Well it looks like Akai is diving deeper and deeper into the synthesizer realm after release of the synth engine on their Akai MPC 5000. Announced as Musikmesse today is their new small keyboard called the Miniak, which I presume is designed to compete with the Alesis Micron and the Korg Microkorg. In fact the press release on Akai’s website states that this synth was developed in tandem with the Alesis development team. This little synth offers eight multi-timbral voices, a 40-band vocoder, multi-mode filter and more.

• Eight voices, each with three oscillators
• Up to eight multi-timbral parts with stereo effects and 40-band vocoder
• Two multi-mode filters, three envelope generators, two LFOs, sample and hold, tracking generator
• Dynamic real-time and step sequencers, arpeggiator, and drum machine/rhythm sequencer
• Stereo bus effects including reverbs and delays
• 24-bit 1/4″ balanced stereo analog outputs and inputs
• 37-key synth-action keyboard with velocity sensitivity
• More than 600 preset sounds Sound banks: bass, lead, pad, string, brass, keys, comp, drum, SFX

It looks like a solid if not fairly generic little synth, but with the popularity that the Micron and the Microkorg have had this may be a hit. The question is though is this field already too crowded for another cheap small form factor synthesizer?

http://www.akaipro.com/miniak