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So Korg are running a sale on their own Korg Shop. The Native software of their Modwave / Wavestate / Opsix are $99 each. Decided to get them all. Opsix is something else, a synth I somehow overlooked a little. It comes with some very interesting synthesis concepts, next to the plain FM options. It sort of also reads DX7 sysex, which is neat.

(on a non-FM related sidenote: Wavestate is also terrific. It lets you upload no less than 4 Gb of samples. Hardly any sample mangling options, but the vector synthesis XY-pad stuff is neat and the wavesequencing is amazing. I’ve been busy loading in all sort of free IRCAM OrchideaSOL WAVs and a bunch of Xsample and S+A Spectres samples and placing them in 4 lanes of sample playback sequencing. Big fun. Seriously contemplating getting that new desktop Wavestate module, as a little hardware sampler instrument).
 
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doctoremmet said:
So Korg are running a sale on their own Korg Shop. The Native software of their Modwave / Wavestate / Opsix are $99 each. Decided to get them all. Opsix is something else, a synth I somehow overlooked a little. It comes with some very interesting synthesis concepts, next to the plain FM options. It sort of also reads DX7 sysex, which is neat.

(on a non-FM related sidenote: Wavestate is also terrific. It lets you upload no less than 4 Gb of samples. Hardly any sample mangling options, but the vector synthesis XY-pad stuff is neat and the wavesequencing is amazing. I’ve been busy loading in all sort of free IRCAM OrchideaSOL WAVs and a bunch of Xsample and S+A Spectres samples and placing them in 4 lanes of sample playback sequencing. Big fun. Seriously contemplating getting that new desktop Wavestate module, as a little hardware sampler instrument).
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These are really intriguing synths. I think you could lose yourself in those for many months!
 
RogiervG said:
That, and pick a synth that has a good beginner friendly UI (e.g. avoid fm indexes operated UI's).
I know the operator index is part of FM, but you can go around that

You know, these types of indexes:
1705926034339.png

that results (with those indexes based synths) in spaghetti like this:
1705926087487.png
(fm8 screenshot: a mess to read)
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I can confirm that as a total beginner this part of fm8 made me think "wtf is this???", but as a slightly more intermediate user I thought this part of the UI was actually one of the most elegant and usable and I've had more problems with other aspects of it. Imho Vital has one of the most approachable UIs of all the synths I've tried.
 
MartinH. said:
I can confirm that as a total beginner this part of fm8 made me think "wtf is this???", but as a slightly more intermediate user I thought this part of the UI was actually one of the most elegant and usable and I've had more problems with other aspects of it. Imho Vital has one of the most approachable UIs of all the synths I've tried.
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Yes, indeed. I was referring to beginner level. Although still i find gui's that bypass these form of interfaces easier for myself too. Easier on the eyes, many cases.
 
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doctoremmet said:
So Korg are running a sale on their own Korg Shop. The Native software of their Modwave / Wavestate / Opsix are $99 each. Decided to get them all. Opsix is something else, a synth I somehow overlooked a little. It comes with some very interesting synthesis concepts, next to the plain FM options. It sort of also reads DX7 sysex, which is neat.

(on a non-FM related sidenote: Wavestate is also terrific. It lets you upload no less than 4 Gb of samples. Hardly any sample mangling options, but the vector synthesis XY-pad stuff is neat and the wavesequencing is amazing. I’ve been busy loading in all sort of free IRCAM OrchideaSOL WAVs and a bunch of Xsample and S+A Spectres samples and placing them in 4 lanes of sample playback sequencing. Big fun. Seriously contemplating getting that new desktop Wavestate module, as a little hardware sampler instrument).
Click to expand...
Apologies as this is a little off topic, but is there any chance of you posting some of the output from your Wavestate alchemy? Sounds very intriguing!
 
ir99 said:
Apologies as this is a little off topic, but is there any chance of you posting some of the output from your Wavestate alchemy? Sounds very intriguing!
Click to expand...
I intend to. When I do I will try and remember to DM you. Wavestate has been so much fun that I went ahead and ordered the desktop module which is going to arrive in May. (I’ll create a separate Korg Wavestate thread).

Edit: I added an example of a YT channel run by an absolute Wavestate wizard, that really showcases how cool this spiritual successor to the Prophet VS and the Korg Wavestation actually is when in the right hands:





 
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doctoremmet said:
I intend to. When I do I will try and remember to DM you. Wavestate has been so much fun that I went ahead and ordered the desktop module which is going to arrive in May. (I’ll create a separate Korg Wavestate thread).
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That's great. Those desktop modules look like wonderful ways to play with the sounds. They aren't little, mind you. They are pretty substantial and very suited to gigging or getting hands on with programming.
 
doctoremmet said:
Hey Jay, cool first post. Welcome here. Why do you like it so much?
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Thanks. I just really like the sound. That is far and away the main consideration. Pads, leads, bass, even percussion. I guess the GUI is ok. All the pages of FM8 I find tedious. But ultimately the GUI doesn't matter. Just subjectively really like the sound. It doesn't have the modulation capabilities of some but the sound just works for me.
 
JayS said:
Thanks. I just really like the sound. That is far and away the main consideration. Pads, leads, bass, even percussion. I guess the GUI is ok. All the pages of FM8 I find tedious. But ultimately the GUI doesn't matter. Just subjectively really like the sound. It doesn't have the modulation capabilities of some but the sound just works for me.
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Sound is indeed the most important factor! Thanks, I am going to look into this one.
 
Bee_Abney said:
That's great. Those desktop modules look like wonderful ways to play with the sounds. They aren't little, mind you. They are pretty substantial and very suited to gigging or getting hands on with programming.
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I may also get the Opsix. The operators offer really cool synthesis options, next to “plain” phase modulation-style FM (amplitude modulation [ringmod], filter FM, oscillator+filter, oscillator+effects) which really makes it a bit of a hidden gem. Too bad the envelopes are mere ADSRs, it would have been cool to have them with a delay-, hold- and loop-option. But the overall mod matrix is pretty cool, as are the effects. It is kind of neat how Wavestate / Opsix and Modwave all share common DNA, so they really are somewhat of a “logical combo” to work with. Anyway… Wavestate is incoming, mostly as a pretty capable rompler of sorts. I do like that there is full feature parity with the Native plugin(s). After all, this Korg hardware is all completely DSP based. They all run off of a Raspberry Pi 3 / 4 (depending on whether it’s the Mk 1 or Mk 2 hardware I believe).
 
doctoremmet said:
So basically they run on ARM chips, @Bee_Abney, making them direct descendants of the BBC Micro. And THAT’s one cool FACT!

arstechnica.com

A history of ARM, part 1: Building the first chip

In 1983, Acorn Computers needed a CPU. So 10 people built one.
arstechnica.com arstechnica.com
en.m.wikipedia.org

Acorn Archimedes - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org en.m.wikipedia.org
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That connection makes me want them much more!!! I learned computer programming on one of those BBC Micros at school. Not that I know how to do it now - this was several hundred years ago!
 
Bee_Abney said:
That connection makes me want them much more!!!
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The general concensus over at Gearspace and KVR (you know, the truly cosy places where the really friendly musicians convene) seems to be that hardware running DSP code on an ARM chip is kind of disappointing.

But I literally thought: oh hell yes, this is the closest thing to a bloody Acorn Electron I’ll get my 52 year old hands on. It was, without any shred of sarcasm, the main selling point for me hehe.
 
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