The opsix aims to change not only the interface shortcomings of most FM synthesizers, but also enhance the sound design capabilities by moving beyond the use of simple sine waves and also by adding the ability to use filters and other modulation sources/effects — something Korg calls “altered FM”.
It appears that after 11 years, Korg have decided to discontinue the KRONOS line of music workstations, leaving the Nautilus as their new “top of the heap.”
What’s really impressive is that Kronos family has been the top of Korg’s heap since 2011. Again, rightly so. There’s not really much it can’t do. It is quite literally, a complete music workstation and recording studio in a single box.
With the Kross 2, Korg have made a fairly complete workstation for someone on a really tight budget. It relies on Korg’s EDS-i sound engine to produce over 1,000 sounds, and has an additional 128MB of PCM memory dedicated to pianos.
Of all the keyboards I’ve owned, Korg or otherwise, the PS60 is probably the most uniquely performance-oriented keyboard I’ve ever owned.
Anyway, I’d promised myself that I’d never own another Korg after the disappointment of the X2, and it was with some trepidation that I considered the X50. But, my friend Steve Rosch of the band The Janglebachs had one, and he loved it.
The X2 was the big brother to the X3, and in addition to another 15 keys, it had an expanded sample ROM featuring a nicely multi-sampled grand piano, and it also had two independent audio outputs in addition to the standard left and right main outputs. Many of the sounds were derived from Korg’s T3 and O1/W synths.
The first Korgs in my life were the DS-8 digital synthesizer and SQD-8 8-track MIDI sequencer. The DS-8 was an interesting synth. It was an attempt, I believe, to be a simplified 4-operator FM synthesizer that was simultaneously a multitimbral performance synth. It was even based on an enhanced Yamaha 4-operator FM synth chip that was found in a number of Yamaha keyboards!