I use it live and it sounds awesome. I admit the sequencer isn't nearly as easy to use as Cubase or Sonar but it is still very powerful. I use Cubase 4 to organise tracks and then import to the Oasys (as SMF's) and use the internal sounds/effects which are stunning. Couldn't manage without it now and I back up all my work on an external hard drive should mine ever get stolen.

Even after 12 months I am still finding new things that the Oasys will do and it feels like I have just found a new keyboard every time.

Mike Conway has released an unoffical DVD turorial which gives a good insight into some of the things the Oasys can do. Search Korg forums Oasys for links to the DVD and other good Oasys resources.

Pros: sound quality, most synthesis types are covered now (Rompler, 3 VA Engines, Semi-Modular, Wavestation, Physical Modeling, FM Synthesis with DX-7 patch import, and Hammond B3 simulation, integrated hardware surface that is preconfigured to work with the built-in sounds and sequencer/hard disk recorder, tons of storage and super fast load times. Almost every screen has a help page that displays pages from the instruction manual (pres the help button). I expect it will take me a lifetime to even begin to exploit the possibilities because so much sonic ground is covered here.

Major Con: The sequencer is still in the stone-age. It's not that it has a poor resolution or that it only has 16 tracks, it's just that there is no visual editing and it is a pain to record multiple takes and comp, so you better be a good player and practice before you record. To deal with the sequencer's shortcomings I bought a Roland MV-8800, which I have gotten to sync up nicely with the recorder section in the OASYS (leave a blank measure at the beginning of the song to avoid crankiness). So with this pair I have over a hundred MIDI tracks and 32 audio tracks, which is plenty for me.

There's a lot of negativity towards this keyboard because it is impossible to understand what it is from a quick in store demo and the price seems high (Korg puts the cheese-ball one key wonder sounds up front). The reality is that you can pick one up used for under $5k and new for around $7k. For someone that buys a Motif & a Fantom it's close to the price of owning both. The MP3s at Korg's website don't demonstrate the sparkling clarity of the sound engine. If you're tired of adding pieces on to your rig, this should satisfy your GAS for many years to come.

The Features are over the top, if you are a piano player who has a bar gig and dose cover songs for a living, or if you are a sound designer working in a jingle house doing commercials and or film scores. However if you are buying this to be an all in one work station and think for a minute your going to be able to work with out a computer you are so SOL. You will still need your computer because the sequencer and HD recorder are absolutely worthless unless of course your one of the type’s who can nail a first take every-time. My QY 20 has a better sequencer and I would take a MPC 500 over the O for sampling and as far as the HD recording goes,editing is, just well worthless! Do not sale other gear to buy this all in one workstation you will still need it!!! Good luck upgrading. RAM max is 2 GIG’s and once you load an instrument or two this is eaten up quick and it leave’s little for sampling. On top of this the USB is 2.0 B only meaning you can not connect it to your computer only HD’s for storage or back up. Korg did give you 4 of these As if you will need more then one! Touch screen is cool and an absolute to navigate the system but it is menu driven (not musical) and its really nothing other then a POS system like in any Bar (no drag and drop!!!) No mouse expansion this is a major flaw they should have put a track pad on the deck for mouse function and then let it function as a KAOSS Pad when needed but this might happen in Oasys extreme after Korg drop the price on these when sale drop.

The Sounds are good, some quite good and some are total crap! Like everything. They are Korg sounds all day long they don’t just sit there they jump out at you if your using a string patch or woodwind till you switch out of combi mode and or drop the effects then they fall through the floor boards. If you are a piano player you will love this rig but if you know the difference between a Moog and a Nord you are going to fall over laughing,,, No Joke. For analogue emulation I would rather have a Alesis Micron! The MS-20 and Poly 6 are cool but they cost extra and I would take Virus TI over them both any day of the week! I now the Virus cost more then the MS-20/ Poly 6 add ons so let me say I would rather own a Virus TI and take my extra $5.5 and invest it into other gear.

She is stable 1 plus here Korg and for extra info you can use the the Oasys form although it has about 2000 threads and can be overwhelming to find what your looking for and why should you need to anyway its an instrument for music not an IT router for IBM.

So if his key board were stolen would I buy another one fuck no I would through a party! I cant even sale mine for 1/2 the price a paid for it on Ebay. IM not kidding I paid $8K 6 months back and I cant even get $4K for it now. Mine is on SS now and I have not even gotten an email. She is in brand new condition never left the home studio. Now days music is just a hobby for me, I opted to buy the Oasys after playing her for a bit but not taking the time to really dig into her. The sounds sold me and the idea that I might at last be buying a bit of gear that would not need to talk to any of my other gear and would not need countless updates and and when one OS change it would not work with the new one and so on (IM a logic user sense the Notator dayz) seemed to good to be true and it was. I was wrong I should have done my home work and saved my self $8K! Just updating this thing is nightmare!!! Korg should have market this boat anchor as what it is re hacked version of gear from the past ten years a Wave Station, Karma, 01W, Triton and soft ware version of the MS-20/Poly 6 in a Windows/Linux based box with a Point of Sale touch screen for Piano players who do Barry Manilow cover and want to split there key section into 4 zones.

I plan to purchase one early 2007.