Let’s be honest: it’s a bit of a mystery why KORG has’t already shipped a mixer. KORG volca series customers seem to snap up every single volca model the Japanese maker can cook up. That leaves them with a bunch of toys with stereo minijacks and no way to mix them together other than buying compact mixers by the likes of Behringer and Mackie.

So, what we’re looking at here is either an actual leaked image of an upcoming KORG volca mix, or someone’s mock-up of what they wish that would be. Either way, same result: yeah, you probably kind of want this. (As spotted on the unofficial volca Facebook group, which is a great resource. KORG, if this is real, apologies, but… yeah, on the Internet, once things have leaked, it’s done.)

Stereo minijack ins

Effects controls and per-track routing

Tempo-synced effects (with MIDI in)

3-band EQ

A KAOSS-style X/Y pad

Knob for level; mute switch

Full disclosure: I have a conflict of interest in that as the manufacturer of the MeeBlip, I want one to exist for that, too!

It’s certainly possible this is a mock-up made by someone outside KORG. Making good-looking renders is something anyone with some basic technical background can do, and there are a lot of talented people out there. There’s no way to know until there’s an official announcement. I’ll leave it to you to speculate.

If this isn’t what KORG is planning, it sure seems to be a no-brainer set of features that would fit perfectly with the company’s DNA and its volca line. I kind of think it is a genuine leak. But… if it’s not, KORG, go make this, please, and apparently you can have yet more of our money.

Update: yes, this is a mock-up posted in January. Thanks to commenters for pointing that out; we didn’t have the original reference. It’s the work of German KORG fan Chris Johannes, who built this in 3D Studio Max. But that raises the question – why isn’t there something like this on the market, from KORG or elsewhere?

My suspicion: because no one is quite sure exactly how to make it, what features to include and what to leave out. (See the immediate discussion here on CDM of pan.) So I’m very curious to hear how people use mixers in these hardware setups, if you make performances with them.