You didn't mention how much you PAID for your two (!) CMI III's............ (lucky guy!)

I know how good they could be (used one in NYC long time ago) but was really posting about the shocked reaction to Oasis' high price point. I think if you convert from 70's dollars, any of the (then) top-of-the-line regular synths (T8, Chroma etc.) were as much as an Oasis NOW, and PLENTY of players forked out for them!

As of yet, I don't think NeKO or Mediastation (or other 'soft-hardware keyboards) are quite stable enough or have high enough polyphony to challenge the Oasis as top-of-the-heap, but inside a year or so I think that approach will rule.......... So, in a way, Oasis IS in the same position, market-wise, that Fairlights and Synclaviers were in the 70's, but at an incredibly lower price point.

We should be dancing in the streets, not whining about the price!!

I don't understand why the Oasys is so much more expensive than the Liontracs and Wersi , I don't see that the Oasys is that much better than those two .

[This message has been edited by Darksounds (edited 08-06-2005).]

I'm not shocked nor was I whining at the Oasys' price point, I'm miffed it doesn't offer more new and unique features and isn't more intuitive considering its competition and price point. For me price is not the issue and had the Oasys blown me away, I'd have taken it home the same day I played it. In addition to my Fairlights I own The Wersi Abacus, Lionstracs MS-76, Triton Pro, Roland XV5080's, AKAI samplers, and lots of vintage analog synths and can tell you first hand the Oasys isn't nearly as impressive to me as it may be to someone looking to move up from a Tyros, Triton, Fantom, Technics, or Motif. The NEKO I wouldn't consider because its cheaply built, has serious software issues, and is definitely not in the same category as the Wersi, Lionstracs, or Oasys.

To compare the Oasys's market position to what the Fairlight and Synclavier were in the late 1970 and 1980's is silly. Think about it, what other keyboards existed prior to the Fairlight and Synclavier that offered sampling, synthesis, FFT, multitrack sequencing, and hard disk recording all in one? None that I know of. These were ground breaking instruments that now have a legacy in keyboard history.

The Oasys is by no means the first Open Architecture keyboard its just the first one funded by a large MI manufacturer. Don't get me wrong... I love the fact Korg is jumping into the arena with the Oasys but its not like Korg has come out with anything that's new and innovative. Wersi's had the Abacus on the market now for at least 4 years and the Abacus offered nearly the same features way back then. In fact the Abacus features have continually grown over the years and each time it becomes a new instrument. The Fairlight CMI III came out in the mid 80's and with the exception of polyphony, it does nearly what the Oasys does and even some things the Oasys can't. You can't repackage something that's been around for years, put it in a pretty new package, slap a near $9000 price tag on it, call it ground breaking, and expect people to flock to it. OK, I guess you can if your name is Korg but its still not going to fool anyone who knows their stuff into believing its a new idea.

I can assure you the Mediastation MS-76 can and does support a ridiculous number of voices, more than the Oasys, and it does this by using multiple processors unlike the Oasys's single processor. On paper the Oasys polyphony looks great but the reality is the polyphony is going to diminish rapidly once you use FX, automation, and disk recording. Korg should have used dedicated multiple processors to handle each section of the Oasys features that way it would greatly improve its performance. Fairlight did this with the CMI and their MFX and DREAM hard disk recorders and that's what makes them so fast to use and sound so much better.

I'm certain in the coming years all the major manufacturers will offer an open ended system for their keyboards and in time they will become more advanced. Perhaps one day we'll see an entirely new technology that sets a new standard? I myself am waiting for that day to happen!

The OASYS has nothing new on board except Hard Disk Streaming capability. All of the technology in the OASYS is pre-existing technology found on other Korg products like the Triton, Karma, CX-3 etc.

You would think for $8,500 (£4,790) you would get something new (besides HDD streaming which btw the Alesis Fusion does as well (and more of) for thousands of dollars less). At least give it a new Sound Engine. Instead it still has the HI synthesis tone generation system of the Triton series. Korg has to get beyond past technologies and get the "vision" of something brand new. Unfortunately the OASYS isn't it.

It is a rehashed re-worked Triton with other "pre-existing" technologies put into it. It is loaded with features for sure but at what cost?? A trip to bankruptcy court? No thanks..

It is basically a Triton on steroids. And in my opinion they are trying to get away with highway robbery by selling it for the aforementioned price of $8,500. Plus the thing weighs a ton (figuratively speaking of course ).

Funny thing is people will fork it over anyway, especially highly successful Bands, the rich and famous (Bill Gates, etc.), or those who don't mind maxing out their credit cards. So much for innovation, huh... $8,500 for a souped-up Triton. Go figure.

Best regards,
Mike

Speaking about Bill Gates and other people with money, ironically I bet you they will buy like the OASYS along with some $10,000 mixing board and speakers just because their eight year old son/daughter said "Dad, playing music is cool!"

My dad used to be in the keyboard/organ selling business- I can't tell you how many times (back in the early-mid 80s) people spent lots of money for a top model electronic organ because they heard their children played Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

I am fortunate enough though living with a family whose business is musical instruments- Pretty much like George Kaye's son/daughter (if he got any)...just go to dad's store or play with the very first demo that comes to dad's store.

Sorry I had to share my funny comments that's all

I bet , rich parents so often spoil their kids with needlessly expensive gifts .

Apart from that there are also people who will always buy the best and most expensive things just so they can brag about owning the best and most expensive things . In the end it's what you do with your instruments . I bet there are many people who can create a better end product with the Triton LE than some who use the Oasys .

Yeah I wouldn't be suprised if both Yamaha and Roland would also come out with an open ended all in one mega synth similar to the Oasys . It will be interesting to see if those have an equally astronomical price tag but more importantly if they offer anything new and ground breaking .

Some features I think would be good for such synths are:

-Completely new synthesis engine with completely new samples created specifically for the new instument to take advantage of the better engine .

-Enough Polyphony so that running out of is pratically impossible .

-The ability to import samples/sample libaries from a great variety of formats .

-Support for 1GB or larger ( if they exist) Media cards .

-A sequencer which finally offers more than the standard 16 Tracks , I think the Alesis Fusion offers 32 Tracks , that should be the bare minimum .

-A big harddrive

-A DVD R/W drive . Why ? Because today some sample libaries come on DVD and you can fit more on a DVD and they support a higher Audio bitrate than a CD too .

- A high quality sampler which rivals stand alone hardware/software .

The list goes on...

I'm sure that if someone were to make a synths that addresses all of the shortcomings of Insruments like the Oasys people might be more willing to pay thousands of dollars .

Just another my .02 cents...

Again, I'm all for user friendliness of the product. Not to disagree with Darksounds or anybody who wants more out of their keyboards- but sometimes in my humble opinion, we already got a LOT coming from our technology nowadays. Take my Triton Studio for example. One couldn't even imagine such keyboard would exist 15 years ago (with such price).

But the thing is....I've made better music with my KN3000 than this thing- all because my KN was so much easier to operate rather than my Triton- I'm not doggin Korg or any workstation makers out there, I'm just saying if we can ease up on the extensive improvements, and shift the attention to simplify the products some of us may be able to use the keyboard more efficiently and hopefully create 'better' music.

In a nutshell- Keyboard as powerful as my Triton Studio (or OASYS, or whatever brand) but almost with arranger-like ease of use.

Or perhaps they already have that? Pa1X Pro?

Just my humble .02 cents

Certainly ease of use is also very important. Yamaha in particular seems to be lagging behind in that aspect .

Again I'm always a bit frustrated about pretty much any workstation having some obvious dumb and annoying shortcoming or flaw be that in it's ease of operation or it's technology and features .

Surely it can't be that hard to fix these problems ?

Well the Korg Pa1x Pro is an arranger is it not ?

Let's face it, there is no 'new' technology out there to put in today's keyboards (flame away, me boyos!)

Sampling is still sampling if it streams from a HD or resides in RAM, just the amounts of it change.

We've been passing these samples through some kind of filtering and enveloping and modulation since the Emulator (and before!)

Analog emulation has been out for years.

Tonewheel emulation has been out for years.

Vector synthesis - ditto

Modeling isn't exactly 21st century.

What's new is the ability to combine all previous technologies IN ONE BOX........... The Oasis is a good start.

You want to know what Korg left out that would REALLY push this over the edge? (I can't believe you aren't all SCREAMING for this!!)

A BUILT-IN ARRANGER.........!!!!

What a perfect opportunity to combine the latest sound generation technologies with a bullet-proof interactive arranger (NOT that techno-weenie Karma - although it DOES have it's charm!).

C'mon, Korg, might as well put it ALL in the one box!

Honestly I don't even see the need for new technology in these workstations instead they ought to focus on improving it all and making it easier to use . The Oasys has the right idea but unfortunatly there are still some ifs and ommissions .

As for putting a dedicated arranger into the package I don't know if that's a good idea , it would make the bloody thing even more expensive and it's quite possible that many who use synthesizer workstation wouldn't even use an arranger .