Hot on the heels of the Wavestate mkII, SE, and SE Platinum, Korg have just announced the opsix SE and SE Platinum. Like the Wavestate models, they’ve basically repackaged the guts from the standard model in a new case and substituted the excellent 61-key keybed alleged to be from the Kronos. And also, like the Wavestate counterparts, the opsix SE models ship with a custom hard case, making them gig-ready.
One can only assume that the modwave version will be following in short order.
A number of people have complained that Korg should have done things differently by doing things like using a larger display or positioning the control panel to the left of center or creating an all-encompassing “workstation” the incorporated the Wavestate, opsix, and modwave into a single instrument. While these suggestions aren’t necessarily without merit, they’d mostly bring with them a drastic price increase — as if a $1300USD bump isn’t drastic enough — in part because doing so would require that the circuit boards be completely redesigned. Obviously, moving everything left could probably use the existing circuit board, so that would be doable without increasing the cost over the announced SE pricing. But, to be honest, what Korg have done is really a pretty good design choice.
For those who wanted a “workstation” with all of these features, and more, they should have simply bought a Kronos 2 while they still could. Korg could “simply” have updated the FM and wavetable engines to beef up their functionality a little, and been done with it, as the Kronos included features of all three pi-based synths, and added all the workstation bits anyone could want. But, just as with adding a bigger screen to the existing SE models, it could not have come at a $2000USD price point. It would have to cost as much as the Kronos 2 cost: over $3000USD, and people would have kvetched about that.
For people who are crying about the $2000USD price of the SE models, I suggest that they look at it as exactly what it is: a $1600USD keyboard that comes bundled with a $400USD custom hard case. And, as anyone who’s priced hard cases for keyboards can tell you, that’d be a bargain.
Like the Wavestate se, I’ll not be very likely to buy the opsix SE, given that I’ve already got an opsix and a nice 61-key controller with a keybed that’s very nearly as nice as the one used on the Kronos.
As always, my YouTube playlist for the opsix will continue to be updated, and you can view it here:
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