new Vox Continental - Some thoughts

[ElmerJFudd]

9 minutes ago, AnotherScott said:

 

I don't think waterfall vs. lipped makes any real difference for piano, except to the extent that a longer key surface (approaching a real piano's 6 inches) is preferable, and a lip may add a bit of length. But with length itself being the benefit,  I'd say the shape per se doesn't matter, e.g. a 5.5" waterfall would be better than a 5" lipped.

 

While it was nice that they did add split functionality in an update (it always had layer), it's kind of crippled by the fact that it has no octave shift functionality for the parts. So practically speaking, it's mostly useful for LH bass. Which is important, but precludes things like, for example, doing a left hand string pad, unless you want the strings to be cellos. And even as a LH bass board, since the Vox does not have a dual-mono mode, you can't send the bass out separately to a bass amp, or to its own channel in the house board where the soundperson could control the volume of the bass separately from your othehr sound.

It would seem adding octave jumping for splits is just math and a simple firmware update would add it.  Who do we call?  

[jejefunkyman]

Ah these guys at Korg 🤔 Don’t know what they are doing all day long 😂 Maybe they’re just having fun playing keyboard instead of thinking about which new features would make their customers happy 😂

[AnotherScott]

33 minutes ago, ElmerJFudd said:

It would seem adding octave jumping for splits is just math and a simple firmware update would add it.  Who do we call?  

 

I think the complication might be how to smoothly work the octave shift options into the interface. I guess the simplest approach, if they could do it, would be to have you hold some other button down while hitting the Octave Up and Down buttons, to shift just the LH sound.

[nadroj]

See the new black version in action with everyone's favourite Katsunori UJIIE

 

 

[AnotherScott]

My first thought was, why do a whole new demo, when the sounds are all the same? But maybe he never did one of these on the orange one. I only wish it didn't make me again miss my vox. ;-) I'd still say it is the very lightest thing I could be happy with as the bottom part of a pair, and it can take over some "top board" duties too. 

 

I do wish they had done a more through revamp, though. More Scene select buttons, some better MIDI functionality, a display that gave you the names of the selected sound/scene/effect whatever, some better control of individual CX3 parameters (i.e. C/V, percussion), a way to octave shift the left sound, and as long as I'm dreaming, assignable outs (or a way to configure the 1/4" outs to be assignable rather than only mirroring the XLRs). As cool as this board is, it has the potential to be so much more. The overall design, the action, the weight, the sounds, give it such a great starting point. And for lots of people, it can be enough. But with a few more features, I think it could fit the bill for lots more folks, without crossing into the "too much, too complicated" area. The potential was there to fill the hole left by the unavailability of a 73-key waterfall version of the Yamaha YC. (All the things I mentioned here are already in the YC, except the assignable outs.)

[nadroj]

The octave shift is the most annoying omission I can see.
 

As is any audio in (even a 1/8 inch Jack - many keyboards have at least that, which is useful for home practice).

 

Question I’ve always had; does the drive effect need to be selected for the valve drive to work? Or is that independent of the effects section? 

 

 

[AnotherScott]

48 minutes ago, nadroj said:

Question I’ve always had; does the drive effect need to be selected for the valve drive to work? Or is that independent of the effects section? 

 

It's independent. It has its own on/off switch and amount knob. Note that on the original, its status is not memorized as part of the user preset (scene)... though that changed on the black rev.

[nadroj]

Ah, ok. That makes the effects slightly more diverse than I thought. I thought you could only have one effect + reverb + delay.
 

But if I’m right it’s quite a bit more extensive than that; if I wanted a Wurly with tremolo I could use the pitch bend lever + drive via the valve +  chorus via the effects section, then reverb and delay with their seperate knobs? That’s pretty cool if so. 

[AnotherScott]

15 minutes ago, nadroj said:

Ah, ok. That makes the effects slightly more diverse than I thought. I thought you could only have one effect + reverb + delay.
 

But if I’m right it’s quite a bit more extensive than that; if I wanted a Wurly with tremolo I could use the pitch bend lever + drive via the valve +  chorus via the effects section, then reverb and delay with their seperate knobs? That’s pretty cool if so. 

 

Yes... if you pick one of the Wurly sounds that has the tremolo integrated into the patch already, that frees up the effects section for an additional effect.

[niacin]

Wurli #2.  

 

Upgrades imo should include +/-2 octaves for each side of a split, and for each side select independently whether it goes through the FX, reverb and/or delay.  And voila you have something with the versatility that would be far more attractive to those who otherwise purchase a Yamaha YC or a Nord Stage.

[Fleer]

On 3/24/2022 at 1:01 AM, AnotherScott said:

 

It's independent. It has its own on/off switch and amount knob. Note that on the original, its status is not memorized as part of the user preset (scene)... though that changed on the black rev.

Here’s hoping for a firmware update. 

[niacin]

On 3/24/2022 at 11:01 AM, AnotherScott said:

 

It's independent. It has its own on/off switch and amount knob. Note that on the original, its status is not memorized as part of the user preset (scene)... though that changed on the black rev.

Has anyone confirmed that on the Black version each scene memory does in fact save the valve, dynamics and EQ settings ?

[AnotherScott]

6 hours ago, niacin said:

Has anyone confirmed that on the Black version each scene memory does in fact save the valve, dynamics and EQ settings ?

 

 

https://www.korg.com/us/products/synthesizers/voxcontinental_73bk/#08

 

toward the bottom, in the section on the master effects. Valve and EQ saved, but no mention there of dynamics.

[niacin]

10 hours ago, AnotherScott said:

 

 

https://www.korg.com/us/products/synthesizers/voxcontinental_73bk/#08

 

toward the bottom, in the section on the master effects. Valve and EQ saved, but no mention there of dynamics.

Yeh I read that and commented on it a few pages back, but I'd like confirmation from someone who has laid hands on one, there's been no announced software upgrade for those of us who own the orange original which could be reasonably expected, so atm I'm inclined to believe its an error on the part of whoever wrote the web page text.  Unfortunately the manual isn't up yet.

[AnotherScott]

49 minutes ago, niacin said:

Yeh I read that and commented on it a few pages back, but I'd like confirmation from someone who has laid hands on one, there's been no announced software upgrade for those of us who own the orange original which could be reasonably expected, so atm I'm inclined to believe its an error on the part of whoever wrote the web page text. 

 

Ah. I'm inclined to believe it's not an error, because that sentence would not easily be created by mistake. Errors in specs/manuals can more understandably come when something could be seen as having been copied-and-pasted in error from some other similar product, or where a simple typo could have altered the meaning. But to come up with a whole sentence that is wrong in its substance seems to me to be unlikely, it would kind of require that the person writing the thing had to have enough understanding of the product to get the rest of that detail right, yet get a major part of it wrong. But... not impossible, I suppose!

[niacin]

1 hour ago, AnotherScott said:

 

Ah. I'm inclined to believe it's not an error, because that sentence would not easily be created by mistake. Errors in specs/manuals can more understandably come when something could be seen as having been copied-and-pasted in error from some other similar product, or where a simple typo could have altered the meaning. But to come up with a whole sentence that is wrong in its substance seems to me to be unlikely, it would kind of require that the person writing the thing had to have enough understanding of the product to get the rest of that detail right, yet get a major part of it wrong. But... not impossible, I suppose!

ok, can you see any reasons not to expect an OS update for the original version to add these features?

[AnotherScott]

10 hours ago, niacin said:

ok, can you see any reasons not to expect an OS update for the original version to add these features?

Nobody but Korg knows if it's possible; or if it is, whether they have any interest in doing it.

 

It can't be assumed to be possible, because we don't know for certain that there are absolutely no internal hardware changes between the old and new versions, or that the code that handles these things is entirely in updatable, rewritable memory.

 

But even if it is possible, that doesn't mean Korg will necessarily commit the resources to do it. After all, there's no clear financial return on the effort/expense involved; it may even inhibit someone from selling their old model to buy a new one. Companies do free feature updates for current models with some frequency... it improves the competitiveness of those models and helps extend their life in the market. It is far more rare that you will see a company bothering to put out an update for a discontinued model.

 

ETA: Based on subsequent posts, it looks like the red ones are not discontinued after all. That increases the odds that there will be an update, but it's still not a certainty. Even if it's possible, they may want to maintain some feature difference for the black model's higher price. (It could also be the kind of situation where an update is only available for models above a certain serial number, i.e. if there had been a hardware change at some point.)

[Fleer]

Not discontinued it seems 

https://voxamps.com/type/keyboards/

[niacin]

the 61 isn't discontinued, the new black one just comes in a 73

[ChazKeys]

Original 61 in stock at Thomann @ £845 - very good price compared to the (rising) price of the Electro 6D 61.

 

https://www.thomann.de/gb/vox_continental_61_keyboard.htm

 

[jejefunkyman]

Also in stock at Thomann Germany at 999 Euros.

 

It’s the price I paid for the 73 version in 2019, so price rised here as well.

 

Still a good value for money IMO 😁

 

The 73 original looks completely discontinued.

 

I wish for a firmware update for the original version, at least to have the possibility to store the EQ setting per scene. But I don’t wait too much for it, as I don’t wait anything anymore from Korg as far as board update is concerned 😂 A big disappointment for me but that’s how it is 🤷‍♂️

[Jon E]

1 hour ago, jejefunkyman said:

Also in stock I wish for a firmware update for the original version, at least to have the possibility to store the EQ setting per scene. But I don’t wait too much for it, as I don’t wait anything anymore from Korg as far as board update is concerned 😂

 

What about a Nord Electro? 😀

[AnotherScott]

7 hours ago, niacin said:

the 61 isn't discontinued, the new black one just comes in a 73

 

Interestingly, Sweetwater now shows all 3 versions as available to order, though none are in stock.

[ElmerJFudd]

23 minutes ago, AnotherScott said:

 

Interestingly, Sweetwater now shows all 3 versions as available to order, though none are in stock.

Hmmm. It would be really odd for Korg not to post a firmware update for the previous orange models - unless they changed something internally? 

[AnotherScott]

26 minutes ago, ElmerJFudd said:

Hmmm. It would be really odd for Korg not to post a firmware update for the previous orange models - unless they changed something internally? 

Yes, I updated my earlier post similarly... Now that it looks like the old ones are not discontinued, that increases the chance for an update, but yes, there is still the possibility of an internal change that precludes that, or they also may want to maintain the feature difference, to further justify that the black 73 is $100 more than the red 73. It also looks like the red still comes with the stand (increasing the price differential between the red and black, in a sense).

 

Also, didn't the Vox originally come with a DS-1H sustain pedal? It doesn't now. Looking at the internet wayback pages, it looks like it hasn't included it as far back as their archive goes, but that's not too far.

[ElmerJFudd]

Time to stop in at the local shops and see if they have one on the floor.  
 

 

[jejefunkyman]

The Korg people are really crazy 😜 Yes the one I bought came with a DS-1H pedal which is very good. I only use this one now when playing live 😁
It stays firm on the ground and doesn’t slide👍

[AnotherScott]

23 hours ago, jejefunkyman said:

Yes the one I bought came with a DS-1H pedal which is very good.

That's what I thought. Not only is it a nice pedal, but I think it is the only one you can use if you want to take advantage of the board's half-pedaling capability. Taking that out would have been a kind of hidden $90 price increase, if you want the half-pedaling feature.

[niacin]

Mine came with the stand and an expression/volume pedal which isn't cheap either.

[Fleer]

Yeah, a remarkably good expression/volume pedal: the VOX V861, a special line of the Korg XVP-20.