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Korg wavestation vst manual7/29/2023 ![]() What particularly struck me about the Wavestation is that it has been designed, successfully, as a thoroughly excellent synthesizer. ![]() Although the guts of the machine are all digital (with 24-bit processing and 19-bit DACs), the voice architecture is based on the conventional analogue oscillator-filter-amplifier path. ![]() The Wavestation has a different implementation of Vector Synthesis to the SY22, but more importantly it adds a powerful new technique called Wave Sequencing, which lies at the heart of many of the instrument's most powerful sounds. The Wavestation is the more expensive of the two, but the SY22 and Wavestation are not really competitors, such are the differences between them, and the Wavestation must be measured against top-of-the-range instruments such as the Roland D70 and Yamaha SY77. As it turns out, however, although both synthesizers have their roots in the VS design, they are quite different and have very distinct characters. The reasons have an awful lot to do with the movements of Sequential's R&D staff after the company was bought by Yamaha, and when it was apparent that the two companies were about to launch VS-based instruments, there seemed to be a good chance of someone looking very silly - probably whoever priced their keyboard the highest. Yamaha and Korg have both recently released instruments based on the gone-but-not-forgotten Sequential VS keyboard (the SY22 and Wavestation respectively). Is it really that wonderful? The short answer is YES! The long answer is this review, so read on. Having tested, fiddled, played, composed, and listened, I have reached my conclusions. Naturally, I just had to get my hands on one to find out whether it was as wonderful as my first impression suggested. The thing is, I wasn't quite sure how much the novelty of a new instrument and new sounds, or the champagne that I'd been drinking at the Audio Media (SOS's new sister publication) launch party, contributed to my reaction. When I found the new instrument on the Korg stand, donned headphones, flipped through the presets and let my fingers wander over the keyboard, for a few brief minutes I was in heaven. More specifically, at some moments it feels great, and I had one such perfect moment when I first encountered the Korg Wavestation at the APRS '90 exhibition. ![]() Some days it just feels great to be alive.
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