What the KORG drumlogue is
The KORG drumlogue is a hybrid drum machine with 11 parts: four analog drum voices, six sample parts and one Multi-Engine part that plays either KORG’s own engines or a third-party user synth. KORG unveiled it on 15 September 2022, and the current firmware is 1.3.0 from 10 January 2025.
This page is my technical reference for it. It covers the drumlogue specs, how the three sound engines fit together, what drumlogue user units are and how to install them, and the drumlogue MIDI routing and CC map for user synths. It also has the limits I measured on my own drumlogue while building a user synth for it. I keep the verdict out of here; this page is about how the machine works.
Key takeaways
- 11 parts: BD, SD, LT and HT are analog; CH, OH, RS, CP, SP1 and SP2 play samples; part 11 is the Multi-Engine (VPM, NOISE or USER).
- Up to 24 user synths and 24 units per effect type (delay, reverb, master) can be installed, and all of them must share 32 MB of user storage.
- To play a user synth chromatically from a keyboard you need multi-channel MIDI mode: part 11 sits on the 11th channel of the range, and CC 16 to 31 reach parameters 1 to 16. Parameters 17 to 24 have no CC.
- With a busy drum pattern on my drumlogue, my synth unit ran cleanly up to about 24 % average load, dropped out from about 27 %, and at 33 % muted all audio until I switched the drumlogue off.
KORG drumlogue specs at a glance
The table below comes from KORG’s specifications page, the SDK page and the 2025 owner’s manual (edition E4). Where the drumlogue manual and KORG’s SDK page disagree, I say so further down. The launch prices are press figures, because KORG publishes no price list.
| Feature | drumlogue |
|---|---|
| Polyphony | 11 voices; user synths can play polyphonically via MIDI, voice count set by the unit |
| Analog parts | 4: bass drum, snare drum, low tom, high tom |
| Sample parts | 6 (PCM and user samples) |
| Multi-Engine | 1 part: VPM, NOISE or a user synth |
| Programs | 128 programs (each holds a pattern), 64 factory presets |
| Drum kits | 128 (64 factory presets) |
| Effects | Reverb, delay, master (each can be a user unit) |
| Outputs | L/MONO and R main outs, 4 individual outs, headphones, sync out |
| Inputs | Audio in, sync in |
| MIDI and USB | MIDI in/out (DIN), USB-A for MIDI controllers, USB-B to a computer |
| User storage | 32 MB |
| Power | 9 V DC adapter |
| Size and weight | 317 x 189 x 73 mm, 1.4 kg |
| Current firmware | 1.3.0 (10 January 2025) |
At launch the drumlogue cost 629 EUR or $599.99 (Synth Anatomy, 15 September 2022) and GBP 529 in the UK (DJ Mag). I found no official KORG price cut.
How the three engines fit together
The four analog parts are bass drum, snare and two toms. Their circuits come from Junichi Ikeuchi, who developed the ARP 2600 M, MS-20 mini, ARP Odyssey, Poly-800 and M1 at KORG, as the Japanese site DTM Station introduces him in its interview with three drumlogue developers (30 November 2022, my translations). In 2022 Ikeuchi said he had started developing the circuits “four or five years ago”, before the drumlogue project existed; the project picked them up once they had taken shape. He calls the drumlogue, “in a sense, KORG’s first serious drum machine in over 30 years, since the DDD-1 and DDD-5”. He doesn’t count the electribe, which he sees as a groovebox.
Asked whether the modelling he describes means modelling analog circuits digitally, Ikeuchi answers: “No, it’s all analog circuitry”. The snare and tom circuits model “two heads and the shell resonating and influencing each other”, and the kick is “a synthesizer specialized for the kick”. The design choice that makes the drumlogue programmable is that “every parameter is voltage-controlled”, so the digital side can drive every analog setting. Metallic sounds didn’t work out in analog: “we tried metallic sounds in analog too, but it never became convincing”. The hi-hats became sample parts instead, next to rimshot, clap and two free sample slots.
The six sample parts play KORG’s factory samples or your own. Part 11, the Multi-Engine, has three sources, and KORG’s manual is plain about the limit: “You can select one of the three multi-sound sources.” You switch by holding PART and pressing VPM, NOISE or USER.
- VPM is KORG’s variable phase modulation engine with eight presets: Default, Oct., Half, Fourth, Air, Creep, Throat and Harsh.
- NOISE is a noise generator with seven filter algorithms: LPF 2, LPF 4, BPF 2, BPF 4, HPF 2, HPF 4 and DECIM.
- USER plays one of the installed user synths. The drumlogue ships with Nano, a two-oscillator synth made with Sinevibes.
The engine design was a deliberate split. Etienne Noreau-Hebert, who handled the firmware, told DTM Station that “early on, the idea of going all analog came up”, but the team changed course to the analog-plus-digital mix that defines KORG’s logue line.
What drumlogue user units are
A drumlogue user unit is a small program that runs on the drumlogue’s own processor and adds a new synth or effect. KORG’s SDK page says “Up to 24 custom synthesizer units can be loaded into the Multi-Engine User section”, and the same limit applies to each effect slot: 24 delay units, 24 reverb units and 24 master effect units. They all share the drumlogue’s user storage, and KORG warns that “the user storage space of the drumlogue is limited to 32MB”.
The drumlogue’s SDK is a bigger step than the one for the other logue instruments. On the minilogue xd and prologue a developer writes an oscillator that runs through the instrument’s analog filter. On the drumlogue, Noreau-Hebert says, the SDK was “extended so you can develop a complete synth, not just an oscillator”, including your own filters. He adds that “even the effects built into the drumlogue were developed with this logue SDK”, and that “each synth or effect can access sample data”, which opens the door to granular-style units. His own summary of the trade-off: “the development burden is bigger, but the freedom goes up a lot”.
That is also why older units don’t carry over. KORG says it plainly: “Units built for the prologue, minilogue xd and NTS-1 are not directly compatible with drumlogue”. Units built with SDK 2.0 need firmware 1.00 or later, so every drumlogue in the field can run them.
Four drumlogue myths I keep reading
- “Lillian is a Plaits port.” Its developer, boochow, says it uses the macro oscillator code from Mutable Instruments Braids.
- “minilogue xd and NTS-1 units load on the drumlogue.” Not directly: KORG says they are not compatible.
- “The user synth is single-voice only.” KORG’s spec says user synths can play polyphonically via MIDI, with the voice count set by each unit.
- “There is a drumlogue firmware 2.0.” The newest firmware is 1.3.0. The 2.0 you see in forum posts is the SDK version.
Which drumlogue user units exist
On 17 October 2026 I counted about 59 user synths and about 30 effect units for the drumlogue, spread over developer blogs, GitHub, Payhip, Gumroad, itch.io and Patreon. KORG’s own Unit Index lists 20 synths, 19 from third parties plus the built-in Nano. Entries were still being added in July 2026, although the page footer shows an older date. KORG doesn’t sell units itself: “There is no centralized store for custom synths/effects.” Almost every unit is free or pay what you want, and the fixed prices are a few dollars or euros.
Five names come up again and again in forum threads and YouTube roundups:
- Lillian (boochow): a macro oscillator synth based on Mutable Instruments Braids code.
- minitone (boochow): a monophonic virtual analog synth with two oscillators.
- FM64 (Oleg Burdaev): a 6-operator FM synth that loads DX7-style voice banks.
- Riffline (FrostMod Audio): a 4-voice supersaw synth.
- loguePADS (Oleg Burdaev): a set of sample-based synths in 2, 4, 8 and 16-voice versions.
2026 brought a wave of new units, helped by boochow’s Pure Data to drumlogue converter, which lets people build units without writing C. The results are ordinary .drmlgunit files, so you don’t need Pure Data to use them; boochow’s own Pure Data units are a good start. I’m putting the full list, with versions, prices and my own impressions, into a separate catalogue post, because a list like that goes out of date within weeks.
How to install drumlogue user units
Installing a unit means copying one .drmlgunit file onto the drumlogue in USB storage mode. These are the steps from KORG’s SDK page and the 2025 manual.
- Connect the drumlogue’s USB-B port to your computer.
- Hold REC while you switch the drumlogue on. A drive named “drumlogue” appears on the computer.
- Copy the file into the folder for its type:
Units/Synths/,Units/DelayFXs/,Units/ReverbFXs/orUnits/MasterFXs/. - Eject the drive on the computer.
- Leave storage mode. The 2025 manual says to press PLAYBACK/STOP, after which the drumlogue restarts by itself; KORG’s SDK page says to press YES. KORG’s own documents disagree here.
- Select the unit: for a synth, hold PART, press USER, then pick it with the SELECT parameter. KORG’s SDK page says custom effects “will appear at the end of the effect list of each type”.
Two details save time. First, “The units will be loaded in alphabetical order upon restarting the device”, so a number prefix such as 01_ puts your favourites first. Second, update to firmware 1.3.0: its release notes fix an issue “where some MULTI ENGINE units would not be recognized when more than 8 were loaded.”
KORG documents only one way to remove units: a factory reset with the target UNITS (hold SHIFT and REC at power-on), which removes all of them at once. Deleting a single file in storage mode is the obvious route, but KORG doesn’t document it.
When a unit doesn’t show up or stays silent
- It isn’t in the list: check the folder. A synth copied into
Units/DelayFXs/won’t appear under USER, and an effect unit sits at the end of its effect list, not between the factory effects. With more than 8 units on firmware older than 1.3.0, update first. - It shows up but stays silent from a keyboard: the MIDI mode is the usual cause (see the next section).
- Extra files that came with the unit: some units ship with data such as FM64’s voice banks. Put those exactly where the developer’s readme says. In one YouTube comment, a user reports that a bank copied into the Samples folder never showed up in FM64.
- The storage is full: units have to fit in the 32 MB of user storage, and all of them load into memory together.
drumlogue MIDI routing and CC chart for user synths
Most “my user synth is silent” questions are MIDI routing questions. The drumlogue has two kinds of MIDI channel setting under Global, MIDI ROUTING, CH: a single channel (1 to 16) or a 12-channel range (1-12, 2-13 up to 5-16, and the wrap-around ranges 6-1 up to 16-11). In single-channel mode, which is the factory default, only 11 notes do anything: 36 BD, 37 RS, 39 CP, 40 SD, 42 CH, 45 LT, 46 OH, 50 HT, 52 SP1, 53 SP2 and 55 MULTI. In KORG’s words, “Pitch is unaffected by the note number.” So a keyboard plays the user synth on one key only, always at the same pitch.
You need a range for melodies. In multi-channel mode each part gets its own channel, and “Except for the MULTI part, pitch is unaffected by the note number.” The user synth plays pitched notes 0 to 127. The 12th channel of a range carries the master and effect settings.
Part 11 is the 11th channel of the range you pick: with 1-12 it is channel 11, with 7-2 it is channel 1. That is why the forum fix is “set it to 7-2”: most keyboards send on channel 1 by default.
Plug a USB keyboard into the USB-A port before you switch the drumlogue on, and turn on Global MIDI RX CC if you want knob control. If your keyboard uses the 5-pin MIDI input, check that MIDI ROUTING, ROUTE is set to USB+MIDI: the manual says MIDI can run “via the MIDI and USB connectors, or by the USB connector alone.”
The table shows what the CCs reach, from manual pages 60 and 61. Note that in single-channel mode CC 20 to 29 move the bass drum and snare, which explains why a controller’s knobs can change the wrong sound.
| CC | Multi-channel mode: user synth | Single-channel mode (factory default) |
|---|---|---|
| CC 16 to 19 | Parameters 1 to 4 | User synth parameters 1 to 4 |
| CC 20 to 24 | Parameters 5 to 9 | BD tune, drive, attack, decay, level |
| CC 25 to 29 | Parameters 10 to 14 | SD tune, snap level, snap decay, decay, level |
| CC 30 to 31 | Parameters 15 and 16 | – |
| none | Parameters 17 to 24 | Parameters 17 to 24 |
Pitch bend and aftertouch are a special case. The MIDI charts in the manual still mark both as not received, but the charts are dated May 2022 and firmware 1.1.0 lists “Fixes to routing of MIDI pitch bend, channel pressure, poly key pressure messages”. On my drumlogue, polyphonic aftertouch reaches a user synth. SysEx is limited to KORG’s own messages plus a device inquiry, and KORG publishes no format for them.
One more rule shapes how a user synth feels: the Multi-Engine’s sequencer lane plays one note per step. KORG says polyphonic units are possible but “can only be played with true polyphony via MIDI”, and KORG’s spec sheet agrees: “User synths may be played polyphonically via MIDI, the actual voice count will depend on the synth’s implementation”. Since firmware 1.1.0 you can record a melody from a keyboard (“Added chromatic MIDI recording capability”), but chords still need an external sequencer or a DAW.
Limits I measured on my drumlogue
KORG publishes no CPU figure for user units, and the drumlogue has no CPU meter. While building a three-oscillator subtractive synth unit, I compiled a test build that measures its own render time and shows the load on the panel. Load means render time divided by the length of the audio buffer, averaged over one second, with a full drum pattern running alongside. These are my numbers from 16 October 2026.
Three things follow for anyone who loads heavy units. First, with my test pattern my synth unit ran cleanly up to about 24 % average load, dropped out at 27 to 29 %, and at 33 % muted everything. That is one unit and one pattern; busier patterns and heavier effects leave less, so I plan for roughly a quarter of the buffer, not the whole processor. Second, the failure is harsh: when a render overran its buffer, the drumlogue muted all audio until I switched it off, while the sequencer kept running.
Third, the compiler settings matter. With one voice, my synth unit ran at 19 to 22 % with the SDK’s default size optimisation and at 12 % with -O2, on the same code.
Two details in the chart look odd until you know them. In my tests the average predicted trouble better than the peak: the size-optimised build peaked at 82 % and still played fine. And the 4-lane NEON build always computes four voices at once, so 2 and 4 voices cost about the same.
A few smaller limits are worth knowing:
- One user synth at a time. There is one Multi-Engine part, so a kit plays one user synth.
- Short value names. The SDK allows value strings of up to 32 characters, but the screen cuts them off. On my drumlogue about 6 characters of a value fit.
- Kits store knob positions. A saved kit is a 592-byte
.drmlgkitfile. For the user synth it holds the unit ID, developer ID, unit version, preset number, unit name and all 24 knob values as numbers, by knob position. If a developer moves a parameter to another knob in an update, older kits load their values onto the wrong knobs, and any setting that isn’t on a knob rides on the preset number.
drumlogue SDK in brief
The drumlogue SDK is KORG’s free development kit for building user units, and KORG is honest about who it’s for: “the drumlogue SDK is meant for programmers, and not a neophyte-friendly high-level editor.” Units are written in C or C++, compiled for the drumlogue’s ARM Cortex-A7 with NEON, and loaded as shared objects. A unit runs at 48 kHz (“On drumlogue this should always be set to 48000.”), exposes up to 24 parameters on six pages of four, and can carry its own presets. Unit names can have up to 13 characters, parameter names up to 12.
- Toolchain: KORG’s Docker build environment fetches a prebuilt toolchain; on Windows that means WSL2.
- Developer ID: every unit needs a unique 32-bit developer ID. Registering it is a voluntary pull request to KORG’s developer ID list, which held 23 IDs on 17 October 2026.
- Licence and support: the SDK is BSD 3-Clause, and “The SDK is provided as-is, no technical support will be provided by KORG.”
- No-code route: boochow’s Pure Data converter turns a Pure Data patch into a unit.
- Getting listed: KORG adds units to its Unit Index by email to logue-sdk@korg.co.jp or by a pull request.
The firmware history is short, and only a few changes matter for units.
If you’re new to this kind of gear, my groovebox and DAWless entries cover where the drumlogue fits in a computer-free setup, and the oscillator and subtractive synthesis entries explain the building blocks most user synths are made of. For processing a drum machine’s output, see my DrumBrute processing guide.
Frequently asked questions
Is the KORG drumlogue polyphonic?
The drumlogue has 11 voices in total. Its Multi-Engine user synth can play chords, but only over MIDI, and the voice count depends on the unit: Riffline has 4 voices, loguePADS comes in versions with up to 16. The internal sequencer lane plays one note per step.
Can the drumlogue run minilogue xd or NTS-1 units?
No. KORG states that units built for the prologue, minilogue xd and NTS-1 are not directly compatible with the drumlogue. Its firmware engineer explains that the drumlogue’s SDK has a slightly different structure and builds complete synths, and he calls porting easy, but a unit file from those 3 instruments won’t load as it is.
How many user units can the drumlogue hold?
Up to 24 user synths, plus up to 24 units for each of the three effect types: delay, reverb and master. All of them have to fit in the drumlogue’s 32 MB of user storage and load into memory together. Before firmware 1.3.0 some units went missing when more than 8 were loaded.
Why is my user synth silent from my MIDI keyboard?
Usually because the drumlogue is in single-channel mode, where only note 55 plays the user synth, at a fixed pitch. Set Global, MIDI ROUTING, CH to a range: 7-2 puts the user synth on channel 1, and 1-12 puts it on channel 11. Connect a USB keyboard before you power up the drumlogue.
Which user synth parameters respond to MIDI CC?
In multi-channel mode, CC 16 to 31 on the Multi-Engine’s channel reach the user synth’s parameters 1 to 16. In single-channel mode only CC 16 to 19 reach the synth, for parameters 1 to 4, while CC 20 to 29 move the bass drum and snare. Parameters 17 to 24 have no CC at all.
Where do I find drumlogue user units?
Start with KORG’s Unit Index, which links 20 synths including the built-in Nano. Many more sit on developer blogs, GitHub release pages, Payhip, Gumroad and itch.io; I counted about 59 synths and 30 effects in October 2026. KORG runs no store, and most units are free or pay what you want.
Can a user unit crash the drumlogue?
A unit that needs more processing time than it gets can stop the sound. On my drumlogue, a render that overran its buffer muted all audio until I switched the machine off, while the sequencer kept running. With a busy pattern my synth unit ran cleanly up to about 24 % average load and muted everything at 33 %.
What is the drumlogue’s latest firmware?
Version 1.3.0, released on 10 January 2025, is the newest drumlogue firmware on KORG’s download page. It fixed units going missing when more than 8 were loaded and a parameter display issue. There is no firmware 2.0; the 2.0 in forum posts is the SDK version that units are built with.
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