Korg MS2000R Lives Again! | All 10 Demo Songs (No Talking)

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"The Korg MS2000 and MS2000R are classic virtual-analog synthesizers from the early 2000s, known for their distinctive digital character, hands-on controls, vocoder and motion sequencing. The MS2000R is the rack version of the keyboard model.

This open-source project emulates the original hardware at a low level, running the original H8S/2350 firmware and DSP56362 code rather than recreating the synth engine from scratch. It includes a standalone application with the full front panel, plus VST3 and Audio Unit plugin versions.

In this video I’m using the standalone version and playing all 10 factory demo songs in sequence.

No talking — just the demos.

00:00 - Demo Song 1
00:48 - Demo Song 2
02:56 - Demo Song 3
04:30 - Demo Song 4
06:19 - Demo Song 5
07:33 - Demo Song 6
08:57 - Demo Song 7
09:39 - Demo Song 8
11:14 - Demo Song 9
12:32 - Demo Song 10

GitHub:
https://github.com/Tuth/ms2000r-emu"

As of this post:

"ms2000r-emu (v0.9.8) A hardware-level emulator of the KORG MS2000R (rack version of the MS2000 analog-modeling synthesizer): the H8S/2350 main CPU runs the original firmware instruction by instruction, and the DSP56362 runs the original DSP code on the dsp56300 emulator library. Nothing of the synth engine is re-implemented - the sound comes from the machine's own code.

Standalone application (Windows and macOS, ImGui) with the full MS2000R front panel, and a VST3 instrument plugin (JUCE; on macOS also an Audio Unit).

Status

The firmware boots and runs: programs, the vocoder, the arpeggiator, the motion/mod sequencer, the demo songs, MIDI IN and MIDI OUT (knob moves send CCs), Global and program WRITE (the flash is emulated, non-volatile).

Front panel: all 32 knobs, the switch matrix, the LED matrix (as the firmware multiplexes it) and the 16x2 LCD including its custom characters. Shift+click on any key keeps it held until clicked again (chords, EXIT+GLOBAL, the service manual's power-on key combinations).

Output: the AK4522 DAC's digital filter and the line-output coupling (KOD-A30413), and the POWER/VOLUME pot as the real 10 kOhm linear Master VR loaded by the next stage. At its minimum the pot's switch turns the machine off (dark panel, the flash is kept); turning it up is a cold boot with the held keys down. Plugin Settings can disable the switch, so a DAW fade to 0 keeps the machine running. The standalone has the same switch (its VOLUME pot or slider) and the same pot law. An Output boost of 0..+12 dB (1 dB steps) after the pot: plugin Settings, standalone slider - at 0 dB the output is unchanged.

DAW automation (plugin): 59 host parameters, each one a PHYSICAL control - the 32 pots, POWER/VOLUME, AUDIO IN 1/2, IN 2 MIC/LINE and 23 sound/performance keys (momentary, 1 = held). An automated pot is a hand on the pot: the firmware reads it and sends its own CCs as on the unit; the plugin never makes MIDI from a parameter, and nothing the machine does moves a parameter (the pots are not motorised) - so automation and MIDI CC tracks never fight. Mouse moves on the panel are recorded in Write/Touch mode.

MS2000 Flash Tool (Windows, in the release zip): reads the complete 1 MB flash of your own MS2000 / MS2000R over MIDI - the flash.bin this emulator needs - with unknown-technologies' flash dump, installed through the unit's own update mode from KORG's v1.07 updater file. Never with an MS2000B / MS2000BR. See source/tools/flashdump/README.md and docs/ipl_protocol.md.

Audio In 1/2 (vocoder, OSC1 AUDIO IN) through a model of the input stage and the AK4522 codec.

.syx: load a bank or program file into the machine and save all 128 programs as .syx (standalone: the buttons under the panel; plugin: Settings). The file goes into the emulated MIDI IN and the firmware itself stores it, as the real unit does from an editor; its DATA LOAD COMPLETED / ERROR answer is shown.

Plugin extras: a Library page (open a .syx, click a program to hear it - it goes into the edit buffer, the memory is not changed); the host tempo as MIDI clock and the host transport as Start/Stop (GLOBAL: MIDI Clock = Ext, the arpeggiator starts on beat 1 with the host); Settings -> "Choose the MS2000 folder...".

"Knobs show the program" (plugin Settings, standalone checkbox): the pots are drawn where the program being edited has its values (read from the machine's edit buffer); turning one takes over from there without a jump.

VST3 (phase 2): the panel in the plugin window; the machine's state (knob positions, settings and the written flash sectors) is saved in the host project.

Several plugin instances in one host: the plugin bundle carries the engine as Contents\Resources\MS2000R_engine.dll; every instance after the first runs from its own copy of it in %TEMP%\MS2000R_engines (removed when the host unloads the plugin), so each instance is a separate machine.

Known limits: the GUI and the plugin run on Windows and macOS (VST3, and AU on macOS); Linux has a headless build (see below). VSTHost stops calling a plugin that sends SysEx to it (e.g. on leaving the demo songs): switch off "MIDI OUT SysEx -> host" in the plugin's Settings there. The emulator needs a recent CPU - it runs about 2x real time on a current desktop; the plugin runs at 96 kHz with a 128-sample buffer (measured: 0.62 ms median, 0.96 ms worst per 1.33 ms block after the boot). Next: a preset library page.

Download

Windows builds are on the Releases page: ms2000_emulator.exe with its two launchers and the MS2000R.vst3 plugin. Put your ROM files (below) beside the exe, or in a folder above it, and start MS2000R.bat (or MS2000R (log).bat to get ms2000_gui.log for a bug report). Copy MS2000R.vst3 to your VST3 folder (usually C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3); on its first start open Settings -> "Choose the MS2000 folder..." and pick the folder with the ROMs (remembered in %APPDATA%\MS2000R\home.txt). The Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2022 x64 runtime is needed.

What you need - NOT included

This repository contains no firmware, no ROM and no manual. You need dumps from your own hardware:

The working folder is found by itself: MS2K_HOME if set, else the current folder if it holds the two required ROMs, else the exe's (or the plugin's) folder or the first folder above it that holds them. Settings (thin_gui.ini), the machine's memory and recordings\ are kept there."