Peeps said Opsix sounded bad until Jexus’ vids came out and all of a sudden it sounds good again.
Yep, that’s me…
It’s not ‘bad’, dunno, just too clean and polished. Probably FM synthesis loses its charm in hi-definition implementation. Many demos on YouTube feature very classic sounds for something like house/lounge music, some patches are almost V/A, which I am not really keen on.
Funnily enough Jexus has similar comments in his review. Link to it is on the Opsix thread.
Something I’ve been trying to remind myself of lately despite my preference for analog/hybrid stuff is that a clean and polished character doesn’t have to mean lifeless or unsatisfying. It’s always impressive when a synth doesn’t depend on either emulating or having the various idiosyncrasies of characterful hardware in order to have a full, rich, satisfying sound. The Digitone is the most recent example of this for me. In terms of character, it’s not trying to emulate older hardware and doesn’t have to, the DSP is just extremely well developed so it sounds amazing.
I haven’t heard demos of the Modwave or the Opsix yet that manage to match that, but I imagine since they have more complex architecture and are more demanding in terms of processing power it’s probably an apples-and-oranges comparison.
Korg’s Modwave page mentions the DW-8000.
Not surprisingly, various peeps have jumped on that, either in a positive way, or a negative way, citing the DW-8000’s real analog filters as reason for complaint against the Modwave before even trying it in person. It ain’t analog, therefore it must suck mentality.
Would love to see a Jexus review on this thing, as his criticisms are not as polite as other usual influencers. He says stuff like “it’s so plastic it makes me cry”. 
So it’s pretty telling when he decides the synth is a keeper instead of sending it away. Love it or hate it, he always comes out with an awesome demo vids to go with the review.
I want all three but don’t have space and am not willing to give up the wavestate to make space for either of the other two. Is a modstatesix mega synth possible? I’d think people would pay more than 3x the price of any individual one, if there were aftertouch and possibly just one or two more goodies included.
So… what are your impressions after the new demos? Or did anyone here was able to get one recently?
It’s definitely a nice and playable synth, but I’m still puzzled by its sound. On many patches it’s just a little bit of characterless and hollow. Maybe I just too used to my Blofeld with its cutting cold waves and spikes…
I just saw a post in the Wavestate thread of someone who converted their WS into a module. ( Or perhaps they meant they wanted too ? )
If that was possible with any of the three that would be great. The price is low enough and the keybed mediocre enough that this might be a popular mod. I know wanting a module of these has been posted often enough.
Thoughts anyone on a Modwave module ?
I was looking into the argon8 but now I’m torn as the modwave looks really powerful sounds great. It reminds me a little of arturia pigments which I love.
I would love to get to a shop and try one out but that won’t be possible. Perhaps someone with experience could help.
I keep hearing bad things about the keyboard on these new korgs, are they really that bad?
I have an arturia keylab MK2, would the keys be so much worse?
And does anyone have an opinion on the modwave Vs the argon8?
Good or bad are relative. Things can be not great and still not be bad.
This is what MusicRadar said in a recent article about the ModWave’s keyboard:
There’s a full-sized three-octave keyboard that feels decent but, as with Wavestate and Opsix, lacks aftertouch, despite the fact the synth can respond to poly aftertouch from an external controller.
So i think that the keyboard is perfectly usable ( so not “bad” ), but without any aftertouch it lacks an expressiveness. This in a world of keyboards like the Hydrasynth and soon the Osmose.
Recall Korg also has a Wavestate SE, with a “better” keyboard. That keyboard has 5 octave, and has aftertouch. ( Article on the SE from same magazine. )
So that’s the reason for the disappointment. You have an exciting synthesis engine that responds to poly-aftertouch attached to a keyboard that doesn’t even do simple aftertouch.
I hope that helps to understand this nuance.
As to comparison of Argon and Modwave, that’s more of an “Apples and Oranges” kind of question, which is fine but probably better addressed reading a couple short reviews of those two products.
Thanks for the reply and insight. I suppose I’ll keep trawling the internet. It is a shame about the lack of aftertouch on such a synth.
I’ve spent a few hours with Modwave and my impression is that it sounds closer to Wavestate than Microwave XT. It doesn’t have grittiness of Waldorf synth and sounds more like recent sample-based synth.
Actually, I couldn’t tell their preset wavetables from PCM layer, even when I scan them with envelopes.
Korg should have taken on the physical modeling synthesis rather than the wavetable one as the final installment in trilogy. That is where their strength lies as I miss Prophecy and original Wave Drum sounds.
I think Opsix is the best among the latest offering even without aftertouch. It is the synth meant to be for sound design and can easily go into atonal territory. The guitar amp emulation is also my favorite FX on this synth.
Did Dan Phillips or someone say that’s it, they’re done ?
No…just my speculation, I still look forward that they’d do something with physical modeling.
A bit of a nonsense here. It offers PAT but from an external Controller. At least they should have made Module versions of all 3s. It would sell like 
Sort of what they did apparently if you have a kitchen knife. So back to my recent post.
I think that the price is about right to make a great looking cut down, with some finishing. I’ve got a Hydrasynth Keys and an Osmose on the way, they both would make great controllers for a Modwave module.
Saw it, it looks nice.
Korg’s sales of products usually rely on Japanese customers, who more often than not dabble with synths for the first time. That is the reason why it has to be a full package with a keyboard and most customers aren’t concerned with aftertouch or don’t even know modules actually exist. No wonder workstations sell well in Japan as well. I reck on European customers are ones who are really into synths and Korg has to cater to different groups of people.
They did a minilogue XD module. A module doesn’t seem to me the first thing you’d choose to release. ( Though the Digitone is a good counter example. ) Korg certainly has been branching off existing product lines, like the 'logues, so a “trilogy” of four or more products, with SE versions, and module versions is not impossible. I’m just not holding my breath.
Kitchen knife anyone ?
