KORG iDS-10 Brings Portable Synth Studio To iPhone

iphone-ds-10-synthesizer

Korg has introduced iDS-10 – a portable synthesizer studio for iPhone, an evolution of the original DS-10 app for the Nintendo DS platform.

Korg iDS-10 combines a virtual analog synthesizer, voice synthesizer, and drum machine, inspired by the design of the original Korg DS-10. The app gives you a hand-held system for creating electronic music. 

Features:

  • The synthesizer provides carefully selected parameters, making it easy to enjoy sound design. All parameters can be automated. Each synthesizer provides five types of effects.
  • The voice synthesizer makes it easy to generate voices. It also supports input via a microphone, which can be used as a conventional vocoder.
  • The iDS-10 provides an drum machine that offers control over six drum sounds (kick, snare, hihat1 / ihat2, tom, and percussion).
  • The smart keyboard lets you specify a scale so that you can step-record without worrying about “wrong” notes. And there’s also KAOSS mode, where you can produce a phrases, with just a touch of the keyboard.
  • Seamlessly play 32 patterns, and also manipulate track mute and solo settings in real time.
  • Send your songs by email for collaborative music productions
  • And then there’s the enigmatic ‘mystery bingo’; as you continue enjoying the Korg iDS-10, the full picture will become clearer …

Korg iDS-10 is available at an introductory price of US $9.99 (50% off).

30 thoughts on “KORG iDS-10 Brings Portable Synth Studio To iPhone

  1. It would be nice if it could sync wirelessly to the original DS-10. All korg apps should have that option. You can sync up to 5 DS-10s, mobile devices should be at that party.

  2. Not gonna lie, this seems like a neat way to jot down all those riffs that pop up in my head all the time when I’m not next to a DAW… except I’d still have to take my hands off the steering wheel to do so :/

      1. I’m sure it works fine and is fun to mess with, but it would be much more useful if there were other ways to interact with it. An iPhone doesn’t have the same limitations as a Nintendo DS. I’m sure some people will be okay with it as it is, but if I can’t even export to an audio file like many other iOS music apps, then I don’t need it.

        1. It’s only $10 and version 1. Does what it says in the description so it’s not betaware. Sounds great. Just because it’s popular doesn’t mean AudioBus compatability is a minimum requirement for a music app. Detune has a good starting point here.

  3. Just from the screen caps, this has a similar feel to Serum (Xferrecords). Korg is really leading the way on mobile platforms, I just wish someone would come up with a solid manner of workflow as opposed to all these apps feeling more like virtual keyboards, rather than mobile instruments. Animoog comes pretty close in that regard, and the TC series by Bitshape is an interesting approach to capitalizing on the mobile instruments platform.

    1. Not even close to Xfer Serum.. Some resemblances in the color scheme though. This is a watered down version VA of a classic vintage synth. Serum is WT and towers in functions. Both still sound great.. Just not in the same ballpark

  4. I wish they would make a cartridge for the dsn-12 that had midi and/or pulse sync – i would totally buy it…. or at least allow wav rendering – because I love playing with it but I wish it played better with others

  5. after looking at a few demos :
    i think that the drum section of the iDS10 is dedicated only to drums ?
    . in the Nintendo DS10(plus ) version you can load custom sounds into the synth or drum sections
    also you can sync 4 units

    1. Android still has big latency issues(midi also as far as i’ve heard), samsung tried to fix that for their phones, but not much developers are interested in making/porting apps to samsung exclusively. This has to be fixed by google, and they are trying to do that like….4 years now…that’s why i moved to ios platform.

  6. Got it this morning and it’s great. I’m like everyone else hoping for audiobus at least. If you have used the other versions it only takes a minute or two to figure out the differences.

  7. Anyone figured out what the mystery bingo is all about yet?

    I wish the iMS-20 would implement the same step sequencer as the DS-10 – it’s to much more intuitive.

    1. There are hints to a few of the bingo pieces on Korg’s soundcloud account. I know the “2” and “10” are for hours played. Look closely at the pics on the icons.

  8. I haven’t figured out what the 4 ? mark bingo tiles do.

    also bottom right corner 4th row and then the 2 1 in from the right on 3rd row. I figure they are opening/sharing Internety things?

    my review is it’s worth it if you are into sampling. it would be nice if you internally record as audio a performance though. a lot of the features that make it worthwhile are doing stuff live. It’s not as gloriously nasty sounding as DS version (for better or worse) and I wish the drums and synth and effects had a bit more modular parameters. Recording automation you can’t get rid off easily.

    i mean it’s designed for phone/iPod touch so lack of audiobus /midi isn’t really an issue. It’s fast to come up with interesting stuff and fun to work real time.

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