Microkorg - cutoff and keyboard not working

Hi everyone!

I bought a microkorg off ebay a few years back and the cutoff knob never worked. I replaced it with a new pot wwithout any change. I recently dusted it off to have another crack and now the keyboard does not work. I have checked all connections etc, the demo music plays so there is audio, just zero input from keyboard.

I can’t do a factory reset due to the cutoff issue - is there another way to do this via hardware? I’m not afraid to dive inside.

Any insight or info on how to identify either issue would be appreciated, I know the basics of multimeter use if that is any help.

Thanks!

Do the cutoff and keyboard work via MIDI?

Hey Carlitos, the keys output a MIDI signal, but the cutoff does not. Looks like it should change the MIDI channel but nothing happens when I use it.

Thanks

What about receiving Midi information?
can you sweep the cutoff via midi?

Hey sorry for the slow response.

Things are a bit hectic buit I’ll look into this first chance I get.

Thanks!

Awesome! Hope to hear back soon

Hey Carlitos I hope you are well - that was quite the year!

So I’m diving back into this and to give you an update. I’ve set up another midi keyboard to send to the microkorg and even though it is receiving the signal (at least the LED on the MIDI cable connecting it lights up when a key/knob is pressed) no audio is produced. This makes it difficult to check the cutoff (please let me know if I misunderstood what you were asking).

The demo audio works through headphone and line out, and Ableton Live receives the keyboard midi signals from the microkorg, so I’m guessing the keyboard is OK.

Voltages on 1/cutoff are 3.285v (constant) for one of the middle pins, and 0-3v on the other middle pin when the pot is adjusted.

Apologies for the non-technical language and any misunderstandings - I don’t have much of a clue what I’m doing here.

Thanks for you help!

Brad

UPDATE: I have checked that ext MIDI signals are being received by the keyboard as I can control the MIDI Clock on the microkorg externally via Live. I’m guessing this means the issue is more complicated than I thought.