Is the Korg Oasys PCI card worthwhile?

[Guitarman]

Hey guys(and gals),

I have been searching for some reliable feedback on whether or not to get one of these units to take some stress off my cpu.

Any opinions would help.

Best wishes,

JD( o}===;;;

 

[route909]

Now, I haven´t used it myself, but it´s supposed to be quite nice for what it is (was). However, software synths have surpassed it in quality by now, and if you´re planning to use it for it´s ADAT capabilities, well, there are cheaper alternatives. Another thing to think about is that the drivers will never be updated to support win 2k or xp. I´d look at another card.


Mats

 

[Guitarman]

Thanks Mats,

I will be using it on a small secondary Digi001 w/MacG4 system and I was hoping to lessen the load on the cpu and try to get more out of it. Is there another unit similar to the Oasys that is out there now? If so please recommend one.

Best wishes,

JD( o}===;;;

 

[sserendipity]

I will be using it on a small secondary Digi001 w/MacG4 system and I was hoping to lessen the load on the cpu and try to get more out of it. Is there another unit similar to the Oasys that is out there now? If so please recommend one.

It doesn't work like that, unfortunately.

First - it's not a 'cpu' card - it's a full sound card, with ADAT, SPDIF and a reasonably good analog I/O. While you can process internal audio 'streams', you can't reroute those to your other hardware - they would have to go out the Oasys's audio outs.

Second (and this is the important part) it's an 'orphan' product. Korg did a hopeless job of marketing this card, and consequently made no money on it. As a result, they dropped it, and you are stuck without win2k/XP/OSX support - in the land on OS 9 and win98 if you want to use the card.

I am using mine in a 'dead box' - on it's own, in a computer I would have otherwise thrown away as obsolete - as a standalone synth/effects unit. With the spdif and ADAT, I have ten channels going in from my DAW, and I'm really happy with it - for the price, it's an incredible deal.

As well as good sounding effects and reverbs, they bundled most of the sound set of the Triton and it's expansion cards with the card, and analog modelling that you can't find elsewhere (From the original Oasys keyboard that never made it out the door). I'm still discovering models and features that I haven't checked out on it. It's also got more horsepower than a TDM Farm Card.

Hope that helps....

bIz

 

[Guitarman]

Thanks Biz

I don't mind light piping between the 001 and the other card. It is my understanding that is how it works. I know it is a stand alone I/O but I will mostly use it for it's sounds and some Revs etc.

Thanks everybody for your input.

Best wishes,

JD( o}===;;;