Korg Radius - What You think

[differentbydesign]

Can I ask what owners of the Radias think of this synth as compared to other offerings on the market. How is it for ambient and Berlin school electronic in particular?

Rgds

[TAV]

Id take a look at some of the Youtube videos of it in action. I was quite surprised how good it sounded.

[xpander]

great synth engine, great interface, super easy to make patches into vocoder patches, too. my only gripe is that it really lacks the multitimbral horsepower that you would expect from nice modern digital synth. it has 4-part multi power, but the user interface really lends itself to patch layering which eats up multi parts. it may become more popular once it goes out of production because it is a great synthesizer and has a flashy interface, and lots of knobs hold value:

[Zarith]

Can I ask what owners of the Radias think of this synth as compared to other offerings on the market. How is it for ambient and Berlin school electronic in particular?
Rgds

It's not the best sounding synth I ever used, but's one of the most creative and flexible. Korg didn't play the boring "analog-like" game. It's a digital synth and proud to be one!

I'm having a lot of fun with the dual filter, the wave shaper and the modulation sequencer. The effect section is a "sound machine" in itself. 3 different effects can be used together: Grain Shifter, Modulation Delay, Decimator, Ring modulation, Rotary Speaker,etc... a sound designer's dream! Amazing.

For ambient music, you'll love it. It's very good at creating evolving textures. For typical Berlin School sounds, I think you will be frustrated. It's a bit too sharp and bright for this kind of music. But who knows? It might work...

Check also the R3, it uses the same engine (in a "lite" version: you get 2 parts instead of 4. The polyphony is reduced to 8 voice and there are no drum kits).

BTW: the Radias can load MS2000 and MicroKorg patches. It's not a 1:1 translation, but it's close.

Cheers

[gd]

I've owned one for just over 1 year, and keep finding new reasons to play it. For live gigs I do use a tube preamp with it (as well as the JP-8080).

[Track2]

Has anyone got a Radias and a MS2000 for comparison?

The interface and some of the architecture looks similar and I wondered if the Radias was a MS2000 that had been developed further?

thanks

T2

[Joey]

Has anyone got a Radias and a MS2000 for comparison?

The interface and some of the architecture looks similar and I wondered if the Radias was a MS2000 that had been developed further?

thanks

T2

They sound vastly different, they use completely different sound engines, my guess is korg just cheaped out on the front panel when developing the radias.

[Track2]

Thanks

[Zarith]

Has anyone got a Radias and a MS2000 for comparison?

The interface and some of the architecture looks similar and I wondered if the Radias was a MS2000 that had been developed further?

thanks

T2

Well, like I said, you can load MS2000 patches in the Radias (with the "MS2KRadiasConv" software), and they do sound similar, many are even exactly the same. I don't understand why Joey writes the opposite...

Now, The Radias goes of course further than the MS2000. It's the same concept, but expanded. You get : MS2000 + FM Synthesis (Variable Phase Modulation) + Formant Synthesis + Continous Multi-mode Filters + "Kaoss" Effects + Wave Shaper + Formant Motion +....

If you like the MS2000, the Radias is just like heaven!

[Carey M]

Can I ask what owners of the Radias think of this synth as compared to other offerings on the market. How is it for ambient and Berlin school electronic in particular?

Korg didn't play the boring "analog-like" game. It's a digital synth and proud to be one!
...
For typical Berlin School sounds, I think you will be frustrated. It's a bit too sharp and bright for this kind of music.
...
Check also the R3, it uses the same engine (in a "lite" version: you get 2 parts instead of 4. The polyphony is reduced to 8 voice and there are no drum kits).

Judging by my experience with the R3, I agree with Zarith's assessments. For Berlin School I'd rather use something like an Ion/Micron or preferrably real analogue.

I'm really liking the R3 btw. It cuts through really nicely, programming is dead easy and the vocoder is super-duper-fantastic. The sound is very digital, glossy and modern but also very thin compared to real analogues and some other VAs. I'm also running into some limitations programming-wise, but a full-blown radias would solve some of those...

- CM

[Track2]

Has anyone got a Radias and a MS2000 for comparison?

The interface and some of the architecture looks similar and I wondered if the Radias was a MS2000 that had been developed further?

thanks

T2

Well, like I said, you can load MS2000 patches in the Radias (with the "MS2KRadiasConv" software), and they do sound similar, many are even exactly the same. I don't understand why Joey writes the opposite...

Now, The Radias goes of course further than the MS2000. It's the same concept, but expanded. You get : MS2000 + FM Synthesis (Variable Phase Modulation) + Formant Synthesis + Continous Multi-mode Filters + "Kaoss" Effects + Wave Shaper + Formant Motion +....

If you like the MS2000, the Radias is just like heaven!

Thanks for this Zarith.

I do absolutly love the ms2000 to bits. The interface is one of its strengths imo and the similarity of interface on the Radias is therefore very tempting when you consider the enhanced feature set that you highlight.

Its still too expensive imo- £650 uk sterling for the rack. When they are price dropped again or easily available second hand I doubt I'll be able to resist.....

[tallowwaters]

does the R3 have the same effects as the Radias?

[xpander]

i bought radias (keyboard version, which also disconnects as the regular rackmount module) used for $750 us dollars in flawless condition.

[Zarith]

does the R3 have the same effects as the Radias?

Yes. The effect engine is exactly the same.

Cheers!

[Joey]

Has anyone got a Radias and a MS2000 for comparison?

The interface and some of the architecture looks similar and I wondered if the Radias was a MS2000 that had been developed further?

thanks

T2

Well, like I said, you can load MS2000 patches in the Radias (with the "MS2KRadiasConv" software), and they do sound similar, many are even exactly the same. I don't understand why Joey writes the opposite...

Now, The Radias goes of course further than the MS2000. It's the same concept, but expanded. You get : MS2000 + FM Synthesis (Variable Phase Modulation) + Formant Synthesis + Continous Multi-mode Filters + "Kaoss" Effects + Wave Shaper + Formant Motion +....

If you like the MS2000, the Radias is just like heaven!

I never said you couldn't load the patches, I just said the synths sound very different. The patches will obviously have overall the same sound because they are the same patch, but its like if i programmed identical patches on my virus and nord. They are the same sound, but they have different tones.

I used to own a microkorg, and when it came time to buy a new synth, it was between the nord lead 2x and the radias. I did a back to back of all three, and the microkorg and radias definitely sounded different.