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KingJ

It looks like the Oasys can do a whole lot of stuff, but can it do everything the NED Synclavier or the Fairlight CMI could do? The Synclavier could do FM adative synthesis, resynthesize samples, it had 16 tracks of direct to hard disk audio recording, and little to no latency. On the Fairlight CMI, you could draw your own custom waveshape literally from scratch, using a light pen, or from the Fairlight's QWERTY keyboard, and I'm not talking about doing this using samples. Would any of this be possible on the Oasys?

Lou · Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2007 7:02 am Post subject:

KingJ

I'm just to worn out for another pissing contest. Sorry... Laughing

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Lou

tcornishmn · Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2007 1:52 pm Post subject:

A lot of us smell something fishy here. Can we ask why you are asking? Neither the Fairlight or the NED are available anymore, other than on the used market, so I'm not seeing those as a competitor. They also cost six-figures and were physically huge.

To answer your questions as best as I can:

The OASYS doesn't have the type of additive synthesis that the KAWAI K-5000 had, but certain components are definitely there - the CX3 organ's drawbars are a form of additive synthesis, and using multiple AN-1s, polysixes or MS-20s, you can have a wad of oscillators to add together.

Resynthesize samples: Probably not quite the same thing, but there are a lot of ways to skin a cat and a lot of the sounds can be recreated. The OASYS has a number of different synth models like the string synthesizer which will likely perform many of the same functions.

16 tracks of direct to disk audio recording: Yes. Low latency? Probably better than the NED.

Can you draw a waveform from scratch on the OASYS: No. Can I draw a waveform on my computer and import it as a sample? Yes. My computer has a QWERTY keyboard, for the record, but I'd rather draw it with a mouse.

The list of things the OASYS can do that neither of those dinosaurs can do is very long. There are almost 3 years of posts on this board and Karma-lab that go into great detail of what those things are. The short list is: the sounds, 172 notes of polyphony, 16 effects processors, the sounds, KARMA, CX3, STR-1, the fact that it weighs 55 lbs (OASYS76), the sounds, wavesequencing, that it is modern and supportable, that there is ongoing development. I'm sure I've missed a whole bunch of others.

KingJ · Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2007 3:31 pm Post subject:

Ok, let me clear things up here. This is not a troll post. I'm trying to decide whether the Oasys will do at least some of the things I need it to do, such as 16 tracks of direct to disk audio recording, addative synthesis, etc. I know the NED and the Fairlight are dinosaurs, but they could do a lot of stuff that most hardware workstations can't even do today. It sounds like the Oasys is definitely the closest modern thing I'll get to the Synclavier or the Fairlight. The reason I mensioned the QWERTY keyboard on the Fairlight is that I'm blind, and I can't use a mouse very well. However, I've already figured out a way I can learn to use the touch screen on the Oasys. I'm glad that Korg layed out the screens so that everything is in relatively the same place most of the time. Now I just have to start saving my money!

ski · Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2007 5:07 pm Post subject:

I can't speak from a knowledgeable place about the Fairlight, but I can for the Synclav. The basic system was a "workstation" as we know it today and included a MIDI sequencer, a sampler with no filtering at all, and FM synthesis only (no analog synth components). If you were willing to shell out hundreds of thousands for it you could get their direct-to-disk recording system. As far as I'm aware it didn't do resynthesis (or at least it didn't do it well and required off-line operation. It had convolution processing, but again, it was an off-line operation and was cryptic as hell to figure out. It had a music notation program but doing anything more complicated than entering notes required learning "Script", their notation programming language.

So when you add it all up, yes, the Oasys can do everything the Synclav could do (sans notation) and a whole lot more, for about one-millionth of the price.

I'd say that the sonic quality of the Oasys compares favorably with the Synclav, keeping in mind that the Synclav's sound was absolutely unique.

KingJ · Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2007 5:51 pm Post subject:

Andy Leary · Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2007 6:19 pm Post subject:

Dan Phillips used to have a Synclavier II, but I never used it enough to really get to know how to use it. It did have some great sounds, though. As I recall, the FM oscillators were just 8 bit and you could only do simple carrier modulator pairs. Does that sound right to you, Peter?

Also, KingJ has used the term "FM Additive" a couple of times. Is that a Synclavier term? As I recall the synclav allowed you to have simple carrier modulator pairs, but then you could layer them. So, I guess that is "FM additive."

The synclavier did not really have true additive synthesis did it? Here I mean N sine (or other) oscillators in parallel each with their own envelope, where N is large. I've seen these kind of synthesizers in academic settings, but additive has never made a big splash commercially. I was once giving a talk on physical modeling using waveguides when some guy in the audience informed me that I was totally on the wrong track. According to this guy, physically modeling and sampling were both lame ideas. Additive was really the way to go because, after all, all waveforms are made from sums of sinewaves. Well, they guy was right about that, but there is the pesky little issue about control. Who's gonna edit the envelopes for three hundred partials?? Not me!
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Andy Leary
Korg Research and Development

ski · Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2007 6:35 pm Post subject:

Hi Andy!

KingJ · Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2007 6:55 pm Post subject:

The fact that the Synclavier could do both FM and addative synthesis is why it fascinates me so much. That's why you could get some very unique sounds out of it. I can't afford one though, because they're extremely expensive, even on the used market. If I got an Oasys, the only thing I would be interested in on the Synclavier would be it's FM addative synthesis. The sonic possibilities of that are almost endless. If I could find an FM addative synthesizer like the Synclavier, or a program that could do that for the Oasys, I would jump on it! The Oasys has a whole lot of great features on it though, and I just may get one anyway, when I can afford it. Does anyone know what an Oasys-76 is going for on the used market?

steve m · Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2007 7:40 pm Post subject:

There are a heap of Oasys on the used market right now, 7 on ebay this week alone ! ( and some of them even look genuine! )

You should be able to get a good used oasys 76 for around US$4,000, and a new one for around $6,000 if you negotiate. I recently got a new one for less than that!

Good luck.
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Steve M

Kurzweil K2000, Yamaha CS1X, Minimoog, Oasys76, GEM Promega 3, Korg PA3X, Kurzweil PC3K8
Too many toys are never enough!

ski · Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2007 7:48 pm Post subject:

danatkorg · Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2007 8:36 pm Post subject:

ski · Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2007 9:38 pm Post subject:

Dan,

Thanks for the walk down memory lane. And yes, Timbre Frames... Oh man... I'mma have to call ya and do some reminiscing!

BTW, I was so jazzed by this topic of Synclav FM that for the heck of it I sent an email to a guy I know who's a dealer in used Synclavs, and I asked him how much a 16-voice system would cost. Not that I could probably afford it, but hey, Dan? Andy? KingJ? Wanna chip in? Wink

Andy Leary · Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2007 10:52 pm Post subject:

Peter, I'll throw in a few bucks! We'll itemize that as "research" !!

Dan wrote:

KingJ · Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2007 12:25 am Post subject: