Getting into that Moog CDX “White Elephant” vibe
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seems that they have the voice count / cpu, audio and fx engines for a new 600 eur electribe. Throw in some Kross 2 tech with sampling and sd card streaming, pair with a nutube on the output and you have a bestseller.
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I thought the menu diving on the mc-101 would be a workflow killer (it has a 2x16 character screen)
Then I used one…
One of the most inspiring pieces of kit I have used in years.
I genuinely see this as having the same potential. There are synths out there that have the same complications without a screen.
I’m gonna watch this one closely.
Will have to wait till i get a blackbox first though lol.
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I agree with Jukka on this point
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I’m thinking along similar lines. Granted, I rolled the dice w/ the Octatrack, not doing any research on its UI or amount of menu-diving before buying, but I made it work for me by force of will and persistent usage.
There’s some menu diving in my Korg Monologue, but not the most awful thing in the world - compared to the Korg M3 at least.
I do want to check out a Wavestate in person before buying, but I guess I’ve had most of the anti-menu phobia beaten out of me already.
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I will probably get flamed for this lol
But I actually think given what the octatrack does it should actually have a bigger screen to display more immediate parameters. Thus reducing menu diving. As it’s an intrinsically complex device I think this is something elektron will want to develop if they do a revision later on.
In regards to the wavestate I think the ample amount of buttons and knobs will actually make it quite playable - that’s if Korg gets the UI right. As noted by your examples and the feedback from others is they have gotten it very wrong in the past.
No worries regarding Octatrack. I have a MkI btw, I’d be curious to check out a MkII in person to see if it’s UI is so much better. I know some people will say so on forums, but nothing like in-person experience. I wouldn’t claim the MkI UI is heavenly like a Pegasus pooping Skittles from the sky but it’s getting more and more like an old friend for me - albeit a cantankerous one at times.
Ever since Tats joined Korg, the UIs on their synths have improved, imo.
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I failed to bump the video so here it is again. Gonna watch this to see if the UI really is has hellish as some fear for sound design
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Yeah I feel like this is an annoyance for multiple reasons… But I bet there are plenty of waves in there for interesting and legitimately new stuff you can make, and there can be something nice about these pre curated sets at times for odd inspiration. Still user waves is always a welcome addition, and if it had it I could totally see this being someones primary hardware device.
Menu wise I agree if they made it a little bigger they probably could have gotten quite a bit more controls exposed but I bet this lets them hit the price point they needed though. Most of the too much menu stuff seems derived from selecting waves though maybe custom folders and more organizational stuff is all it might need, or maybe it has enough already (from watching videos I would say it needs more). I still feel like DSI has managed the best with there P12/Pro2 as far as exposing as much control as possible and making a great workflow for extremely deep synths. I don’t think they did that well commercially considering but I sure wish more synth makers would look at them when designing there UI.
You could totally make a full live track on the wavestate though which could be pretty interesting to see… especially if it isn’t as horribly cheesy as the stuff like that in the demos of it. I feel like Korg could maybe do with a few new talented sound designers to make some more IDM influenced patterns.
Ok, I can see where the process could be tedious if you wanted to create your own, say, 16-step wave sequence and you wanted a different sample per step.
Can’t think of a way to speed up the workflow other than give the user a software editor so that the user can drag and drop waves into place instead of tap Step 2, turn knob to select sample, tap Step 3, turn knob to select sample…
Increasing the screen size would compromise something else - looks like they squeezed as many knobs, buttons, print labels, etc. as they could into that small panel - you’d have to give up a knob or a button, or make a label harder to read or something.
I’ve seen comments already from peeps who are willing to wait for a bigger (more expensive) iteration of this thing, to have those wishlist items (aftertouch keys, more keys, bigger screen, etc.) so I get it.
The patch designers are basically the same ones who worked on the Wavestation, according to articles I’ve seen - John Bowen, et. al. Safe to say if you didn’t like the original, this prob. ain’t for you either. Not every synth is for everyone. FWIW, I didn’t hear any Wavestation/iWavestation demos that excited me either - Wavestate interests me more.
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the thought of scrolling through endless lists of - may be well curated - but not my samples to find something similar as the one lying around in my repository to create something individual is an instant turn off.
This could be a funny soundmachine if I could use my own samples.
This closed design decision is a bit strange… Makes it a glorified preset machine…
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Even if this thing only had the original waves from past Wavestations, this amount of control on the front panel would still make this an incredible synthesis tool.
I cannot even tell you how many times I almost bought an SR or an A/D, just to run presets through effects and create alien sounds. There are tutorials online for programming those synths, and it just looks like soooooooooooo much pain.
Compared to that, any menu diving that you have here is going to be joyous. AND a randomize button? Holy shit.
I don’t think it matters at all that you can’t load your own samples on it.
I tell you what; the rivet heads out there are going to salivate over this synthesizer. The possibilities for making industrial, dark wave, EDM, IDM, techno, and experimental sounds on this thing will be just as immense as it will be for creating soundtrack pads.
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If I get this thing I’d probably spend the most time/effort having fun modulating already assembled wave sequences and the least amount of time assembling wave sequences, sample by sample, from scratch. The list of mod sources looks pretty long to me, and there are supposedly over 1000 possible destinations.
On top of that, there’s randomization of step order and the arpeggiators.
I have other machines to play the samples I’ve recorded myself like Octatrack so I’m good there.
I personally don’t get the complaints regarding user samples. Never been an issue with Moog, Analog4, Roland JV, FM synths et al. The options are already endless imho, and it contains a lot more wavs’ than the originals… BUT… they missed a trick by not including the audio input from the WS-AD. This allows using external audio within the wave sequence or as an extra oscillator, as well as becoming a decent fx unit. I might buy this, but I won’t sell my A/D.
The frustrating thing with the original Wavestations was the file format and hierarchy, which was confusing and convoluted. If this has been improved then that is already a huge pro.
The last thing is… I hope they give it a full midi spec for external sequencing and ability to build editors.
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Maybe Wavestate XD will have a user slot?
Overbridge would make most sense for the Octatrack - sample/file management and generally setting up the machine. Also streaming the 8 output tracks for proper mixing. etc.
But won’t happen.
Anyway… off topic.
The Wavestate looks and sounds great. Decently priced too. But complex! Those menus… You do get quite a lot for your money though.
Ive just bought a Digitone Keys… so not looking too closely at the shiny new toys on offer.
Just saw it come up on StoreDJ for AUD $999 pre-order!
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Turramurra has it up for the same priceee… i emailed Korg australia asking if they knew what was up re: whether a module was on the way and they sent me a shrug
I must say I’m pretty excited about this. It was my absolute GO TO back in the early 90’s
If it wasn’t for this I think I would still have it.
The GAS has risen and Dawson’s have just sent me a spam with 10% off all online purchases!! DANGEROUS TIMES TODAY I THINK!
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As someone who thinks most of the Hydrasynth demos sound pretty bad but loves their HS, I’m cautious about drawing too much of a conclusion about any synth from demos. So, these are very tentative takes:
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The Wavestate sounds so clearly ‘90’s’ to me, and not necessarily in a good way. I won’t be surprised if there’s a generational split about this synth. That said, there are some bits and pieces I’ve heard in demos which are a lot different than any other new/recent devices, and it seems to have some very interesting possibilities.
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The programming of this is going to be where I think it’ll ultimately be a hit or miss. My impression is that it’s plenty deep as far as capabilities … but if there’s too much menu diving, or scrolling through waves is too tedious, it’ll end up as a preset machine without it’s abilities really being explored. What I’m seeing / reading so far makes me think it will be somewhat tedious to program.
For me, it’s probably a pass, though if they come out with a module version at a lower price point, and it turns out to be easier to program … maybe that’ll change. 
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