I recently visited my local secondhand store (Cash Generator UK) and seen a Korg Wavestation EX going for £250. I asked for a demo and they agreed. Anyway when they switched the synth on, nothing appeared on the display. They told me not to worry because it usually takes a few seconds for it to warm up before it will switch on which I found suspicious. Anyway once the board switched on I found that the backlight on the display didn't work and the Bank, Edit, Midi, Global, View and Test buttons under the display no matter how hard I pressed on them didn't work either. They told me that I would be around £17 for a new light for the display and that they would take the difference off. I told them that I would contact my local music store to ask how much it would be the repair the display. When I told the guy at my local music store the state of the synth and the price it was going for, he told me to forget it because repairing it would cost a lot of money and Korg don't stock any spares for the Wavestation as its an old synth. He told me to go back to my local secondhand store and ask to buy it for £50. I didn't bother though. The thing I find pathetic is that the Korg Wavestation EX is advertised in good condition on the Cash Generator website yet it has all those issues.

If you are looking for a wavestation buy the virtual one from korg. It has all the roms and various editions included. Not to mention it's a heck of a lot easier to edit.

I already own the software version and its awesome. However, I read that the hardware version sounds better and I was very disappointed that the Wavestation EX I demoed at my local cash generator secondhand store had faults considering it was selling for £250 and was advertised as good condition.

I own a Wavestation EX since around 2004/2005 and also got the plugin. The plugin is good but sound wise i still prefer the real thing not to forget it's much more fun using a real vector stick.

At the current price of both the hardware WS (e.g. at eBay) and the plugin i would get both (if i would not already have them...).
Anyway maybe you should start with the software and get the hardware later if you like the synth.


Ingo

I have had the Korg Legacy Collection software Wavestation since it came out in 2004. I have always wanted a hardware Wavestation since they first came out in the early 1990s. i was excited when my local secondhand shop had one for sale but very disappointed when I found out the synth was faulty even though it was advertised as good on the shops online advertisment

Anyway I am glad I didn't buy it considering it had those faults.

I had the hardware and software versions simultaneously too (I had a WS EX and a WS AD module) and I thought the difference lay primarily in frequency response. The software has a more present top end and the hardware sounded a little softer/more muted up top with maybe a bit more of a low-mid bump. I can understand why people want real PPG's and Prophet VS's, since those have analog voice components and offer a more marked sonic difference vs. software emulations.

I've wished for years that Korg would wheel out a Wavestation MKII with MUCH better filters (filter on the WS, hardware AND plugin, is pretty mediocre) and some other enhancements. It seems like the only place they're interested in perpetuating the vector/wavesequencing technologies post-1990's, however, is in high-priced workstations like Oasys and Kronos.

Much of the wavestation is in Korgs ai synth included in the kronos.

The problem with the h/w Wavestation's LCD backlight is well known. My keyboard WS is unusable because of it and repair is apparently either not feasible or else very expensive.

To boot, the keyboard is of mediocre quality. I don't know how many times I had to dismantle the blasted thing and repair faulty keys. May it R.I.P.

The software version sounds so much better, IMO, and has neither keyboard nor LCD problems. It shouldn't be impossible to rig a game joystick through MIDI, either. If you want to muffle the sound to make it more 'true to the original', an EQ is your friend…

Joachim

For many of us WS owners, I think we disabled the backlight because it used to give a whining sound. I had the one of the early models and sold my WS a few years ago, and some of the selection keys became less responsive over the years. I just bought the Korg wavestation legacy softare version today and loaded one of my old sysex banks and it brought me back many memories from the early 90's!

To my ear and memory, I couldn't hear any difference except the softsynth patches obviously load instantly rather than taking seconds as with the hardware version. I terms of frequency balance, I guess it depends on which soundcard you are playing through. The legacy synth also has all the extra banks and cards that were introduced over the years.

I have to admit the synth sounds dated, and i probably wouldnt waste much time reaquainting myself with the editing process, when there are synths like Absynth and Massive around these days. But for kitsch value, great fun.

I cannot believe in this day and age that someone would want to waste money on purchasing a hardware synth that has been near perfectly recreated in software but with the added bonus of internal mixing, multiple instances, zero noise, no hardware issues or repairs, no space or no additional electricity costs.

Goodness me, the hardware version sounds NO better than the software and won't do anything more for your music.

I'm all for hardware synths at bargain prices but £250 for that? At best it is worth £100 in good condition.

If people stopped believing the hype about hardware, including analogue then prices would be sensible. If software versions of my synths came out tomorrow I'd ditch the hardware in an instance as its a PIA to setup and maintain.