Korg OpSix

afr · Post by **afr** » Wed Jan 15, 2020 11:02 pm

A new 6 op. FM Synth?

And.... What is the kbd on the floor?

burningbusch · Post by **burningbusch** » Wed Jan 15, 2020 11:57 pm

Korg's having some fun this year.

Busch.

burningbusch · Post by **burningbusch** » Thu Jan 16, 2020 12:31 am

The opsix could just be a concept keyboard. Korg has done that in the past. Just for fun and/or to gauge interest.

Busch.

Jan1 · Post by **Jan1** » Thu Jan 16, 2020 1:58 am

KORG’s been saving up ammo for 2020.

drama1 · Post by **drama1** » Thu Jan 16, 2020 2:53 am

If you look at the reflection of the board on the floor, it's definitely a synth of some sort. Has the mod/pitch stick.

D575 · Post by **D575** » Fri Jan 17, 2020 7:07 am

Perhaps the keyboard on the floor is a future product they are showing behind the scenes that requires a signature on a NDA??

maphill · Post by **maphill** » Fri Jan 17, 2020 5:03 pm

I believe these are prototypes, not necessarily planned releases in the future.

Mr_SamDoogie · Post by **Mr_SamDoogie** » Fri Jan 17, 2020 6:22 pm

It would be an odd thing to do by Korg I mean why bring out a 61 key FM synth when you have the volca FM or Kronos. This would be quiet puzzling if done so.

skinmechanic · Post by **skinmechanic** » Fri Jan 17, 2020 6:43 pm

It’s a keyboard version of the Volca FM 6 OP with 32 algorhythms whether it’s an official release though is anyone’s guess.

ponkine · Post by **ponkine** » Fri Jan 17, 2020 8:24 pm

Oh lord. Please no!

Enough with the hideously overrated FM thing

It's been 35 years with the same s*** sounds.
Please stop

jimknopf · Post by **jimknopf** » Sat Jan 18, 2020 7:42 pm

ponkine wrote:Oh lord. Please no!

Enough with the hideously overrated FM thing

It's been 35 years with the same s*** sounds.
Please stop

not as harsh, but essentially +1
I really couldn't care less for FM sounds!
Some sound really nice, but still add nothing worth writing home about to today's sound world IMO. I'm missing nothing essential at all without them.

Kevin Nolan · Post by **Kevin Nolan** » Sat Jan 18, 2020 9:28 pm

I hear Yamaha are releasing a new workstation called the M1.1

Post by **Sharp** » Sat Jan 18, 2020 10:17 pm

FM is quite difficult to program. When ever I get good results from MOD7 on the KRONOS it’s usually by accident. I wonder what changes they have made to the control panel to make it easier on the OpSix.

The silver keyboard on the ground..... anyone know what that is? The front panel is covered with Foam.

Regards
Sharp.

Kevin Nolan · Post by **Kevin Nolan** » Sun Jan 19, 2020 2:09 am

Sharp wrote:FM is quite difficult to program. When ever I get good results from MOD7 on the KRONOS it’s usually by accident. I wonder what changes they have made to the control panel to make it easier on the OpSix.

The silver keyboard on the ground..... anyone know what that is? The front panel is covered with Foam.

Regards
Sharp.

It is genuinely very straight forward to program FM sounds on the SY77 and SY99. FAR easier than on MOD7.

The reason is - the level of detail on the SY77/99 is _just_ right. With a 64 x240 pixel mini screen you can see the optimum amount fo detail to affect big changes rapidly - youy see the algorithm, the envelopes and envelope loop points, and each configuration screen offers the required adjustments for all 6 operator on the one screen if you like, or alternatively all parameters associated with one operator if you so choose; and the ability to flip back and forth between both views with the press of a button.

The result is, after only a short amount of practice - the ability to affect changes quite quickly. You can modify 6 envelope attach times in a blink, or adjust all operator levels very rapidly; or focus on the envelope of just one operator - graphically - again at your whim.

In fact - I find doing sound design / programming on the SY's to be quite therapeutic - no joking. You get into a comfort zone, and in a single session can create a huge range of sounds.

Conversely on the MOD7, the following are issues for me:

1. The level of detail and the number of parameters is overwhelming. It's certainly superior to the SYs, but for programming it's FAR more cumbersome. I'd estimate that it takes 10 times longer to make the same sound on MOD7 as on an SY - a genuine estimate.

2. The modular nature of MOD7 - which is again a huge advance on Yamaha algorithms because you can effectively create your own algorithms; again makes it very often quite hard to understand the structure of the algorithm - and actually - you always have to have a mental picture of the algorithm to make meaningful and controlled changes - and that's a challenge on the MOD7 at the best of times.

3. Indeed even when you do know the algorithm - they are visually challenging to understand on the OASYS screen. While Yamaha correctly depict Modulator Operators visually above Carrier Operators; the OAYS / Kronos shows that same structure sideways - laterally across the screen - and I for one find it near on impossible to visualise many if not most of the algorithms I've interacted with; even when calling up one of the original Yamaha DX algorithms that are within it's algorithmic library.

Montage suffers even worse than OASYS/Kronos - even though it is primarily an FM synth, Yamaha haven't really concentrated on making that aspect of it straightforward, so in my opinion designing sound on it looks extremely complicated - and is the reason I didn't buy it.

So overall, THE optimum devices to program FM sounds are the SY77 and 99. You can generate incredibly sophisticated, deep, rich and dynamic sounds on them very rapidly - it really is a joy; and as deep as MOD7 and Montage are - nobody is programming them because they are overly complicated; and it's why I view the SY77/99 as still the pinnacle of FM synthesis from a sound programming / design point of view - and indeed from the point of view of the available libraries of sounds.

I have to say - this device from Korg looks barely an advance on the DX7 - it does not look, in any way, inviting from a programming point of view because there is no screen worth talking about from what we've seen so far.

A very curious move by Korg.

Narioso · Post by **Narioso** » Sun Jan 19, 2020 4:26 am

On the Opsix - there is a vast amount of operator+modulator images on panel.

Is that maybe to help visualize what screen does not allow so well?

I had a TX81Z in the 80's - and that was just no fun at all.

So a bit interested to see a fm of today.

Is it anywhere near what multiengine of Prologue do?
But all in menu then, not much on panel.

Did Yamaha do something clever about Reface DX?
It seemed they did some cool thing about four parameters on that one that some reviewers liked.