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Korg Wavestate


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The new Korg synth is called the Wavestate.

 

Description from Kraft Music

"The Korg Wavestate represents the next step in Wave Sequencing synthesis, originally introduced by the legendary Wavestation. Using Wave Sequencing 2.0 and gigabytes of raw samples, Wavestate delivers astonishing, ever-changing sounds with extensive hands-on control. Wavestate's extensive modulation capability includes Vector control of its four layers, while onboard effects and modeled filters, including MS-20 and Polysix, add additional sound-shaping character. The compact form-factor, with 37 full-size keys, transports easily and fits neatly into any setup."

 

Here is a sound demo

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My reaction is: all that horsepower and no way in. Can't load your own samples. Unbelievable oversight in 2020.

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Not having sample memory and related processing control and storage might be a cost consideration.

 

My guess is Korg wanted to hit a price point. They are smart at this- the under $1000 synth niche, which is large and growing.

 

At $799, I think Korg is going to sell a lot of units.

 

 

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I don't immediately see the Wav State in a cover band. Or a funk/soul band.

 

But if it appears in commercial pop songs, that would suggest all the production studios are getting it.

 

from there, it takes off.

 

I looked at the Wav state . No way it could fully perform in Kronos. Kronos could handle

a certain % of Wav state processing. It would be a good experiment how far

one could push Waveseq combis in Kronos until getting clicks and pops.

 

 

Why fit in, when you were born to stand out ?

My Soundcloud with many originals:

[70's Songwriter]

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fast thoughts, sounds fantastic but so did the wavestation ex i owned. That cost about $250 and had 61 keys and pro build quality. but these old units are plagued with whining deteriorating lcd screens and you have very little in the way of realtime control other than the vector stick. so, this would be a lot more fun and useful for realtime control during performances.

 

what's with the name? did korg lose the rights to wavestation? wavestate sounds silly, and why discard such an iconic brand name?

 

i'm concerned about the keys, wavestation is about splits and layers, playing bass, arps, pads and leads in a live performance. fabulous on a 61 with aftertouch but not so much on 37.

 

biggest competition to the wavestate is probably korg's excellent wavestation VST, which is $50 and regularly on sale for $25. that's a great option if you want all the sounds and vastly improved editing.

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I'm going to guess that keeping the shorty key length makes it comfortable for Korg to MSRP this at $800, whilst perhaps not so much at 61?

 

Agree with others, my first blush was "this sounds great, not sure I have a use for it, certainly not in wedding band land" - but we sure have a lot of options for wedding band land, don't we. Seems like this paired with Osmose (as GovernorSilver suggests) would be an interesting toolkit for a horse of another color project.

 

 

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I heart Korg overall (& use the Legacy Wavestation), so I like this thing. Its easy to set it next to Roland's new Fantom X-m synth and see several similarities, including the power of being each company's Best Of sounds in a box. I find the display a bit small for the work load, but I could live with that for the great leap ahead of the breakout lanes. You can do all of this in software more readily, but its a pretty good design if you want the means right above the keys. I find the recent mild anti-DAW wave amusing, so I'm sure this will please people who want things in hardware. You have to accept some menu-diving if you want the benefits of the second layer under the panel. That's nothing new. A lot of it will depend on how many people crack not the utter depths of it, but that first player's level, where its >relatively< simple and fun. Its a smart mutation of the Mini/Prologue instruments.

 

Some people once maintained hefty 19" racks of modules. Now, it seems just as likely that you can see a controller, three synths like this one and an iPad. Multitimbrality and a smaller foot print beats a giant prog stack that bakes the house. Sorry, but my eyes and back matter more than pretending I was ever going to be the next Eddie Jobson anyway. (Spoiler: I'm not.) :idk::laugh:

 

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  The absent-mindedness, I've got that licked."
        ~ John Cleese

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I'm really confused. People talking about short keys etc. yet the specs say full sized keys. And it looks like that too, but it can be hard to tell for sure in perspective/angled shot. It even looks like maybe a bit of heft e.g. semi-weighted vs. crappy unweighted keys.

 

Nice sound overall, but I have no real use for this sort of stuff anymore; especially for gigging. Still, it will be fun to try in a store just to see for sure. Nice to have more control than the Wavestation EX.

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[video:youtube]

 

I just put my right hand in that position over a keybed that just happens to be right next to my couch, and these are definitely full sized keys. But it could be a bi#ch to play anyway. Check out that Eb... the back of the key isn't going down one bit in relation to the front.

 

I dunno... to me the original Wavestation was a synth more suited for soundtrack and ambient guys. So far this sounds like the same sort of thing - exciting to some I'm sure, for me not as much.

 

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When I think back on the time my first commercially bought synthesizer came into my late teen/early twen room halfway the eighties, I get a similar feeling as with this one: a bit nice, certainly some attention to detail, musically usable sounds, but why does it remind me of the shortcuts I used in my own synth building and not give me those grand sounds and circuitry that excites me? The synth was a (Korg, obviously) Poly800, and it had one filter. Two DCO's per 4 voices was ok, the envelopes could actually work, chorus usable, but ONE FREAKING FILTER, ugh, that machine eventually got traded in, that was for sure!

 

I don't know about this one for youthful people looking to play with synthesizers, presumably for *musical* purposes: probably it's ok?

 

T

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I can remember touching a Korg Wavestation in the music store for the first time. I had no idea what it was, how it worked, or anything. It was just cool, made sounds I'd never heard before and was impossibly expensive. A few years later, I bought my first synth - a Korg 01/W....

 

Now, many years, and many synths later, I can't say this has the same affect. Mostly because it looks fiddly. The UI looks very menu driven - I never use step sequencers, etc. It will make a great synth for someone else, I think. But I am glad to see Korg innovating. John Bowen (of Solaris fame) was involved in this, and I'm sure it will make a lot of great music in the right hands.

 

I await the Osmose... (and the new firmware for my Non-Linear Labs C15 just announced for NAMM).

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I reviewed the 10 minute intro video in more depth tonight (I had only skimmed it previously), as well as freeze-framing for some better looks at the control surface, and it seems clear this beast is primarily aimed at loop-based music, like a hyped-up Electribe. And at that, it seems to be top in class. Probably not foir me though. But it definitely has an analog sound in spite of being digital, and likely will sit well with a band mix or other synths.

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I don't immediately see the Wav State in a cover band. Or a funk/soul band.

 

But if it appears in commercial pop songs, that would suggest all the production studios are getting it.

 

from there, it takes off.

 

I looked at the Wav state . No way it could fully perform in Kronos. Kronos could handle

a certain % of Wav state processing. It would be a good experiment how far

one could push Waveseq combis in Kronos until getting clicks and pops.

 

 

I wouldn't be looking to replicate Wavestate functionality in a Kronos. It's good for what it does, just a lot of functionality that I don't have any use for.

 

FWIW, I bought a Wavestation EX in '94 and have gigged with it for 10 years. The organ in it sounded pretty darn good.

 

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I took the plunge because I"ll be modifying mine.

The keys detach easily then I"ll shave off the excess and let the Physis K4 automate this.

 

I finally heard the samples isolated and will be able to have fun with this live.

Won"t need the percussion synced/tempo sounds but have plenty of ideas I want to incorporate.

 

If I don"t like it I"ll sell it as the WaveState Desktop.

Somebody else out there probably shares my dismay for 3 octaves.

 

F36-DA19-D-1-B07-46-BD-89-A0-EC64-BB9-F1-BCD.jpg

 

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I played with the Wavestate this morning before the show floor opened and had a ball. It sounds killer and the expansion of the original Wavestation vector synthesis concept, with multiple lanes and such, is fantastic. I have two gripes: 1) the keybed sucks and 2) I wish it was a full 61 keys. I'll still get one because sonically it's a lot of fun, but I really do wish it had a better keybed.
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Just read a review about designing sounds has limitation on Computational power.

That"s good news because I"ve such excellent results with recent hardware Effects.

I found for Keyboards a perfect totally automated set up using a Meris Hedra, Chorus, Pitch Shift, Reverb and Delay pedal with a Strymon Timeline.

Strymon can do reverb and delay, so bouncing around with these two ADSP 21469 based pedals means no FX on soft synths and samples, and none on hardware.

 

More power for bigger sounds in and out of the box.

 

After I hack it it will be roughly 3' x 13' x 24' in width.

I"ll stick a VESA Adapter and mic stand like I do with my USB 3 powered monitor.

You can see that right above the K4. Works great, run the USB into and out of the K4"s multiple ports.

 

No more crying about clones from me.

I"ll be too busy making custom presets.

 

 

A1-D50347-3888-4-B1-B-95-A8-CF1-FB701-FAFA.jpg

 

 

Magnus C350 + FMR RNP + Realistic Unisphere Mic
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