Korg Wavestate questions

[pinbot]

I’m thinking of buying the original Modwave, so here are some questions.

First of all, are there any display issues? Bought a Modwave a few weeks ago and when I got it, the display was very dim and difficult to see. I’m getting a refund and don’t want to buy a replacement that has any issues. How many lanes of motion sequencing does the Wavestate have? I noticed that Korg has a store that has packs that can be purchased. Are there any packs that are free? Any alternatives to the Modwave or Wavestate I should be aware of? Thanks in advance for your help and advice.

[kritikon]

I personally have had no problems with the display screen. Can't say I've heard of any either

8 lanes. Can't remember off the top of my head what they are all for, but includes all the ones you'd expect like pitch, timing, sample, gate, filter etc. There's even one for the step sequencer - TBH I haven't ever used the step sequencer on Wavestate, but it gives another huge amount of flexibility. 64-step with each step having its own settings (including things like probability). I haven't used it simply because there's such a vast amount of tweakability already in the wavesequencing lanes that I just don't have time to get into step sequencing as well. It's a bit like they already threw in the kitchen sink with the other stuff, so now they threw in a bathroom sink with the step sequencer.

I've not come across any free packs but that doesn't mean there aren't. I vaguely remember some website where there are huge amounts of free user patches downloadable and Wavestate was definitely in there - but they were individual patches and TBH I just couldn't be arsed. Makes sense though, as Wavestate can be so deep that making your own patches can be heavily time consuming. I can spend all day programming and still only scratch the surface.

Alternatives to Wavestate? None that immediately spring to mind, certainly not in hw. There must be some other plugins out there though. The old Wavestation plugin is the obvious one, but Wavestate is so superior I dunno why anyone would go for that over the new one. It's still powerful though, and cheap. Have to admit I do still power it up every now and then, and still like it, but Wavestate is light years ahead of it.

[kritikon]

Oh yeah, how could I forget - There's Wusikstation but you take your own risk with that. I bought up to version 4 or whatever before William self-detonated and there was a litany of upset customers, money lost, updates not provided, promises broken etc etc etc. I personally wouldn't touch wusik with an extremely long bargepole if he was the last developer left standing. YMMV though. It seems some people still buy it.

[kritikon]

A third reply - as for alternatives to Modwave - that's a difficult one. It's not only wavetables but now takes samples too, so it's a bit less unique than Wavestate. 3rd Wave springs to mind for wavetables, but there are others and plenty of decent hw sample-based synths. Novation Peak/Summit can do wavetables as well as its VA thing and has analogue filters etc. Anything Waldorf as they're wavetable kings - not my cuppa tea TBH but plenty of people love them. ASM Hydrasynth. Virus - though I fail to see why anyone would spend such a fortune on such an old synth, though 2nd hand might be worth it. Arturia Freaks of different kinds - unique filters as well as wavetable crap and decent price IMO. Argon thingies - though weren't they going bust not long ago? Clavia Nords do wavetable from memory, but IMO hugely overpriced, AND too limited for that price. As for sample based - the list is too long to mention.

[egbert101]

Peak and Hydrasynth are solid synths but very limited for wavetables. The closest thing would be Waldorf's Iridium, which is considerably more expensive than a modwave. So no, what makes Modwave so good is the price as a hardware wavetable synth for the cheap models anyway, and of course for the native plugin versions. But they're still digital, so you could just as easily get the same quality with a wavetable plugin like Serum or Pigments.

As for Wavestate, its vector synthesis and wave sequencing is unique, you won't get that on anything else.

[muki]

Alternatives to Wavestate? None that immediately spring to mind,

out of curiosity (and sorry for my ignorance) - generally asking:

what is it, that makes the wavestate stand out ?
what special capabilities does the wavestate have, that other don't have ?

regardless of software plugin or hardware

i'm asking, because i might have the feeling (to put it midly) of being interested
in a wavestate available cheply in my neighbourhood, but....:

i already have more than enough hardware synths
(love the minilogue(s) and their formfactor, btw)
and in regards to wavetable i feel myself pretty well served with vital, pigments, hive etc...

so: what is it that makes the wavestate stand out, special?

thanks

[kritikon]

Its speciality is complex evolving sounds. Cinematic is where it's at. Big discordant eerie other-worldly sounds and personally I love its choral/vocal type pads that morph between strings and voices. Obviously other synths can do evolving pads, but wavesequencing fades samples into one another, which gives a unique style of sound. Some of the more esoteric samplers could probably do that, but chaining a whole load of samples into one another in a massive chain is not something I've come across anywhere else and it's the fading that's unique - it's not just an amp envelope to make them fade out and in. Other synths might be able to sequence samples to play a static staccato chain, but not blend them together.

Wavestation was a bit static in that you sequence up a load of samples, then decide how much you want to fade them into each other (or not) and that was basically it. Wavestate takes that a whole load further and lets you modulate the pitches, the order of sequence, the gate lengths, the timing of the samples and other stuff. So you could make a 16-step chain of samples and repeat - but now Wavestate lets you modulate it all up almost infinitely so that it never repeats the same way, e.g. a drumbeat can be made to emphasize different hits as it loops, play different drums randomly or not, blend drum hits into one another, even change the syncopation - probably an underutilised aspect of Wavestate IMO. It's a kind of tedious way of programming but it really does sound like no other synth - there are crossover sounds that other synths can make but you instantly recognise complex wavesequencing patches. Some of the newer spectral type plugins can do a similar kind of thing nowadays I suppose but I'd hate to try and get the same results with one of those things.

In terms of hw - I love my hw but honestly I find the plugin a whole shitload easier to program. Not so with, say Opsix, but WS is so deep that it's really not easy or fun to program from scratch in hw. I'm a hw fanatic but I would seriously advise go for the plugin rather than hw. I bought mine before the plugin was released - if I came to it today I think I wouldn't have bought the hw. BUT - the hw is a whole lot easier to tweak live than it used to be, so it can be fun. If it's a newer version you might get the better keybed etc - strangely there are lots of things like piano presets, but there's a lot of tweaking between layers and pads underneath the pianos that can make quite a difference with playing style - that's what Wavestate can do - you'll be playing a piano and tweak it so that you can change into an ethereal pad, then ease back into sharp piano sounds.

So if you want to do huge, long, evolving especially cinematic sounds - Wavestate is it. There's a couple of presets you should try on it that show off how weird it is - can't remember the name but it sounds like demons descending into the depths of hell with tortured voices bubbling up and deep bassy growls that evolves over 3 or 4 minutes and seems never to repeat. Not the kind of sound you'd put into a 4/4 banger, but one you'd put on the soundtrack to Hellraiser

[muki]

wow! thank you so much!
super great and informative answer - super thanks!

yeah, the plugin is 199 and korg does blackfriday or Xmas/newyear (with 50% off)

well...
super thanks ))

[muki]

uhmm...
is the plugin capable of being a sysex editor/remote of some kind ?

searching the old cuckoo wavestate video

uhm...and yet another:
what's the speciality of the modwave ?

[serge]

So the plugin can be had for $50 if you have the hardware. Almost worth getting a used hardware unit, getting the plugin, and if you don’t end up liking the hardware - sell it for little to no loss. I bought the hardware and find myself enjoying playing and recording fiddling with knobs but for automating and complex sequences, plugin. Hardware does have a nice editor also, which gives you access to more tweaking (FX) than the hardware alone.

[muki]

getting a used hardware unit, getting the plugin,

does the price-reduction also apply for used wavestates ?
esp, what if the seller already has bought the plugin at reduction ?
is it somehow bound to a hardware serialnumber ?

and...:
is the plugin identical to the hardware soundwise ?

just curious...

[serge]

The sound of the software is identical to the hardware. The hardware gives you a coupon to be applied against the plugin purchase. I’m pretty sure it’s a unique coupon. I don’t think it’s tied to the hardware but I could be wrong . I did this with a used Opsix keyboard. Bought the used Opsix for $300, got the plugin, sold Opsix keyboard for the same amount and bought a module instead.

[kritikon]

Yeah, pretty sure the coupon is tied to the hardware. I'm not entirely sure it's now available - I vaguely remember it was a time-limited thing for only a few months after release...but I could be wrong.

And plugin sounds same as hw. It really is the epitome of bright crisp digital sound. Usually I go for analogue etc but Wavestate just sounds so clean and crisp, it is quintessentially digital in a good way. Wavesequencing and FM are pretty well the only digital synthesis types I consider worth paying money for.

[BBFG#]

It's not tied to the hardware.
I bought both wavestate native and modwave native from hardware owners.

[egbert101]

Probably a good idea to wait for Black Friday or that time period for Korg to reduces their software plugin prices. Usually 50% off.