Korg OPSIX

The Lounge Other Gear
#584

I’ll give it a few weeks upon arrival, but after spending some time with the opsix native software demo making V/A sounds, I’m beginning to wonder if this might end up kicking my Nord Lead 4 KB out of the studio. The FX are definitely better from Korg, and more varied. Filter variety is also there.

The only thing I’d really miss are impulse morphs and multi-timbral capability (for the latter I still have the NL3 rack). I love the NL4’s organ waves but I can easily get those out of a few OPs on the Opsix, whilst using the other few for saws and squares. Otherwise, the speed of the modulation system on the Nord is hard to beat. So it really will depend on some time with the opsix and finding my way around the menus, developing some muscle memory. Or maybe it pushes me to swap the NL4 KB for an NL4 rack, finally. Things are getting a little crowded with all these keyboards.

One thing I wish the opsix native plugin had was the hardware home button’s ability to access attack and decay for all operators combined. Like a macro. Really looking forward to that, vs what I’ve been doing with the software, copying and pasting the envelope settings across operators.

— nevermind, found these parameters in the plugin, misc/random pane, “attack global / decay global”

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#585

Alto Music has also dropped their listing.

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#586

Got this from American Musical Supply:

I am writing to inform you that the Korg opsix Altered FM Synthesizer on your order has been discontinued from our inventory, the manufacturer has indicated that we are no longer receiving any more shipments of this item. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, and our team would be happy to offer recommendations on a substitute item.

Sounds pretty discontinued to me.

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Korg Selling Off Synths ( OPSIX, Drumlogue, etc ) Discontinued?
#587

Looks like a typo. I bet this is what they meant:

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#588

Self-admittedly a crazy idea which i don’t really hold to, but …
as a fun payback to the rest of the world, the OPSIX is only being discontinued in the USA.

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#589

Related: FM8 is 10 bucks now at Plugin Boutique.

Looks like frequency modulation as a whole is in the bargain bin :upside_down_face:

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#590

Yeah, it’s FM week! I guess I’ll have to get FM8 too. The full price is too high for something that old, but I know it’s a great synth.

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#591

My guess as to why it’s being discontinued is that they simply can’t reliably get ahold of large quantities of the Raspberry Pi CM3+ … Which would mean that the Wavestate is going to be discontinued as well.

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#592

Don’t the Modwave and Wavestate share the same Raspberry Pi?

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#593

No, each one has their own raspberry pi :laughing:

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#594

Yes. Another scenario is that the Wavestate greatly outsold the Opsix (which I think is likely), so they want to reserve parts for Wavestate and scrap the Opsix.

But I’m just guessing. I’ve heard that it’s very hard to get ahold of those modules since a while back, but it could also just be that it wasn’t a successful product. Seems a little quick to give it the axe though.

On the other hand I guess you don’t just sell off the last remaining stock for dead cheap unless it didn’t sell well before.

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#595

:crossed_fingers:t2:

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#596

This seems extremely plausible. On the other hand, the Pi is just an ARM SoC, so it shouldn’t be that difficult to find a second source or just engineer a pin-compatible version.

In that case, I’d expect the Wavestate/Modwave/OPSIX to come back in a year or two, possibly as Mk2 models with more polyphony and maybe other features that don’t change the front panel.

Pretty heavy black mark on the Pi foundation if true. They are cool toys, but if I’m ever in a position to approve Pi hardware in a commercial product, I’ll nuke the proposal from orbit.

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#597

Or you had another reason.

Or sooner. Start selling a ported OPSIX-2 now, dropping the Mk1 to sell the Mk2, and follow on with the others as soon as possible. The port to a VST of these three certainly helps make the code less platform dependent, and help bridge the intermediate time.

We’re short of information so impossible to know, we’re just piecing things together from the info we have, and our knowledge and experience.

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#598

I’m not typical, I have some years of classical piano training, so I am a “keyboard player” and have strong preferences. I tried the OpSix in a store, and I don’t mean to say it’s flimsy or will fall apart, I’m sure it’s fine. But it has without doubt the cheapest feeling keybed I’ve ever encountered, and my fingers scream NO with the mere touch, lol. It’s comical really.

Also, it’s such a deep monster of sound design, I would want 5 octaves of FATAR to touch it with.

I envy those who don’t mind the keys on it! You are getting one of the deepest synths ever for $350! But I’ll pay whatever they ask for my flagship version, and play my fucking Bach on it and smile :wink:

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#599

Don’t forget wild speculation and bonghits (or edibles). :innocent:

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#600

Speaking of bong hits, those new 5 octave Fatars that are showing up now with Poly Aftertouch, yes, must have that…

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#601

The raspberry pi foundation got hit hard with supply chain problems after the pandemic.

I agree about not putting one in a commercial product – their focus has always been education, and putting affordable computing into the hands of people who couldn’t previously afford it.

I imagine Korg started designing the synth with a raspberry pi before the pandemic, and before all the supply chain issues

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#602

Sorry - i missed what the black mark on Pi is? Is it the inability to buy them in large quantities, or something else?

Just trying to follow the discussion (which is interesting).

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#603

Edible bongs for the win.

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