OASYS = scary! :-)

[Charlie]

@Synergy: Sure - all Oasys owners are show-offs with little or no musical talent at all, being content with having a crippled Ferrari-workstation in their garage in order to be admired by friends for having bought it. And in order to proof that assumption wrong one only has to deliver a masterpiece of song convincing you otherwise. Oh my dear ...

[Kevin Nolan]

Hi everyone

Am still in the flush of new ownership of my O and found myself wondering how many of you have had the same feelings as me...

Having played every sound many times, having edited several of them, created new combis, explored what everything can do, I find myself scared of my O! Crazy I know...

Cello -

Agree with you totally on this. I said the same thing in another post. The OASYS is scary - but (to Tony) - in a nice way - like how a Bosendorfer Piano scares the bejasus out of you - but because it challenges you to use it well, and you'd sell your granny to own one


Tony - (Kevin here - trying to be the diplomat!!) - we all definitely share your feelings and frustrations on the OASYS's premature end. I try to maintain balance in perspective on this but to be sure I flipped the lid a bit not so long ago and was quite 'tough' on the points similar to the ones you make in a recent thread (and subsequently felt - rightfully - that I needed to apologise to Dan and Jerry at Korg because my thread/post was not pleasant to them (and - I was not accurate in my points)).

And I would ask you to go easy on Akos - Akos is a cool character and surely he's trying to put a positive slant on the future and not come at you per-say?

But I would add what I learnt from my recent rant (that I'm not sure will be universally accepted even here ) - I've learnt that Korg are incredibly passionate about their music technology. The Korg people and Stephen Kay of Karma-Lab who are also members of this forum have poured their heart, souls and intellect into their instruments, their designs and innovations. As Jerry said at the time - it was with incredible sadness that OASYS was cancelled - nobody wanted it but the economic and other realities made it inevitable. They have tried over and over to explain the harsh realities and I realise all the arguement about putting the sequencer update in the M3 and not the OASYS; but I think Korg have been nothing but communicative, honest and engaging on this point - we must stop being cynical and IMO applaud their forthrightness - Yamaha and Roland by are simply impenetrable by comparison.

Finally - while I am the last one to push the OASYS down peoples' throats (I'm usually advising people who visit here considering an OASYS to consider all other options with the OASYS but one) - I ask you to consider - seriously - that the OASYS has significant, real quality, depth and legitimacy even as it stands. Pricing aside - a step back from it and an object overview of it surely presents a genuinely impressive achievement and one of the pinnacles of keyboard technology? I own the CS80, Prophet T8, Yamaha DX1 and VL1 and I can tell you that the OASYS is right up there with these instrument in terms of build quality, musicality and depth of technology. It's far from perfect - but no other instrument is any closer to perfection.

And there must be legitimacy to our Forum's 5+ year consistent cries on just how excellent the OASYS's existing features are. We are not bullshitting and we are not blinkered - we've all moaned our asses off over the issues you flag - but that doesn’t mean that the OASYS is not a powerful tool even as it stands. It’s on this real basis that I stand by the OASYS - it is serving me incredibly well.

But, Tony, you are correct and are indeed entitled to complain about the OASYS - this is a forum.

God we need to get a life


Kevin.
Kevin.

[cello]

@ Kontrol49 - for me it was the sound of the trinity. Lifeless, plastic, false, cheap - all these kind of words. In a lot of ways, I don't really understand why because it had good enough specs/pedigree. Against all the qualities of sound produced by all my other Korgs, it stood out as being 'not good'. Shame, really because I wanted to like it! But romance was not to be...

@ Synergy - sorry didn't realise you were expecting a response - never heard of the machine you mention so am in no position to discuss! Although you will probably think that proves your point about talentless OASYS owners... ! But you see, I DON'T USE OR NEED A SEQUENCER - never have and can't see that changing, but if it does, I'll ask your opinion. Having learned to play the piano at 3 (my father was a concert pianist), I find I can rely quite nicely on my hands to do what I need for the moment.

You are of course entitled to your opinion on O owners being talentless and/or just wanting attention. Believe that if you want. I'm sorry that you feel that way as I suspect you're way wrong

[TonyGen]

...And I would ask you to go easy on Akos - Akos is a cool character and surely he's trying to put a positive slant on the future and not come at you per-say?
Kevin.

I'm sure Akos is a very nice person. However he decided to quote multiple paragraphs from my post and then chose to debate/disagree/lecture me on my opinion.

Korg need to listen hard that high-end customers won't continue to buy their poducts if they promise one thing, take the money and then claim financial hardship.

I've already said (positively enough I think) that I love the Oasys. What I don't love is that I paid what was asked (no discounts allowed remember) and then promises subsequently discarded.

I'm happy to leave it there. It's Korg I'm annoyed with, not the people on this forum.

Tony.

[Synergy]

I do understand the resentments - although I prefer not sharing them (... just doesn't make as much fun as enjoying the upsides of a decision ... and usually being angry doesn't change the situation I got into). But this thread was meant for a different subject.

First of all, on behalf of our community I thank you for sharing your sentiment. The truth is that the topic scared the hell out of me because it's too scary to put all that mighty O power together with the seq too scary even to look at.

@Synergy: Sure - all Oasys owners are show-offs with little or no musical talent at all, being content with having a crippled Ferrari-workstation in their garage in order to be admired by friends for having bought it. And in order to proof that assumption wrong one only has to deliver a masterpiece of song convincing you otherwise. Oh my dear ...

Once again, I have a proposition for you. Just as I said earlier, let's bring in the contestants under the title, Oasys Idol.
But I have a good news and a bad news though. The bad news is that I get to be Simon Cowell and the good news is that you and others get to be Paula Abdul.


@ Cello.
I stand corrected just for you. But I do believe you are a talented musician and that you would've been better off with Berlin Philharmonics forum than this. Likewise the Baldwin piano owned by Liberace would've served you better than the Oasys ever could.

Now that we know you're a maestro in disguise, when you DO need to know about seq, please ask the real PROPRIETOR of the statement. He also is known as a maestro of Oasys. Only the maestro knows what maestro needs.

[Akos Janca]

Hi everyone, what a traffic… The forum is alive again.

First and foremost: peace

Thanks, Tony. I simply quoted your thoughts and wanted to answer them successively. I didn't want to skip/miss them (this topic is already full of opinions). This is what is the "quote" button for, not? I'm happy you're not annoyed with me. The same here.

Thank you, Kevin, for defending me.

Dear Synergy, you seem to be too sarcastic with me and Cello and generally everybody. No problem, I can stand it. I like sour humour and I also understand what you want to express. But I don't think this style will help. Please stop. Thank you.

Your propositions - contributing something for the better like remedies, tips, workarounds - are much useful, but I don't see the point, why it is convincing for you to force us to record a song (OASYS Idol ) including 8 audio tracks by mics on OASYS sequencer. I haven't done it yet simply because I didn't need it. Have you tried it and found it impossible? You certainly know the factory demo songs containing audio tracks.

The talent of users and the quality of resulted songs - I mean musically - is also a very interesting question. I think it's a general problem today and not directly related to OASYS or other gear at all. I don't believe that users of other gear produce better music (how do you define "cool music" anyway?) because of their gear. If they do it's because of their talent, ability. (That's why I say OASYS is 100% good enough to create even masterpieces, because it's over the needed level.) I neither can believe - as you suggest - that only silly but rich guys have bought OASYS to take pride. (You certainly know the most notable users. To be fair, I don't know if they satisfied with the sequencer. I'm not kidding. Maybe not. Probably they don't need it so much.)

Value (volunteering The Who Paid The Most Contest)

I'm probably one of the users who paid the most for OASYS - considering the economical (or living standard) difference between my country and other parts of the world where OASYS users usually live. I had to work more for the OASYS.

At the moment OASYS is my only keyboard (except my nanoKEY that I use sometimes like this or this ).

Because of the above I can appreciate/value it.

Korg promises

I totally understand how bad if somebody pays a lot then doesn't get what he hoped for. However hopes and promises might be different.

Let me add this first: I think most ads may be a bit incomprehensible or ambiguous because of several reasons - some companies are simply liars, others just don't want to disclose much details because of competition, etc. And usually all of them are rushing, always one step beyond reality. But as a customer I don't care and certainly don't like that.

Korg have stopped hardware production after approx. 4 years. Strictly speaking, this sorrowful fact - see this and this - is not against the ad.

They kept the other promises: we got software updates, EXi, EXs and EXf - also for about 4 years. (Update: Sorry, I got mixed up. We haven't got EXf yet. What we got is the so called "OASYS Effect Presets" - a free additional package of 780 very useful settings.) The last announcement on korguser.net was 11 months ago. Since then we don't know what's happening regarding OASYS - or happening at all. I understand this can be annoying especially if somebody wants to get more. I don't know: have Korg officially declared that surely nothing will be released for OASYS anymore? (Sorry if I missed something.) If yes, then that "years and years" lasted only 4 years also for the software. Then I think this is the only promise that could be disputed.

[TonyGen]

Thanks, Tony. I simply quoted your thoughts and wanted to answer them successively. I didn't want to skip/miss them (this topic is already full of opinions). This is what is the "quote" button for, not? I'm happy you're not annoyed with me. The same here.

No problem here

Tony.

[Charlie]

Synergy, I don't want to be Paula - my abilities to impersonate a woman are somehow limited ...

You know, you've written lot's of helpful stuff here - thanks for that!

But judging all Oasys owners/users as show offs with no talent for music ... er ... sorry, my only explanation for this is that you must be very, very angry with ... well, most likely Korg and furthermore other people here not sharing your views (be it about Korg or the Oasys sequencer).

I enjoy making music - more: I LOVE IT! Am I very talented? No ... ... I'm neither Rudess nor Hancock and I've met several people here that got more talent than me, too. So what? I still love making music and give my best. And I still dare using my Oasys for that ...

Most likely I'm one of the few people here who spent lots of time with the Oasys sequencer. That is: recording midi + audio into it, do all the editing, master them ... until I had a finished song on a CD or mp3-file. Usually I recorded 4-6 audio tracks of vocals. And of course many bounced tracks (eg. for the playback). The many song slots proved extremely helpful! Nevertheless I won't join your competition - got enough competition in my job-world ... so for me there's no need for adding competitive elements to making music. I do enjoy feedback though!

Now, this is already old stuff ... and definitely not my masterpieces (not to mention true masterpieces of very talented people ). But if you follow this link you can read my interview on Blogasys describing how I utilized the sequencer, Karma etc. and listen to the music too. The shortcomings of the sequencer (for MY music - not necessarily for your music or anybody elses) are quoted as well. So is the upside: having all in one box working neatly together.

Link: http://blog.petermmahr.com/2008/02/03/i ... a-charlie/

I don't know if this qualifies me in your eyes for being entitled to enjoy my Oasys as it is - with all its sequencing-shortcomings. But ... I'm sorry ... I can't help to!

[Synergy]

Come on folks chill out. I don't know why people get an impression that I'm out here to get someone with a fork or let alone mere pieces of metal and plastic. I simply expressed my lowly opinion about one of many gears I bought because I am a legit owner of the Oasys. And I do it so with few jokes and euphemism so that even a Korg CEO could laugh about it (again no pun intended).

If I'm not satisfied with another things like the venerated Function key then I will express my opinion about it. But I don't know what it does and what it was meant to be so I refrain my concern about it even though the Korg engineers bothered to burn midnight oil to implement that thingy.

But people on this forum go berzerk in favor of the company when it comes to the sequencer as if I stepped on their fruit cupcake. I only expressed my lamentation about one particular feature out of many but suddenly I'm ganged up like a man holding a cross in the middle of a rainbow parade.

If it makes you all happy, at least I'm bringing up an awareness as a lone shepherd and who knows if some genius will come up with a hack job. For example, there are few maeverick programmers who hacked on a firmware to turn a consumer camera into a theater quality camcorder hence raising the resale value of it. Those cult camera owners would certainly cast stones on you before I do if you show peace and loving care on behalf of the manufacturers in their forums. Ironically the hack job raised the sales figure and the reputation in favor of the manufacturers.
That doesn't mean Simon Cowell has no love left in him. Out of love I give you the job of Paula and no lipstick is necessary.

I'm not here to get your music yet but if you insist, all is good except that the audiences and David Bowie would have accepted you all like one of their own if it was in the early 80's, and I do love 80's. Maybe that explains why people on this forum are OK with the seq the way it was supposed to be.
But don't go to the pub nearest you alone or don't let my presence put your music off for good just yet. I DO appreciate listening to the songs made by the owners of the Oasys and that's without sarcasm.

[Akos Janca]

If I'm not satisfied with another things like the venerated Function key then I will express my opinion about it. But I don't know what it does and what it was meant to be so I refrain my concern about it even though the Korg engineers bothered to burn midnight oil to implement that thingy.

Hi, I've found this two about the FUNCTION button:
http://www.korgforums.com/forum/phpBB2/ ... 015#193015
http://www.korgforums.com/forum/phpBB2/ ... 183#317183

[Charlie]

Akos, I admire your patience.

Ok guys - I give up. It seems my English is not good enough to realize the differences between delicate jokes, sarcasm, euphemisms etc. and strange views.

Vielleicht sollte ich einfach einmal ein paar Zeilen in meiner Muttersprache schreiben, damit das einem Nativespeaker nachvollziehbar wird? Aber da wird ja dann von den meisten hier gar nichts mehr verstanden - geschweige denn der feine sarkastische Unterton herausgelesen.

I'm neither content with the sequencer nor happy about Korg's decision to stop manufacturing/developing the Oasys. I dislike buttons having to be pressed with more strength than others, adjusting gain with a small pin on the backside is a pain in the ...., and giving the M3 a better sequencer and other add-ons that could be implemented into the Oasys too but weren't caused some raised blood-pressure on this side of the screen.

In short: I'm very well aware of many of the shortcomings of this so-called "flagship" and I don't hail Korg for these at all or "defend" them. Nevertheless I see the upsides of the Oasys too and enjoy them. For me one thing doesn't exclude the other. And I'm grateful there's a thread now and then written by people who share some enthusiasm about the cool things the Oasys offers too.

[2disbetter]

...

Vielleicht sollte ich einfach einmal ein paar Zeilen in meiner Muttersprache schreiben, damit das einem Nativespeaker nachvollziehbar wird? Aber da wird ja dann von den meisten hier gar nichts mehr verstanden - geschweige denn der feine sarkastische Unterton herausgelesen.

...

Der ein oder andere wird dich schon verstehen.

2d

[cello]

Ah, yes... understanding; important to us all!

Going back to previous posts, new (used) O owners such as me must understand and respect the views of those who were brave enough to buy the O when it was new. And I truly do and this is why...

Some years ago I bought a Mercedes C-class. I trusted their promises of support and quality and good re-sale value. However, I will never buy one again, ever. Period. Basically, the car was 'broken' although it was only 3 years old and cutting a very painful story short, Mercedes did NOT provide support, the problem was directly quality related and I traded in the car for £9,000 less than I paid for it after six months.

But the interesting thing is that car is similar to the O situation. I think it's crazy that anyone wants to buy/drive a Mercedez. But there are others who will say it's the best car in the world. And then there others again who will say 'Grow up! - I can only ever dream of having a car like that!'. Then there is another group that will stick with Ford or GM or whatever because that's all they need.

Isn't the same with O?

1. People who love it for what it is today - me; and many others
2. People who feel badly let down - synergy, tony and no doubt many others.
3. All those who simply cannot afford to buy one but would love to have one
4. Those who don't care because a nano/micro thing is all they want

None of the above is wrong - in my view! It's all relative to experience. It's interesting to note that those who write that they're let down are the same 10 or 20 people. Same with those who love it! So let's say that maybe even 50 OASYS owners share their view on these boards... what about the other 2,950 (or so) - what do they think? Who are they? Statistically, it means none of the views on these boards represent the majority of users.

So between us O users on this forum, I hope we can show understanding to each other - and help each other. Yes, I know Korg read these threads, probably mostly anonymously. Which is a pity really. I think that Korg should be financing their own forums; like Adobe or the like. But they don't and if it wasn't for Sharp we wouldn't be able to share our views and experiences and opinions online.

So of course, let's tell Korg what we think. Nothing wrong with that - good or bad. But please can we resist personal slight and sarcasm and difficult humour? This is a multi-cultural forum and not all of us may get the message that was meant.

I loved Korg machines long before the O was dreamt of. I am proud and lucky to own an O - it doesn't make it perfect (or Korg for that matter), but I am now less scared of it and am enjoying making my own music with it. I now know why it is a better than an M3 and why it is not as a good as an M3 but either way - I have just sold my M3 (by coincidence going to Germany next week!).

So 'verstehen' indeed. Understanding first. Help second. Share, third. Enjoy and respect being able to do these things - ALWAYS.

[Dany]

....So 'verstehen' indeed. Understanding first. Help second. Share, third. Enjoy and respect being able to do these things - ALWAYS.

How true and how needed in these (again) bizarre and dangerous times...

I bought a new OASYS-88 in the summer of 2008 for the full incredible high price and I thought that I must be crazy. I had to complain about some shortcomings that I could hardly believe given the price of the OASYS, but also had to realize its outstanding value as a personal and very expressive musical instrument. Compared to some of the best today available hardware and software synths I own, the OASYS has such a special sound quality, playability and expressiveness, that I went totally crazy this year and bought even a second OASYS-88 on the secondhand market for an incredible low price and in absolutely mint condition. So despite of the fact, as I have stated somewhere on this forum, that the OASYS will be my first and last KORG instrument I have ever purchased (I am a Roland and Yamaha user since about 1982, but never had any KORG gear...), I even got a second OASYS just for the sake of music ... that's how good "she" is...

[2disbetter]

...
At the moment OASYS is my only keyboard (except my nanoKEY that I use sometimes like this or this ).
...

Not to thread hi-jack, but you sir are awesome. I particularly enjoyed the nanoROCK!!!

2d