Factory condition unit in original box with microphone, power adapter and manual.

Korg clearly aimed to make one of the smallest self-contained synthesizers possible when they released the microKORG XL and they definitely succeeded in this regard. The XL weighs only 2kg, and while it does come with an external power supply unit, it can also be powered by just six AA batteries. The only drawback to the light weight of the XL is that it has a molded black-plastic body, which is not as quite as damage resistant as one would want from such a portable device. Another challenge for synthesizers of this size is the keyboard and this time Korg decided on a "natural touch" waterfall mini keyboard. It features 37 miniature keys and the white notes are much wider than the black notes. Adapting to the much lighter action of the keyboard can also be a challenge, but having access to three full octaves isn't bad for such a compact synth keyboard. It also has a built-in step arpeggiator with six types of arpeggio.

The XL interface is straightforward and with just three knobs you are able to adjust all the parameters from filter cutoff to amp EG attack, and resonance. Don't worry, there is also the "Full Edit" mode where you can really dive into all of the parameters and adjust them to your complete liking. The XL can also be connected to your computer via USB cable if you want to tweak parameters with the sound editor software. The XL also comes complete with a vocoder function that supports sixteen filter bands. In addition, it provides access to two banks of programs, with eight genres each and eight categories per genre, for a total of 128 programs.

Overall, the MicroKORG XL is an attractive option for anyone who values portability and simplicity. It has a powerful sound engine and the inclusion of the vocoder is also a nice touch.