Ahead of the 2018 NAMM Show, Korg has officially announced the volca mix.
The Korg volca mix is a four-channel analog mixer, tailored to performance with volca series drum machines and synthesizers.
The volca mix provides two mono inputs and one stereo input. The jacks are mini-jacks, allowing you to make connections with just one stereo mini-cable from the headphone out of each volca unit.
The channel volumes use vertical faders. The gain can be boosted to adjust the mix balance, and mute buttons are also provided. Each channel is also equipped with a LO/HI CUT filter that lets you control the low and high frequency ranges with a single knob.
The output section provides RCA stereo line outputs. There’s a master volume with LED VU meter for adjusting the output level, as well as a headphone output that can be used simultaneously with the line output. It also features built-in speakers for mobile use.
The volca mix offers master effects, powered by all-analog circuitry. In addition to an expander that broadens a mono source into a stereo sound image, there’s a dynamic range compressor that compresses the high-frequency range according to level changes of the low-frequency region, as well as a side chain effect.
The volca mix also provides a stereo mini-jack send out and AUX in jack, and send level knobs for each channel. This allows you to use it with an external effect unit in a send/return connection.
The AUX in jack can also be used as a stereo input channel for a fourth volca unit, an iOS app, or any other gadget, instrument, or device.
The volca mix features an analog sync out jack that can easily be connected to many pieces of KORG gear for tempo sync, and also a play button and tempo knob to control that sync signal. By using the volca mix as the sync master device of your live setup, you can simultaneously play sequences from multiple synced units.
Three VOLCA DC OUT jacks are provided, and by connecting the included DC-DC cables you can supply power for up to three volca units.
The volca mix comes with AC adapter, DC-DC cables, and audio cables included.
Pricing and Availability
The Korg volca mix is expected to be available in Jan 2018 for US $169. See the Korg site for details.
For $169 the Korg Volca Mix gives you 2 mono inputs, 1 stereo input, 1 FX bus, and powers 3 Volcas while also having sync functions onboard. For $50 more the Vixen mixer offers 6 mono inputs, 2 stereo inputs, 2 FX busses, and powers 8 Volcas or similarly powered devices. The Vixen also has 1/4 outputs. Sorry Korg but I’m not impressed.
Yep. I genuinely love the Korg product line, but this really could have been better.
But no girlfriends were harmed during the shooting of the video 😉
For under $100, you could have a battery powered Xenyx 1002B with a total of six stereo channels and post-fader aux send.
Not impressed by Korg’s (cynical) marketing department here. It was obvious for a very long time that users were crying out for such a mixer, and only until someone actually comes out and produces a really nice one (Vixen), Korg decide to trash that market by undercutting the competition.
Thanks for sticking up for the little guy, but in this case it’s not necessary. Korg hasn’t done anything wrong. Last summer I chanced upon a situation that made it possible for KVgear to take on the development of a mixer. Assuming that Korg was inevitably going to make their own mixer, I pushed to get the Vixen developed as quickly as possible. Huge companies like Korg typically take a long, long time to develop new products. It’s a fair bet that the Volca Mix was under development before the Vixen project began.
Sorry Mike, but I disagree. Korg are in the wrong. I’ve seen this behaviour before with the case of a small British company called Longwave Instruments. Although Longwave still exist (the make Theremins), you’ve probably never heard of them because after undertaking many years of marketing the comeback of the Theremin, Moog Music, who up until that point claimed that there was no market interest in the Theremin (there was- a huge demand at the time). Moog finally came back and stole the show with the reintroduction of the all-new, as demonstrated by Dr Bob, Moog Theremin, and Longwave disappeared into insignificance.
I imagine Korg (now without Tats…. :'( ) saw that even that there may indeed be a demand for a tiny mixer for the Volcas, they probably wouldn’t bother producing small Volca mixer, because after all, most would prefer using a ‘proper’ mixer (or even already own a mixer?)- and the Volcas weren’t a very ‘professional’ range anyway, just a battery operated ‘toy’. But that’s turned out to be not the case at all- there’s the genius of Tatsuya Takahashi? Maybe that’s why he left them? The man’s a visionary. Anyway, back to my argument… Korg most probably thought this, and the the battery-operated Vixen came along (I agree with other posters here- the Vixen is also underpowered. What the heck is so wrong with wanting *stereo* inputs on *every* channel??). Korg comes up with this fix that is slightly less, thus squashing any competition (very Moog vs Longwave).
We all LOVE battery operated! 🙂
And PS- Maybe that’s your next move Mike, a Vixen with stereo inputs across the board? I want one already- for multiple iPads, not Volcas.
If you use both aux returns + channels 7 & 8, you have four stereo pairs on Vixen. Then you can hardpan either of 1/2, 3/4, & 5/6 channels, effectively giving you SIX stereo inputs. How many more iPads can you have, anyway?
But didn’t Bob Moog introduce the theremin to the general market first? Why wouldn’t he reissue one of his first instruments after getting his company back? (We all know the story of him losing rights to his own name for years).
Hey Korg, That video is horrible!
I don’t think it is as bad as everyone seems to be complaining but it really does need like, double the channels to be really useful – if you are using a send and then returning to the stereo channel (since there is no fx return) you essentially have 2 units on the mixer when you should have like, 4 so you can do sample or beats, bass, keys and fm with 3 seq and one live instrument –
They would have been smart creating one with enough inputs for all their boxes and battery powered. Would have sold a lot more volca with a “collect the whole set” tag like pokemon.
Months late and 4 input ports short, IMO.
Wow. A whole pile of cheap stuff sounding like.. cheap stuff. Please, no elitist comments. Its cheap stuff.
“Please, no elitist comments”
the one I am quoting is the only elitist one here.
Sorry but this product sucks and makes no sense.
It is a real shame because a Volca Mixer was something everyone wanted. However, “This is not the Volca Mixer you are looking for.”
Here’s the Volca Mixer we wanted:
4 stereo input channels, with pan, volume, simple EQ.
2 sends per channel, one external and one to an internal chorus/flanger/delay unit.
All parameters sequenceable via MIDI.
This can be done well within the given price point. If Korg’s engineers are too incompetent to handle it now that Takashi’s gone, they should hire me. I could build this for them and it would sell like hotcakes. But they won’t. Cos they’ve lost all their sense. Also they can’t possibly afford me since they are cheapskates who underpay their engineers.
Haha the guy in the video in the groovy faux leather jacket has 2 of the mixers. That’s an open admission that it simply alone is not enough for what you really want or need. LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAME!
that was my first thought too – about the 2 mixers not the leather jacket. if in your demo you need 2 devices it shows some shortcomings for sure in your product.
all korg volta stuff are garbage, how is this any different.
There are Two mixers in the video to show that they can be easily chained!
I thinnk it is a nice tool for volcas – sync start and compression are two things they rly needed! Also nice that it powers three units.
Waaay 2 late tho – this should have been there since the beginning.
I like how they decided to go with the shitty audio from those tiny speakers for the demo and not some line in audio
This is REALLY a weird product
I would expect that the first in line for this product would be the “volca range collectors”, as someone stated above, but for them, this mixer has fatal shortcomings, and really, who wants to chain mixers in a portable setup?
For all the other people with setups with other instruments mixed with some volcas i dont se the appeal on getting this… there are better and cheapper options right now
Weird product…
The synth oscillator in the above video is slightly flat/out of tune. Argghh!!
excited for a whole 2 seconds….
built in (crappy) speakers, really Korg?!?
3 channels?? so… get 2 volca mixers for all the other volcas and plug them into another mixer? ummm….
I’ll be sticking with my little soundcraft mixer.
I called it last year on a thread about the Vixen, Korg would inevitably show up with a similar project, not that we needed a crystal ball to foresee the move. But regardless, why faders? They require too much real estate for such a small package. Had they went with knobs, they could have added another channel, That being said, Korg isn’t letting up in its pursuit of complete market dominance, maybe Uli Berlinger has them looking over their shoulder, driving them on.
I love Korg gear but this is trash, disgrace…..just my opinion.