You know you can load DX7 patches into the Iridium, right?
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The Opsix is absolutely a synth lab. Far from perfect, but absolutely unique.
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Not at all, thanks for the tip.
Well, at the end of the day I placed an order for the Opsix module.
Its a bit of a bummer that the module costs around 700 euro and second hand keyboard version can be had for 400, but obviously my space has a price too.
Thanks for the input to everyone.
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Korg Volca FM 2.
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If you are into presets, this is the best choice. The OPSIX has some good presets, but it has ADSRs, not DX envelopes, so it canāt perfectly recreate the original patches. The Volca is a tiny DX7.
The OPSIX is a great synth lab, up there with the Hydra as one of the best bang for the buck synths ever made.
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Even if youāre considering the hardware module, before clicking the buy button you can still download the Korg opsix native standalone/plug-in for free.
Audition all of the presets to your hearts content and then decide for yourself if you like what you hear and are able to tweak to your satisfaction. The Jexus patches are also worth buying, in my opinion. They helped me understand the synth in depth.
Oops. Looks like lack of impulse control won out and you already went and bought it. Good luck, big spender! 
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Well, as per the rules I follow, another thing or two will go to the selling pile. This time I am going to part with Microcosm and Nord Drum 3p, so I will even save money in the endā¦ 
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IDK about that. The cheap Korgs donāt hold their value well, particularly not the OPSIX/Modwave/Wavestate. (IMO, they are great synths, they just lose a lot of value on the used market)
Also, the Microcosm and OPSIX seems like they would be a killer combo.
Given that you want a preset machine, Iād encourage you to hold on to your other gear until you get your hands on the OPSIX. That way, if you decide to return the OPSIX for a Volca FM2 you donāt have to try to track down a Nord Drum 3p again.
Weird how it took us 24 posts to mention the obvious 
! Sounds like the exact thing @operon wants, a lot of money and space saved.
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I think my favorite part of the Opsix is the operator mixer. Itās great for sound design and Iām thinking it could also be useful for presets. I donāt really use presets on this synth, but that op mixer might be really great for customizing a patchā¦ Itās very intuitive. Iāve never used such an intuitive FM synth, other than maybe the Digitone, but thatās different, with the predetermined ratios and what not.
Who knows, maybe you get the Opsix and it will encourage you to make your own patches since the interface is so good.
A used mk1 can be had for cheap and it already had plenty of polyphony.
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Does the Opsix have layers and/or splits? A (very) quick scan of the manual suggests ānoā, but the high polyphony count gives me hope that I missed it.
Yeah kinda using the fairly robust key tracking implementation. See Oscillator Sinks video on it.
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Nice. Thanks!
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Just to be clear, there are no layers or splits in a conventional sense on the Opsixāthat is, you canāt choose any 2 different presets and stack them or spread them over the keyboard.
AFAIK, what @abluesky is talking about is Oscillator Sinkās hack for splits, where you use keyboard scaling to create one patch that behaves as different timbres in different ranges of the keyboard. This is workable for creating certain combinations of split sounds, but requires some scheming:
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Yeah, the keytracking thing isnāt really a good workaround multitimbrality. Itās kinda clunky and not even really worth the effort, in my opinion.
Itās a bit of a bummer the synth isnāt multitimbral, especially considering the polyphony. Still a great synth, of course. Itās just kinda strange they added so many voices to the mk2 and itās a single timbre
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Remember the old days when if most synths bothered to offer keytracking, it was usually either off or on or maybe 50% at best?
So I disagree that itās not worth the effort. Itās a useful technique for any non-multitimbral synth that offers flexible keytracking, which is what the Opsix does.
Hereās another technique to consider. Since I have the privilege and wisdom of owning Opsix Native, all it takes is to use an instance of Opsix Native per track in my DAW and boom, each patch has the particular multitimbral sound I desire though the magic and power of basic multitracking.
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If you already have an OPSIX, then keytracking can be a useful tool for sound design. But if you are shopping for a multitimbral FM synth and multitimbrality is more important than OPSIXās other post-FM features then you may want to look at something like an EssenceFM, a TX-802, a pile of Volcas or some other option.
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Sure. And thereās also some merit in older synths like the lovely Yamaha DX11 and its pitch envelope-less rack mount version, the Yamaha TX81Z.
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I see that Korg added MPE in mk2, does that mean that the plugin supports MPE as well now?