Thinking of selling my OASYS 88 workstation.

lewisjalexander · Post by **lewisjalexander** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 3:31 pm

Hi all.

well...... ermm...... ok......

I'm currently deciding to sell my korg oasys 88 workstation. This for me is due to lack of further expansion and finding it difficult to work certain areas of the workstation. My screen reader technologies no longer support the oasys which makes working with the oasys rather difficult.

anyway here's some info.

OASYS 88 workstation. purchased in april this year.
Serial: 000750
2GB ram installed,
OS 1.3.3

Warrenty covered for 3 years.

Can anyone advise a decent asking price for the OASYS. it cost me over £5400. This was the last machine in the UK when I came to buy it. after a long search and phone calls to various companies.

Looking at getting two new workstations which are completely accessible and support braille interfaces while working with logic on the mac.

if there's anyone here in the UK looking for an oasys 88 with a load of cables, pedals, etc then get in touch

At present I'm still thinking about it but if I can be persuaded by a good price then I'll be happy to get things started.

Post by **Sharp** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 5:12 pm

This for me is due to lack of further expansion

Did you buy any in the end ?
Last I remember was you trying to put the squeeze on Mike over at KORG UK to give them all to you for free.

Sorry to see anyone selling up and moving on, but just make sure it's for all the right reasons. You of all people should appreciate the detail in the sound. You won't find that sparkle in any other product currently available.

Hate to see you making a mistake.

Regards
James

lewisjalexander · Post by **lewisjalexander** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 5:40 pm

Hi sharp.

lol. OK at the time I needed the extra plugins but that didn't work out so I left it as it is.

For me, I'm very very critical over sound from a workstation and have some years experience as a pianist and synth player. worked with korg, roland, yamaha, kurzweil, kawai, waldorf and nord synths as well as some of the older rare machines including mellotrons, moogs, arp solina and of course the eminent 310 string synth.

As I say. as the oasys for me won't do exactly what I need it to do and now find it difficult to run a screen reader modification to the oasys due to code change and implementation of different string code in X code etc it's not something I can persue.

with new projects up and a new album planned for myself next year, I'm moving to a roland Fantom G8 and Kurzweil PC3X as hardware keyboards. then maybe some rack units including if I can find one. a triton rack, Wavestation SR and a few others. Not turning my back on korg but lets just say the M3 is not something I would consider. tried the system out and just can't get through the entire OS without sighted assistance all the time. can't be doing with it.

So it's for sale.

I'm putting it up for about £3750 with pedals, cables and the recovery media etc.

lew

Post by **Sharp** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 6:04 pm

If you feel you have to sell it then I sincerely hope you find whatever it is your after in another product. Being happy is the most important thing.

I really only commented because you said you were selling it because of the lack of future expansions when I pretty much knew you didn't even buy any of the existing ones.

So with that said, I hope you are not making a mistake here. Your reasons for selling up are pretty weak to me and what your planning on buying into it's only going to make things a million times more difficult to you.

Kind Regards
Sharp.

lewisjalexander · Post by **lewisjalexander** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 6:51 pm

Trust me. I know what I'm talking about. as a blind guy working with various machines, writing material for bands, sound design work and touring. the oasys isn't something which can help me for accessibility reasons. trust me on that. I'm not bothered by expansion packs or plugin software. As long as I have a truly tactile system, data connectivity to run custom screen reader code on the mac which reads the data and key functions from the host etc then I'm happy. the oasys can't deliver on that front. therefore it's not a mistake I'm making.

As an example. take your daily use of the oasys. do this with your eyes shut and then find out exactly what you're doing or in cases not doing. then go into architecture of linux to macintosh development for screen reader and accessibility tools.

just an example.

compare this workstation to say a Kurzweil PC3X workstation where USB DATA and midi code is directly available and a port can be created dynamically to interface with a straight forward application which mirrors the OS and gives me access through Voiceover on OS X 10.6 etc then it works more efficiently. I find myself avoiding inbuilt sequencing and using logic purely for both audio and midi work as well as sampling and manipulation. So the move to the PC3X and Fantom G8 is the right call for me.

tactility and accessibility are crucial to me. so that's my final input.

The oasys could be a workstation to improve on but KORG in their infinate wisdom have made this clear and to be honest the M3 is not a workstation I can work with.

anyway I'm sure there's someone who might want this workstation. and roland for me has been more of my backbone in the production environments I'm used to. not only that but as a folk musician and uilleann piper as a main business, roland just offers certain intricacies I love and kurzweil offers that bit extra warmth, character and a ton of DSP advantages for custom sound design. easy to navigate and can be dealt with directly with the mac.

Post by **Sharp** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 7:37 pm

I'm confused.

Correct me if I'm wrong but you told me months ago that your OASYS was the only keyboard in the world running software for the blind. Your OASYS even talks.

What happened to all that? Does it not do what you need ?

Kind Regards
Sharp.

lewisjalexander · Post by **lewisjalexander** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 7:43 pm

when the screen reader worked. it focused on version 1.3 and was locked to it. when 1.3.3 installed, it all changed. then new gui change tags and further things were done in the update, the screen reader could not update properly and then failed. at the same time, I've been working on updating the screen reader for it but here's the problem. I've moved from OS X 10.5 to 10.6 and X Code has implemented some changes which won't work now with the screen reader change. so it's now abandoned and 4 years of code have gone down the spout. but I've created new platforms for other equipment including the kurzweil PC3, Roland Fantom G series and X series, V Synth GT, Yamaha Motif XS and ES etc all through the same interface structure program I use. so features are added and each module works independently. So the oasys is no longer usable to me. hence now needing to move to another rig which is fully accessibility compliant to my needs.

lew

Post by **Sharp** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 8:06 pm

Very sorry to hear that. Man that's an absolute crying shame.
I also didn't know you wrote the code for that yourself, very impressed here.

Well it sounds like the setup your putting together will work like a charm for you, so I wish you success with that.

Regards
Sharp

MartinHines · Post by **MartinHines** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 8:15 pm

Lewis,

Two suggestions:

1. For prices your most accurate information would come from eBay, doing a search on "Completed Auctions". Alternatively, you could determine a "minimal acceptable price" for yourself and use that price as the Reserve Price on an eBay auction. You could run a 10 day auction, then even run a few additional 10 day auctions.

With eBay, there is a minimal cost to list and run an auction. The big fee only comes when you actually sell the item. I see dealers (or people with tons of patience) run the same auction for months to get the price they want.

2. If you have figured out a way to allow sight-impaired people to use the Fantom G and Kurzweil PC3, you might consider selling that information. Every once in a while there is a sight-impaired person who posts on one of these music forums and no one seems to be able to provide information to that person about what keyboards actually work for sight-impaired people.

lewisjalexander · Post by **lewisjalexander** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 8:29 pm

I am not going to consider ebay. I don't trust it.

As far as supply of info to developers is concerned that is something I'm not willing to do as I prefer to model the software to an individual's needs and will do so freely but with a delay in development while a workstation is either loaned to me, the OS available to me with other data etc. Primarily I design the software for myself as it's something I have to rely on. like the use of my recording console. using the OS and data resource, the console speaks through logic studio 9 and voiceover with a series of scripts etc, external mini apps or a main app host for a series of workstations etc.

I have developed software for blind individuals but I only write for the macintosh and not windows based systems hence a very limited requirement. it's getting more blind musicians to consider the mac as a system and then finding the right systems to work with. as technologies change and more dreaded touch screens come on the market, problems far outweigh the solutions. so the real honest and effective way of blind studios is to have an analogue mixing board wired to a multitracker system, tactile hardware units for outboard mastering, effects, compression and more. then going tactile workstations like the PC3X as a prime recommendation.

anyway it's time for me to get things sorted out here and persue placing this workstation for sale. I know people still want this workstation as I hear from companies I know well saying they're looking for oasys workstations and then hearing the news that they can no longer get them new.

well I've finally answered my own questions lol and it's time for the next phase in the studio.

lew

I will be officially announcing the sale on this list within a week or so as I won't be here much due to production commitments.

danatkorg · Post by **danatkorg** » Mon Nov 09, 2009 8:31 am

lewisjalexander wrote:when the screen reader worked. it focused on version 1.3 and was locked to it. when 1.3.3 installed, it all changed. then new gui change tags and further things were done in the update, the screen reader could not update properly and then failed.

lew

I'm very interested to hear all of the details about the technical issues - what do you mean by "gui change tags?" Can you describe again how your screen-reader hooked into the OASYS software?

lewisjalexander · Post by **lewisjalexander** » Mon Nov 09, 2009 9:03 am

Hi dan.

Now I'd be giving away my trade secrets lol. hahaha

OK the screen reader relies on two systems of interaction and programming. string based programming where the screen reader takes direct code from the linux framework. as an example when the oasys boots into the main system and is ready to run, an announcement is sent telling me " Your Oasys is ready to run. you are now in Combi mode"

The screen reader uses two systems. the linux string code like any other OS but with some differences and refinements. the other is the GUI analysis and object labeling process. because there are two primary data entry systems used. the touch screen layer and the default key mapping routines, these two methods require their own layer controls and observation. basically the touch mode is like a mouse mode in OS X and mac os 9 with an old screen reader called outspoken but requires a definate touch. this gets complicated...

Each OS Update changes certain points which the screen reader links to. such as added window layers, new functions and buttons, added string codes which the screen reader needs to learn and adapt to. a very complex arrangement in deed which takes months of re coding of the screen reader to do.

when an OS update resets data it kills the screen reader rendering it useless.

so developement no longer is worth working on. it did it's job for a while.

Post by **Sharp** » Tue Nov 10, 2009 2:12 am

I have to say a lot of this escapes me. I don't understand how software like this works with the OASYS or any keyboard for that matter. I'm also intrigued to know how you managed to get it running on the OASYS in the first place and in the space of only having the OASYS a week or two.

Seems to me your sitting on a gold mine if you could package this and sell it. I'm sure there are many people around the world who would be interested in such a system.

Keep the OASYS, sell your software that's what I say

Regards
Sharp

lewisjalexander · Post by **lewisjalexander** » Wed Nov 11, 2009 9:34 pm

hey sharp.

even though I've been an owner of the oasys since april. I've worked with an oasys on and off on loan to me within a 3 year period, researched and developed the technologies in a much longer time span. basically ever since I first tried an oasys out that was it.

now it's all quite frankly doing my head in. if a manufacturer can't listen to blind and V.I users and just continues to make touch screen or poorly accessible machines. what's the point of someone like me keeping on going as a musician and composer. I still thank myself lucky that I am a gifted uilleann piper and low whistle player as well as a church organist. so if my relationship with digital technologies finally dies, I won't worry.

Nice knowing korg for some years. since the O1W, wavestation and M1, N series and prophecy.

long gone now...

t_tangent · Post by **t_tangent** » Wed Nov 11, 2009 11:12 pm

Hi Lewis,

I am no expert by any means but it seems that you have a superb product that could benefit thousands of blind or partially sighted people. It sounds also like you are a bit down in the dumps due to lack of support. I am sure you have tried various routes, but really it sounds like something worth persevering with. I am sure that there must be someone out there that could offer support for this in their product...perhaps an optional accessory for users. Sometimes though its the smaller companies and manufacturers who actually have more control and say over what they can do, so it might be worth talking to someone like Open Labs, or that other new keyboard manufacturer from Italy I think..can't remember the name off hand...please help us out here Sharp

For the record, I think the OASYS is superb, but I do wish that they had been able to update it a bit more, it even if it meant only once a year or so, or a higher paid for update. I do sometimes feel that we OASYS users were given the short straw, especially when you compare to M3 or M50 users still being given updates...I think.

Just my opinion...but then what do I know...probably got it all wrong again