New Korg app .... 'Odyssei' ... also 'Lexington' Gadget add-on

[9headshydra]

- my apologies if it does -

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Not needed i was just curious since i'am a huge fan of Gadget app

[goldenanalog]

- my apologies if it does -

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Not needed i was just curious since i'am a huge fan of Gadget app

Thanks, 9headshydra!

After playing around with it some more: I think that ODYSSEi is the new winner in the 'sounds like analog' polysynth category - at least on my iPad -

It's (8) notes, and seems to have a range of personalities - a lot of the synths back in the day used the same oscillator IC's - the filters, available HSP, (like cross-modulation) & circuit topologies (ex: is there an actual internal mixer in the synth, or are the voices just terminated to an op-amp?) determined the sound - with ODYSSEI: it feels like you might be able to push it into the realm of the Jupiter 8, as an example.

- That's my one and only real criticism of Moog, the undisputed king of all analog emulations in iPad land - Moog always sounds like Moog to me - it presents a fixed personality.

[Wormhelmet]

Its a beautiful sounding synth for sure. Gadget integration is great and something not available with model 15 synth.

There are a lot of surprises to model 15 though also.

Not going to name one or the other as more analog sounding. Just going to say I like the improvements seen recently in iOS synths.

[goldenanalog]

I like the improvements seen recently in iOS synths.

Couldn't agree more with you, Wormhelmet! I'm currently really looking forward to iwavestation - Gadget or not - it has the potential of being completely nailed by Korg, especially since it's likely going to be a mature port of their desktop software.

What Korg needs to learn how to do now is to allow us end-users to easily share patches, etc. - their universe is presently not friendly to that.

Maybe they internally see that as a challenge to control of their ip - understandle, under consideration - but a lot of what the iPad fundamentally seems to be about is sharing.

- the PPG stuff should also be mentioned - the (3) apps available are fully competitive with desktop software, no question - but in addition to experiencing random exiting of their apps under stress, PPG apps also are not on the whole particularly patch-sharing friendly.

Hopefully these superb iPad players like PPG and Korg will see the light/get it over time.

We all need to cooperate, support each other - Opposite of the current presidental election cycle: As entertaining (in some ways) as it's been, many of us hope to never see anything like it again - it's been mainly ugly polarization and divisiveness, which isn't good for anyone.

[Jace-BeOS]

You're very welcome for the link, Jace-BeOS! OK, just a theory: maybe Korg learned that porting over a vsti (iM1) was just too resource-intensive - with iM1 being the experiment - so we might not ever see a iPolysix or a iMS-20 (Please prove me wrong, Korg!) In other words: The Gadgets may all be being built from the ground up.

It's possible, but I doubt it. The GUI is surely all new, but I doubt the DSP and whatnot is.

The Wavestation is all about evolving sounds. It does lengthy animated sonically-dominant pads well - sometimes entirely based on a single held key - Korg may simply not see it as a first choice instrument in their multi layered recording environment.

H​​mm, but why would that matter? Isn't the M1 similar in that sense? I know the Wavestation has four elements and the M1 has 2 (or am I remembering wrong?) so maybe the iWavestation is more CPU intensive, but compared to the analog modeling of Odyssy, it should less CPU (??).

Having said that: it was pointed out in the podcast that it's being released with quite a few sounds - that's what the iM1 looks like, right? And some of iM1's stuff is iap - you have to pay extra for it.

While that is true, you can buy the iM1 gadget (Darwin) for Korg Gadet and share presets between the full app and the Gadget. They've already set a precedent for that way of going about it, so why not do the same again with the iWavestation?

I dunno - since it's easy to see Korg guilty of taking a while to get things done (who knows when audio I/o will be in there? I'm confident that it will, but when?) I could see iwavestation first being released as a stand-alone app (w/iap) - and then being made available to the Gadget market sometime in the future - with those of us who bought it as an app (I'll buy it as soon as it's available) getting the Gadget functionality for free.

If they add it later, I doubt the Gadget functionality will be free.

[Cinebient]

I must say i'm a bit dissapointed because of the missing option to easy export patches/banks.
So no motivation to create some to share.
Then if i count all the little apps with the IAP together it costs the same or more than the legacy collection.
Korg offers some nice things but they melk the iOS cow pretty hard.
I still thinking to ask for a refund since important things like midi learn, sharing patches and some other things are not there.
The sound is good but it's not everything!

[DayvanCowboy]

So this App is totally insane. It makes you shake your head in disbelief that these sound are actually calculated and synthesized on an ipad. Unbelievable!

Here´s my take on it:

Unbelievable, first tier sound, in the virtual analog substractive synthesis category it takes first place easily, no question. A very good user interface from a time when synthesizers had a kind of "educational" aspect to them, complemented by a comprehensive .pdf manual. The sliders are ok to fine-adjust, but a bit fiddly.

The synth has a huge sonic spectrum, excelling especially in cutting, heavily modulated leads, drones, and effect type sounds. But the 8-voice polyphony turns this thing into a full-fledged versatile pad-machine as well. I think it does anything. With unison and/or chorus it sounds gigantic, the effects section is amazing as well, and everything can be modulated by the step sequencer / arp.

It makes you wonder, if we´re on the verge of a time, when an app for 20 bucks has so many advantages to the actual hardware, that it becomes the better choice!

What does suck about the app, is no AU audio! Gadget integration is good, but suffers from smaller screen real estate. I want Audio Unit for better integration in e.g. Cubasis

With that said, still an amazing job @Korg! A must buy for every iPad synth collector

[aMUSEd]

Bought it this weekend - it really is very good. I can see myself making more music with iOS plugins soon than desktop ones - I'm finding myself using it as a portable sound module.

[telebunke]

I can see myself making more music with iOS plugins soon than desktop ones...

I completely know what you mean.
After my old DAW PC broke down, I didn't even miss it
Well for several months, at least. Now I got a new one.
But the time with "only iPad" was very great, too. No wasting time with mouse clicks
tele

[bftucker]

I wonder if the iWavestation will also require the processing power of the newer Apple iPads. Adding to my reasons (Odyssei and Moog Model 15) for upgrading I suppose!

[DayvanCowboy]

After a week with this synth i am still absolutely stunned. It is an unbelievable analog emulation. These oscillators are the best virtual oscillators i´ve ever heard, from top to bottom end they´re amazing. From silky smooth pads to semi-modular madness, it has a soul of it´s own, like i´ve never experienced with another app/vst, and i own plenty.

Someone else mentioned, that you could push it into jupiter territory and that´s absolutely true. It sounds like a classic, that never existed as a polyphonic version.

Creating patches is a joy, but it´s so annoying that they aren´t usable in the Gadget version!

Another thing that kinda sucks, is that with the software keyboard / kaoss pads it overlaps with some crucial controls. I feel this could be designed more elegantly, like an auto overlap depending where you´re tapping on the screen.

Imho it is the absolute best virtual analog synth on iOS, not even close!

[Cinebient]

There seems to be some great vintage synth emulations on iOS now.
iVCS3 2 is coming too (also an iPhone version).
My favourite on iOS is still the Model 15 but the unison in Odyssei sounds really huge. Maybe the most massive sound in an iOS synth and nearly as good as on my favourite desktop plug-ins.
Still the patch management is terrible sadly!

[Cinebient]

Mmhhh, after some days and creating several patches for it i can say the sound is amazing and adds a great new character to the iOS world...BUT some of the controls are hard to use and especially the patch management and browser is very bad.
It even makes me stop using it and put all the fun out of creating patches.
It's more a synth for creating a fresh patch, record it and move on rather than beeing motivated to create a large patch bank.
I hope they don't do the same with the iWavestation since it is a synth i'm very interested in (but the desktop GUI is so horrible).
Sound is 4 stars from 5 (the OSC and filters are nice but the FX are crap) for me but the general workflow is a 2 out of 5 yet.
Maybe it sounds a bit harsh but since iOS is beginning competing with desktop class synths i compare them to it.
IOS synths like Mitosynth f.e. shows how a patchbrowser can be great even if you have 1000+ patches and how easy it can be even on iOS to share a patch or a full bank.
I hope Korg just don't melk the iOS cash cow via porting their old legacy vst's and "just" putting a nice GUI on it. I think it just can be good for an iOS synth when it's more easy to share and manage patches for the synths. IOS is still a dead island here.....
What i REALLY miss is drop and drag modulations and stuff. It's so much better and faster and it should be possible on iOS too these days.
It's just my meaning after using iOS since many years for music and worthless for others.
Have a nice day

[DayvanCowboy]

Model 15 is a beautiful app, but the oscillators top end doesn´t sound remotely as good as the odisseis imho.

Soundwise the Odissei is the absolute top of the line, even with effects that aren´t top shelf, but wouldn´t call them crap either.

I´d love to have more than 8 voices though...this is the only thing where desktop vsts can surpass this synth. Per voice, the sound is as good as it gets.

[DayvanCowboy]

After starting a new project where i intended to use the Odyssei and the numerous patches i´ve created in the last weeks, i must say i´m shocked and pissed off at the horrible midi / inter app audio implementation.

Sliders not midi-assignable...dealbreaker for some, but i can live with that. No tempo sync is a joke though. WTF? The worst part is the bad integration in Cubasis, especially when the much older iM1 integrates fine via IAA. Ofc there´s no IAA record/play app switch badge either. So it is absolute crap to work with, and i´ll refrain from doing so until this gets fixed.

Another joke is that you can´t use the same patches on "Lexington" the Gadget Version. I assume it´s because of the Arp/Step Sequencer, but it is absolute garbage too.

In Gadget you don´t have the Midi routing problems, but, the delay craps out when clock-synced to an external source, in my case a beatstep pro.

So long story short, amazing sound engine in a package that is just shitty to work with. I´ve updated my App Store Rating to two stars, i hope some people will join me in this effort to get KORG to elevate the App to the standard the sound engine deserves!