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 Post subject: Re: Got $330 to burn? Need a new synth??
PostPosted: Thu Aug 25, 2022 12:41 pm 
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I found this funny. That they made this product they couldn’t keep around, now only people lucky to have gotten one will own one. But it’s not like THEY knew when it was launched it had a small window to the market. I just hope the other 2 synths don’t get discontinued because I can’t be going in debt all the time when Korg’s gonna have a blowout! Oh it arrives today with any luck.


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 Post subject: Re: Got $330 to burn? Need a new synth??
PostPosted: Thu Aug 25, 2022 2:57 pm 
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No way have Korg discontinued the OPSIX, and they sure as hell don't spend time developing major updates for anything they intend to discontinue any time soon. I reckon it's a bunch of corporate clap-trap to hide the display issue, which I'm guessing is what it's really all about.

Like I said, they even produced a new video promoting the OPSIX just days ago, so if anything it will be back in module form cause I sure as hell would not want to be a share-holder in Korg if their management were into making decisions that discontinue products people are dying to get their hands on!

:lol:

Seriosuly, the amount of people wanting a module version of the OPSIX is absolutely insane bruh, but anyway, cool to hear yours arrives today!


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 Post subject: Re: Got $330 to burn? Need a new synth??
PostPosted: Fri Aug 26, 2022 1:05 am 
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Ok, thoughts so far: Sounds great. It can sound digital & nasty, or warm as analog. It’s lighter than I expected. So I’m gonna have to keep it on a desk vs a keyboard stand. The knobs and sliders feel fine. Probably you don’t want to get too rough on them. The menu system is going to take a little getting used to. I let it randomize a patch that wasn’t too harsh, but figuring out how to use the lettering system to name it was a bit weird. I guess I just gotta get used to it.

I’m much happier I spent $363 than $800+tax, because maybe I’d feel just a bit disappointed. Can’t put my finger on what the issue is. Like I can play a patch, see the wave forms, but if I want to change the algorithms or opporator/carrier order, But I don’t know which button I need to hit to get there.

Needless to say, this can be a goldmine of samples for any SP. Drums, pads, leads, explosions, weird dysonate tones, whoof! I barely scratched the surface of what it can do. But I can see why people want to use the software editor. And Korg doesn’t seem concerned in the least to anyone who says “I like the synth, but wish this were a rackmount”. I don’t see that happening. Rack synths just don’t seem to be returning to the market. Probably because nobody wants to menu dive to harness the synth.

Would I try to flip this for something else? I highly doubt it. Because this is just a deal of the year for me. I’d be stupid to let it go. Or because FM was tricky to figure out. It just takes a little getting used to where the options are hidden. I’ll find them! Gonna smoke a joint & take a snooze. And then play this some more.

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 Post subject: Re: Got $330 to burn? Need a new synth??
PostPosted: Fri Aug 26, 2022 8:55 am 
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Well you've not mentioned anything about the display, so it sounds as if you got a good one!

The interface is actually really easy to navigate once you get your head around it, and it's important to note that there's often more than one way to do the same thing. For example, selecting an Operator can be done using the + and - Operator Select buttons, or it can be done in the menu if you are already navigating the relevant menu.

You'll soon find that those six macro knobs and the display work hand-in-hand really well, and to be honest the only issue I had with the design was the idiotic decision to use a six indicators along with + and - buttons for selecting the Operator.

What they should have done (especially as the whole idea was to make FM more accessible and hands on) was they should have put a direct Operator selection button beneath each Operator fader. To go with the design they went for instead was idiotic beyond belief.

Anyway, nice to hear you recognise that it can sound very warm and analogue, I totally agree and often cringe when I hear people refer to FM as purely a digital-sounding thing. Nothing could be further from the truth, and when you really get your head around FM, it becomes way more easy to arrive at sounds that are very close to what you have in your head.

One thing I will say is regards installing updates. At the time I had mine it was a few versions behind and had to be updated, and I am not joking, the procedure is enough to make you rage unless just happen to have all the prerequisites in place already. I finally got mine updated to the latest version that was available at the time, but fucking hell, what an absolute farce of an update procedure!

Anyway, have fun bro, you certainly deserve some after the stuff you've been telling us!


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 Post subject: Re: Got $330 to burn? Need a new synth??
PostPosted: Fri Aug 26, 2022 10:26 am 
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Yeah I don’t know how to find out if it’s up to date or if I gotta go to a friends place to update it. I’ll ask where to find out what version was sent.

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 Post subject: Re: Got $330 to burn? Need a new synth??
PostPosted: Fri Aug 26, 2022 6:22 pm 
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Doesn't it show the installed version number on screen when you boot it up?


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 Post subject: Re: Got $330 to burn? Need a new synth??
PostPosted: Fri Aug 26, 2022 8:33 pm 
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Probably? Maybe I just failed to notice. I’ll take a look later.

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 Post subject: Re: Got $330 to burn? Need a new synth??
PostPosted: Tue Aug 30, 2022 9:37 am 
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The silence is deafening, so I guess someone is really enjoying their new OPSIX!

Did you play with that new Acoustic Piano patch? I wish it had those abilities and that patch to be going on with when I had it, I'd have been tweaking that one like crazy!


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 Post subject: Re: Got $330 to burn? Need a new synth??
PostPosted: Tue Aug 30, 2022 10:54 pm 
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I’m at 1.04 operating system, so I’m gonna ask a friend or two if I can bring it over and get that update. Plus that will give me 100 extra patches. (Now I either gotta move the random patch I made from 251-499, because I better make that space available for those).

It’s a layer cake of a synth alright. 40 different algorithms to choose from for each of the 250 patches. Some kinda fade away, some get that nasty brittle FM nails on the chalkboard sound, and sometimes just variations of the original. Trying to figure out where the ring mod is hiding. Probably right in front of me, but it’s not anything like my Moog MF-102 or the ring mod of the SP202/404/505 either. So needless to say that can further cause some audio chaoss.

The credit card company just requires $30. Which ain’t too bad. But won’t be getting new toys on it until this ones paid back. There’s a local music shop that has Korg Wavestates & ModStates, but they’ll be full price & do I even NEED them? It would be another sound engine just in a different synth. It’s possible. But think I’d at least TRY to get the 404mk2.

Just have to stay in a tight budget for now. I was tempted to have a TD3 trigger the OPSIX through midi. I have a hunch it works. But I didn’t try it yet. I haven’t sampled it yet either. Or used any guitar pedals with it. That may be overkill, but it probably can yield it’s own interesting results. But my backs been fucking with me lately. So my energy after work isn’t too bothered.

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 Post subject: Re: Got $330 to burn? Need a new synth??
PostPosted: Wed Aug 31, 2022 10:00 am 
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Wow, yeah you definitely need to get it updated then, lol, I think that's the same version mine had from the factory.

By the way you have a lot more than 40 Algorithms, you in fact have endless algorithms cause you can set up your own from scratch. And when you get the 2.0 update installed you can even replace any combination of the operators with effects operators, very deep stuff indeed which is no doubt why they added an Acoustic Piano preset done in FM to demonstrate the power.

Lovely stuff, very powerful implementation!


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 Post subject: Re: Got $330 to burn? Need a new synth??
PostPosted: Wed Aug 31, 2022 11:12 am 
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Yeah, I may need to get a Mac to run the software because the screen isn’t the easiest to make sense of all that’s possible. I have a hunch I may never understand everything possible, but with all the different filters, it can further shape those harsh Algorithms.

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 Post subject: Re: Got $330 to burn? Need a new synth??
PostPosted: Wed Aug 31, 2022 1:34 pm 
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Might sound obvious but one of the easiest things to forget on the OPSIX is that the arrangement of the array of six macro knobs is always replicated on the display so that the top right macro knob is equal to the top right knob on the display, and the middle bottom macro knob is equal to the middle bottom on the display etc etc etc.

And once you get into the habit of using that way of working you suddenly realise you're having to navigate the screen a heck of a lot less and there's a lot less button presses.

After a while you'll also start to notice other neat ways you can access specific menus by pressing or doing certain things. Impossible for me to remember them now but even without reading the manual you'll start noticing them the more you get your head around it.


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 Post subject: Re: Got $330 to burn? Need a new synth??
PostPosted: Thu Sep 01, 2022 1:36 am 
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And sometimes you get a algorithm that makes the sound vanish into the ether. It is just the way the operator & modulators are just sorta making the equivalent of a silent fart. Maybe fart isn’t quite the right word, but maybe words fail me how to explain why algorithm 3, 12, 27, and 39 might just do nothing sound wise. Even my Yamaha DX200 sometimes has this issue. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Digitone or Liven Xfm, Yamaha reFace DX as well. Probably just how it goes with FM.

I have this whole weekend off and Monday is Labor Day. I’m gonna ask a buddy if he can help me get the update from his Mac. If not, hardly matters because I’m gonna at the very least record some loops to my RC505 of the OPSIX, and probably a few drum sounds into my 404. My roommate wants to go to the Seattle Aquarium so I’ll only have that as a distraction. Plus a few hours to pay some bills Saturday. If I get it updated I’ll report my discovery. If I’m SOL on updating, at the very least I had some fun with everything.

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 Post subject: Re: Got $330 to burn? Need a new synth??
PostPosted: Thu Sep 01, 2022 7:59 am 
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Good luck bro, and yup, the effect you describe is just down to the way the FM Operators are cancelling each other out etc. To be fair though, FM isn't really a synthesis you can use blindly like you can with subtractive.

You really need to get your head around what's happening so that you can make decisions as to how to arrange the algorithm before you start making your sounds. The hardest thing about FM, I think, is that it takes a bit of practice to sort of pre-hear what sort of tone a string of Operators is going to make, but as long as you understand the concept it will eventually come as with anything, practice makes perfect.

So that's why the sliders are doing different things on your patches, it's because it all depends what the Operators those sliders are controlling, are actually feeding into.

But once you understand it you'll find the OPSIX very addictive for creating your own sounds, mainly because it's so damn versatile and sounds so damn good (especially when you know how to coerce what you want out of it).


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 Post subject: Re: Got $330 to burn? Need a new synth??
PostPosted: Thu Sep 01, 2022 11:37 am 
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Having a computer is probably the best method of getting to program the OPSIX. I’m gonna update to 2.01 at my buddy’s place, but I don’t want to use the license on his Mac. When I’m going to get my own is hard to say. They pop up used from time to time. But I got into debt to buy this beast, so that comes first.

Just waiting for things to get back on track in my life. I’m trying to go on a trip for my birthday in January, but also trying to pay off all these bills after me. I’d take care of it now, but I need overtime that my job isn’t allowing, so I’m just sorta adrift in life right now. I’ll get there. But hard to say when.

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