Is there a synth out there that can complement The Oasys

[Rocness]

Ever since I got my Oasys no synth out there really impress me any more.
Well not like they use to.
I have a Korg M3 and I'm thinking of selling it would i be making a misstake by doing so, sound wise ?

Sound wise what do you think The Oasys weaknesses are?(not including drums)

As far as sound goes is there any synth or Modular hardware out there
that you feel complement the Oasys very well ?

Thanks for help

[MrT-Man]

I seem to recall that at least a couple of Oasys owners have spoken highly of the Virus TI, in terms of complementing the Oasys well... don't have one myself, so I'm not speaking from personal experience, but that's a synth I'd consider.

[jayS]

I know a few are rocking the V Synth GT.

Granted, there isn't much substitution for a good old Moog Voyager... despite what LAC-1 can do.

Oberheim?

[SirRoyRogers]

Yes. The Yamaha Motif XS.
This synth is the best way to get real acoustic instruments.

[peter m. mahr]

Although not a synthesizer, but Yamaha's CP-1 complements OASYS very well. Pianos and Electric Pianos on a very high level with the best keyboard I ever played. In case these are sounds you are interested in, probably Korg's SV-1 is a solution as well and not as expensive as the CP1.

When it comes to synthetic sounds - the Neuron could do things OASYS is lacking. When you are interested in Ambient music and find one, this could be a nice "couple".

Maybe Access' Virus, but frankly if you cannot find sounds that sit in an arrangement / mix coming from the AL-1, MS-20 or Polysix then I doubt that you will become happy with the Virus. Mike probably will disagree as he is - if I recall correctly - one of those OASYANs having AND using both.

The above mentioned V-Synth has a great sounding Vocoder. But I was happy when I sold it. The other sounds were always much to cold for my taste. Haven't heard the Solaris in vivo but this is probably something worth to be considered. On the other hand and as with the Dave Smith's selection - all these instruments are either anaglogue or virtual analogue... as usual it depends on what you're after and what kind of music you are making.

Personally I am using the OASYS together with the CP1. That's it.

peter

[Rocness]

Thanks for the replay.
I luv The Oasys, but I'm thinking about adding something for lead sounds

what do ya think ?

[Mike Conway]

Maybe Access' Virus, but frankly if you cannot find sounds that sit in an arrangement / mix coming from the AL-1, MS-20 or Polysix then I doubt that you will become happy with the Virus. Mike probably will disagree as he is - if I recall correctly - one of those OASYANs having AND using both.

Well....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xv5MkHWEK4c (OASYS and TI)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEnGtwrwiYs (OASYS and TI)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izHQWC-RPLs (16 tracks of TI)

[Kontrol49]

Certainly from experience of owning those already mentioned alongside the Oasys I would say you can't go wrong with the Above additions that people mention,

I have a Virus TI,Voyager and V synth both GT and XT models alongside the Oasys they all add something extra to the Sound pallet of the Oasys,

Also worth looking at something like the Moog Little Phatty as another Alternative or maybe even a DSI prophet 8(or maybe the Mopho or Tetra for a cheaper version if you don't personally need the Keyboard model)there are also many secondhand alternatives that may give you something else to compliment the Oasys(Korg Z1/Prophecy/Nords/Alesis Andromeda,all of which I utilise along side the Oasys, but If i had to choose one then it would 100% be the Virus TI as its covers a lot of sound possibilities and between that and the Oasys is most of what my tracks are built around although many people don't warm to the virus Tone as much as the LAC can cover similar sounds to a fashion I just never warmed to the Sounds coming from The oasys Polysix/ms20 engine

I can't vouch for the Motif,but depends on your tastes/needs,certainly for me I'd say another Workstation maybe Overkill if your paying for the commodity of an additional sequencer/Sampling capabilities of a workstation thats already covered by the oasys(dependant on your actual working methods) and perhaps covering a similar sound pallet but may give you some sounds that the Oasys cannot perhaps cover But more of a crossover set of sounds rather than something alien to compliment the Oasys,You really need to be able to demo some of these reccomendations as invariably not everyone likes the sounds that some of these machines cover which in some cases become one trick pony devices that you maybe grow tired of

[peter m. mahr]

Thanks for the replay.
I luv The Oasys, but I'm thinking about adding something for lead sounds

what do ya think ?

Like you I was looking for something to complement the OASYS and at the same time reduce my equipment. The later is a wish I am now trying to fulfill.. but that's a different story.

If I was not selling my Moog Voyager I would recommend it to you for those vintage / retro sounds. On the other hand it is lacking those excellent internal EFX and I like to have completely reproducable sounds.

In case you are looking for something more modern.. then we are back and talking about the Virus. Two years ago I was thinking about buying one myself but finally I ended up by using my OASYS. Then there was a need to dig into the machine which made me learn more about the abilities. MS-20, HD-1, STR-1 and MOD-7... these are four completely different synthesizers with different charateristics. And as mentioned already - do not forget to use the internal EFX. I love to use Delays, Pitch Bending and having access to parameters via the controllers.

On the other hand I really know how inspirational a new instrument can be. And adding an instrument from a different manufacterer sometimes also adds a different character... ah.. maybe you should check one of the new Roland's.

peter

[Akos Janca]

Thanks for the replay.
I luv The Oasys, but I'm thinking about adding something for lead sounds

what do ya think ?

Hi Rocness,

Before you buy anything, three tips if you haven't tried already.

1. Great free factory additions
Download the 1st class free factory additions from korguser.net: here. Even if you don't have any extra options (like MOD-7 or LAC-1) you can find many great sounds for the factory configuration in HD-1 XPansion Sounds (leads especially in Vol.2 in HD1_XP4.PCG file) and EXi XPansion Sounds.

2. Exploring Combis
Search not only in Programs but in all Combis while turning KARMA off (= without any arpeggiation, automation). Some Combis contain *very good* lead sounds that are based on usual Programs that may be skipped otherwise but the clever and exceptional effect settings help them truly shining! Use these sound settings as they are or learn from them and create your lead sounds based on this knowledge. You can - and should! - download also improved factory Effect Presets from the link mentioned above.

3. Free special user settings
There are some great user settings freely downloadable from this site here (click on OASYS disk) or other places like Karma-Lab.
For example the Dream Theater-style settings with many good strong lead sounds. Find the thread here and dowload the sounds from here. Please note that they are not only good Combis (as the name suggests) but also Programs, of course. This guy, Dave Trottier created them, see this post and his MySpace page. (It could be an enormous work, thank you very much Dave!)

Let's not forget others providing many great free stuff, sound settings and others. You can find many of them in this proud sticky post. (From memory: Various free stuff is created by Peter M. Mahr, Kevin Nolan, Stuart Pryer, Eric J. Sawyer aka E2J, Darren Richards aka Daz, James Tubbritt aka Sharp, Tri_tonton or Audiokeys, Peter Verhulst aka Matthiola, Mike Conway, Stephen Kay and many others - they are like friends from all around the world. Thank you *very much* guys! And also to others I couldn't mention.) I don't have more time now, maybe I will collect even more accurate information later.

Best regards and good luck!

[Rocness]

Thanks for the replay.
I luv The Oasys, but I'm thinking about adding something for lead sounds

what do ya think ?

Hi Rocness,

Before you buy anything, three tips if you haven't tried already.

1. Great free factory additions
Download the 1st class free factory additions from korguser.net: here. Even if you don't have any extra options (like MOD-7 or LAC-1) you can find many great sounds for the factory configuration in HD-1 XPansion Sounds (leads especially in Vol.2 in HD1_XP4.PCG file) and EXi XPansion Sounds.

2. Exploring Combis
Search not only in Programs but in all Combis while turning KARMA off (= without any arpeggiation, automation). Some Combis contain *very good* lead sounds that are based on usual Programs that may be skipped otherwise but the clever and exceptional effect settings help them truly shining! Use these sound settings as they are or learn from them and create your lead sounds based on this knowledge. You can - and should! - download also improved factory Effect Presets from the link mentioned above.

3. Free special user settings
There are some great user settings freely downloadable from this site here (click on OASYS disk) or other places like Karma-Lab.
For example the Dream Theater-style settings with many good strong lead sounds. Find the thread here and dowload the sounds from here. Please note that they are not only good Combis (as the name suggests) but also Programs, of course. This guy, Dave Trottier created them, see this post and his MySpace page. (It could be an enormous work, thank you very much Dave!)

Let's not forget others providing many great free stuff, sound settings and others. You can find many of them in this proud sticky post. (From memory: Various free stuff is created by Peter M. Mahr, Kevin Nolan, Stuart Pryer, Eric J. Sawyer aka E2J, Darren Richards aka Daz, James Tubbritt aka Sharp, Tri_tonton or Audiokeys, Peter Verhulst aka Matthiola, Mike Conway, Stephen Kay and many others - they are like friends from all around the world. Thank you *very much* guys! And also to others I couldn't mention.) I don't have more time now, maybe I will collect even more accurate information later.

Best regards and good luck!

Thank You all for your help.

Hey Akos thanks for the info brother I'm going to check on what you said today

You know what I think my problem is, that after owning Oasys nothing really impresses me any more. For me it is still the best sounding synth I have ever heard and it's 2010 now . I'm not that good of a programmer so I think Oasys does have good lead sounds but I just don't no how to get it out.Karma changes the sounds into poetry but I would still just like to have good leads ready to go so that's why I asked what would compliment Oasys
but everything out there sounds thin to me when I compare with Oasys IMHO. Oasys has like a 3D sound or something .I do have the LAC-1 that I adore so I'm starting to feel like the only thing that can complement Oasys is Oasys but I know there's some excellent synths out there but maybe I need to focus on being a better programmer.

So maybe I should also ask all the Oasys programmers out there, are you finding that by programming the Oasys you are getting munch better sounds than the presets ? Is programming or tweaking the presets making a really big difference or do you just go to another synth to get sounds Oasys
has to work to hard to do ? (No software on this one guys )
Thanks

[peter m. mahr]

[quote="Rocness"] So maybe I should also ask all the Oasys programmers out there, are you finding that by programming the Oasys you are getting munch better sounds than the presets ? [/quote]

The internal programs are already very good. Choose one and also check if the programmers used the controllers. Most sounds, especially the MOD-7 sounds, benefit for example from the Switches, the Vector Joystick, etc. Another important point in my opinion is the way how one is playing a lead sound. The way how you play the notes, the way you're bending the pitch into the delays, using aftertouch for vibrato or a foot controller, etc.

In case you want something unusual, then I recommend Daz' Randomizer. A great and easy way to get new sounds you probably would not have programmed.

peter

[rbox]

The Virus has its own character but he is also a big Blender , put out the Effects and it sounds not so big.

The Al-1 in the Oasys sounds more like a real Synth:

Here 2 Demos from me, the first is an FM sound with delay the second Basslines with little reverb. These are Wav files , because i dont like Mp3.


http://www.file-upload.net/download-246 ... s.WAV.html

http://www.file-upload.net/download-246 ... e.wav.html

I think that the Envelopes of AL-1 are faster and has more Punch, and the
frequency range is higher than in the Virus.

[Rocness]

The Virus has its own character but he is also a big Blender , put out the Effects and it sounds not so big.

The Al-1 in the Oasys sounds more like a real Synth:

Here 2 Demos from me, the first is an FM sound with delay the second Basslines with little reverb. These are Wav files , because i dont like Mp3.


http://www.file-upload.net/download-246 ... s.WAV.html

http://www.file-upload.net/download-246 ... e.wav.html

I think that the Envelopes of AL-1 are faster and has more Punch, and the
frequency range is higher than in the Virus.

Funny you say this because I'm starting to like the Virus. It just might be the perfect compliment to Oasys that I've been looking for.

[Akos Janca]

You know what I think my problem is, that after owning Oasys nothing really impresses me any more.

I really understand and agree. We owners are in a very special situation, we got a very unique exceptional instrument, I say the best workstation on the planet. Now I enjoy it but also find it a bit scary. What will happen with us in the future? How long will OASYS last? Besides this unanswered problem I think having the O also means a kind of responsibility. I really look at it as a state-of-the-art creation, a result of decades of hard work of talented men with unique calling. And now this tool is in my own hands to use it - to do something similarly great thing that befits it. It's a kind of honour/respect that I feel when I have the chance to play music with it.

I'm not that good of a programmer so I think Oasys does have good lead sounds but I just don't no how to get it out...I would still just like to have good leads ready to go...

First don't program just explore the O as suggested above and know where the best existing leads are. It may be a time consuming process because OASYS is already loaded with hundreds of sounds and hundreds of their combinations. You should meticulously check and compare them. Then make sure you will find the preferred leads easily in the future e.g.:
a) simply save them in a separate bank, or
b) check them as "Favorites" and save them with this information - later on you can filter the list of sounds based on this, or
c) create a user category such as "myleads" and save the chosen sounds reassigned to this category

...I'm starting to feel like the only thing that can complement Oasys is Oasys...

How true! Unfortunately, I cannot buy a second one now.