A development team led by the original engineers strove to painstakingly replicate the MS-20, both in sound and form. The sound comes from an architecture featuring two oscillators (one with ring modulation) and envelope generators with hold and delay. The VCA (Voltage Controlled Amplifier) maintains the basic design of the original, but has been modified to produce less noise.

High-pass and low-pass filters with resonance and distinctive distortion can deliver radical sounds when the filters are pushed into self oscillation. Additionally, external sources such as an electric guitar or vocals can be used to control the synthesizer or have the source manipulated by the filters. A flexible hard-wire patching system provides endless possibilities.

The synthesizer features a MIDI In jack for receiving note messages, and a USB-MIDI connector that can transmit and receive note messages (there is no velocity information). Connecting the unit to a computer allows it to be triggered from a sequencer.

The MS-20 Mini from Korg is a fully functioning analog synthesizer featuring the circuitry of the iconic, late 1970's MS-20 synthesizer, but shrunk to 86% of the original size. Its versatile patching options, analog filters, and the ability to process external signals makes this diminutive powerhouse very attractive to the analog synthesizer aficionado.