Oasys Upgrade Plan

[milkojnr]

So guys,
We have had the Oasys now for over 2.5 years and we all have this little function button.

It still does nothing. Does anyone know what that function was designed to do?

Or do we put this down as another option like the EXf and EXs that NEVER happened.

I love Korg and have been using and selling their keyboards for years but this lack of news on the expansion and functions is startng to put a bad taste in my mouth. I hope this keyboard doesn't turn into another Roland "Open" Varios unit which promised so much but never delivered.

[Kevin Nolan]

Check out the latest version of Korg UK's 'Korg' magazine - in it Dan Phillips indicates there are exciting upgrades to come. But he has already indicated Korg's intent in this manner even on this forum some time back. So what's your beef?

Furthermore, while this year has been quiet (no doubt because it takes time to get software right, especially when you're a small development team, as we all already know the OASYS group is), previous upgrades have been truly fantastic - the legacy collection, STR1, improved controller resolution, ..., ...

I realise this is my outlook, but I do not empathise with a continual cry for upgrades. But while they do bring welcome improvements, cries of frustration are in my opinion, disproportionate. I suggest that OASYS does not need upgrades to justify its name sake - it's already of superlative quality and flexibility, surely a result of its open architectural design from the outset. Open architecture does not need to mean upgrades or third-party involvement - it can also mean unprecedented capability and flexibility, attributes unique to OASYS among the current crop of synthesizers, and no doubt a direct outcome from Korg's open architecture in building it. Its already a significant, complete and successful package, far outperforming even all of our expectations, to say nothing of even the very best from all other manufacturers today. To boot, Korg are, with this instrument at least, clearly incredibly proud of their achievement, and incredibly open and communicative, both with Korg support (Korg UK in my case) and even on this forum. I personally applaud their vision in actually releasing such a risky but truly wonderful instrument, and I won't be taking that for granted in the way suggested by this poll. Bare in mind that virtually no other manufacturer is pushing the boundaries of synthesis and workstations in the way Korg is with OASYS.

While frustration may be setting in, comparison with Roland's Varios is in my view disingenuous, and I go so far as to suggest that polling like this is utterly over the top for this instrument as it stands, given the known prospect of future updates.

My year and a half with OASYS has been the best experience with synthesizers - ever - and I again suggest that this poll is more in line with failed products that let its user base down.

Kevin.

[milkojnr]

Just to lt everyone know, I love Korg.

I am not in anyway saying that the Oasys is a bad machine I love mine it is amazing.

But am just worried that we may not see the full power of this amazing machine.

[Charlie]

Well, the poll clearly shows some concern of Oasys users ...

Just like you I'm very happy with my Oasys. And I know I will never explore it in its full range of possibilities. However, like Peter M. Mahr mentioned in his interview, it somehow seems, that it became rather quiet on new stuff for the Oasys - and this is not really fitting "Open Architecture".

[elvisjohndowson]

I'm pretty confident Korg will follow up with new upgrades. After all, they've been working on this concept for more than a decade, and they'll use this platform to release new features in the coming years, untill the OASYS1 hardware requires a re-vamp/upgrade.

As some people on the forum have indicated, there appears to be some new development underway, so let's wait and see what that turns out to be!

[MartinHines]

Or do we put this down as another option like the EXf and EXs that NEVER happened.

"Never happened" is different than "not happened yet". I will be disappointed if Korg never releases any EXf's or EXs's, but Korg has stated they are still investing money in OASYS development.

[billysynth1]

I'm not concerned at all. Korg are a bit slow at releasing the upgrades. As Kevin mentioned they are a small team. I think there is plenty more to come - they have not released all the MOSS/Z1 models yet, this is thier specialty and I believe it will come.

Also, I think they will deliver on upgrading the sequencer as much as they possibly can - Korg know that a lot of people ( owners and non-owners ) were pretty much perplexed that the O's sequencer didnt have certain functions - I think Dan agreed and added a lot of requests to the wish list.

It will come - Keep your Cool

Billy

[Davidb]

Also, I think they will deliver on upgrading the sequencer as much as they possibly can - Korg know that a lot of people ( owners and non-owners ) were pretty much perplexed that the O's sequencer didnt have certain functions - I think Dan agreed and added a lot of requests to the wish list.

Hello.

One thing is new features, another one upgrades.

New features can wait the time necessary to be developed, some upgrades may be needed to improve/enhance the system, and other have been requested for so long by most users, like the sequecer upgrade.

Regards

[Kontrol49]

The Fact that some are requesting Upgrades to the Oasys would suggest to me that some people are bored of the machine already,which is a shame really,I waited for those 2 years to actually buy it,since day 1 I have looked into the workings behind it and is it justifiable of the high price,seeing as its not that much more advanced than the 2 Tritons I currently have,well in my eyes,even with the current system it is,and if Korg never supported it beyond this I would be pretty happy to say they gave it this much effort at least,a few More sequencer tweaks to compete in a software platform and I would have pretty much my Own self containd workstation,however,paying that sort of money does not guarantee a Future Proof system,there has to be upgrades in the balance,what was the point in fitting the SVGA/Mouse port,there must be some workings in the balance,for this or at least some past plans..

The Legacy collection is a welcome addition,and cuts out my software aspect for that to run it on a PC for the same results,its means that slowly I could have the pc filtered into a Hardware workstation and cut out all the crap that goes with running a PC based studio,I am however hopeful that Korg won't leave Oasys Owners stranded and sure there is development in tha balance,but at the moment,there's more than enough to keep me going,even if I know how pretty much everything works,coming from the Korg camp since the M1,infact I've even gone back to using the Internal sequencer on the Oasys,having spent many years being a CubaseBot,I'm enjoying the internal sequencer again thanks to the large touchscreen

I have every Faith In Korg to deliver some great goods,for the Oasys Line I expect they will just trickle them out in the hope of keeping the attention placed on it being the flagship and workstation of standards against all other Manufacturers..

I doubt they would slap Oasys owners in the face after a mere 3 years,I can't see them supporting it for decades,but at least in the near future,so that it still does at least have a place in modern studio and Instrument criteria..I wouldn't want everything to be thrown at us in a short period of time,its far more respectful and better to just gradually filter out the OA,after all theres probably only so much you can do at once with the developments,that they probably place the main focus on one or two things to dilute the best out of them rather than minimal effort with maximum output.You got to remember this is a software based machine,which relys on the Hard drive for storage of its OS and not just a Hardware chip that will be Obsolete in 2 years,

I'm sure it has its limitations like any machine,but at least there is more scope for development than a purely chip based machine,if theres provisions to maybe expand the RAM beyond the 2Gb and support larger Hard drives,surely that would be the only thing that would Limit Oasys in years to come,so if its capable of being upgraded in that sense I can't ever see it being obsolete for a long time yet,the only thing that would make it obsolete would be the lack of Korg upgrades to the OS

[sebbytriton]

Limitation of memory can be resolved using streaming audio

But imagine 16 WaveSequence tracks each using 16 layer samples played in streaming, is it possible ?

[Synergy]

I'm afraid that due to the fragile screen placement and the lack of the processing power, I wouldn't be suprise to see a hardware refined version such as Oasys Dream (Champaign colored brushed aluminum body, M-lan, firewire connectivity, user upgradable Core2Duo system, 8GB DDR2 , PCI-E, Nvidia graphic accelerator card, interchangable with Yamaha wooden keyboard bed, balanced outputs, high-resolution 17" touch screen, 3rd party sequencer developer support, SATA internal RAID, bluetooth, VST/TDM support, and a screw driver holder.

[Synthia]

I'm not worried at all,I love my OASYS as it is.The LAC sounds really satisfy my hunger for all things analog.
It took me nearly 2 years to save up for the thing and it will take me 10 or more years to discover all the things one can do with the OASYS.

I'm sure Korg will offer more goodies when they are ready.

[Michael Robles]

I gave up on the using the Oasys sequencer except for on the fly recording and use Cubase 4.0 on my laptop adjacent to the Oasys. I'd like to see some of the features of the new M3 adapted to the Oasys like the funky drummer and a Sound/Editor Librarian like my Radias.