Korg Oasys PCI

wtf is goin on here? Everybody reads, no one writes. Keep this thing going!!! Just got to get used to it, like you have to got used to so many things and user interfaces. It seems they (at Korg) spent some thoughts on this.

More than I will use. It's kind of an all-in-one-everything. Polyphony could be better. I'll buy a second one. FX are usable even for external devices! Expandable by SynthKit and third-party-plugs. Accepts all known kinds of MIDI-Controllers including poly-pressure. Sequencing might work with plugIns, don't know.

It's HIGH FIDELITY like no other synth I ever heard, and those (hard- or soft) are e few. If it comes to realism I'd say: 9 for quality I say 10. Same 10 for onboard FX. Reacts very dynamically to ALL controllers, just have to program fitting your playing style.

Haven't had any problems yet. Maybe I'd even try to gig with, should I ever need to. But I wouldn't gig with computer without any Hardware-BackUp anyway.

On one hand it of course is sad that WinXP and MacOSX never will be supported. On the other hand support for old equippment is what WE make it. And Dan Phillips (developer of the first unreleased OasYs-Keyboard) is solid as a rock as supporter for a soundcard of that age.

If stolen, I'd get me another. I will anyway due to the number of voices plus a G4 to mount the 2 of them. The price I paid was a steal. I'm playing some 25 years now almost everything there was.
I love the HIFI-Sound the support. I hate my crazyness to buy a special Mac and an ADAT-Interface for my mixer. But that's MY problem. I don't know if they are to be compared to TC powercore or Creamware Scope or Pulsar, don't care and don't think so. To wish more than there is is dreaming. If there ever is a chance of an OasYsII: more voices, double MIDI (32 Channels), more of everything there already is. Once I'll find my way connect a few multi-platform-computers it will perfectly fit into the VST-surrounding I'm using, very helpful.
Support's what we make it (if you don`t believe have a look at WALDORFs)

I'm using version 2.0.2 - it's basically a Triton on a PCI card. Presets are good to great. Editing is easy enough. Much like any software editor/librarian would work. Comes with 3 PDF manuals and a a hard copy user guide (duplicated in PDF)

BE ADVISED: This will not run on an WIN/XP PC - it will only run on versions of WIN PRIOR to XP.

On MAC - OSX is NOT supported - only OS 9.x will work

Korg WILL NOT EVER develop drivers for XP or OSX - most users buy a dedicated computer to host the OASYS - believe me - it's still worth it!

This card has 4 processors dedicated to running the wide variety of synths, samplers, physical modelers, and fx programs available. The available polyphony is based on how much your choice of the available plugin's tax the card's processors. If you run only one or two synths or samplers you can get more polyphony for each plugin. the more plugin's you use the more you'll need to manage your polyphony. If you don't mind bouncing your OASYS parts to audio the polyphony is irrelevant. That being said, it is possible to run over a half dozen "instruments'" bussed through effects, with polyphony to spare - IF you manage it carefully. There is a detailed resourse monitor window provided for this purpose. With regard to sampling - you can have 6mb of samples loaded PER PROCESSOR - with the 4 processors on the card that gives a maximum of 24mb available - BUT it has to be distributed in chuncks of 6mb per processor. The effects are outstanding. There is a huge variety and many are midi clockable. It does not have an on board sequencer - it's designed to be used with a DAW

Oh and lest I forget - it's also a zero latency audio card featuring 8 channels of ADAT I/O, SPDIF I/O, and stereo analog I/O. They can be used simultaneously and you can stream external audio through OASYS effects while using it's onboard array of synth/samplers/physical modelers - and still record at the same time! I can't think of any product on the market that can do this.

The sounds are drop dead gorgeous. PERIOD. There are third party developers who have made even more plugins for the OASYS card and they enhance it's abilities very nicely. It is still one of my secret weapons in both my home and work studios. For everything from "bread -n- butter" sounds to full on sound design, the OASYS is still a major force to contend with. In spite of having been discontinued for many years now.

I'v been using two OASYS cards for over three years without even the slightest problem. I wouldn't gig with mine - but if you didn't mind bringing your PC/MAC to a gig you certianly could. One important thing to know though - OASYS does NOT receive program changes via midi CC# - this might seem weird, especially for live gigging. IMHO this device was intended to be used in a studio environment moreso than for live use.

you'll get far more help from the Yahoo Oasys Users Group if you need any.

I'd definately replace mine if it were stolen - without hesitation. It's easily the best $500.00 I've ever spent on any piece of musical equipment. It is unlike anyother product out there with the possible exception of the Creamware/Pulsar products. I compose over 200 peices of music annually, OASYS is used somewhere on every single thing I do. I consider it a cornerstone of both my home and work studios. It is a fantastic product that was WAY ahead of it's time and still makes a lot of the "new" products coming out seem redundant. Furthermore it is exellent sonically.

While there are significant trade offs to keep in mind - but if you're after monster sound making ability, and aidio I/O in a studio only environment - this thing delivers more than you could probably ask for.

The set up was a little confusing. However there is a community of loyal users at the Oasys PCI mailing list(hosted by Yahoo Groups) that can help you. Once you have everything set up I don't see how using the thing could be any easier, however there's one exception. That being this thing doesn't use any plug in protocol. That means you are streaming the tracks through the Oasys Mixer and in to your selected audio track in your Sequencer/Audio application. And truth be told that is very easy to do, once you are set up.
I sold a Yamaha FS1r to get the Oasys. The Oasys is so easy to use, in the sense of using it to esplore sound possibilities. The reason for this is all of the synths and efx are in one package. So you can layer different synthesis methods and apply high quality efx to make complex sounds which are of the highest quality imaginable. And while the architecture of each synth and efx is very straightforward and streamlined being able to bring it all together in one splendid patch gives an end result which sounds difficult, but with the Oasys it is easy. There is anoeether problem. If you really go all out making the patch to end all patches that alone can max the card out. If you lay off a little you'll manage a couple of channels. If you just use the card for its excellent efx then you have the illest multi channel processor at that price.
Really, the only thing making this hard to use is lack of win2000, winxp, and os10 support. But it works well enough with O.S. 9 and win 98. It doesn't use the computer's processor since it has its own DSP's. This means you can dedicate that old machine sitting in the closet to an Oasys. A lot of people do that. Then run the adat i/o into the soundcard of your winxp or o.s. 10 machine to have a nice effect processor and the occasional "synth patch to end synth patches". Basically everything was going super-good until they dropped support with no O.S. upgrade. That alone lowers the score from a 10 to a 8. I should add, once again, this is WAY easier than an FS1r. ;-)

You can connect to a dedicated Korg Oasys-PCI site through Korg's website. That lists all of the features. For me to lay it all on the line would be exhausting. The question begs: Where to begin? Do I go on and on about how useful this is as a multi channel efx box on the cheap? Do I explain how much better Korg's modelling sounds than, say, the Pro 53 or even(imo) Arturia's TAE synths? There are a variety of analog models. The two show stoppers are their Minimoog and Prophet 5 based synths. There are also 2 op and 4 op synths.
What about how it's a dandy way to snag the complete Triton soundset+ the first three expansions. There are multiple sample playback architectures to use the sounds with. I'm not hugely appreciateive of the Triton sounds. But they are useful. Then there are the Organs and EP's. If you like those instruments this is the poor man's Nord Electro as well. That aspect of the Oasys pleasantly surprised me. I felt transported to another era. And a lot of physical modelling, flutes and reeds etc.
As if that wasn't enough a few people who frankly are saints have created plug ins for Oasys and given them away for free. The Dan Phillips effects for Oasys have been a true highlight for me. If you use Oasys on the Mac there's a program called synthkit. It allows you to make your own stuff using Korg's superior technology. It is no Nord Modular. Rather, it is far more complex and deep. Being that it's not for everybody you'll have to request a copy of Synthkit from Korg. At this point I strongly feel Oasys deserves an 11 for its features. Also, its efx are comprehensive. For the money this is a tremendous bargain for its efx alone.

These synths sound magnificent. Everything is high fidelity and sounds good across the entire range of the keyboard. Since it runs off of Korg's DSPs it is as responsive as any hardware. With little touches like DSP rate envelopes it might be more responsive. It has a pallatte of modulations which allows for expessiveness to the extreme. You can modulate anything. Lets start with the most average part of this card. The Triton sounds are there. I don't use them often and I am the wrong person to ask about them. I don't own competing sample playback products to compare. The samples of accoustic instruments will not carry an orchestral piece. That much I know. The physical modelling is an entirely different matter. They are expressive to the extreme. The reed model won't replace sunny rollins any time too soon. But it is fun. The Analog is as close to living and breathing analog hardware as I have found with a DSP product. Perhaps Korg's Legacy Collection also boast's similar quality. Otherwise, I haven't heard it this good anywhere else. The FM stuff is streamlined. It's not nearly as deep as FM7. But it has a musical and pure sound which is different from FM7's. No aliasing here. It is also useful for layering with Triton sounds and the Analog models. Brendan Daniel even made a modular synth for Oasys. That is nice. The Organs and Eps have me imitating old school Hebie Hancock and Josef Zawinul styles. Add the Minimoog and switch gears to a little stevie wonder R and B style. Then mix that with some beats in your sequencer using host based tools for contemporary sounds. Add Oasys efx for the professional sound quality often lacking in host based freebie efx.
The effects all sound pretty darned good. Some of them are unbeleivably great. The filters and delays steal the show. The reverb's are all flexable and extremely programmable. O-Verb Xl practically fills the entire screen with parameters. To my ears the reverb doesn't sound as refined as a TC m3000 or PCM 81. But with such programmability it's very useful. Among the filter you'll find a Minomoog filter. It is one of the nicest sounding DSP filters I have heard. Also, stuff like Flange, Phaser, Modulatable delays, delays that go up to 40 seconds, e.q., compressors, distortion, picth shifters(Imagine running a bunch of pitch shifters in tanded for chaotic effect!), filters with envelopes and the Dan Phillips delays are some of my favorites. Even with the synths taken away this is one heck of an effects processor. That angle wasn't hyped at all when Korg marketed it, unfortunately.

It does a good job when I use it to stream into an audio app via windows 98. Running the oasys sounds into another soundcard has worked well. However the lack of XP drivers means I'm stuck using it with older hardware. And, it has crashed or gotten funny on me a couple of times when I was streaming it into logic on a win98 machine.

This is like Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde. If you talk with korg service reps or frequent the mailing list it's great. These guys love to help people and a few of them are brilliant people as well.
The bad part has to do with Korg's policy and not its employees ability to help customers. For korg this product was not successful enough to continue developing. They have dropped support with no upgrade for winxp or os10 ever to be had. If you consider continued development of the Oasys editor and drivers as part of customer support then things are grim. This product has been abandoned on the development side. As I said Korg's customer service is still good since its employees have a passionate report with it and frequent the Oasys-PCI mailing list, which is by far the best place to get guidance unless there's a really big problem. Korg's abandonment of Oasys development leaves a sour taste in one's mouth all the same.

The Oasys is many things for me. But it is not what prospective customers may have expected. It's not a polyphany workhorse. Korg decided to focus their efforts on the highest sound quality possible. They figured a user could easily multi track with it. They figured that a compromise in sound quality would be a mistake. I think they were right. And especially these days, when it's easy to multi track using the CPU power of both ZPC and MAC platforms, they have a point. Use the DSP to achieve the highest standard in sound quality which can then supplement the host based efx and synths.
If we're just talking using this for efx, though, you can go buck nutty on multiple channels, no problem. But it's not a replacement for the latest workstation boasting 128 voices or whatever. For what it is and at this low price I'm pleased. I probably would not own this if it was still at the original MSRP. But it plummeted in price and is now a rediculous value. It's easy to find on ebay. If you are willing to set aside another PC give it a shot!

I'm saying 9 here because while it is "plug & play" easy to set up and get sound out of (on a Mac), it's a VERY deep instrument. The high degree of flexibility and customizable options make for a "long" learning curve, but not necessarily a "steep" one for the average computer-savvy musician.

If the card you buy doesn't have version 2 software you can download it from the Korg website. (Mac 2.0.1 is current at this writing). It's a big (>200 meg) download but you want to get it any way you can. I believe Korg Customer Support also offers a CD-ROM.

There's a LOT of documentation in PDF format. Each "Patch" (effect and synth algorithm) is explained on a knob by knob basis. 45 synth patches and 133 effects patches give you over 600 pages of reading. This is in addition to the basic User and Installation guides as well as an HTML FAQ which covers lots of specific issues for different setups.

It's all very well written and 9 out of 10 tech questions to the active mailing list have answers in the docs.

The Oasys is all about editing so the software covers all the bases with Editor/Librarian functions built in. No search or categorizing functions, but a usable "Catalog" interface based on folders and sub folders.

It's an ASIO compatible sound card; it's a 24 bit multi-effects device; and it's a software configureable synth/sampler. You can get a full feature list at www.korg.com.

One thing that's ovelooked is that every knob in a synth or effect patch can be externally controlled by just about any controller you have available. You can increase a delay's feedback as the notes go higher, you can have aftertouch change an oscillator's waveform. No limits there. Also variations with different curves and responses to the controllers; like exponential or linear velocity response.

If you want a deep piece of gear, this is it. You can get a lot out of it without a lot of work but the rewards of digging in and learning it are worth 10 times whatever price you pay.

One thing it's not is a 16 part multi-timbral, 128 note polyphonic sound module. You can configure it with 5 or 6 small synths, or one big synth and a few effects, or a dozen effects., before the DSP maxes out. Typically you would work out your Oasys bits, "print" them to disk within your DAW, then mute but save the MIDI input you used in case you change your mind later. But that's just if you wanted to do more in realtime than the card can handle. To just use a bass sound, drumkit, and a few effects you wouldn't do anything differently than you normally do.

More about features later...

At this point everyone's heard about how great Oasys sounds. It's great for any style of music but there are some extras definitely targeted to Dance oriented beat banging. A beat box with 808 style grid programming buttons; synth filters available as seperate effects; and a large selection of REX style "sliced grooves". On the other hand, Jazz, Rock, or Orchestral musicians can easily ignore those aspects and not feel like they are missing anything.

The presets are great but to my ear only 10% of them show what the card is really capable of. Once you learn to use it "your way" you'll think it's the best sounding thing ever.

Since there are 45 different synths included you have a huge pallette to mix and match colors with. The Physical Modelling synths (Plucked String, Trombone, Flute, etc.) offer completely new worlds of sound design. Parameters for controlling "lip pressure", "pluck position", or vocal "vowels" can yield otherworldly sounds far, far away from their "intended" use.

Sound quality is 24 bit top notch all the way. While certain synths and effects may have a desirable "character" that you may not be able to achieve with Oasys; for the most part you can not find fault with the sound quality.

You won't be disappointed in this department.

No moving parts; well engineered; the finest Taiwanese hand craftsmanship. What could go wrong?

If I were travelling with it or changing connections often I would get backups for the breakout cables.

The software is bug free and gets along well with everything else in my system.

E-mail, telephone, big-ass web site, good mail list of helpful, informed, opinionated enthusiasts.

All my needs have been covered.

Since I'm writing this on May 28, 2002 and the Oasys is discontinued I'm assuming the reader is thinkg of buying one used on E-bay or somewhere else.

My setup is a Mac G4/533 with a MOTU 828 Firewire audio interface. My Oasys connects to the 828 via ADAT Lightpipe for 8 channels of digital I/O; and the 1/4 inch stereo analog connection go to a Mackie 1202. This is a very versatile and flexible system.

My original reason for buying the Oasys was to use the effects as a way to cut down the use of DAW plug-ins that was keeping my track count down. It does this very well as I have the ability to run 8 individual effects loops in the digital domain for anything that can be patched thru Digital Performer or the Mackie.

The sonic euphoria of the sound generating parts are like a big bonus and now seem to me to be the main feature.

I don't use Oasys as my main audio interface but all the reports I've heard have been good. Using it this way under ASIO you can route 8 "streams" of audio between the card and your DAW software, eliminating the need for external connections besides the recording and playback essentials. I would highly recommend it as the basis of a new workstation BUT, be prepared to learn. A beginner should be able to just set it up and get started then grow with it over time.

So value. What should you pay?
Oasys was blown out by Guitar Center for $499 and the last few went for $299. An outrageous value for an item that was originally $2300 (list).

I paid $499 and I think if I had to buy another one I would place the value between $700 and $1000 US as what I think it's worth compared to other devices I sould buy at this time. There really isn't anything else like it.

If you can get one for less than $600 you'll be getting a better deal than you would for anything else you can spend $600 on.

As far as I know all the serials numbers are under 2000 and there are no issues with earlier numbers being different from the latest.

Good luck and enjoy.

The (now discontinued) Oasys PCI rules.

Oasys OS 2.0.2 (Mac) [& Synthkit]
Every third party synth and effect I can find (freeware/shareware)

The manuals are broken into several pdf files (quickstart guide, patch and effect descriptions, users guide), are very well written and arranged.

The I/O on the card is excellent. ADAT lightpipe, S/PDIF, analog. D/A converters are great. Sound is 24bit (44.1/48kHz)

Polyphony depends on the type of modules you have loaded, and how many notes they are set to play. Effects can be shared across programs/inputs via the send and output busses.

Everything is well designed and the interface is consistent. It integrates well with all the major DAW apps.

The sounds are awesome.
- Zero latency hardware-based sample playback (with Triton samples, or your own).
- va-synths (Moog/Pro-5/303/etc...) with glassy-smooth filters.
- Pipe Organ/ B3 / Reed Piano models
- Physically modelled guitars, bass, trumpet, flute, and sax.
- VPM Bells (FM-ish tones)
- A slew of effects of every sort (each of which is on par with anything else on the market)

Mac users can also try their hand at synthkit, and construct new synths and effects.

These new modules will run on either platform. Most of the third party modules are stellar, and really enhance the Oasys experience.

Our little club is blessed with some very smart people:

Astonishingly stable on my mac. Some pc platforms (certain cpu/mobo configs are problematic). Drivers for the latest versions of the two operating systems are not available yet (5/9/2002).

This thing retailed for $2300 US. And it was worth it. Throw it in a n old mac or pentium iii you've got lying around and it'll pummel most of the rack mount synths (and some samplers). Or rack-mount it and take it on the road.

I worry a bit about the cabling. It's not like you could go to radio shack and pick up a new oasys breakout cable.

The official oasys user group is on yahoo groups nowadays (5/9/2002). It is quite active; korg engineers and several experienced synth designers actively participate.

Awesome. A classic. Ahead of it's time.

And no, mine is not for sale.

Installation was a breeze on my Mac G4. The only paper manual that came in the box is the installation manual, and Korg took pains to make everything clear even for a beginner. Having installed a few PCI cards already and dealt with driver issues and extension conflicts, I was please (and surprised) that there was not a single hitch. Since it's a full-sized card I did need to push the metal "holding" plate on the left side of the G4 over a bit to fit the card in, but that didn't raise my blood pressure.
Updating the software to 2.0.1 from the CD in the box did take a while to download from Korg's website from a T3 connection. I grabbed the PC and the Mac versions just in case I wanted to hop platforms someday, and burned these and any extras onto a CD for achival purposes. The updaters completed without any problems.
The presets sound professional. The physical modelling algorithms are inspiring. That is to say, they take a lot of work to master -- in all, as much practice as it takes to learn the physical instrument perhaps -- but inspiring nonetheless.
After browsing the manuals and spending a few days looking at the interface closely, anyone familiar with synthesis should have no trouble accessing the parameters they crave via the included patch editing software. Familiarity with your host sequencing application will determine your ability to record on-the-fly tweaks and edits from an external sequencer. Since I use ProTools most days (leaving Logic to collect dust on my drive), I feel slightly handicapped in this respect but mileage varies with any synth/FX on a card package in this respect. (Incidentally, if you use ProTools, please email me to exchange tips on working with MIDI effectively.)
ADAT mixing in and out of my DIGI 001 was, again, surprisingly effortless. Understanding the Korg architecture of Programs and Multis proves valuable, whether you gain it from this card or from another product. The "Catalog" interface proves valuable but sometimes it falls short. Some standards are nice: double click to rest a param to unity. Drag and drop a Program from one locaction to another. Move the mouse in a line rather than "turning" the knobs.
That the manual is PDF is fine although I spent a long while reading it from printouts anyway because it's easier to scan that way. In all, if this baby could be easier to work, I'd piss myself. Give it an eleven.

I don't plan to use this for more than one or two sounds at a time. In that function, I don't consider there to be any real limitation. I suggest recording MIDI tracks to your sequencer and previewing and editing them. Then bounce an audio track to disk (without effects or assigned to a send of some sort) and keep working on new tracks.
Go back and re-bounce as necessary. Mute the MIDI or the Audio tracks that are "old." With this technique, polyphony and system resources should not be taxed. At $500 from Guitar Center this month, you're getting the equivalent of new synths and/or new effects, all of which are designed to be controlled externally via MIDI. What the card lacks in muscle can be be made up by the low prices of hard drive space for audio tracks and a sequencing application you like. Get used to seeing the "not enough cycles" message and silence if you try to load a ton of PCM samples and effects into the unit.
Also, do not switch programs on the fly -- silence is the result. If you want to make a lot of edits to your multis, "disconnect" (File menu command) from the card, make the edits, then reconnect and all the changes you made will be loaded into the card's RAM at once. This is a great time saver.
OASYS PCI is a sampler. And it's so simple. Copy your AIFF (or whatever -- I used SDII) source sample files in to the directory structure outlined by the manual and close and re-open the editor program's "Catalog" window. Your sounds will appear and you can drag them into the Program's keymap. Keep in mind, all of these windows (mixer, program, keymap, catalog) are independent and and can be moved and positioned independently. You can always change a parameter in another window even if it's not currently active just by clicking and dragging it. With no latency and no CPU RAM, and a more versatile and high-quality effects arsenal, this makes my Unity DS-1 software sampler rather jealous. Keygroup parameters are easy to edit as well (e.g., keygroup volume and pan, cutoff, decay, exclusive, etc.), and there's generally fewer hoops to jump through than many sample editors. The grace of the interface (with a cool gray texture) makes this a joy to edit.

Wow. Holy kazaam. Some of this is breathtaking. Some is rudimentary and I like that -- it gives me room to play. I am neither confused nor overwhelmed by the selection. Instead, I am instantly ready to make my own "user" presets, after carefully tasting the possibilities and toe-dipping into the Korg presets.
Joy. Making my own sounds proves as easy and rewarding as the presets.
While there seems to be no end to the applications, I would place the focus on two major swaths of music production: pop/electronic and sound design/soundtrack composition. In short, if you want a tool to work on in your home or pro studio, this will help a lot. Comparing this to the Yamaha SW1000XG is perhaps adequate. There are probably more genres of music that the XG synth can be applied to out of the box, but the overall sheen and quality of the Korg card makes it a superb sound tool. While some of the pianos are better on the XG and there seem to be more drum kits, the GM limitation makes this a dubious comparison: the Korg card may have fewer sounds, but there are perhaps more varieties and cutting edge bread and butter kicks, snares, hats, and so forth.
Plus a great jazz kit and great starter drum-n-bass kit. There's some symphony strings that are to die for and instantly make me want to revisit some movie soundtracks to beef them up. The synths stand up to the venerable Moog line but I do not push them extensively. What really catches my ear are the awesome organs.
Have not tried the guitar amps. Have not tried the so-called rhythm editor that I have heard mentioned, because I have not found it. Perhaps it is a plug-in I have not obtained.

This has not crashed for me on Mac or caused any problems. The breakout cables are fairly firm although I never liked breakout cables. While they seem well made, the back of the unit has places for ADAT Lightpipe in/out, a little round plug for the 4 analog i/o 1'4" unbalanced (they fit in snugly) and a wider multipin set for the digital and sync hookups. s/pdif is rca and ADAT has both BNC and ADAT (9-pin?) sync plugs. All in all, they seem fine, but I wouldn't get in the habit of plugging in and out on a daily basis. Get a dedicated patch bay to help protect your investment. As others have said, if I lost this, I would get another.
That said, I can't give it less than a 10 yet in this category. I hope future OS versions continue to be supported.
Windows users may have different experiences (I have not put it in my Win box). But then again, don't Windows users always have a "different" experience?

I have never talked to Dan or customer service. Korg does not provide tech support proper, so you need to go to your retailer for help. If this scares you, do some research and keep your receipt. As has been stated, this may not be the axe to take to the gig, but deserves a comfy place in the studio.
While Dan may be the best guy in the world, I have to knock off some points for Korg not offering up regular support channels. Having worked in Tech Support, I have this bias that it's a prerequisite for any product over $500.
As I mentioned, the upgrade download time was slow. Whatevah. My main hope is for the future: we hope that Korg continues to support this fine product with updates as needed.

If this were lost or stolen I would look at Creamware's product line to see if they had something of interest to me. Currently they offer about 5 times the raw processing power for only twice the price, but I don't know if the full feature set compares. Personally I like the physical modelling, the SynthKit option, the open architechture, and the huge. rocking effects. This box is worth a rack of reverb units alone, and it's a Triton to boot. Even if if were just a sampler I would want to get it again.
For these reasons, this unit is a fantastic value.

Very Easy. It's just like a virtual studio. Everything works the way it does on your hardware console in your studio. The synths sound phenomenal. Although I wish there were more synths with more complex architectures than the Pro-5 or the MiniMoog model that it has. But as long as it sounds great, I can't be too picky. The PCM presets are different from the Triton board, but the samples are the same (I think). This too sounds phenomenal. The effects (about 60 of them) are top notch. They are the same way they would expect from top of line Korg effect units. The OASYS PCI editor is well designed. It is intuitive. You don't need to read its manual or quick start if you know how to work the hardware stuff. The manual is very thorough. I am impressed.

The polyphony of the synths vary to the algorithms you are using. Some would say it's underpowered, but that depends on what you do too. For me, it's alright because I sample the synths into audio clips. The effects are great as stated. Too bad you CANNOT use more than one OASYS in one system (as of now OS 2.0) or else I'll get 2 more cards. The MIDI is perfect...just like other Korg's hardware synths. No sequencer.

The Pro-5 and MiniMoog model are amazing. I own a Waldorf Q and an Access Virus kb. They are more complex in synth architectures, but they can't come close to the Pro-5 model in terms of sounds. The PCM synths (more than 7 algorithms) are like what you would expect from the Triton series. I can't believe they give us for free update in OS 2.0. The FM piano model and Wurlitzer model are also wicked. Very programmable. The sounds are realistic and expressive. As a piano player, they are precious! I haven't played with the Organ or the Wind model too much though.

The OASYS PCI often crashes if you add effects or synth while it's producing sounds. But that could be the damn stable Windows 98 too. You know how it is. Using it live? I don't think so. Using it in the studio? IT IS A MUST!!!!!

Dan Phillips help us a lot on the OASYS list. I haven't had to call the KORG CS though.

I wanna get two more cards, if they allowed, but they don't. If it was broke, I'd buy it again. Hate to depend on a computer system, I cannot live without this card now. I just wish the editor stayed stable all the time, but I am on Windows 98. Even WordPad will crash. I guess there is not much I can do about it. I also wish I could use more than one card in my system so I have more DSP power for effects. Computer software used to get in my way of making music, but not OASYS. It's what I depend on nowadays for good sounds.

Starting with 1.2, like the software...kinda wish MIDI sequencing was in house. The presets are fabulous...a lot of sonic possibilities.

Editing sounds is straightforward, but I would recommend a good background in electronic music. The manual is mediocre.

Polyphony is dependent on how much you task the DSP. I wouldn't call it "great" but it is good for analog and formant synth types.

Effects are good and as easy to use as the patches.

Expansion is from new software. I downloaded version 2 last night and will be playing with that tonight.

MIDI is completely configurable - though you need a computer sequencer and MIDI port to utilize the board. I think this is the only real drawback of this sonicly sweet board.

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Along with my sampler...I'm set. I get all the EM sounds, scales, plus with my sampler and this thing being able to playback samples - its a perfect match up. Assigning parameters to midi is easy, and with a dedicated controller, performance is phat!

Haven't had it long enough. Don't gig.

Upgrade was SLOW...looks like Korg is on an ISDN connection. bleah. They should look for a mirror.

At $500, this was a steal! I had been saving my money for the lowest price I could find - about $1250 - when Guitar Center did a closeout. It didn't take me an hour to go and get one. I'm a happy happy camper.

It would be hard to part with now that I have it. Its a great board. Basically a Triton + Moss in a card. The beat box is a great starter tool, as well.

Really simple to use once past very minimal learning curve.

This "synth" on a PCI card in the computer isn't meant to be a polyphony workhorse. There is no keyboard, just the one that is hooked up to the computer. EVERY parameter can be assigned to a knob, every single one. My only complaint is that the Midi specification doesn't give us enough knobs, which has nothing to do with Oasys PCI.

This has built in effects galore. I did this infinite repeating thing with the feedback of an echo algorithm, and I could change the pitch of the repeats with the mod wheel. (like nivek ogres vocals from skinny puppy) I'm not sure how many FX processors out there can have feedback asigned to a midi controller, but every single parameter can be set up to a knob in the FX. Try that on ANY effects processor out there, there are none. Only Oasys and Kyma can do anything like this. Pulsar might be able to but i've never heard of it doing this.

Expansion capabilities are in software only. There will never be more DSP power unless they come up with some kind of expander or a new card, which I think will be likely depending on the popularity of the card.

I loaded up about 6 synths, a couple samplers, a minimoog emulation, a prophet 5 emulation, a few tb-303 emulations... DAYAM!!! I could have loaded more at once if I lowered polyphony on some of the synths, such as turning down the prophet 5's polyphony to 1 for instance. I also loaded up a chorus, a delay, an eq, a reverb, and a about 3 more fx. So that's 8 fully featured FX and 6 synths going at once. I suppose I could chunk out more synths and cut back on effects, but who needs more than 6 fully featured analog synths at one time???

If worse comes to worse you can sample the synth through effects and load it up as a sample on a key in the sampler. Oh by the way the sample memory is limited to 24 megabytes. Which in my opinion is more than enough for one 3 minute song. Some people will argue that it doesn't have 128 voices polyphony, and 128 megs samples, or the samples dont use system ram... The reason it is all on the card is because it will be zero latency for the computer. Come on folks who the hell uses 128 megs of samples in one song? Who uses 128 voices at once??? Aren't we getting a little rediculous.

Another thing, the analog inputs are 24 bit. They sound wonderful, everything that goes into this card comes out sounding exactly how it sounds being played. Add a nice 8 channel ADAT converter and you have 12 channels that can be recorded at once. With an 8 bus digital mixer with an adat option this will function as an 8 channel digital recorder, nice to say the least.

Wanna talk about sounds? This little card is the bomb when it comes to sounds. Need a few minimoogs on a track? This synth has them. The minimoog emulation on this is dead on, I have not heard anything else that even comes close to this minimoog implementation. The Prophet 5 the TB-303 emulator, tons and tons of them, all with great classic analog sound. I used to miss my Moog, now I don't quite as much, sure I miss the knobs, but I can get a controller with knobs. (see above)

The Physical models sound very realistic, but to me they don't sound like an actual violin or guitar or whatever, they sound more to me like a sampled guitar, or just a single note plucked on the guitar or stringed instrument. There are also some other physical models of classic keyboards like a rhodes or something, but i'm not too keen on those so i didn't check it out too much. So my opinion on these doesn't count that much. Gee i gotta check those out better. I hear other people raving about them so what do I know.

The onboard effects are the bomb, very good sounding. It is very nice to have everything in the digital path so there is no antialiasing. Although they are very good they are not the absolute greatest in the world, I think the TC works native reverb or the Acoustic Modeler in Sound Forge still are the kings of reverb. Still I think the FX are better than anything in a rack. Nothing in a rack can touch em, unless the rack unit is all hooked up digitally inputs and outputs.

The velocity, aftertouch and mod wheel can be added to any parameter at all. And I mean ANY parameter. Lets say you want filter opening and closing on a voice for a gate effect on some vocals or guitar or something (a very trendy techno thing to do). Just hook up the note on to the filter.. instant gratification. Lets say we want to add some echo controlled buy the mod wheel and pans with velocity... oh moi gawd!!!

Types of music: Electronic obviously for the synths, techno, trance, drum and bass, industrial, electro, hip-hop, trip-hop, rap, all bases are covered. For the recording capabilities.... ANY TYPE OF MUSIC! classical, rock, punk, ska, u name it...

The reliablility really depends on the computer it is running on. It is very solid on my Pentium III 933 with 512 megs ram. Windows ME is always giving me crap so I'm not sure what to say, stick with Windows 98 if you can. I probably run into errors cause I have a 250 watt power supply and every card in my computer is filled, I was told that I should get a better power supply, like 300 watts or more. I think this would be a good investment.

On a Mac this card rules and is very dependable.

I honestly wouldn't bring this to a gig with me. I would rather just bring a controller synth (like a waldorf q or an alesis andromeda or a nord or a novation supernova a Korg Z1 haha I wish!). I suppose it could be used for a live show but I would really recommend a mac for that.

Dan Phillips is the greatest guy really. He responds to so many people's emails. I have no idea how he does it and his job at the same time. Maybe that is part of his job?

Anyways he answers most of the time when I have a question.

If this was lost or stolen I would cry like a baby until it was replaced. Yes I would buy it again, the synths on it are the bomb, they sound very realistic.

I've been using synths for about 8 years now so I've been through a lot of gear, analog and digital. I've known and worked with many artists here in the san francisco bay area. I've been in several pro studios.

This card is pretty much a whole recording studio on a box, and a good one at that. Of course it doesn't have the rareties that a studio would have (such as a MemoryMoog or an Xpander), but it does have a lot of the old school meat and potato's synths such as the MiniMoog, the Prophet 5, TB-303. There are also many excellent drums synths on this card. And they can all be sampled and put into a sampler, which increases the polyphony.

Ok I do admit that I want more polyphony, but that most likely will come if this card is a success or not.

I compared this to a Creamware Pulsar, all I have to say is that they are completely different birds, they have way different sounding synths. Only thing i wish the Oasys had was a modular synth like the Creamware does.

I've seen one 3rd party synth so far for the Oasys PCI I am hoping that there will be a lot more support. I hope that some company out there comes out with some kind of a modular synth plugin for the Oasys PCI. The Pulsar of course has plug in's galore, and support from Waldorf.

I will admit that for a long time this card got in the way for me because I wasn't used to the interface and how to use it. I'm now getting more used to it and it is very inspirational because the synths sound so damn good.

This card will rule the world.