Re: Recent requests - wishlists -are Korg etc - honestly...?

[ausser]

Hi all Oasysers

Simply put - do Oasys owners feel that Korg are meeting expectaions regarding the developement of the OS - as they were lead to believe when they first purchased the Oasys?

Peace
Ausser.

PS:
I am not an 'O' owner yet....

[curvebender]

Since I bought mine in july 2007, there have been two big upgrades:

1. The MOD-7 EXi

2. The Brass EXs

And also, of course, the KARMA software upgrade.

(Not to mention the STR-1 and the LAC that were released long before I got my Oasys.)

So, in less than a year, lots of new toys to play with!

[ausser]

Curvebender - I mean in respect to the OS and Sequencer in particular?

Also, were those additions gratis or did you have to pay for them?

Peace
Ausser.

[curvebender]

I paid for them.

Gladly, I might add

[Kevin Nolan]

I think it's worth remembering and actually typing out the list of key features of the OASYS (without going into the superlative details of each) to bring to the fore what OASYS’s open architecture has already enabled:

HD1 - With multiple times the samples of other workstations
CX-3 - Virtual Organ
EXS2 - 500Mb Grand Piano
AL-1 - 80+ note polyphonic Virtual Analogue Synthesizer, among the best there is.
STR-1 - Virtual Acoustic String Model (with high polyphony and superlative-realtime contol)
PolySix EX - Virtual Polysix Emulation which is stunningly realistic
MS20EX - Virtual Modelled Analogue Modular Synthesizer. Again - A MODULAR Synthesizer!!
MOD-7 - Phase and Frequency Modulating synthesizer with access to 200,000 Yamaha DX Programs
EXS3 - Superlative Wind and Brass Package
Wavestation - Check the samples - the entire Wavestation is onboard!
Wavesequencing - Completing the Wavestation, then then some
Vector Synthesis
Vocoder
Sampling
MIDI and HD Recording
High Quality Effects (16 simultaneously)
Karma 2.x

And OASYS enabling:
KARO Libraries and Programs
KO Software
EJ2 Combi's
Sharp's Sample instruments (including Dan/Sharp's Emulator 2 Shakuhachi)

And with physical characteristics:
Touchview Screen
Significant Realtime Control
Graded Hammer Action Keyboard
Internal Hard Disk and USB Storage
Capable I/O
CDRW

We all know the short comings, and we've all griped about them, but to me OASYS has already fulfilled its remit because OASYS is a design approach, not an upgrade path. If KORG had not approached this instrument in such an open manner the list above would be far shorter and each feature less capable. For example, from adopting the kernel of Linux to writing super efficient code for the Intel Processor has enabled AL-1 to be of such high polyphony, incredibly spec'd and with low aliasing oscillators.

I honestly mean this - I do not care if OASYS receives any more upgrades. I want to learn and adopt the gargantuan system that's there, including KO to my composing and there’s more than enough there as far as I’m concerned.

Upgrades are always welcome, but I do not subscribe to the argument that OASYS depends on upgrades to justify itself, or that KORG should respond at a given rate. They put in all the innovative and hard work before they released it and that’s the benefit, and as far as I’m concerned it has expanded already in ways that no instrument in the history of electronic music has managed to date.

Kevin.

[tcornishmn]

I think it would be hard to honestly say that Korg hasn't majorly upgraded the instrument since its original 1.0 capability over 3 years ago.

When the instrument was newer, we all wondered what was to come, and we gave Korg a lot of feedback. Some of that feedback ended up in future OS updates, a lot of it hasn't (yet). Now the platform is 3 years old, depending on when you start counting. At this point, there may be substantial developments to come for the Oasys, but the possibility exists, and is becoming more likely every day, that Korg will put their development energy towards future products other than the Oasys. Maybe that work will be able to be put into our existing machines, maybe not.

I think for you I would advise the following: If there is some killer feature that is missing from the Oasys, I don't think I'd buy one, as there is no guarantee that new features are ever coming. If, however, you are just asking philosophically, then I would look at the current capabilities of the Oasys carefully. I think you will find that it is still without peer in the synth world overall, though if you do a lot of sequencing, you will probably do better using a PC sequencer.

BTW, the only promise that Korg made to the Oasys platform when it first came out was that the architecture was upgradable. There was never any timeline, i.e. an upgrade will come every 6 months, etc. nor was there a guarantee that the Oasys will still be developed for 10 years after release.

Though a finite development lifecycle may sound like a bad thing, new products will have new hardware. I will be excited to have even more horsepower than the current board has, and would rather jump to something new in a year or two than have Korg only develop for the existing platform. These aren't mutually exclusive - I hope they both happen. I'd like to get some of my short-term wishlist items implemented, but sometime in the future I'd like new hardware too.

[Daz]

Simply put - do Oasys owners feel that Korg are meeting expectations regarding the development of the OS - as they were lead to believe when they first pdo Oasys owners feel that Korg are meeting expectations regarding the development of the OS

Yes and no

In terms of the instrument EXi (and supporting features like poly unison) that have been added, they've met my expectations and beyond. The same can be said of the Karma updates on the machine itself and the supporting KARMA Oasys software. I can't comment on the EXs3 'cos I don't have it, but I think that was a really great addition for many people.

That's the 'Yes' bit.

The 'No' part is a bit more tricky and my expectations might quite simply have been wrong. The 'environment', the world in which all the goodies operate and where we make music hasn't received the attention I thought it might. The brief was 'Mercedes S Class' and the great majority of the component parts reflect that, however the chassis itself is a little more Toyota Camry As I say, I may have been wrong in expecting that it would evolve away from the Triton heritage a little more.

Speaking more generally I am very happy to see what I feel is a shift towards more expressive, productive and intuitive musical tools in recent releases in this industry. Reason 4 with it's totally reworked sequencer and workflow, Ableton Live with it's focus on workflow and creativity, the Fantom G with it's major sequencer overhaul etc. etc. Even Logic 8 just feels a lot more pleasant to make music with, even if it's still basically the same animal as 7. All of these new products or updates have focussed on the music making experience and I am glad to see that coming back to the fore. I hope that Korg will be following suit and putting as much focus into making their gear as pleasant/creative to use, as well as fantastic sounding as it is now. Adding the Play button to the MIDI Event Editor, is the only step in that direction we've seen thus far, but it was exactly the kind of detail that is required.

Daz.

[Daz]

The brief was 'Mercedes S Class' and the great majority of the component parts reflect that, however the chassis itself is a little more Toyota Camry

Correcting myself ... the Oasys is all Mercedes S Class, it's just that some bits are more akin to an old S Class circa 1995. Quality, but behind the curve.

[ausser]

ok, because i love you guys....after 4 attempted logins where I began to suspect that admin were er....unhappy with me , not that they have any reason to be delighted in me.....(I was actually typing in Password and UN rather than UN and Password...ahermmm...

Here is my originally intentioned post - but I then decided keep it short...

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Hi all Oasysers,
Just a couple of questions regarding the recent wishlist - and other expressed Oasii desires...

I myself am not an Oasys owner yet...

I simply want to know - do people accept - considering the dosh forlked out - that Korg have, or are doing/meeting their end of the contract?

I've seen alot of high praising threads regarding Oasys' synth engines - sound quality - EXi etc...although the EXi can require further expenditure on the part of the owner...

My understanding, when Oasys was first shipped, is that part of the sales pitch and guarantee about this WS - is that it would be supported in terms of Upgrades (some requiring purchase) and in particular OS developement - above and beyond what normally would be expected in terms of modern workstations, as they have evolved in intricacy with respect to OS mass.

The pre-purchase supposition with Oasys in respect of this new era ie. substancial OS systems, is affirmed in the description Open Architecture - ie. Oasys is so designed that it is possible to achieve complete integration with the various systems in Oasys, within reason.

IMO - such developements are not pivotal but are possible and justly expected regarding the Oasys sequencers integration into deeper developement and re-developement of the interconnectivity of the Oasys parts and their nature thereof, visavi the 'Oasys Promise' or premise.

However - one should at the very least expect substancial regular developement of the individual parts of the Oasys interms of their function and in particular the Sequencer visavi the lengthy and well pending requests regarding the sequencer.
This ,IMO, has not happened.

It has been about 2 years now since the first Oasii were shipped - and IMO - I do not believe OS developement has been satisfactory.

I do honestly wonder why.
Is there not enough skilled staff to work on Oasys' upgrades regarding OS maintenance and developement?
Am I in fact, being unreasonable in such expectations consideing the many accolades Oasys has been given by many of its owners - accolades that could well keep new Oasys owners buzy for quite after purchase.

Korgs work has enabled me to do great things musically that I otherwise may not have been able to do.
I am a company fan for sure - but its a lot of money - if you're not happy with it or if Oasys is somewhat beyond me, which it may well be.

If I am comming across as somewhat - off the mark - do say so.
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Note - my only reason for posting my self-edited thread - is because I am amazed at the responses in regard to the content of my original thread and I feel or think....hmmm... what should I do...

All that said,
And replys notwithstanding,
I am of the impression that Daz's response most accurate to the enquire I submitted...is....

Yes and No.

Roland's TFT et all.... on the horizan (zan-irish as in Zan and that art!...?)
- and meself 2 odd years behind - my question now is:
(BTW I was Oooo Sooo tempted to post in the granular thread something ...well...a little er....'Roman Holiday'...shall I...?
tell me if you want me to... )

er....what is my question...?

Its this:

At this point, there may be substantial developments to come for the Oasys, but the possibility exists, and is becoming more likely every day, that Korg will put their development energy towards future products other than the Oasys. Maybe that work will be able to be put into our existing machines, maybe not.

Yes!
If Korg could LEGISLATE the possibility...ney..the probability that the Oasys platform may become, as it were, ......a 'fait accomplie'

That is - this machine will always be refered to - updated - upgraded - rehashed - experimented with - mused over....

THAT! I could certainly foward to the bank.....

However - although, as I understand it not being an Oasys owner, most of the upgrades have been Pay Per Use....
I still feel.....that support regarding the use of the unit as a central studio workpiece visavi the SEQ in particular and the connectivity issues regarding the OS in general have not been satisfactorily addressed.
That of course is from the perspective of an Oasys Non-Owner...

?

Peace
Ausser.

PS: Some wine consumed - Euro Korgers - If your looking for some budget Active Noise Cancelling!!! headphones @ €29.99 - check LIDL next week.
Or was that €39.99...?
Boze is good - but at that price one can hardly go wrong...?

[ausser]

Question:

Are Roland a smaller company or about the same size as Korg?

Peace
Ausser.

PS:
Funny enough Daz - as I was discussing with my father about the merits of investiing in an Oasys - cars were indeed the analogy employed....
He is, of course, a Classical pianist, of years -
so any likely keyboard may do him...

I likened my suplication for blessing a possible purchase of a unit to:
Oasys - is like buying an MG - but every once and a while they completely rework the electrics - the fuel - the GPS - the transporter -
all in in the one price you pay for the unit -
there are some things like Leather seats - Back Seat Bar packages - Alloy Wheels etc. that you have to pay additional for but.....

I cannot er...remember his response to this...probably because football then dominated the conversation....LOL

Peace
Ausser.

[Mike Conway]

I was discussing with my father about the merits of investiing in an Oasys - cars were indeed the analogy employed....
He is, of course, a Classical pianist, of years -
so any likely keyboard may do him...

A friend of mine paid $13,000, for his son's piano, last year. Maybe, the piano analogy should be the one to use.

[Mike Conway]

Buy the OASYS for what it is, today. While I am hoping to see the resolution upped and a few more parameters added, I'm not expecting a code rewrite for the OASYS. Korg will want to keep the 16 track Combi and 16 track sequencer correlation intact. Changing one could mean changing the other.

The OASYS bus system is awesome, though. I don't think anything will touch it, for a while. Some video links, with examples:

Voice/keyboard input:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blu0Fc0tp0M


Multiple Combi recording:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxERQ5hME3A&feature=user


External FX routed into the OASYS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHXwER5lM3w



These non-YouTube videos may take a few minutes to download, via broadband. Don't miss these last two, as they are the most advanced examples.

3 videos, here:
http://www.korgforums.com/forum/phpBB2/ ... ing+faders


Multibus video, here:
http://www.karma-lab.com/forum/showthre ... eadid=9964

[kenackr]

Ausser,

The reality is that as it stands now, the Oasys is still ahead in capability of all other contenders, the sequencer and a few other things not withstanding.

I, like many people, considered the price of an "O" as steep compared to other keyboards.

When I sold my grand and moved to the Korg T1, I remember a good friend of mine saying, just remember that a single unit can't do it all. I still believe that's true today.

Truth be told, I didn't buy the "O" for the sequencer or as a sampler or as a hard disk recorder, because I had those already in my kit.

After I looked at going back to a grand again, The price of the "O" began to look better.

I think it is a yes & no as Daz points out, but I'm not disappointed I bought the "O"because it is so much fun.

I say there can NOT be only one!

Ken

[Daz]

Roland are quite a bit larger than Korg, about 10 times the size. However their product range is far wider, so I would guess the number of developers working on each of the company's workstation product's at any given is probably about the same. Korg certainly don't look or behave like a much smaller company than Roland.

Regarding the development of future products versus development of the Oasys ... well, developing for the Oasys IS developing for future products I suspect we'll see a lot of the good parts of the Oasys (the noise making bits) in future products and selling them to us first and then selling them repackaged into a new product is just good sense commercially and in keeping with what they done so far.

As Mike says you need to buy it for what it is now, if you're going to go for it. We're likely to see excellent and unique synth expansions, but probably very little in terms of operational niceties.

Daz.

[Daz]

The OASYS bus system is awesome, though. I don't think anything will touch it, for a while.

Well nothing that is "hardware", right ?

But seriously, yes, 'tis awesome for this type of machine.