Korg Oasys or DAW computer?
Moderators: Sharp, X-Trade, Pepperpotty, karmathanever
Korg Oasys or DAW computer?
I'm trying to decide whether I should start saving up either for a Korg Oasys, or a good DAW system with a bunch of VST's. I know that the DAW system would probably be cheaper, but what would I be missing out on, besides KARMA, if I got a DAW computer instead of a Korg Oasys? What would I be missing out on if I got an Oasys?
Well, nobody can tell what you would miss. But I will tell you what I would miss or do miss right now using only 1 Oasys and nothing else: 
If I had only a DAW I would miss:
- the touch and feel of a "real" keyboard with good weighted keys
- the atmosphere of making music (I would feel like at work)
- the great sound of an Oasys
- Karma with its vast possibilities
- the switch on and lets go (instead of switch on, start programs and lets update)
- zero audible latency
- being free of any computer-related distractions (popup-messages etc.)
Having only an Oasys I miss:
- an intuitive sequencer-interface (current does its job well - but I really had/have to invest time here to learn it well)
In short: for me Oasys was the best available solution. Don't get me wrong: I know how to work with computers and used Notator, Cubase, VST etc. for many years. And I'm glad I've stopped doing that. I prefer feeling as a musician when I make music (and not feeling like an engineer programming a computer - knowing very well that basically thats what I do when I make music with my Oasys
).
If I had only a DAW I would miss:
- the touch and feel of a "real" keyboard with good weighted keys
- the atmosphere of making music (I would feel like at work)
- the great sound of an Oasys
- Karma with its vast possibilities
- the switch on and lets go (instead of switch on, start programs and lets update)
- zero audible latency
- being free of any computer-related distractions (popup-messages etc.)
Having only an Oasys I miss:
- an intuitive sequencer-interface (current does its job well - but I really had/have to invest time here to learn it well)
In short: for me Oasys was the best available solution. Don't get me wrong: I know how to work with computers and used Notator, Cubase, VST etc. for many years. And I'm glad I've stopped doing that. I prefer feeling as a musician when I make music (and not feeling like an engineer programming a computer - knowing very well that basically thats what I do when I make music with my Oasys
).No audible latency! That sounds great! Is there any computer workstation that can do that besides the old Synclavier? If so, would I have to have more CPU than the Oasys has to achieve this? On the Oasys, can I sync audio tracks with MIDI?Charlie wrote:Well, nobody can tell what you would miss. But I will tell you what I would miss or do miss right now using only 1 Oasys and nothing else:
If I had only a DAW I would miss:
- the touch and feel of a "real" keyboard with good weighted keys
- the atmosphere of making music (I would feel like at work)
- the great sound of an Oasys
- Karma with its vast possibilities
- the switch on and lets go (instead of switch on, start programs and lets update)
- zero audible latency
- being free of any computer-related distractions (popup-messages etc.)
Having only an Oasys I miss:
- an intuitive sequencer-interface (current does its job well - but I really had/have to invest time here to learn it well)
In short: for me Oasys was the best available solution. Don't get me wrong: I know how to work with computers and used Notator, Cubase, VST etc. for many years. And I'm glad I've stopped doing that. I prefer feeling as a musician when I make music (and not feeling like an engineer programming a computer - knowing very well that basically thats what I do when I make music with my Oasys
I have a Mac running Logic that has some fine software instruments of its own, however the Oasys is a far superior synthesizer. For example the AL-1 virtual analog is far better sounding than any VST plug-in I have tried. So, IMO, what you would miss is the quality of the synthesis algorithms as well other more obvious features like KARMA. The Oasys has some unique qualities such as very low aliasing and high quality filters etc. that set it above software synthesis used on other DAW's and other hardware synths. Its an 8000 dollar synth and sounds like you'd expect such an expensive instrument to sound.
Daz.
Daz.
-
nitecrawler
- Platinum Member
- Posts: 1000
- Joined: Thu Mar 22, 2007 5:47 pm
- Location: from a mile high to the the AZ desert
I believe that if you get a Mac/PC with enough memory and a good audio-interface and adjust everything properly you will get the same good latency-result. Fact is, that many people struggle with that. Everything (OS, software, plug-ins, drivers etc.) changes constantly in our modern computer world and the continuing adjusting and fixing you have to do quite often will fall behind = you will always run into new problems - may it be latency or anything else (conflicting plug-ins etc.).
Moreover most suppliers tend to blame the other suplliers for causing your problem and you will have to cope with it alone (just look at the software forums being stuffed with "strange" problems). Simple solution: once you have a configuration that works pull the internet plug and don't let anything touch your working system except the music-data you create.
But nobody would do this nowadays: of course you will update - and you will have to fix new problems. If you like doing that or if the comfort and other advantages of a DAW (lower price, huge screens, colourfull user interfaces etc.) justify the needed time for fixing you can get such a DAW. If you hate it or hate fixing computer problems instead of making music I would get an Oasys. Beside the magnificent sound this was one of the main reasons for me switching to a "All-in-one" solution.
Moreover most suppliers tend to blame the other suplliers for causing your problem and you will have to cope with it alone (just look at the software forums being stuffed with "strange" problems). Simple solution: once you have a configuration that works pull the internet plug and don't let anything touch your working system except the music-data you create.
But nobody would do this nowadays: of course you will update - and you will have to fix new problems. If you like doing that or if the comfort and other advantages of a DAW (lower price, huge screens, colourfull user interfaces etc.) justify the needed time for fixing you can get such a DAW. If you hate it or hate fixing computer problems instead of making music I would get an Oasys. Beside the magnificent sound this was one of the main reasons for me switching to a "All-in-one" solution.
-
Kevin Nolan
- Approved Merchant
- Posts: 2524
- Joined: Sun Dec 04, 2005 3:08 pm
- Location: Dublin, Ireland
- Contact:
KingJ -
What are you hoping to achieve? There are fantastic merits to the OASYS, but a DAW environment is very sophisticated in terms of midi sequencing, audio recording and editing and their application in media work such as for TV and film. And there are exceptionally good VST/AU instruments on offer (or bundled in the likes of Logic Studio). If you are after a flexible recording environment needed for typical studio applications, for general recording, for media work, to work portably or to transfer to similarly equipped facilities, you will definitely need a DAW solution anyway. You'd be mad not to consider one and virtually everyone working in earnest in the music business uses a DAW for recording
But the comparison of DAWs with an OASYS is not a valid one. Yes the OASYS offers robust Audio and MIDI recording, but that's not what its about.
What OASYS is is a musical instrument. That sounds a little obvious but its a very important statement. Everything about the OASYS oozes musicality, sophisticated integration and ergonomics in playing/sound creation and indeed recording, all integrated into probably the best synthesizer on the market today.
There are six (seven?) different synthesizer technologies under the hood, all exquisite - among the best in their fields - editable with touch screen and a fantastic controller surface. From a georgous samples grand piano to superlative CX3 Organ emulations to three different virtual synthesizers (including the MS20 Modular), virtual strings and FM to say nothing of numeror sample libraries.... the combination of superlative synthesis with unprecedented realtime control and interaction mean that you play the OASYS sounds in a way that you never will with VST instruments. I genuinely mean that - tha's my experience. VST/AU instruments feel genuinely virtual, and honestly one step removed by comparison - where as here with OASYS you have similar if not better synthesizers of all kinds, up close and personal, urging you to play and providing a user interface that to me at least, never, ever tires you out.
You might think this all reads OTT or that I'm laying it on thick, but I can tell you it makes all the difference, if you are interested in playing, performing, sound design or composing. The OASYS is simpyl the very, very best of what electronics (and computers) can deliver - musically. The OASYS is what Virtual Instruments are meant to be, so it gets used - actually used - and it performs spectacularly. Its awesom. Its THE statement of our times in terms of synthesizer musical instruments.
If you want the best - and there's always a valid reason to want the best if you have high aspirations for your music, then OASYS is you man. But you should also want a standard DAW for general music production (and that should not cost a lot given, for example, the slashing of prices of Logic Studio). Don't make it an either/or - consider OASYS for all its meant to be considered for - (get one!) - and then get a DAW as well. You can get all the VST instruments you want in the long run, but the sort of physical, tangiable excellence offered in the OASYS does not come around that often.
Oh yeah - There's also wave sequencing; step sequencers in almost every synth engine, vector synthesis; sample editing and up to 16 studio quality effects including a Vocoder and mastering effects.
And Karma is colossal. Its a gargantuan technology. It's arguably true to say that, considering all of the Combi's on the OASYS, only minute percentage of the capabilities of Karma are exploited. If you want a colossal 'domain' of sequence type composing, Karma will keep you occupied for years, if not decades.
Every owner of the OASYS on this forum pinches themselves on a daily basis to see if they're dreaming or if its real.
What are you hoping to achieve? There are fantastic merits to the OASYS, but a DAW environment is very sophisticated in terms of midi sequencing, audio recording and editing and their application in media work such as for TV and film. And there are exceptionally good VST/AU instruments on offer (or bundled in the likes of Logic Studio). If you are after a flexible recording environment needed for typical studio applications, for general recording, for media work, to work portably or to transfer to similarly equipped facilities, you will definitely need a DAW solution anyway. You'd be mad not to consider one and virtually everyone working in earnest in the music business uses a DAW for recording
But the comparison of DAWs with an OASYS is not a valid one. Yes the OASYS offers robust Audio and MIDI recording, but that's not what its about.
What OASYS is is a musical instrument. That sounds a little obvious but its a very important statement. Everything about the OASYS oozes musicality, sophisticated integration and ergonomics in playing/sound creation and indeed recording, all integrated into probably the best synthesizer on the market today.
There are six (seven?) different synthesizer technologies under the hood, all exquisite - among the best in their fields - editable with touch screen and a fantastic controller surface. From a georgous samples grand piano to superlative CX3 Organ emulations to three different virtual synthesizers (including the MS20 Modular), virtual strings and FM to say nothing of numeror sample libraries.... the combination of superlative synthesis with unprecedented realtime control and interaction mean that you play the OASYS sounds in a way that you never will with VST instruments. I genuinely mean that - tha's my experience. VST/AU instruments feel genuinely virtual, and honestly one step removed by comparison - where as here with OASYS you have similar if not better synthesizers of all kinds, up close and personal, urging you to play and providing a user interface that to me at least, never, ever tires you out.
You might think this all reads OTT or that I'm laying it on thick, but I can tell you it makes all the difference, if you are interested in playing, performing, sound design or composing. The OASYS is simpyl the very, very best of what electronics (and computers) can deliver - musically. The OASYS is what Virtual Instruments are meant to be, so it gets used - actually used - and it performs spectacularly. Its awesom. Its THE statement of our times in terms of synthesizer musical instruments.
If you want the best - and there's always a valid reason to want the best if you have high aspirations for your music, then OASYS is you man. But you should also want a standard DAW for general music production (and that should not cost a lot given, for example, the slashing of prices of Logic Studio). Don't make it an either/or - consider OASYS for all its meant to be considered for - (get one!) - and then get a DAW as well. You can get all the VST instruments you want in the long run, but the sort of physical, tangiable excellence offered in the OASYS does not come around that often.
Oh yeah - There's also wave sequencing; step sequencers in almost every synth engine, vector synthesis; sample editing and up to 16 studio quality effects including a Vocoder and mastering effects.
And Karma is colossal. Its a gargantuan technology. It's arguably true to say that, considering all of the Combi's on the OASYS, only minute percentage of the capabilities of Karma are exploited. If you want a colossal 'domain' of sequence type composing, Karma will keep you occupied for years, if not decades.
Every owner of the OASYS on this forum pinches themselves on a daily basis to see if they're dreaming or if its real.