The synth world has become so analogue centric in recent years, people forget just how limiting analogue can be in terms of sound palette. It's great to see a resurgence in sophisticated, affordable digital hardware synths! It's almost like history is repeating itself ;)
Digital sounds great if you have the right sort of digital. FPGA - good, Custom dedicated digital chips - good. Code running on DSPs? - depends. Most DSP based synths suffer with aliasing. The FPGA approach brings us back to the era of good sounding digitals. Of course there are great sounding DSP based synths like the John Bowen Solaris where quality has been prioritised over polyphony. I would challenge anyone who thinks digital sounds bad to listen to a good vintage digital synth like the Roland JD990 or the Yamaha SY99. But not the presets, some custom sounds.
I dont like digital sounds, to me digital killed the music. All the digital sounds in the world and they all sounds the same, lifeless, sterile, boring. Analog is limiting? Go tell the modular boyz
That's incredibly closed-minded and as a creative person that's the worst thing you can be. I've got plenty of digital and had quite a few analogue synths too. It's what you do with them that counts and I've heard very few people produce decent music with modular. It all seems to be drones or alien fart noises.
Luke’s awesome for playing those John Williams songs! For those of you who don’t know, that was Rey’s Theme at 7:33 and The Planet Krypton at 8:32. Great stuff!
Whoa! What a dream come true. I still have my Wavestation AD. But this one sounds amazing. Korg, please make a table top or rack mount! There is a keyboard coming out every month these days and I don’t have room for more keys.
Seconded on the module version. I'd think they would, as they did with the Minilogue XD. I do appreciate the 3 octave keyboard, though - smaller than 5, at least. Edit: And yeah, what a cool synth! As soon as I saw the name, I was hoping it'd be like this. Wavesequencing, vector mixing, and hands on control. Very, very nice.
@@6581punk ... You mean the WS is one of the most convoluted synths in terms of parameters and menus. Especially... editing a wave sequence and having to dive down to found out what wave sequences are being used in a performance. It's so convoluted, even the software editors are difficult to use due to not exposing the wave sequences to sysex and editing.
I refuse to use traditional keybeds, and I don't think I am the only person that, not only doesn't have the space for countless keybeds on synths, I don't use them or need them. An archaic, outdated and outmoded tech that only traditionalists use. Companies like Novation realise it is 2020 and we have better solutions to hampered workflows from the past.
In all honesty you can get slew of really well coded Digital Resonant Filters these days in anything from notch to comb, side band, all pass, formant, lpf, morphing and so on. Analog filters have their place but they aren't IMHO the be all and end all of everything. For example an E-Mu Morpheus wouldn't be half the synth it was without a mix of complex function generators and the Z-Plane morphing filters.
@@lookingforamuse Yep. If digital filters are well engineered, the option of being able to choose the best tool for the job makes this new breed of synth very powerful indeed. It's exciting when beautiful classic sounds and ideas get blended with new tech and vast options.
@@craigshaw141 I'd totally agree with you Craig. Beyond the obvious, I think this will excel in areas where you want expressive timbrel movement and subtle to dynamic overtones in anything from expressive leads to pads and orchestral like swells, plucks and far more subtle and elegant modulation passages.
Full-size keys. Properly gorgeous chassis. Sounds like the 90s. I think they nailed it. Edit: Can't believe he played the Deep Space Nine theme (well almost). Serious props.
The companies are battling! This is Fantastic! I love how each company is tapping into their past and creating synths infused with legacy! I need this thing!!!
The connection is Prophet VS and Wavestation. Dave Smith and John Bowen were involved in both. With John Bowen preparing the waves in the VS I think and he managed the Wavestation project. Of course, everyone remembers the Wavestation, but I believe the first post-Sequential project they did was the Yamaha SY22 and other Yamaha vector synths.
Behringer won't do digital clones, to do so would require copying of digital algorithms which are copyrighted. So basically you can't do it. Analogue circuits are not covered by such IP protections.
@@jarrod9052 I've had a couple of their Xenyx mixers and really liked them. No QC problems and excellent performance at prices no one else is interested in or capable of meeting.
That part when he kicks into the Zimmer bit around 7:30 (sounds like a bit from Interstellar, or at least a similar progression, but I could be wrong) is really REALLY nice. Edit: No, crap. That's part of Rey's theme. Not sure why I thought Interstellar.
Finally! I remember being fooled by a Wavestation Volca fan mock-up several years back. This is like a million times better. Well done. Now someone needs to create a modern Hartmann Neuron.
Best looking keyboard in history the Neuron. But I could hardly even make out what it sounded like. Frustrating to play as well. There's a reason it failed hard and I dont think it was bad management or whatever.
Interesting opinion. The Neuron was ahead of its time. It's not a typical synth. It was essentially a resynthesizer of samples that blend and pan together using various types of unique parameters. The company went down before any updates and refinement could take place. Lots of visionaries can be too ambitious at the wrong time. Axel Hartmann wasn't new to the industry. Sonicstate has an interview with Axel. A modern Neuron would have a better chance of succeeding now (in addition to being cheaper) compared to 17 years ago.
@gridsleep yea the rock I live under hates plastic toy plugin versions of already pretty rotten synths. I'm thinking more like a 37 key version with os on ssd drive and maybe even conventional osc and filter before neural network processing
I love digital synths. The possibilities are endless, and even those synths that exhibit aliasing have that extra bit of character. This synth, in particular, sounds fantastic and the UI looks quite intuitive. Well done, Korg!
Need to get back to 61,76 and 88. Have a 49 waldorf but all else is 88 and 61 for my tastes. Did a lot on my wavestation way back then and glad recorded most of it.
soaked in modulation more than fx It is precisely a rompler, not wavetable synth if that's what you were thinking. Just like the old Wavestation it is based on.
It can take polyphonic after touch over midi though, so if you buy a midi keyboard it’s essentially as many keys as you want. I know it’s annoying, but onthe plus side, look at it as if you buy one great midi keyboard you like and can buy the cheapest version of each synth you like
This has got to be one of the best video's showing how the various controls work, rather than just going through the sounds. I bought the Minilogue last year and i that was a decent piece of kit but the Wavestate is something else, a soundtrackers dream machine. I'll be ordering mine very soon.
I'm really glad to see this happening, the wavestation is an outstanding synth that needed an update for modern times and this was a big surprise for me, I was waiting for friday's announcement on the Arp 2600. Thank you Korg for making my week/year.
@@AndrewStottisTheIndiWerWlf well, if they just repackage it like they usually do and make it feel a little cheaper then they can call it the 5200 super synthstem
There is something uniquely exciting about wavetable synthesis and S&H elements. I think this does well bringing it almost three decades forward to present day, while reminding us where it all began. No frills necessary.
Wave sequencing has a lot of similarities with wavetable synthesis though too. The main difference is that you are scanning or crossfading through a list of entire samples/multisamples rather than single cycle waves. The Wavestation and I presume the Wavestate feature both wave sequencing and vector synthesis, which are distinct concepts.
I liked the Wavestate sound. Unfortunately, I could not intuitively use it. I returned mine, and two other owners sold their Wavestates to Music Go Round. Korg's manual assumed an experienced musician was playing it. It also barely covered lanes and other concepts. Video manuals and TH-cam channels must be watched. The Korg Micro X, interestingly, had better documentation. The manual has over 200 pages! Thank you for showing us what this synthesizer can do.
Why does every synth have only normal knobs? With an endless encoder/poti with LEDs around it like in a digital mixer like the X32, you could see the exact patch with one look, but with knobs, you have to turn it and look to the display for the real position of every knob. So the complete synth is useless when you load a patch. This is a digital synth, no one needs knobs like on an old analog synth!!!
The pad sounds on this synth are truly amazing!! The one key loop sequencing reminds me of my old Wavestation A/D - truly awful and completely unusable. But those pads...
I am interested in the 4-part multitimbrality of the beast honestly. Look at the manual and see that each layer can have its own midi channel. And a plethora of modulation options per each of those layers...could someone tell me if I am wrong about the multitimbral independent layers please?
Well, there goes one of my new year's resolutions. No significant bits of new kit in 2020, barely lasted a week. Although I may hang on in the hope of a table top, keyboard less variant.
OMG - how GOOD does this sound? WS has always been one of the most wonderful sounding instruments and now Korg has just hit it out of the park. And thanks for the demo - only 45 seconds of chat before we got to hear the thing!
In my mind, there are no better times for synth-heads than right now -- so many great features and options not even thought of when costs were in the 3-5K price range just 20-yrs ago, for $800/usd! Amazing!!
I don't know. I own an original Wavestation (and the software version) and this really isn't all that different from either. So, I'm certain that there's been a hardware synth around for about 25 years that can function fairly similarly and a softsynth for nearly a decade as well. It sure would be nice to see Korg or Roland or Yamaha or any of the big synth manufacturers actually do some real R&D and advance the state of the art instead of digging up their back catalog to repackage old ideas as new ones to keep their lights on. The smaller players are certainly trying to do just that in some cases, but the big guys with all of the money and resources are like Disney: they play it safe by looking back instead of being courageous and taking a chance on something new and novel and different. Where are the FPGA additive or spectral modeling synths? Where are the hardware units with dedicated processors and RAM sufficient for true real-time physical modeling and additive synths? Where are the next - gen DSP chips that are commensurate with modern PC and server processors? If Korg and their contemporaries won't do it, then they'll have no right to cry when someone else DOES and wipes the floor with them in the next few years.
@@brandonbanks1408 I'm an engineer by education, training, and experience and I've been using synths for over 40 years, so, you know... Wouldn't be a bad idea if I didn't already love the firm I'm with. But hey, if they're interested and want to try to convince me, those companies know how to find me. Otherwise, I think it's perfectly appropriate for one engineer to give his colleagues some constructive criticism, don't you? I'd hope they would do the same for me if they thought my work was lacking. I've got lots of good things to say to the folks working at Waldorf, Kemper (yes - THEY have innovated more recently even than most of the rest), and even Novation to a certain extent. So, I'm not indicting the entire industry. If you think that adding some functionality to a synth that Dave Smith designed more than a quarter century ago is great progress then, hey, that's your right... But I'm not going to be afraid to challenge them to raise the bar just a tiny bit higher. Consider the state of the art when the original Wavestation came out in PC technology were systems with specs LITERALLY one one-millionth what they are today and then try again to tell me that synthesizers have done anything close to the same...even with the ability to merely piggyback on the innovations FROM that industry to get there.
@sbmphr Oh, I can't do that. I can just enlighten you as to what I WANT for the future of synthesis. The rest is up to the guys with factories and labs and R&D $$. I just wish they would listen to those of us who do love synths now and then. I kinda think that they'd make more money because we'd be buying more synths. Music might even benefit, too. You never know.
This is why I love Korg - a reboot of the Wavestation is not something that would usully interest me, but they have reimagined it in a way that seems new and dynamic and at a great price point. Brill stuff.
Fantastic presentation 👍👍. The sounds from the WS are awesome but what more can he done in this demo is even better. And it’s just the beginning with no one actually mastering the WS. 👍👍
Really Great synth!!! But what about sync and clocking capabilities? Since there is no start or stop button, do I have to hold / play my chords (unlike the Minilogue where you can record)? Does the midi output send clock and reset?
Finally? We spent 20+ years asking them for real analog stuff, putting up with digital crap all the time, and now we finally have it. Now people don't want it, of course! XD
memespace people are rediscovering the extreme limits of analog synths and the goofy silly 50’s sci fi sound fx that modulars make ... I am glad that analog trend is finally over
I'm going to need this in my world. Here I am patiently awaiting Korg to finally ship the NTS-1 I pre-ordered in september of last year, and now they bring out this wavetable monster.... I never got a chance to lust after a Prologue, and now the Wavestate has happened.... Actually, that's a good thing, as I'm more interested in wavetable than analog synthesis right now. I'm really enjoying Modal Electronics modern and more tactile take on the now classic concept, as well. Looks like Wavetable synthesis is finally getting the love it deserves... Now somebody needs to design one with convolution reverb capabilities in the fx section... 😎🎛🎛🎛
This is a wave sequencing rompler like the old 1991 Korg Wavestation (but better), not wavetable synth like the Argon8 at all, I don't know why people think otherwise, maybe something misleading in the marketing somewhere?
What's that larger keyboard on the lower tier of the stand below the Wavestate presented here? It looks like a larger version of the Wavestate with more features. Is it a 61-key version?
So I’m not familiar with the original am I right in thinking this doesn’t have basic shapes digital oscillators like a virtual analogue and that that more standard sound would be the multisample section?
of course it has basic waveforms like sawtooths and such, this is a Korg after all ;) very little is multisampled in Korgs, only a few e.pianos, acoustic pianos, and guitars/basses
nope, you'll be spinning encoders for values like Kross =\ Roland at least thinks of allowing a shift button to help you dial in values faster, Korg still can't get the hang of that after all these years.
I had the AD and love the concept of vector synthesis, but if you (Korg) really wanted to reenvision this, there should be a way to import user samples out of the gate. Otherwise this just feels like a rompler. Will that happen in the future?
Nice to see the Wavestation return. I hope it will be possible to add your own sound sources though, otherwise it would stay stuck in that 1990s aesthetic. Which isn’t bad, but will get old soon.
a lot of comments about 'too many analogue synths, great to see some new digital ones' pretty sure the reason, or one of the reasons is, computers / soft synths. are these not basically quality soft synths in a box with knobs? because thats what the midi controller is for after all. or am i missing something?
You are spot on. These digital hardware Synths are nothing more than soft Synths put in a box that hasn't got WIndows/Mac OS in it. It is also further limited by the integration where you with the soft synths/VST-i:s get total automation and instant recall where you save the sounds with the songs. So dedicated hardware that can't be massproduced like the ones in Windows machines and dedicated OS and software will make this already limited thing even more expensive than just the extra price for the keybed, knobs and digital display. Furthermore, the best complex Soft Synths are vastly superior to this type of good old wavetable/wavesequence type of Synthesis now that one single VST-i or Rack extension may contain several other Synthesis types as well, like granular, graintable, FM, additive etc.
my WS/AD died a while back, and is sorely missed. It was a pita to programme but always worth it. Shame I lost all my patches as well so asking whether old WS patches will load is a bit unnecessary for me, might be useful for others though? Also - user samples?
with all the mod destinations lacking AT seems an oversight - I'd like to see a bigger Kb with AT or a module version - I know, want want want - this is a great development!
The synth world has become so analogue centric in recent years, people forget just how limiting analogue can be in terms of sound palette. It's great to see a resurgence in sophisticated, affordable digital hardware synths! It's almost like history is repeating itself ;)
Digital sounds great if you have the right sort of digital. FPGA - good, Custom dedicated digital chips - good. Code running on DSPs? - depends. Most DSP based synths suffer with aliasing. The FPGA approach brings us back to the era of good sounding digitals. Of course there are great sounding DSP based synths like the John Bowen Solaris where quality has been prioritised over polyphony.
I would challenge anyone who thinks digital sounds bad to listen to a good vintage digital synth like the Roland JD990 or the Yamaha SY99. But not the presets, some custom sounds.
Digital oscs have always been more sonically interesting. This is great , it just needs more b/w keys so I can play it, not tickle it.
I dont like digital sounds, to me digital killed the music. All the digital sounds in the world and they all sounds the same, lifeless, sterile, boring. Analog is limiting? Go tell the modular boyz
@@benjaminjoeBF3, I am a modular boy, most of my kit is digital. And yes it's limiting. the best oscillators in the modular world are digital.
That's incredibly closed-minded and as a creative person that's the worst thing you can be. I've got plenty of digital and had quite a few analogue synths too. It's what you do with them that counts and I've heard very few people produce decent music with modular. It all seems to be drones or alien fart noises.
Luke’s awesome for playing those John Williams songs! For those of you who don’t know, that was Rey’s Theme at 7:33 and The Planet Krypton at 8:32. Great stuff!
Even if John Williams is the best part of the atrocious Disney Star Wars trilogy , the new themes are weaker compared to the originals
Oh thank god, I thought he was just improvising all that and was about ready to sell all my gear and give up :D
Luke's a superb demonstrator. Take a look at his Kronos demos (for Nevada Music if I recall correctly)
Yeah that part of the demo made me start drooling
Couldn’t believe my ears when he played my absolute favorite cue from the original Superman score. Totally nailed it too.
When he hit that first chord....I wasn’t ready!
Whoa! What a dream come true. I still have my Wavestation AD. But this one sounds amazing. Korg, please make a table top or rack mount! There is a keyboard coming out every month these days and I don’t have room for more keys.
Seconded on the module version. I'd think they would, as they did with the Minilogue XD. I do appreciate the 3 octave keyboard, though - smaller than 5, at least.
Edit: And yeah, what a cool synth! As soon as I saw the name, I was hoping it'd be like this. Wavesequencing, vector mixing, and hands on control. Very, very nice.
Yes a rack which will support midi 2.0 for everything
Still nowhere near enough controls though. The Wavestation is one of the deepest synths around in terms of parameters and menus.
@@6581punk ... You mean the WS is one of the most convoluted synths in terms of parameters and menus. Especially... editing a wave sequence and having to dive down to found out what wave sequences are being used in a performance. It's so convoluted, even the software editors are difficult to use due to not exposing the wave sequences to sysex and editing.
I refuse to use traditional keybeds, and I don't think I am the only person that, not only doesn't have the space for countless keybeds on synths, I don't use them or need them. An archaic, outdated and outmoded tech that only traditionalists use. Companies like Novation realise it is 2020 and we have better solutions to hampered workflows from the past.
they didn't add analogue filters when they had the chance! that was the only thing missing in the original...
Original had a non-resonating digital filter. New one does NOT have analog filters - just digital emulations.
BlackMan614 Right...
In all honesty you can get slew of really well coded Digital Resonant Filters these days in anything from notch to comb, side band, all pass, formant, lpf, morphing and so on. Analog filters have their place but they aren't IMHO the be all and end all of everything. For example an E-Mu Morpheus wouldn't be half the synth it was without a mix of complex function generators and the Z-Plane morphing filters.
@@lookingforamuse Yep. If digital filters are well engineered, the option of being able to choose the best tool for the job makes this new breed of synth very powerful indeed. It's exciting when beautiful classic sounds and ideas get blended with new tech and vast options.
@@craigshaw141 I'd totally agree with you Craig. Beyond the obvious, I think this will excel in areas where you want expressive timbrel movement and subtle to dynamic overtones in anything from expressive leads to pads and orchestral like swells, plucks and far more subtle and elegant modulation passages.
4:13 PlayStation 5 intro + menu music
This was the third, and the Modwave was the fourth, synth I bought. Very, very happy with them both. Very. Happy.
Full-size keys. Properly gorgeous chassis. Sounds like the 90s. I think they nailed it.
Edit: Can't believe he played the Deep Space Nine theme (well almost). Serious props.
great time for synth enthusiasts.
Where the hell is nick batt?
Wavestations have no pwm, sorry.
Javier Zubizarreta wanted to put exactly the same comment:)
Japan?
He has been sampled by Dr. Who into a younger man. 😎👍🇨🇦
He got a signal and had to head for the Batt-mobile
I love your chords and melodies! Especially the last thing you played to demonstrate the brass sound. Really nice. ❤
It's the Krypton theme from Superman the movie
This synth seems awesome, but only 3 octave ? a 4 or 5 octave version would be fantastic.
There seems to be a world-wide shortage of keys. :(
less keys = less space and they can push it out of the factory cheeper
Sure, larger MIDI keyboard. But then I could use VST as well. I want my controls right behind the keys I‘m actually playing.
Jarrett Fayer your funny,you truly know the motives of big business,make it small for more warehouse space,that is genius.
The companies are battling! This is Fantastic! I love how each company is tapping into their past and creating synths infused with legacy! I need this thing!!!
8:01 reminds me of a scene from the movie "Big Trouble In Little China" where Lo Pan is explaining his curse in a wheelcair. This sounds so similar.
Likely cause a Prophet VS was used and the Wavestation acquired the vector synthesis concept and some wavetables from the PVS.
It's Rey's theme from the new Star Wars trilogy.
What Egg? What won't come back to haunt us ever more???
The connection is Prophet VS and Wavestation. Dave Smith and John Bowen were involved in both. With John Bowen preparing the waves in the VS I think and he managed the Wavestation project.
Of course, everyone remembers the Wavestation, but I believe the first post-Sequential project they did was the Yamaha SY22 and other Yamaha vector synths.
Also has an Interstellar type vibe as well with the chords and upper tones. Unit sounds great!
I wonder if they would have bothered if Behringer wasn't snapping at everyone's heels...
Behringer won't do digital clones, to do so would require copying of digital algorithms which are copyrighted. So basically you can't do it. Analogue circuits are not covered by such IP protections.
I have a DM12 , but would be hesitant in buying another Behringer product . QC is still not on par with their competitors.
@@jarrod9052 I've had a couple of their Xenyx mixers and really liked them. No QC problems and excellent performance at prices no one else is interested in or capable of meeting.
@@athopi A mixer is not an analog synth. Compared to it its trivial
@@foljs5858 You were whining about their supposed poor QC, so it really doesn't matter the specific product they produce...
Hooray ! Sounds excellent and interesting!!finally a company from Japan listening to customers and giving them exactly what they want👍
@Pizza Gogo Yeah man...but this is exc what I always (some 35 years now) felt with this beautiful company, KORG 'is'...
That part when he kicks into the Zimmer bit around 7:30 (sounds like a bit from Interstellar, or at least a similar progression, but I could be wrong) is really REALLY nice.
Edit: No, crap. That's part of Rey's theme. Not sure why I thought Interstellar.
Instant background score machine. Very cool.
Finally! I remember being fooled by a Wavestation Volca fan mock-up several years back. This is like a million times better. Well done.
Now someone needs to create a modern Hartmann Neuron.
Best looking keyboard in history the Neuron. But I could hardly even make out what it sounded like. Frustrating to play as well. There's a reason it failed hard and I dont think it was bad management or whatever.
Interesting opinion. The Neuron was ahead of its time. It's not a typical synth. It was essentially a resynthesizer of samples that blend and pan together using various types of unique parameters. The company went down before any updates and refinement could take place. Lots of visionaries can be too ambitious at the wrong time. Axel Hartmann wasn't new to the industry. Sonicstate has an interview with Axel. A modern Neuron would have a better chance of succeeding now (in addition to being cheaper) compared to 17 years ago.
@@Zinfidel1 agreed. I wish they did rerelease it cheaper smaller and with a somehow more immediate and present sound
@gridsleep yea the rock I live under hates plastic toy plugin versions of already pretty rotten synths.
I'm thinking more like a 37 key version with os on ssd drive and maybe even conventional osc and filter before neural network processing
FINALLY someone got it right. Not just a reissue but a true "sequel". Sounds so lush. I think I might have to get one..
I love digital synths. The possibilities are endless, and even those synths that exhibit aliasing have that extra bit of character. This synth, in particular, sounds fantastic and the UI looks quite intuitive. Well done, Korg!
What they have there hanging on the wall 5:10?
Rare MS20 Blackboard synth. For teaching synthesis
@@Nismology5 I want one lol 😁
Hopefully they come out with a full keyboard version for keyboard players.
Need to get back to 61,76 and 88. Have a 49 waldorf but all else is 88 and 61 for my tastes. Did a lot on my wavestation way back then and glad recorded most of it.
Wtf this is wild I loved the wavestation literally X-Files soundtrack
At 1:25 and 5:15 you can see some kind of modular Korg synth in the backround
Sounds nice but a bit like a modern rompler? Wish it had an analog filter... All the sounds are soaked in fx too... Hard to tell
soaked in modulation more than fx
It is precisely a rompler, not wavetable synth if that's what you were thinking. Just like the old Wavestation it is based on.
I think what I like about this is it looks easy to program. Sounds typical hi-fi Korg. Full size keys is good too.
Please, release an upgraded Prologue with aftertouch, sequencer and more routing and modulation options.
shame that they skimped on all that on a flagship model
👏WE👏NEED👏MORE👏KEYS👏ON👏A👏POLYSYNTH👏
Only 3 octaves?
It can take polyphonic after touch over midi though, so if you buy a midi keyboard it’s essentially as many keys as you want. I know it’s annoying, but onthe plus side, look at it as if you buy one great midi keyboard you like and can buy the cheapest version of each synth you like
This has got to be one of the best video's showing how the various controls work, rather than just going through the sounds.
I bought the Minilogue last year and i that was a decent piece of kit but the Wavestate is something else, a soundtrackers dream machine.
I'll be ordering mine very soon.
This thing is killer!!!! Way to go Korg!!!!!!!!
She's a thing of beauty. Loved the original wavestation sound.
@David Banner Yeah, yeah...it feels like a 'she', doesn't it? So sensitive and delicate, esthetic and very powerful ;-}
I'm really glad to see this happening, the wavestation is an outstanding synth that needed an update for modern times and this was a big surprise for me, I was waiting for friday's announcement on the Arp 2600. Thank you Korg for making my week/year.
I hope they call it the Arp 7800 or the Arp Jaguar
@@AndrewStottisTheIndiWerWlf well, if they just repackage it like they usually do and make it feel a little cheaper then they can call it the 5200 super synthstem
@@wetwareinterface3977 hahahaha good point. I love it when someone can run with my jokes.
Pretty crazy that suddenly we got like 5 new wavetable synths o.O Cool to see the Wavestation being revived. Have the vst and it is crazy =D
Pricing blew me away, that's pretty impressive really!
There is something uniquely exciting about wavetable synthesis and S&H elements. I think this does well bringing it almost three decades forward to present day, while reminding us where it all began. No frills necessary.
Maschinestorm It’s PCM-based vector synthesis though, not wavetable synthesis.
Wave sequencing has a lot of similarities with wavetable synthesis though too. The main difference is that you are scanning or crossfading through a list of entire samples/multisamples rather than single cycle waves.
The Wavestation and I presume the Wavestate feature both wave sequencing and vector synthesis, which are distinct concepts.
How much for the giant functional MS-20 wall art?
it's not a wall art. it's basicaly a giant ms20 but these were made for school duties so they are very rare to find and it has a built-in speaker.
Botdu84 Great!
freesoulvw THAT is your takeaway from this demo??
I liked the Wavestate sound. Unfortunately, I could not intuitively use it. I returned mine, and two other owners sold their Wavestates to Music Go Round. Korg's manual assumed an experienced musician was playing it. It also barely covered lanes and other concepts. Video manuals and TH-cam channels must be watched. The Korg Micro X, interestingly, had better documentation. The manual has over 200 pages!
Thank you for showing us what this synthesizer can do.
Great synth. Waiting for its India launch
Wow! Not what anyone expected but totally awesome. I love the original Wavestation.
Why does every synth have only normal knobs? With an endless encoder/poti with LEDs around it like in a digital mixer like the X32, you could see the exact patch with one look, but with knobs, you have to turn it and look to the display for the real position of every knob. So the complete synth is useless when you load a patch. This is a digital synth, no one needs knobs like on an old analog synth!!!
The pad sounds on this synth are truly amazing!! The one key loop sequencing reminds me of my old Wavestation A/D - truly awful and completely unusable. But those pads...
Does it have keyboard split points?
Here's for hoping for a full size option 61 keys plz
Joseph Brown Is there any real synth on the market that comes in different sizes? I doubt it.
magicmulder Jupiter x / xm, korg prologue 8 and 16, sub 25 and 37, roland juno ds 49,61...
Hopefully the 2020s will be the decade of digital exploration. So much about digital synthesis we have yet to uncover
In hardware yes , but wave synth vsts cover way more
H4NDCRAFTED I can see your point. Either way, its a great time for synths, and musicians in general
I am interested in the 4-part multitimbrality of the beast honestly. Look at the manual and see that each layer can have its own midi channel. And a plethora of modulation options per each of those layers...could someone tell me if I am wrong about the multitimbral independent layers please?
Well, there goes one of my new year's resolutions. No significant bits of new kit in 2020, barely lasted a week. Although I may hang on in the hope of a table top, keyboard less variant.
OMG - how GOOD does this sound? WS has always been one of the most wonderful sounding instruments and now Korg has just hit it out of the park. And thanks for the demo - only 45 seconds of chat before we got to hear the thing!
Have a whole bunch of keyboards to buy, and this is one of them.
Sounds incredible. SOLD!
can you play straight sounds without sequencing? Im looking for a light alternative to chuck in a backpack for using train travel to some gigs.
In my mind, there are no better times for synth-heads than right now -- so many great features and options not even thought of
when costs were in the 3-5K price range just 20-yrs ago, for $800/usd! Amazing!!
7:34 YOOOOOOOO! 🤯🤯🤯 Take my money!
Have to say I agree with you that gave me goosebumps
I don't know. I own an original Wavestation (and the software version) and this really isn't all that different from either. So, I'm certain that there's been a hardware synth around for about 25 years that can function fairly similarly and a softsynth for nearly a decade as well.
It sure would be nice to see Korg or Roland or Yamaha or any of the big synth manufacturers actually do some real R&D and advance the state of the art instead of digging up their back catalog to repackage old ideas as new ones to keep their lights on. The smaller players are certainly trying to do just that in some cases, but the big guys with all of the money and resources are like Disney: they play it safe by looking back instead of being courageous and taking a chance on something new and novel and different.
Where are the FPGA additive or spectral modeling synths? Where are the hardware units with dedicated processors and RAM sufficient for true real-time physical modeling and additive synths? Where are the next - gen DSP chips that are commensurate with modern PC and server processors?
If Korg and their contemporaries won't do it, then they'll have no right to cry when someone else DOES and wipes the floor with them in the next few years.
They are in Axel Hartmann's closet awaiting their day in the sun 😄
With so many questions McCall... you should apply for a job/career at Roland, Yamaha, or , Korg.
Or start your own synth company
@@brandonbanks1408 I'm an engineer by education, training, and experience and I've been using synths for over 40 years, so, you know... Wouldn't be a bad idea if I didn't already love the firm I'm with.
But hey, if they're interested and want to try to convince me, those companies know how to find me.
Otherwise, I think it's perfectly appropriate for one engineer to give his colleagues some constructive criticism, don't you? I'd hope they would do the same for me if they thought my work was lacking.
I've got lots of good things to say to the folks working at Waldorf, Kemper (yes - THEY have innovated more recently even than most of the rest), and even Novation to a certain extent. So, I'm not indicting the entire industry.
If you think that adding some functionality to a synth that Dave Smith designed more than a quarter century ago is great progress then, hey, that's your right... But I'm not going to be afraid to challenge them to raise the bar just a tiny bit higher.
Consider the state of the art when the original Wavestation came out in PC technology were systems with specs LITERALLY one one-millionth what they are today and then try again to tell me that synthesizers have done anything close to the same...even with the ability to merely piggyback on the innovations FROM that industry to get there.
@sbmphr So, are you number one or number two?
@sbmphr Oh, I can't do that. I can just enlighten you as to what I WANT for the future of synthesis. The rest is up to the guys with factories and labs and R&D $$.
I just wish they would listen to those of us who do love synths now and then. I kinda think that they'd make more money because we'd be buying more synths. Music might even benefit, too. You never know.
Why only 3 octaves???? WHY?????
This is why I love Korg - a reboot of the Wavestation is not something that would usully interest me, but they have reimagined it in a way that seems new and dynamic and at a great price point. Brill stuff.
Very nice nod to John Williams and the Fortress of Solitude theme.
Fantastic presentation 👍👍. The sounds from the WS are awesome but what more can he done in this demo is even better. And it’s just the beginning with no one actually mastering the WS. 👍👍
Does anyone know if this was all done with stock factory presets or a setlist of presets he tweaked for the demo?
I will change those white knobs into gold metallic knobs which I did on my electribie 2.
Awesome synth.
That Superman Score :o
A dream for movie composers..
Really Great synth!!! But what about sync and clocking capabilities? Since there is no start or stop button, do I have to hold / play my chords (unlike the Minilogue where you can record)? Does the midi output send clock and reset?
Mixing analog with digital is what I like :) I have pre-ordered this and will use it with a Moog
Will they make a module version?
PLEASE make something that can load user samples... these intricate sounds sound good on their own but almost invariably clutter any mix!
Nice piece at the end nothing like vectors my new set up is a MC 707 korg wavestate korg 2600 I can live with that
It wouldn’t have been hard to have the option to make the sequence type patterns intelligent so they played notes in a chosen key.
Great sounding synth. Very thick with nice movement and modulation options. 49/61 key options coming?
I remember the Tagline Line for the Original Wavestation at a KORG Clinic - Zero Cross Fading! That was A Long Time Ago in a Music Store Far Far Away!
Hello... How many simultaneously tracks in step seq ? We're in touch, thnks.
It’s great to see companies finally offering more than analog synthesis.
Finally? We spent 20+ years asking them for real analog stuff, putting up with digital crap all the time, and now we finally have it. Now people don't want it, of course! XD
memespace people are rediscovering the extreme limits of analog synths and the goofy silly 50’s sci fi sound fx that modulars make ... I am glad that analog trend is finally over
@@chrisrevel2801 Its not over, expect more hybrids. What I think we always wanted was best of both worlds.
zoundsic yes I agree hybrids like the prophet x are very interesting
Chris Revel it’s over?
User wave samples?
I'm going to need this in my world. Here I am patiently awaiting Korg to finally ship the NTS-1 I pre-ordered in september of last year, and now they bring out this wavetable monster.... I never got a chance to lust after a Prologue, and now the Wavestate has happened.... Actually, that's a good thing, as I'm more interested in wavetable than analog synthesis right now. I'm really enjoying Modal Electronics modern and more tactile take on the now classic concept, as well. Looks like Wavetable synthesis is finally getting the love it deserves... Now somebody needs to design one with convolution reverb capabilities in the fx section... 😎🎛🎛🎛
This is a wave sequencing rompler like the old 1991 Korg Wavestation (but better), not wavetable synth like the Argon8 at all, I don't know why people think otherwise, maybe something misleading in the marketing somewhere?
What's that larger keyboard on the lower tier of the stand below the Wavestate presented here? It looks like a larger version of the Wavestate with more features. Is it a 61-key version?
So I’m not familiar with the original am I right in thinking this doesn’t have basic shapes digital oscillators like a virtual analogue and that that more standard sound would be the multisample section?
of course it has basic waveforms like sawtooths and such, this is a Korg after all ;)
very little is multisampled in Korgs, only a few e.pianos, acoustic pianos, and guitars/basses
Make a 61 key and I will take it love the sounds.
I guess you can use a 61 key midi controller with the wavestate.
@@chhangzhou I guess an extra midi controller would be cheaper than Korg extending this Synth to a 61 version hardware😂
How many presets does the wavestate come with?
This should go well with my Prologue
Looks like sooo much fun ;) Might be time to get back to digital again :P
Didn't they include much of this into the Kronos though?
so does it have a numeric keypad for entering values`? so its not like the korg kross all over again`?
nope, you'll be spinning encoders for values like Kross =\
Roland at least thinks of allowing a shift button to help you dial in values faster, Korg still can't get the hang of that after all these years.
I own an original Wavestation and it is fantastic, this new one sounds great too!
The only thing I see wrong is that screen should of been bigger on the Wavestate, the sounds are too dope. #Cinematic
I would love if this was just a sound module(no keyboard). I would 100000% buy this
This sounds surprisingly great. Also, MS-20 Blackboard confirmed?
loving the gerbil dogs and the robin bonnets.
I had the AD and love the concept of vector synthesis, but if you (Korg) really wanted to reenvision this, there should be a way to import user samples out of the gate. Otherwise this just feels like a rompler. Will that happen in the future?
"feels like a rompler"
What makes you think that this isn't a rompler? It's a de facto rompler with an interesting gimmick: wave sequencing.
@@Jason75913 I was being nice.
Love you for playing Rey's theme!
Nice to see the Wavestation return. I hope it will be possible to add your own sound sources though, otherwise it would stay stuck in that 1990s aesthetic. Which isn’t bad, but will get old soon.
My brother owns the original wavestation. Amazing keyboard feel and great sounds possible.
a lot of comments about 'too many analogue synths, great to see some new digital ones'
pretty sure the reason, or one of the reasons is, computers / soft synths.
are these not basically quality soft synths in a box with knobs? because thats what the midi controller is for after all.
or am i missing something?
You are spot on.
These digital hardware Synths are nothing more than soft Synths put in a box that hasn't got WIndows/Mac OS in it.
It is also further limited by the integration where you with the soft synths/VST-i:s get total automation and instant recall where you save the sounds with the songs. So dedicated hardware that can't be massproduced like the ones in Windows machines and dedicated OS and software will make this already limited thing even more expensive than just the extra price for the keybed, knobs and digital display.
Furthermore, the best complex Soft Synths are vastly superior to this type of good old wavetable/wavesequence type of Synthesis now that one single VST-i or Rack extension may contain several other Synthesis types as well, like granular, graintable, FM, additive etc.
@@Magnus_Loov cool, thanks for that.
i genuinely thought i must be missing something ...
cheers!
my WS/AD died a while back, and is sorely missed. It was a pita to programme but always worth it. Shame I lost all my patches as well so asking whether old WS patches will load is a bit unnecessary for me, might be useful for others though? Also - user samples?
This is the first hw synth to ignite my GAS since the too-expensive Quantum
with all the mod destinations lacking AT seems an oversight - I'd like to see a bigger Kb with AT or a module version - I know, want want want - this is a great development!
Wow I've been wanting a wavestation for a long time until now..
I wonder how much roughly this will street at?
How do you record patterns/songs on there? I didn't see a play/record button?
does anyone know if the Wavestate can load old Wavestation patches? I assume so but I can't find any confirmation of this.
Just update the Wavestation VST GUI on PC already like you did on the Ipad please!
I am flabbergasted by this synth!