Radias discontinued by Korg (again?)

Jeff Gibbs · Post by **Jeff Gibbs** » Wed May 26, 2010 7:08 pm

My local Korg dealer says Korg indicates the Radias is discontinued. Wonder what that means. Are they introducing a new something similar? Was thinking of picking up one, have an R3 and love it. Also Karma, Oasys, and Wavedrum.

danielb · Post by **danielb** » Thu May 27, 2010 6:20 am

It's still on Korg's site; not that that means much. . .

Four years is actually quite a long production run for a synth. I just hope they will replace it with something worthy.

LiqMat · Post by **LiqMat** » Sat May 29, 2010 2:44 am

I need about four more years to master the beast. A wonderful synth regardless of age. As some at vintagesynth.com call it a "future classic".

Jeff Gibbs · Post by **Jeff Gibbs** » Sat May 29, 2010 3:38 am

For some reason when it first came out years ago and I tried the Radias in the music store it sounded thin and the presets seemed weak. I recently bought an R3 to use for an ultra portable travel keyboard and it sounds so good I am thinking the full Radias must be amazing and maybe it was just put through bad speakers the first time I heard it.
I have lots and lots plug-ins but don't enjoy using a mouse and love live control. And for many things VST's just don't sound right. So I think I would really get great fun and use from the Radias and want to make sure Korg isn't replacing or upgrading the Radias the day after I buy one.

Bald Eagle · Post by **Bald Eagle** » Thu Jun 10, 2010 2:03 pm

I just noticed a big price drop at Sweetwater down to $699 for the module. I don't even see the version with the kyboard advertised anymore. My guess is that it has been discontinued and they just want to dump what's in stock.

It would be typical Korg to discontinue without saying anything. I already have the EXB-Radias in my M3 but was thinking of adding the module just for the knobs but now no way.

X-Trade · Post by **X-Trade** » Thu Jun 10, 2010 2:19 pm

Bald Eagle wrote:I just noticed a big price drop at Sweetwater down to $699 for the module. I don't even see the version with the kyboard advertised anymore. My guess is that it has been discontinued and they just want to dump what's in stock.

It would be typical Korg to discontinue without saying anything. I already have the EXB-Radias in my M3 but was thinking of adding the module just for the knobs but now no way.

Just because something has been discontinued, shouldn't stop you buying. In fact now you have the chance of picking up a bargain!
You'll still get warranty, and support from KORG. It merely means they aren't making any new ones or releasing a new OS with more features for it (which we've known for quite a while really).

The Radias is an absolutely fantastic synth. I can't imagine them releasing anything newer that would be more powerful. More than likely they would go the way of working on more budget and entry level synthesisers like they have done with their other product lines lately.

$699 is really cheap! the module still costs roughly £749 and the keyboard version £1099 here in the UK.

Note I don't actually know if it has been discontinued or not....

gjvti · Post by **gjvti** » Thu Jun 10, 2010 3:59 pm

hmz...

slight googling revealed this. However this only affects keyboard version - radias rack is still present in their synth section. The same about M3 - korg has M3Xpanded instead of original

Bald Eagle · Post by **Bald Eagle** » Thu Jun 10, 2010 5:13 pm

X-Trade wrote: Just because something has been discontinued, shouldn't stop you buying. In fact now you have the chance of picking up a bargain!

The Radias is an absolutely fantastic synth. I can't imagine them releasing anything newer that would be more powerful. More than likely they would go the way of working on more budget and entry level synthesisers like they have done with their other product lines lately.

I agree but it's also a good time now to look at other alternatives as well. The Roland GAIA SH-01 is also the same price and I would be curious to see how it compares to the Radias. Has anyone auditioned the GAIA yet?

vicz · Post by **vicz** » Wed Jun 16, 2010 12:23 pm

Aren't they just concerned about litigation if stupid people manage to trap their fingers in the hinge? It doesn't say Radias-R in the Japanese listing.