I came across a Korg Z1 in a second hand shop today for £250. Is that a good price? Am I right in thinking it's based on elements of the original Oasys card (and therefore does Physical modelling) as well as the monophonic Prophecy? If it is how does it compare to something like the Yamaha VL (I know it's polyphonic for a start but I mean more the models) - or to Tassman for that matter. And how easy is it to programme?

Man the Z1 is off the chain!!! It's the only hardware synth I still use. The physical modeling is very good. You can get some very good winds and speechlike sounds out of this thing. Also the basses and EPs are very nice also. Very flexible arpeggiator and easy to tweak sounds. The X-Y pad is just like the one on the Korg Chaos. Assign a parameter and go crazy. Anyway, I guess you can tell I like it. I would say if it is in mint condition anthing under $500 U.S. is a good deal. Don't sleep on this synth!!! Too many people already have.

I have always wanted a Z1 and if I had the money I'd give £250 for that right now! (and this coming from someone who's projects are about 60-80% soft-synth driven on average).

Something about the way both the old Korg Prophecy and Z1 sounded that was very unique, even today. A gem of a rare item. Not the most straight forward to program in the world but, spend time getting into the depths of it and you'll come up with some very original sounds.

Besides, has a great X-Y control surface and just looks cool

Arksun

Shit - too late to get it today - just have to hope it's there on Monday.

Not sure about the condition though - looks a little used.

That's a good price imo. A place I help out at can sell Z1's all day long at £350 - £400.

Mate, if you dont get it.. i might!. Seriously.

Uhm, soo.. whats the contact details for it?

Arksun

That's a pretty good price indeed - they can often go for well over £300.

They do seem to often be sold with case corners somewhat battered and cracked. I don't know if this is because they are so well "used" or if it's an inherent flaw in the design, but I've seen many with very similar damage in that area.

I'd probably jump at one myself, as I remember spending a little time with one a few years ago and was very much blown away by it (and I had a Prophecy at the time).

Hope it's still there come Monday for you

'does it do physical modeling' :p i think you'll enjoy.

Actually, its the other way around. It goes Prophecy -> Z1 -> OASYS PCI

The OASYS was like a Z1 to the nth degree. But having said that, the Z1 is no slouch. Just sold my OASYS to hjack, and he can tell you how much he loves it... Just as much as I did.

They have a Prophecy too - and a Wavestation EX - same price oddly enough. I don't think they know much about what they sell.

Um - I've suddenly come down with a bad case of amnesia

Should be OK in a couple of days

I just recently got a Prophecy. All tolled with shipping and customes etc it came to about $450 Canadian, which about £190. This one came in damn near pefect condition (it had a good home with Scot Solida before) and an extra memory card with a set of patches. So £250 for the Prophecy at the shop strikes me as high.

For the Z1, that sounds like a good deal, you get a few things above the Prophecy, most importantly the polyphony, but I've also heard that some of the charm of the Prophecy was lost. Some of the physical models on the Prophecy are very good, and the performance controls really make them shine (modulating with multiple modwheels at once is very cool).

www.lfo4.com is a very good resource for the Z1, but it seems to be up&down at the moment.

I've wanted one for a long time (seen my friend's Prophecy too many times).

Price is right (check ebay on that , although I'd prefer to buy it somewhere I can see it).

lucky you (hopefully)

k