Korg multi/poly

[kritikon]

Doubt very much that will happen. They are likely to release a big SE version, same as Wavestate, Opsix with full size and aftertouch etc but at a premium. It won't be anywhere within budget price. That's the compromise you get with these small synths. If you want big, you pay for it.

[Cuauhtli]

Poly aftertouch has been around long enough and the technology has advanced far enough for it to be implemented easily enough. The hardware manufacturers just need something to justify charging thousands of dollars for their premium versions.

[kritikon]

It's been around a while but the reality is you pay heftily for it from all but one company. That's not going to change any time soon. It suits me anyway, as I really couldn't care less about MPE - I won't complain about it being on my UBXa, but I don't actually use it at all. I almost never used even channel aftertouch for decades now. If Behringer could do an even cheaper version of UBXa without aftertouch and save a few hundred $s I'd have bought it like a shot.

[Hanz Meyzer]

Does the device have a graphical / analyzer like view like the opsix?

[suthnear]

Not an overall one. It does show a graphic representation of the oscillators, though.

[suthnear]

A few feature requests:
- it would be really handy if the knobs could transmit CCs. This would make it much more useful as a controller in the studio
- a sync feature for the librarian application would be amazing. It could compare the hardware presets and plugin presets and ensure they are identical

[zerocrossing]

Poly aftertouch has been around long enough and the technology has advanced far enough for it to be implemented easily enough. The hardware manufacturers just need something to justify charging thousands of dollars for their premium versions.

No matter what, it is an additional cost, and while I'm a full on polyphonic aftertouch, or MPE fan, I think you're overestimating our numbers. I'm sure they're better now, but my guess is that most people don't even use channel aftertouch. I do appreciate that the multi/poly responds to polyphonic aftertouch, even though the hardware version doesn't have a polyphonic aftertouch keyboard.

[Jim Roseberry]

No matter what, it is an additional cost, and while I'm a full on polyphonic aftertouch, or MPE fan, I think you're overestimating our numbers. I'm sure they're better now, but my guess is that most people don't even use channel aftertouch. I do appreciate that the multi/poly responds to polyphonic aftertouch, even though the hardware version doesn't have a polyphonic aftertouch keyboard.

As someone who primarily plays keyboards live (vs studio), I can definitely live without Polyphonic Aftertouch... but I use Channel Aftertouch a lot.
If I have to play something like the horns on Robert Palmer's "Addicted To Love", it's perfect for the volume/timber swells. Yes, I could use a CC pedal, but that's much more of a pain.

In general, I don't tend to keep keyboards with less than 61 keys.
I prefer a minimum of 73/76.

I know it would cost significantly more, but I'd like to see the Multi-Poly concept expanded.
Larger keyboard with Aftertouch, large touch-screen, and more knob/button/slider per-function UI, more processing power (higher polyphony at highest over-sampling), etc.
Add the ability to incorporate multi-samples... and you'd have a keyboard that could compete with the Nord Wave 2 and similar "hybrid" (VA/Samples) keyboards.

[cryophonik]

Similar opinion here. I'm a formally trained keyboardist and, although I don't play "live" (as in other venues) anymore, I do play and live-record many/most of my hardware synth lines straight into my DAW. While doing this, I usually am changing synth parameters in real-time (e.g., mod wheel, filter cutoff and/or resonance, filter envelopes, sometimes macro knobs, and definitely aftertouch). I rely on channel aftertouch quite a bit for this approach, but I can't say that I feel like I'm missing anything by not having poly AT or MPE. Then again, I haven't made deep use of these features on a hardware synth (other than a MicroFreak that I owned for a short period), so maybe I would become a convert if I did.

[zerocrossing]

Similar opinion here. I'm a formally trained keyboardist and, although I don't play "live" (as in other venues) anymore, I do play and live-record many/most of my hardware synth lines straight into my DAW. While doing this, I usually and changing synth parameters in real-time (e.g., mod wheel, filter cutoff and/or resonance, filter envelopes, sometimes macro knobs, and definitely aftertouch). I rely on channel aftertouch quite a bit for this approach, but I can't say that I feel. like I'm missing anything by not having poly AT or MPE. Then again, I haven't made deep use of these features on a hardware synth (other than a MicroFreak that I owned for a short period), so maybe I would become a convert if I did.

I bet you would. I became aware of polyphonic aftertouch when I bought an Ensoniq TS-10 in the 90s. When I got rid of it a decade later, I was surprised to find that it had gone away while I wasn’t paying attention. I got used to channel aftertouch, but I never gave up looking for it. Now I use a Native Instruments S61 mk3, and it’s been great. I had a GEM S2 before that, and while that felt great, it became stiffer and stiffer as time went on, and I estimated that with the sensitivity all the way up, I’d not be able to comfortably use it in a year or two. I briefly used a Hydrasynth Deluxe, which was OK feeling, but not great. Moving to the S61 has been great. It’s a touch lighter feeling than the Ensoniq or GEM, but still very good.

[serge]

As much as I tried to talk myself out of getting the multi/poly, I ended up caving in. I'm not sure if it's because there was an empty spot on my desk just begging for it to fit in or having an instrument with 4 OSCs. I do really like it and the sound quality is just top notch. Together, all four of these are like a 1-key wonder: could sound like a complete song - i.e. Drum sequence from Wavestate, SFX/background from Modwave, Bass sequence from Opsix, and a synth & arp sequence from modwave. I've got a single LaunchPad Pro going through a midihub, sending MIDI to each of the 4 modules, and routed to one of them cheap temu 6 channel mixers and into Digitakt. This makes for a really rapid loop creation.

4 modules.jpg

One side note, to my ears, these Korg modules in general have a character that I'd describe as bright, on cooler side. I do reach for a touch of external warmth whenever using them in the track. For me however, this is very much complimentary to Elektron, where I find the character to be on the opposite side, warmer/darker. The instruments from both of these companies fit really well together.

[serge]

This was an awesome interview with Dan Phillips.

Very insightful to learn about the background and decision making behind the synth.