Oasys VS Kronos

[Kontrol49]

OASYS is easier to work with, but Kronos can take you further.

Good to hear you still got your Oasys Mike Even though you since added a Kronos,I can't believe how old the Oasys is now even though it's still pretty relevant.I really enjoyed the Oasys forum,and it's still good to read through some of the archive posts now and then(Sina's stolen Oasys Fiasco seems to stick out) but it sadly sees very little traffic now and most of the usual characters don't seem to frequent here that much now,I guess the way Korg Handled the Oasys really pissed some owners off enough to turn them off the brand,I think Cello(Neil) was one of those that did just that.

I decided to sell my Oasys Last year in favour of the Kronos 2,it was mainly due to reliability issues and practical reasons for gigging,The 76 was becoming a pain to gig with and since the newer Kronos 2 came out I had full confidence in Korg to have sorted the problems that were evident with the MK1,I was going to retire the Oasys to studio work but decided to sell it rather than keep it for nostalgia reasons.

Plus the issue of maybe not getting spares or problems obtaining them due to small numbers of the Oasys being made I was concerned that if anything went wrong with it then it might be a pain to source parts,so decided to sell her on,other than the physical size and obviously a few missing options(like Pads and LED encoders/Sliders)I don't really miss the Oasys I'm still able to have the great sounds and transfer my files over without any problems,I had just short of 10 years with my Oasys and loved it and loathed it at times,other than the poor handling of it's support by Korg I still think it was a fantastic workstation,even if the Kronos has took its Crown in some ways,its spirit still lives on in the Kronos 2 so heres to another 10 with its little brother.

I'm rather intrigued as to how Korg can better it with a next generation Workstation,I only hope they still have plans for the Kronos OS for a while yet,I would like to see the KARP Odyssey in plug in(since they are able to make an IOS app why not something for Kronos) format for it that would be really awesome.

[Mike Conway]

I really enjoyed the Oasys forum,and it's still good to read through some of the archive posts now and then(Sina's stolen Oasys Fiasco seems to stick out) but it sadly sees very little traffic now and most of the usual characters don't seem to frequent here that much now,I guess the way Korg Handled the Oasys really pissed some owners off enough to turn them off the brand,I think Cello(Neil) was one of those that did just that.

I miss talking to all the OASYS guys. The combination of the price and the uniqueness of it really attracted a lot of high end synth aficionados. I remember giving a guy some tips and he turned out to be the producer of a movie that I saw in the theater. He was the one who told me I should make the OASYS DVD, so I did. There were a lot of interesting and gifted guys, including Kevin Nolan and Peter M. Mahr. I miss "Charlie" and many others.

As far as the Korg support, I thought it was top notch! All the top techs were here to help - Dan, Jerry, Brandon, Stephen and many others. The reason anyone got angry was because they came late in the game (2008 and 2009), fairly close to the OASYS being discontinued. Those of us who bought the O in the first year, we saw numerous enhancements and add ons.

By contrast, the Kronos has not had any engines added to it, after it launched. I was hoping to see a brass or bowed string model introduced. User Sample streaming (OS 2.0) was huge, though.

I think the Kronos style platform will continue. Korg has amassed some great libraries and I think any successor workstation will be compatible with those.

As for my O, it functions very well and I use the tilt screen a lot. I imagine that the hard drive will die at some point, at which time I'll replace it. One of the main reasons I keep it, other than having dual combis (with the Kronos), is how it handles multiple inputs. I can use it as a mixer and then run S/P DIF to the Kronos.

[EJ2]

I really enjoyed the Oasys forum,and it's still good to read through some of the archive posts now and then(Sina's stolen Oasys Fiasco seems to stick out) but it sadly sees very little traffic now and most of the usual characters don't seem to frequent here that much now,I guess the way Korg Handled the Oasys really pissed some owners off enough to turn them off the brand,I think Cello(Neil) was one of those that did just that.

I miss talking to all the OASYS guys. The combination of the price and the uniqueness of it really attracted a lot of high end synth aficionados. I remember giving a guy some tips and he turned out to be the producer of a movie that I saw in the theater. He was the one who told me I should make the OASYS DVD, so I did. There were a lot of interesting and gifted guys, including Kevin Nolan and Peter M. Mahr. I miss "Charlie" and many others.

As far as the Korg support, I thought it was top notch! All the top techs were here to help - Dan, Jerry, Brandon, Stephen and many others. The reason anyone got angry was because they came late in the game (2008 and 2009), fairly close to the OASYS being discontinued. Those of us who bought the O in the first year, we saw numerous enhancements and add ons.

By contrast, the Kronos has not had any engines added to it, after it launched. I was hoping to see a brass or bowed string model introduced. User Sample streaming (OS 2.0) was huge, though.

I think the Kronos style platform will continue. Korg has amassed some great libraries and I think any successor workstation will be compatible with those.

As for my O, it functions very well and I use the tilt screen a lot. I imagine that the hard drive will die at some point, at which time I'll replace it. One of the main reasons I keep it, other than having dual combis (with the Kronos), is how it handles multiple inputs. I can use it as a mixer and then run S/P DIF to the Kronos.

[DanyLane]

Mike, could you share a Factory demo songs from OASYS? I wanna try to load it to my KRONOS X, especially S01 - Love Embraces All

[Mr_SamDoogie]

A year ago when I was browsing keyboards and synth on Instagram, I found this young musician saying he played on an Oasys and this the thing he said it was absolutely brand new.

He was probably boasting I though he said to be the first to play it according to the owner. If true then that Oasys has to be a rare one in mint condition.

If search instagram Herbi3 the picture still up.

[Akos Janca]

I found it here where the date of the pictures is January 2015:
http://www.pictaram.com/media/906094557 ... 45_7182943

[Kevin Nolan]

Utterly subjective of course - many of us OASYS owners will favour it and vice versa.

For me, every instrument has its limitations and I don't judge instruments by them. I judge an instrument by the overall experience if engenders for me - and for me the OASYS is a pinnacle of hardware synthesis / workstations - so it's an exquisite experience to use it. Whatever the extra features on Kronos, it would feel like a clime down in every other regard, so I haven't moved in that direction.

To boot - I only know how to use about 10% of the OASYS features - 10 years on and I haven't found the time yet to get deep into AMS, Dynamic MIDI, STR-1, MOD-7, Karma, Wave-sequencing and Vector Synthesis - and how many of them will merge together - and these are among the main reasons I bought the OASYS - I didn't buy it for piano sounds.

So for me there's no point in going the Kronos route. I note that the composer Ty Unwin claims the OASYS sounds better in a Youtube video showcasing his studio.

[Mike Conway]

for me there's no point in going the Kronos route.

There is one huge reason:
OASYS can load around 1.5 gigs of sample data into RAM.
Kronos can stream over 20 gigs of your samples into RAM.

I can't tell you how nice it is to sample sounds and not worry about having to make short loops, because of tight memory. It makes the sampling process so much faster and they can auto-load at boot up. KSC Sample files made with Kronos can be loaded in the OASYS.

Don't worry, I'll never get rid of my OASYS. It's interface is so much better. Kronos sure makes for a nice backup to the O, as it can load all the O files, sound libraries, etc.

[Kevin Nolan]

for me there's no point in going the Kronos route.

There is one huge reason:
OASYS can load around 1.5 gigs of sample data into RAM.
Kronos can stream over 20 gigs of your samples into RAM.

I can't tell you how nice it is to sample sounds and not worry about having to make short loops, because of tight memory. It makes the sampling process so much faster and they can auto-load at boot up. KSC Sample files made with Kronos can be loaded in the OASYS.

Don't worry, I'll never get rid of my OASYS. It's interface is so much better. Kronos sure makes for a nice backup to the O, as it can load all the O files, sound libraries, etc.

Hey Mike (and Akos) - great to hear from you. I miss the old "OASYS Golden Era" days. This was a very special forum back then.

When I visit this forum these days it's like a cowboy riding into a dead town out west in the 19th century that's dead, with tumble weed blowing across the main street as he reminisces about past glories!

I accept for samples, HD1 engine and related piano engines the Kronos far exceeds OASYS - but as mentioned none of that matters for me as I don't use OASYS for that. In any case the HD1 engine in particular on both is the same.

I'm certainly not trying to make any absolutely claim on which is better - the important issue is that they are both astounding (and I sincerely hope Korg extend Kronos to something even better in the future but have my doubts) - but from the perspective of using the OASYS features I mentioned are a priority to me, there literally is no point switching over; most especially because I love the OASYS ergonomics.

I suspect when my OASYS's finally give up the ghost I'll have to transition over for sure.

All the best,
Kevin.


@Akos and Mr_SamDoogie - both of my OASYS are in absolutely mint condition. They look new (earnestly)


.

[Mike Conway]

I suspect when my OASYS's finally give up the ghost I'll have to transition over for sure.......... both of my OASYS are in absolutely mint condition. They look new (earnestly)
.

In that case, it could be a while. I use my OASYS almost every time I fire up the keyboards.

[Gargamel314]

One thing I do miss on the Oasys was the physical pads under the screen,Ok the Kronos still has the pad functions but it would be better if it had it's own set of Pads rather than virtual ones on the screen or relying on an extra external controller via USB to access them in the same way as physical pads on the Oasys.

I feel your pain here, but I got one of those Korg nanoPad2's from Amazon for like $60. It plugs into one of the USBs on the Kronos, and hello instant pads! There was no software to set up, no special settings, just plug it in and go. I'm sure if you used it for any other synth, you'd have to use a computer with it, but not with the Kronos. The M3's (and prob OASYS's too) pads are a little nicer in feel, but they are velocity sensitive, and they give you 16 pads in all.

[pilbeam_mp62]

I can't add a lot about the Kronos in this thread, because I haven't played one - but what I can say is it's great to see Mike Conway still contributing good stuff to the forum. I bought his excellent video many years ago, and I still watch it from time to time when I have forgotten how to do something on my Oasys !

[Mike Conway]

it's great to see Mike Conway still contributing good stuff to the forum. I bought his excellent video many years ago, and I still watch it from time to time when I have forgotten how to do something on my Oasys !

That's great to hear! I have fun on this forum. It's like a second home. Can't always be here, but I keep coming back to it.

If you're not aware, I have several OASYS/Kronos video on Youtube. These can all be done on the OASYS:

Recording mixer, velocity, and filter changes

Using a microphone

Recording FX and program changes

MIDI track loop and KARMA scene switching

[pilbeam_mp62]

Thanks Mike - I will take a look !

[Neural Tech]

I'm so happy I waited for Korg to make the same thing at a much cheaper price point. The Kronos does not disappoint. I never understood why anyone would shell out 10k for a board.