I’m thinking about Using a Micro Korg. The back of the MicroKorg has Midi out and it has 1/4 in. output jacks.
I’m planning on expanding my “studio” to:
Electric Guitar and Microkorg–Audio Interface(Tascam or CI1)–USB—Laptop. That’s it! Nice and simple for starters.
Will that work? I can get away without using a mixer in between the instruments and the Interface?
Is there a preference to what O/I one should use when hooking up the Korg to the USB interface?
Thanks for your patience in advance, any advice would be appreciated.
Probably - If you know how to configure everything correctly
depending on how you want connect them, what exactly you want to do and which exact interface you are using - yes.
Which ones does it have…?
Well I’m a one man band. I just want to record one instrument at a time.
The Korg has Midi I/O and thru. It also has 1/4 inch(TRS) I/O.
I’m looking for a simple set-up that I can plug and play. As long as there’s a good interface that handles the levels going in that’s what I want. I’m not experienced enough with mixing or sound engineering to tackle most of these issues I read about here.
I want to plug my guitar or a synth into an interface and put down 2-4 tracks of music. I’d like the synth to be able to play spacy washes/loops and melodies and be able to lay down rythm percussion and or bass.
I want some friendly advice on a simple, easy to use beginner set-up before I spend the money on the wrong stuff.
It looks as though I’m gonna go with the Tascam interface. I like the Steinberg CI1 for usabilty and compatability with Cubase, but they look a litle too limited…thoughts?
As of yet I have no experience with Midi. I have a feeling that is going to change by way of necessity.
Thanks for your reply! 
You don’t say what Tascam interface? as long as it’s got a couple of ins and outs and a MIDI i/o you should be fine.
If you are wanting to record your guitar (electric?) then you may want to make sure it has an instrument input as well as line and mic.
Also remember that you will need some speakers to connect to the interface, a pair of powered monitors or an amp and unpowered speakers.
That will then achieve what you need.
Because you are recording 1 instrument at a time, you could get a way with a 2 input device.
However, if you record midi and want to use that to play the microkorg, you will have to keep the mikrokorg connected to the interface if you want to hear it play. Unless you record everything straight to audio and then disconnect the korg afterwards, you can use your guitar.
I suggest finding an interface with 4 inputs, 2 pairs of line level mono inputs and 2 pre-amped inputs with a High-Z switch so you can directly plug in your guitar, or record your amp with a mic.
Thanks alot. Great info.
So the Micro Korg has Midi out and it has regular 1/4 in. out jacks. Is there a preference in connecting to the interface?
Is the Midi out on the synth even used for a line out to hook up to the interface?
I know I can plug the guitar into the CI1 through the multi jacks, but can I plug the keyboard right into the CI1 multijack using a regular 1/4 inch guitar chord? 
Or do I need an interface that accepts Midi to play and record the Korg to cubase?
I’m going to go with the recommendation above I guess. The 4 input model with line level.
I appreciate your help guys. I just want to be somewhat sure before I drop money down.
Midi is not audio, Midi is data that is used to control the synthesiser. You can record midi and play it back to the synth to get the sound, but the audio only comes from the jack ports. You can use guitar cables for those, that is fine.
Ok. That’s somewhat clear…So the Midi in ports on the interface would be used soley for a controller to play VSTs or plug ins?
I think I’ve got enough on my plate now. I’ve ordered a Tascam US 200 and some studio monitor speakers.
I’ll run my electric guitar or my synth into the Tascam. I have the Cubase LE5 software which came with my guitar effects pedal. I just run a USB from the interface to my Cubase LE5 and run RCA lines out of the interface to my monitors.
My Digitech effects pedal has been my interface so far. It came with Cubebase LE5 and I was blown away by the possibilities from that simple set-up.(of which I have only scratched the surface…)
Thanks alot. I’ll be asking moe questions soon enough.
Midi can be used to control most soft and hardware instruments and effects, including but not limited to VST plugins and your microkorg. Read up on midi, it’s really useful and not so difficult once you get a nice workflow for your projects. You can always get a midi to usb cable for very cheap, so your if your interface has no midi in and out you can get one of those.
Hi again Jeffseventy!
Congrats on your purchase. The Tascam does have MIDI in and out. That will probably be alot easier than the CIs for you, for if you wanted to hook up a synth, you’d have to get an external mixer and hook that up to the XLR/quarter inch combo input. Good luck getting everything set up properly. Those of us who aren’t experts like Strophoid (I’m serious) usually have a little trouble with MIDI. Especially if you’re using the operation manual as the guide.
Hello Bane, I figure there will be some bumps in the road. I reckon I’ll be a regular here, so hopefully we’ll be talking again. I really appreciate the help from the likes of you and Strophoid.
Take it easy. 
I would never consider myself an expert at anything Cubase, but thanks for the kind words Bane 
Just glad I can help, if you run into something else I’m sure we can figure it out.