Korg FISA SUPREMA

[Walker]

After reading the owner's manual and seeing some of the videos and recent comments about the FISA, It seems to me, the FISA is a "Cut Above" the 8X.

I'm withholding judgement until I've heard the bagpipe sounds. Everyone's keeping schtum on that front... I wonder why.

 

[CPez]

I said to my wife "If I could play a tenth as well as Cory I'd love to get my hands on one". (The truth is I probably play around a thousandth as well as you!)

Trust me, I'm not 1000 OR 100 times better haha. Jacob Collier or Natalie Tannenbam might be.

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Cory - Is there an option to turn the illumination on the buttons OFF?

Yes! You can click any 3 register buttons at the same time, and the lights go off; yet everything continues to work as it should. But looks WAY better.

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Hi Cory,

I have a question about the heart of the instrument emulation - the bellows!

Because the bellows are Such a personal preference, I'll explain it this way - The 7X to me was 95% of the way to being a Real Feeling Accordion. The 8X was 99%. This is 99.5%.

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Home of John McGuiness. Who has a couple wins to his name at a certain motorbike race.

John is from there?! That's Awesome! He's SUCH a Legend. All TT guys are of course, regardless if they win or win a Ton like him.

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After reading the owner's manual and seeing some of the videos and recent comments about the FISA, It seems to me, the FISA is a "Cut Above" the 8X.

Of Course! You think KORG would have taken years and Dexibell years and years, and NOT made it a Full Cut Above? Yes, there are things people will like on the 8X/Evo more than this, JUST like I like not just a Few things, but about 90% of things on the 7X BETTER than the 8X/Evo even though it's 5 years older technology.

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I'm withholding judgement until I've heard the bagpipe sounds. Everyone's keeping schtum on that front... I wonder why.

There are No Bagpipes haha. Don't Worry. They must have heard that Everyone Hated the Bagpipes. Though, they should have been on it regardless. it's not like a patch takes up any memory.

 

[EuroFolker]

I'm withholding judgement until I've heard the bagpipe sounds. Everyone's keeping schtum on that front... I wonder why.

No electronic device will do justice to the real sounds of a dead animal’s bladder

 

[dak]

There are No Bagpipes haha. Don't Worry. They must have heard that Everyone Hated the Bagpipes. Though, they should have been on it regardless. it's not like a patch takes up any memory.

I don't think bagpipe sounds make a lot of sense without weapons-grade loudspeakers.

 

[saundersbp]

Because the bellows are Such a personal preference, I'll explain it this way - The 7X to me was 95% of the way to being a Real Feeling Accordion. The 8X was 99%. This is 99.5%.

Thanks for the response, very helpful. The Korg Fisa product manager - an acoustic player himself - described the bellows as 95% similar so that is reassuring especially as he had such a trustworthy face. Given you can switch the lights off, and presumably disable novelty gadgets and kitsch sounds, it looks good. I will be rushing to try one as soon as it reaches the Korg dealer in Morecambe, just mindful that Bambi was only released there last year, so considerable consumer patience is required!

 

[Walker]

The Korg Fisa product manager - an acoustic player himself - described the bellows as 95% similar so that is reassuring especially as he had such a trustworthy face

This is kinda off-putting... 5% difference may not sound like a lot, but much of the essential nuance and artistry in a performance will come from the musician's subtle use of the bellows. To me, bellows are THE most important element of the instrument. Only 95% is a concern...

 

[dak]

This is kinda off-putting... 5% difference may not sound like a lot, but much of the essential nuance and artistry in a performance will come from the musician's subtle use of the bellows. To me, bellows are THE most important element of the instrument. Only 95% is a concern...

The concern is more the use of handwaving metrics. 95% can mean anything. I am fairly sure that it doesn't mean "in a double blind test of representative accordion players, 95% of listeners were not able to tell with more than 60% certainty whether they were hearing an accordion player controlling the reeds in their instrument directly by bellows pressure or by an electric compressor controlled by a bellows pressure sensor". And there we are talking about the listeners. And the actually relevant metric there would be "listeners liked better".

With the players, I don't even have an idea how one could hope to make a double blind test.

 

[Alan Sharkis]

The concern is more the use of handwaving metrics. 95% can mean anything. I am fairly sure that it doesn't mean "in a double blind test of representative accordion players, 95% of listeners were not able to tell with more than 60% certainty whether they were hearing an accordion player controlling the reeds in their instrument directly by bellows pressure or by an electric compressor controlled by a bellows pressure sensor". And there we are talking about the listeners. And the actually relevant metric there would be "listeners liked better".

With the players, I don't even have an idea how one could hope to make a double blind test.

This reminds me of a cartoon I saw many years ago. Two kids in a first grade class approach their teacher and announce that they’ve made a survey.

Teacher: You made a survey? Of what?

Kids: .. of why parakeets leave home. We found that 20% of all parakeets leave home because they don’t like the food, 70% leave home to visit relatives and the remaining 10% leave home to find their fortunes in the outside world,

Teacher: That’s very interesting! How many parakeets did you interview?

Kids: Two.

 

[Thomas N]

This is kinda off-putting... 5% difference may not sound like a lot, but much of the essential nuance and artistry in a performance will come from the musician's subtle use of the bellows. To me, bellows are THE most important element of the instrument. Only 95% is a concern...

I've played an FR-8X for ten years - hundreds and hundreds of hours. For me personally, there is NO difference after this much time spent with it. The nuances and subtleties of the bellows on both my FR-8X and 960 are indistinguishable to me. It it is the least of my concerns with a digital reedless accordion.

 

[KeysFla]

My concern with the FISA is how it sounds from the factory? My experience with any Korg product I purchase, always was pleased with the factory settings.

 

[JerryPH]

My concern with the FISA is how it sounds from the factory? My experience with any Korg product I purchase, always was pleased with the factory settings.

The big point to remember here... the FISA is a Korg in NAME ONLY. The sounds are from Dexibell. If you are expecting KORG sonds on the Fisa, that's going to be a disappointment.

 

[kep]

The big point to remember here... the FISA is a Korg in NAME ONLY. The sounds are from Dexibell. If you are expecting KORG sonds on the Fisa, that's going to be a disappointment.

AFAIK the accordion sounds are Korg's and supposed to be extended.

 

[KeysFla]

The big point to remember here... the FISA is a Korg in NAME ONLY. The sounds are from Dexibell. If you are expecting KORG sonds on the Fisa, that's going to be a disappointment.

Korg already has excelled in the accordion sounds. Whether Dexibel or Korg sounds, I am sure this is going to be a great instrument. Looking forward to hearing more out of the box sounds…

 

[Pipemajor]

This must be a record.
No one has mentioned Korg Fisa Suprema for a whole Day!!

 

[Alan Sharkis]

This must be a record.
No one has mentioned Korg Fisa Suprema for a whole Day!!

You just did

By the way, Luigi Bruti posted a couple of short how-to videos re: rhe Fisa Suprema on Facebook.

 

[Pipemajor]

You just did

By the way, Luigi Bruti posted a couple of short how-to videos re: rhe Fisa Suprema on Facebook.

Not really. the last post was Monday and there were no posts Tuesday.

 

[Alan Sharkis]

The first video shows Luigi Bruti performing Ravel's Bolero on the Fisa Suprema. In the second video, he explains how he programmed the selection.

Any resemblance between Luigi Bruti and Bo Derek is purely coincidental

 

[Thomas N]

Dale Mathis has a dozen Fisa videos up now. I've watched them. Dale plays rather simple songs - no glissandos or speed runs - and appears to concentrate on user programs and combinations with his playing.

After watching them all I've come to the conclusion that the switch just isn't worth it with the Roland FR-8X I've been playing for 10 years. I only have four UPGs I use but I hopped into the editor and created 10 more based upon what I heard from Dale's Fisa demonstrations. They are very close.

I find the Fisa organs to be superior, the pianos to be superior, and maybe a couple of other instruments. But I don't use pianos. The organ I use on the FR-8X is combined with an accordion sound to give that Cordovox effect and works fine.

The Fisa is $8000 despite earlier reports to the contrary. For me personally, there's just not enough there to warrant a switch. In fact, it made me call the local Roland Service Center and set up an appointment to replace my MIDI board. That hasn't worked in a year but it will be nice to have my BK-7M back in action with the FR-8X.

I'm waiting for Richard Noel's demos of the accordion. That should really provide some insight into what it can do.

Before I'm shelled into oblivion, it's a fine accordion and I'm really happy Korg brought it to market. Maybe the smaller offering for somewhere around $5K will be intriguing. Maybe they'll release software updates like Roland did and include more and more features - including that one that will be the killer feature for me.

I hope more forum users purchase them and start posting their thoughts. I don't have any social media so cannot join the Facebook group that has a lot of information.

 

[Alan Sharkis]

Dale Mathis has a dozen Fisa videos up now. I've watched them. Dale plays rather simple songs - no glissandos or speed runs - and appears to concentrate on user programs and combinations with his playing.

After watching them all I've come to the conclusion that the switch just isn't worth it with the Roland FR-8X I've been playing for 10 years. I only have four UPGs I use but I hopped into the editor and created 10 more based upon what I heard from Dale's Fisa demonstrations. They are very close.

I find the Fisa organs to be superior, the pianos to be superior, and maybe a couple of other instruments. But I don't use pianos. The organ I use on the FR-8X is combined with an accordion sound to give that Cordovox effect and works fine.

The Fisa is $8000 despite earlier reports to the contrary. For me personally, there's just not enough there to warrant a switch. In fact, it made me call the local Roland Service Center and set up an appointment to replace my MIDI board. That hasn't worked in a year but it will be nice to have my BK-7M back in action with the FR-8X.

I'm waiting for Richard Noel's demos of the accordion. That should really provide some insight into what it can do.

Before I'm shelled into oblivion, it's a fine accordion and I'm really happy Korg brought it to market. Maybe the smaller offering for somewhere around $5K will be intriguing. Maybe they'll release software updates like Roland did and include more and more features - including that one that will be the killer feature for me.

I hope more forum users purchase them and start posting their thoughts. I don't have any social media so cannot join the Facebook group that has a lot of information.

I've seen some of those Dale Mathis videos with the Korg. Dale uses the same approach to programming and orchestrating on the Korg as he does with the Roland FR-1x. He doesn't get into the unique features of the instrument in the same way as Bruti, or Corey, etc., -- at least not yet. I, too, would be curious to see what Richard Noel does with it. But I agree that the price has to come down except for those people who have money to burn, I don't know what the price of the smaller "C" model will be when it's introduced, but it will, of necessity, lack some of the features of the current model. There are hints about that in the Quick Start Guide.

 

[JerryPH]

The Korg is nice, but its not $10,000+ CDN nicer than an 8X. Ultimately, for me the deal breaker was no editor. Currently not going to even consider the Fisa... unless I won the lottery, then it would just be because I was curious, not because ai really, really wanted one.