We feel very privileged to have received serial number 003 of Korg's new Prologue analog polysynth ahead of its official announcement. We have yet to perform a thorough review in the field, but editor Stephen Fortner gave it a spin in his home studio and came away very impressed.

The Prologue is a mostly analog (but a little bit digital) polyphonic synthesizer with two VCOs and one digital waveform oscillator. It has an incredibly versatile range of timbres, from Moog-like to Oberheim-like to Prophet-like to PPG-like and even Synclavier-like.

Interestingly, Korg has locked keyboard length to polyphony: There's a four-octave model with eight voices, and a five-octave model with 16 voices. Fortner auditioned the four-octave model on the condition that he could overnight it back to Korg in time for the NAMM show, but they told him he could get his hands on a five-octave, 16-voice unit after the show. You can bet you'll see more on this site about that.

In the video below, Fortner says he doesn't know price info yet, which was true at the time of filming. Since then, we have found out that the estimated street price of the eight-voice model is $1,499 and the 16-voice Prologue is $1,999. That puts it head-to-head with Dave Smith's very capable Prophet Rev-2, which we also have on hand, so stay tuned for videos about that.

Here's Uncle Fester (Fortner) nerding out on the Prologue ...