Korg opsix

[zxcvbnm098]

All in all, this seems like a helluva value for $799.

[mojkarma]

All in all, this seems like a helluva value for $799.

 

Not really, at least not for me. For just a little more one can buy a MoDX and get a five octave keyboard, 8OP FM, including a sample based enging, sample import abilities and a lot of other goodies, not to mention the multitimbrality, bigger screen, controllers and touch display and so on.

[zxcvbnm098]

All in all, this seems like a helluva value for $799.

 

Not really, at least not for me. For just a little more one can buy a MoDX and get a five octave keyboard, 8OP FM, including a sample based enging, sample import abilities and a lot of other goodies, not to mention the multitimbrality, bigger screen, controllers and touch display and so on.

 

Yeah, I get that. But I am looking at it more in terms of how lucky we are to have some many options that are, really, incredibly cheap.

 

I remember when the DX7 came out, and before that the Korg PolySix. It was a HUGE deal that the broke the $2K barrier; both were $1999 or so at their respective releases. That's about $5K in today's money. This $799 Opsix would be about $300 in 1983 dollars. Almost nothing cost that little back then, even used. It was a huge deal that the CZ-101 was $499 or so in 1984.

 

For a dedicated unit, it seems like a decent value to me. The MoDX is certainly awesome, but it is about 40% more (as it should be). While never a big DX7 fan in the day, Brian Eno changed my mind about the value of FM synthesis...

[brenner13]

It appears to no longer be in production. It’s on close-out…marked down 60%, if you can still find a distributor with inventory. 
I really have no need for this, but could not pass up that amazing price…

[RABid]

I really debated on this one. The other keyboards in this series seem to be a step above the OpSix (JMHO) and I wish they had gone a bit further, maybe making it an OpSeven more like the DX. I would go for a DX7 clone with a nice built in effects section.

[ProfD]

1 hour ago, brenner13 said:

I really have no need for this, but could not pass up that amazing price…

Same here.  Got a call yesterday and when I heard the price, I had to buy it.

 

But, I've always got a spot for FM too.  The opsix is easier to program than vintage DXs and has bigger keys and more features than a Reface DX.

 

I might not even unbox the opsix.  Just wait for it to become a collectors item. 😁😎

[Rod S]

I'm almost asking a friend in the US to get one and I'll pick it up in my next US trip.   

[Adan]

I'm not seeing reduced prices anywhere.  Guitar Center has them in stock for $749.  If the price really is slashed I'd probably get one.

[ProfD]

8 minutes ago, Adan said:

I'm not seeing reduced prices anywhere.  Guitar Center has them in stock for $749.  If the price really is slashed I'd probably get one.

Check Korg USA Warehouse Outlet. 

 

Sweetwater has already removed the opsix from their site.  

 

I'm curious to know what made Korg pull the plug on this synth all of a sudden.😎

[brenner13]

Not sure of Korg’s decision, but currently the heavily discounted price appears to only be for USA distributors???

Strange.

[ElmerJFudd]

10 minutes ago, ProfD said:

Check Korg USA Warehouse Outlet. 

 

Sweetwater has already removed the opsix from their site.  

 

I'm curious to know what made Korg pull the plug on this synth all of a sudden.😎

Too many sitting in the America’s? 

[AnotherScott]

2 hours ago, RABid said:

I really debated on this one. The other keyboards in this series seem to be a step above the OpSix (JMHO) and I wish they had gone a bit further, maybe making it an OpSeven more like the DX. I would go for a DX7 clone with a nice built in effects section.

DX7 was 6 operator, so the Korg has that covered. At under a grand, the other options (Reface DX, Elektron Digitone Keys) are 4 operator. But if you go up to the multi-engine boards, the MODX/Montage, K2700/Forte/PC4 series, and Kronos/Nautilus are all 6 operator or more.

[Radagast]

3 hours ago, ProfD said:

 

 

I'm curious to know what made Korg pull the plug on this synth all of a sudden.😎

Maybe it has something to do with Korg releasing the software version of the Opsix, and people realizing that they would rather use a controller with AT and more than 3 octaves.

[brenner13]

Ah, that makes sense. I fully intend to set this above the left side of my Numa Compact 2X that will be the controller. Layering those sounds should be a HOOT! 
 

Or it might bring new fun to the Alesis Vortex, layered with JX-08. That could be monstrous!

 

However, it might be nice to sit on the couch with the Opsix as a laptop-synth. I’m sure aftertouch will be missed in that scenario. 

[Stokely]

Korg seems to be more pulling than putting these days (though to be fair I don't follow some types of gear)

[Iconoclast]

With manufacturing and supply chains being what they are, there could be any number of reasons that they would discontinue or run short on a product.

But if they're getting rid of these at $329 per, that's kind of tempting. It actually looks pretty cool and probably way easier to program than any other FM synth I've seen.

[RABid]

8 hours ago, AnotherScott said:

DX7 was 6 operator,

(Sigh) All these years I thought the "7" in DX7 meant.... I even owned one for a few years.

[RABid]

2 hours ago, Iconoclast said:

But if they're getting rid of these at $329 per, that's kind of tempting.

I've only found it at that price on Reverb from the Kord USA Outlet Store.

[GovernorSilver]

I like his Atk Perc preset

 

 

[AnotherScott]

With Kronos/Nautilus, PC4/K2700/Forte, and Montage/MODX all having FM engines, this could be a nice adjunct for this "missing piece" on a Fantom/Fantom-0. If only it had aftertouch, esp. if you wanted to pair it with the Fantom-0. <sigh>

[Mighty Motif Max]

Sold out now it seems. Interesting...part of me wonders if they're going to release a larger version, like the (still unavailable) Wavestate SE.

[GovernorSilver]

It is now Guitar Center/Musicians Friend's turn to clear out stock at $329 per

[Mighty Motif Max]

Played one a few days ago - holy crap do those keys feel cheap and flimsy! Easily the worst keybed I’ve played - enough to diffuse any interest I had in the opsix, modwave, or wavestate.

 

This is from someone who isn’t super picky about keybeds.

[GovernorSilver]

Just got mine.  No, it does not have a premium Fatar keybed.   No you can't put it under Stevie Wonder's hands and fool him into thinking he's playing an acoustic grand that costs 5 figures. 😄    

 

I find the keyboard usable.   Nobody who plays keyboards as their main instrument is going to use this their only keyboard anyway.  This keyboard can't stop Yasuhiko Fukuda from flying all over it, that's for sure.  

 

Updated it to firmware 2.0.1 and replaced the original presets with the 2.0 Sound Data set.   The 2.0 presets are much better organized, with presets 0-30 being oriented towards electric piano - some being those notorious DX7 style, some closer to Wurly territory, some more original in some way or another, etc.  Comb Piano is my favorite in the early going.   Surprisingly few of the factory presets are responsive to velocity.  The piano focused ones are, to various degrees.  Hardly any of the bass ones are.  Fukuda's Shofuku preset pack will be one of the first I'll buy, as he's a player, and all the presets are designed to be velocity-responsive.

 

I get why someone who bought it for $799 plus tax would be very unhappy with the keybed quality.

 

At $329 though, it's an amazing steal, especially for someone who can find a place for it in their music.

 

 

[Jim Alfredson]

7 hours ago, Mighty Motif Max said:

Played one a few days ago - holy crap do those keys feel cheap and flimsy! Easily the worst keybed I’ve played - enough to diffuse any interest I had in the opsix, modwave, or wavestate.

 

This is from someone who isn’t super picky about keybeds.

Yep. I was excited when this was announced and went first thing to the Korg booth at the NAMM show when it was debuted. I was instantly turned off by the atrocious keybed. It feels like a toy. Even at $329, I wouldn't buy it.

[GovernorSilver]

For the 2-3 other peeps - @ElmerJFudd for sure - on this forum who expressed interest in actually getting one, I was just informed that the $329 Opsix's are sold out at Musician's Friend/Guitar Center.  

 

Surprisingly few of the factory presets have velocity mapped to volume plus other parameter(s), which I guess is one of several signs of who the intended market was.   A fair number of them have velocity mapped to filter or other modulation destination but not volume/envelope.    Nothing that can't be fixed by preset programming though.   

 

Curiously, Korg supposedly implemented release velocity in the keyboard.  Not easy to figure out though which presets actually use it.

 

Aftertouch is mappable from MIDI input, so I'll try playing with that using my Keystep 37, then the Osmose when it arrives.

 

 

 

[Konnector]

IMO Korg blew it big time on the OpSix.  

 

Just when FM was getting cool again, they opted to cheap out instead of doing it right. I think it could've been a winner for them if they did a few things better.

 

At the minimum, have the ability to layer two patches...or three or four. This is not an analog machine that requires $$$ of components to be multitimbral. 

Crappy 3 octave keyboard with no aftertouch. Major fail there.  Korg has proven to me over the years that they feel a decent keyboard isn't something a keyboard player even cares about. Heck, you're lucky to get full sized keys on some of their synths.  (Yes, I hate mini keys and I blame them for popularizing them.)

 

I dunno, maybe Behringer's instilled fear in these mfrs with their inexpensive offerings. People will still pay a little more for something "done right" though.

 

Maybe they'll drop a new improved version of it eventually. 

[ElmerJFudd]

10 hours ago, Konnector said:

IMO Korg blew it big time on the OpSix.  

 

Just when FM was getting cool again, they opted to cheap out instead of doing it right. I think it could've been a winner for them if they did a few things better.

 

At the minimum, have the ability to layer two patches...or three or four. This is not an analog machine that requires $$$ of components to be multitimbral. 

Crappy 3 octave keyboard with no aftertouch. Major fail there.  Korg has proven to me over the years that they feel a decent keyboard isn't something a keyboard player even cares about. Heck, you're lucky to get full sized keys on some of their synths.  (Yes, I hate mini keys and I blame them for popularizing them.)

 

I dunno, maybe Behringer's instilled fear in these mfrs with their inexpensive offerings. People will still pay a little more for something "done right" though.

 

Maybe they'll drop a new improved version of it eventually. 

On the hardware, possibly.  But, remember Korg has been ahead of Roland and all the other big guys in offering their synths as AU/VST.  You can get the Opsix and the Wavestate as plugins.   They may have cannibalized their hardware sales by releasing the software so quickly.   
 

https://korg.shop/software.html

[GovernorSilver]

Some owners converted theirs to a module.  This one said all he had to do, besides the obvious sawing, was cut a ribbon connector

 

 

 

 

[ElmerJFudd]

28 minutes ago, GovernorSilver said:

Some owners converted theirs to a module.  This one said all he had to do, besides the obvious sawing, was cut a ribbon connector

 

 

 

 

Oh, I like that!