Hi all,
Has anyone plaied the Wersi Ikarus X1 and give some comments on it? Does it have built in speakers?

Hi!
I am playing the Wersi Abacus for the last three years and I will update it to the latest OAS version 6.0 in the next two months.As far as I know the Icarus has essentially the same features like my Abacus
-except one Microphone input- but on the other hand it comes in a much lighter/smaller cabinet and features a 72-keyboard instead of the 61 of the Abacus.
The sound and the facilities- mainly due to the built in Windows PC- of these instruments together with the proved upgradeabilty ,puts them above the rest IMHO.
Apart from the OAS Stereo samples I am using VST instruments live from within my keyboard!
And NO, there are no problems with WIndows exept if you really want to create one!
The combination of the big touch screen,push buttons and 32 real time faders makes
real-time operation very easy and fast.
If have any specific questions I would be happy to answer.

Hi and many thanks for your message!
How many styles does the instrument have from the beginning? Has it got one touch settings and multipads? Has it got sequencer?
Best regards,
Christian

Hi: Good to hear that the Wersi is working for you.

How heavy is that keyboard? Also, can you load third party windos programs on it. And can it record audio?

Thanks

[This message has been edited by to the genesys (edited 01-19-2005).]

Hi!
here are some answers to your questions:
I do not know the exact weight of the Abacus but it should be in th 30+ range mainly due to the wooden cabinet and the two woofers built under the keyboard .Also the front panel is steel and not plastic.I can load it and unload it myself from the car -to the trolley -to the stand and vice versa.The Icarus is built in quite smaller and lighhter aluminium case without the woofers so the total is 20kg.The Icarus has only mid-high speakers build in (though not exactly visible!) and there is a separate sub woofer that can be connected.The internal speakers have their own output channel with volume and EQ -amd there are two more stereo out channels that can be configured saparately.
The Icarus comes with 194 styles each with two intros-two fills/breaks/two endings and four variations.Each style has two drums tracks and 5 instrument track that can use any of the available sounds be it OAS ,VST inrtument or even external module via MIDI.The number of styles that can be loaded on the 40GB internal HD is practically unlimited but the current limit for the styles that can be stored in the OAS database is 2000.On the Icarus there are also 50 'RealDrums', that is styles where the Drum track is an audio recording of a real drummer palying.OAS databease can hold up to 500 realdrums.There are 2000 one touch settings - 'Advance Total Presets' in the Wersi language.One Preset can store many settings and if you wish may recall a Style/SMF/Wave/MP3( but not the other way round).There is a 'quick edit' page for changing the sound selection/mix/transpose etc for a sequence and an equivelant one for styles.To further edit/create styles/sequences there is a 'touch button' that takes you to Steinberg Cusbasis.A nice thing is that you can edit the sound mix for a style/sequence live,while you play and save it without having to stop.Also it is possible to assign any(or all!) of the 16 tracks of a SMF to the volume sliders and control the mix in real time.
Instead of Multipads there is a number of so-called 'effect buttons' that replay a wave file from the disk .Apart from the factory supplied sound-effects wou may record anything and use it under an effect button.Yes,you can record audio -either using the 'Digital Tape' i.e recording everyhting in stereo as you play and sing or of cource use any Windows software to do more detailed work .Wavelab-lite is preinstalled as well as a CD Rewriter.You may use the audio recording facility to record any sound and use it a 'drum instrument' in the 64 progammable drumsets. A nice detail here you may use two different drumsets in the same style at the same time.Yes, practically most Windows software can run (allthough it may void the warranty)because these instuments are build around a normal PC.I have tried NI Kontakt and absynth and Wersi themself sell a special version of NI B4 that can be controlled via the keyboard's sliders.

There is some info and samples about the Ikarus X1
here: http://www.wersi.co.uk/
GJ

Hi and many thanks for that info!
So, when using the diffrent functions, like changing styles, you go into a Windows application or will it automatically load when you switch on the unit?
What connectors does it have? Has it a mouse connector so you can navigate Windows when you're not using the other functions of the unit?
Best regards and thanks,
Christian

Hi Christian,
you operate the keyboard through a combination of hardaware buttons and sliders and the OAS application which shows various 'soft buttons' and menus on the touch screen.This OAS program is loaded automatically when you switch-on and it is this that 'runs' the whole system.There is no need to use Windows directly to operate the keyboard.(You can do it of cource if you like).Have in mind the audio processing is not done by the Windows porcessor but an array of 12 32bit Digital Signal Processors so there is no overload to the system.For changing a style/sound etc you can 'touch' the respective button shown on the screen or if you want to change to another page of styles/sounds you press the respective hardware button.You may program exactly what each button does through the 'mapping' function.
There is also the quickload function that helps you search the OAS database through user defined categories (while you still play the keyboard) to find the style/sequence/mp3/sound/preset etc you are looking for.You can start playing with the keyboard 'out of the box' but you have the possibility to transorm it to exactly what you want: Edit/Load the sounds you like (AKAI compatible), use third party VST instruments ,load all the styles/waves/SMF/SMP3 you need, then organise everyhting into user defined categories in the database for quick find,map the buttons to recall exactly what you like and memorise all your settings prssing one button to one of the 2000 setups.
In the rear of the instrument you can find all the standard PC conections(PS/2 Keyboard & mouse,USB,parallel & serial ports erc) the 2 stereo audio ins and the Microphone input ,the 3 stereo outs,two sets of MIDI ports.
In version 6.0 you may also store the lyrics sheets together with the chord symbols so you dont even have to carry any paper with you.
And if you,like me,play in different venues every week you can also memorise the output mixer and EQ/FX settings so the next time you are in the same place touch a button and everything is setup for that place.Just connect your microphone and power amp/speakers and you are ready to go!

best regards
Costas

What sort of time does it take to "boot up" from cold?

I ask this because of the instrument's underlying use of Windows, which normally takes a little while to become fully useable on a normal PC. A minute or more is not uncommon, even on a well configured, reasonably modern PC - assuming a fairly typical amount of software is loaded.

Whilst most high-end keyboards from the likes of Roland, Korg, Technics, Yamaha and the like do take a short time to load their operating systems from cold, they are normally fairly quick - say 20~30 seconds or so. Is the Wersi noticeably slower in this respect?

Hi MikeTV,
As you understand being a Windows based system it is natural to take a couple of minutes from cold boot to be operational:it loads the Windows OS, The OAS programm which in turns loads the samples to RAM nad then the VST instruments ( if any)
Before a live perfomance you can use this time to setup other things ( mike stand,cables).To avoid having this in the middle of a perfomance, I always use a small UPS /Surge protector ( as with all PCs) to avoid restarts due to power failure/problems.