection
These three new additions join the existing collection which consists of:
- MS-20
- Polysix
- Mono/Poly
- M1
- WAVESTATION
- ARP ODYSSEY
- TRITON
- TRITON Extreme
- miniKORG 700S
- Prophecy
- microKORG
- ELECTRIBE-R
- ARP 2600
- VOX Super Continental
- EP-1
- KAOSS PAD
- MDE-X
As always, you can buy the entire collection for the biggest saving, but KORG do sell each instrument separately, and upgrade packages are available from each previous version of the Collection. Check your KORG ID account to see what is available to you.
In Conclusion
KORG Collection 6 might not be the largest collection of software instruments, but it continues to deliver a strong set of unique and useful instruments from its past and present. I don’t believe I am alone in wishing they’d explore some of their more storied history. Trident, Lambda, Sigma, Delta, anyone? And what about more recent classics like the Z1, DW8000 or DDD-1?
Luckily, other companies, most notably Full Bucket Music and Cherry Audio, are satisfying some of those urges. That said, the attention to detail and accuracy, as well as the entirely useful additions, mean that the KORG Collection 6 is well worth the investment or upgrade.
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