Published 2/8/06
New update for Korg's flagship synth
The paint has hardly dried on the most recent additions to the Korg OASYS – OS v1.1 and the STR-1 Plucked String model (watch out for a review in forthcoming editions of SOS) — and Korg has already announced OS v1.2! Rejoicing in the name 'Legacy Analog', the new update adds the fourth and fifth expansion instruments (EXis) to the OASYS. The name is a dead giveaway; derived from the Korg Legacy Collection and using the same modelling technology that Korg developed for that package, it recreates the Korg MS20 and Polysix as software synths within the OASYS.
The OASYS version of the MS20, the MS20EX, is neither a recreation of the original hardware, nor of the software version included in the Legacy Collection. Taking the sound of the original, but extending its capabilities in many of the ways that aficionados have fantasised about, it adds new patch points for the oscillators, filters, amplifier and External Signal Processor, thus making the MS20 paradigm truly modular for the first time. It also includes new mixers, four LFOs, four contour generators, and four AMS Mixers, and has the ability to send signals from a single source to multiple destinations, just as if it had ‘multiples’ for every output. This means that MS20EX lies somewhere between the Legacy’s MS20 clone and an expanded ‘soft’ PS3200.
The Polysix has been recreated for the OASYS as PolysixEX and, although this is closer in capabilities to its inspiration, it still offers two additional LFOs, two envelope generators, four AMS Mixers, plus ‘analogue’ features such as programmable Unison detune and stereo spread, and enhanced Chord Play facilities.
As you would expect, both EXis can be used with KARMA and all of the OASYS’s effects, step sequencers and other performance-related facilities. If you would like to try them, you’ll obtain a free demonstration version when you download v1.2 from Korg’s website. You won’t be able to use them for much, though — the output has a slow tremolo, so your sounds fade gently in and out — but you’ll be able to evaluate the synths, and it should be straightforward to activate them fully using a password that you can purchase on the web.
I’ve already used a development version of v1.2, and the potential of both EXis, especially the MS20EX, is astounding. Imagine being able to connect patch cables on an expended, 'soft' MS20 simply by prodding a picture of its control panel on the touch-sensitive screen, and manipulating it using the OASYS’s controllers. Add polyphony and all the new facilities and you have something that I’m not ashamed to admit that I find very exciting. Watch out for a full review soon. Gordon Reid
Korg UK Brochure Line +44 (0)1908 857150
www.korg.co.uk
The OASYS version of the MS20, the MS20EX, is neither a recreation of the original hardware, nor of the software version included in the Legacy Collection. Taking the sound of the original, but extending its capabilities in many of the ways that aficionados have fantasised about, it adds new patch points for the oscillators, filters, amplifier and External Signal Processor, thus making the MS20 paradigm truly modular for the first time. It also includes new mixers, four LFOs, four contour generators, and four AMS Mixers, and has the ability to send signals from a single source to multiple destinations, just as if it had ‘multiples’ for every output. This means that MS20EX lies somewhere between the Legacy’s MS20 clone and an expanded ‘soft’ PS3200.
The Polysix has been recreated for the OASYS as PolysixEX and, although this is closer in capabilities to its inspiration, it still offers two additional LFOs, two envelope generators, four AMS Mixers, plus ‘analogue’ features such as programmable Unison detune and stereo spread, and enhanced Chord Play facilities.
As you would expect, both EXis can be used with KARMA and all of the OASYS’s effects, step sequencers and other performance-related facilities. If you would like to try them, you’ll obtain a free demonstration version when you download v1.2 from Korg’s website. You won’t be able to use them for much, though — the output has a slow tremolo, so your sounds fade gently in and out — but you’ll be able to evaluate the synths, and it should be straightforward to activate them fully using a password that you can purchase on the web.
I’ve already used a development version of v1.2, and the potential of both EXis, especially the MS20EX, is astounding. Imagine being able to connect patch cables on an expended, 'soft' MS20 simply by prodding a picture of its control panel on the touch-sensitive screen, and manipulating it using the OASYS’s controllers. Add polyphony and all the new facilities and you have something that I’m not ashamed to admit that I find very exciting. Watch out for a full review soon. Gordon Reid
Korg UK Brochure Line +44 (0)1908 857150
www.korg.co.uk
