Korg opsix £699
Following in the footsteps of the excellent Wavestate, Korg offer up another modern take on a classic digital synth. Si Truss takes a look
CONTACT WHO: Korg WEB: korg.com KEY FEATURES ‘Altered FM synth’. Six operator engine with five operator modes – FM, Ring Mod, Filter, Filter FM, Wavefolder. 37-note keyboard with velocity and release velocity sensitivity. 16-step sequencer with six note polyphony and four Motion Sequencing automation lanes. Multimode arpeggiator. Three effect slots. Randomisation tool. I/O: 2x stereo jack main output, headphone output, MIDI i/o, USB
Korg kicked off 2020 by releasing one of the most impressive digital synths of recent years, the Wavestate – a modern take on their classic Wavestation that perfectly balanced nostalgia with modern depth and complexity. While Wavestate took pride of place at Winter NAMM 2020, Korg’s booth also featured a mysterious unlabelled and unplayable prototype; an ’80s-looking black FM synth seemingly named opsix.
It turns out opsix was more than just a ‘concept synth’ and now Korg are rounding out 2020 with a full release. While this appears to be, broadly speaking, the same under-the-hood design as the instrument that we got a glimpse of back at NAMM, the look has changed. Gone is the black, DX7-style chassis in favour of a design that matches the size and look of the Wavestate, albeit with the addition of a stylish green tint to the front panel.
The connection between opsix and Wavestate is more than just cosmetic though; the two instruments share a number of key features as well as a broad ethos, in that each presents itself as a modern update to a classic digital synthesis engine. Here, that engine is labelled ‘altered FM synthesis’, which is perhaps a slight misnomer – rather than fundamentally altering how frequency modulation synthesis works, the opsix takes a classic FM synth engine and expands upon it significantly.