My best regards to all of you.I am entertaing people using my voice + keyboard(s) for twenty years now and i am watcing this forum for most than a year and i really appreciate it.
I would like to make some comments on the Wersi Abacus which i am playing for three months to entertain my audiences.
1.NO CRASHES !!!(yes its true beleive it)
2.the easiest to use live>many big programmable buttons with LEDs +7.8' COLOR touch screen +real time volume sliders & organ drawbars
3.THREEE different sound generatorson board: XG midi+special DSP card (6 SHARC DSPs) + DSP Organ(opotional) plus Harmoniser(optional) with only one 24bit D/A converter before the output ie all sound mixing is done digitally.Maximum polyphony actually exceeds 128 notes even when using organ sounds+samples in all levels.
4.1000 freely programmable presets literally at a touch of a button which recall instantly all sounds/mixing/styles/smf etc from the standard 40GB H/D where i have already stored some hundnreds of..everything
5.Also 24bit digital mixing for 2 mics + 3 stero ins to 3 stereo out including parametric EQ > i dont need a mixing desk
6.Sampled sounds are great , i have also loaded AKAI sounds>no problem ,i am now trying software synths seems ok.
7.Completely software based already in version 3.30,more to come on CD free of charge.
8.normal pc components > i have a backup hard disk just in case
9.I run other audio + midi s/w directly on the instrument i.e sequences,mp3 players( real time mixiung with what i play) etc
You may say i like it exept one thing
its 'a little heavy;
I can give you more details if you like.

sorry !
i forgot CD player,CD writer,Karaoke,
realtime pickup list for style,smf,or 24-bit wave backings,real time synth like edit of sample sounds,real time mixinf of stles etc...

Thanks. Its about time we heard from an Wersi user.

How heavy is it?
How fast is the processor?
What software synths have you gotten to work on it. I wonder if the Wersi will support a sequencer program like Cubase? Or run computer-based sampling programs like Gigastudio?

Great news. Thanks for the post. I wish I could see a Wersi Abacus to try out here in the Northeastern USA. I'd love to be able to get my mitts on it.

" Korg " AJ

[This message has been edited by Bluezplayer (edited 01-30-2002).]

Thanks for the interest.
here are some answears:
I have not measured the weight but it should be around 30Kg.I managed to carry it around with two hands but i am working on special alumninium stand with wheels and fiberglass cover.The factory provides a number of equivalent accessories but i d rather go my way.The installed proccessor is Intel Celeron 750Mhz with 256 PC100 RAM.All the sound processing is carried out by the dedicated hardware so there is not a need for faster CPU.The Abacus comes with Steinberg Cusbasis and Wavelab preinstalled and the VST instuments are using also the DSP card via low latency ASIO drivers.I am currently trying out demo verision of the Native Instuments products and I have heard of someone in Germany who is using B4 without any problems.There is a dealer in the U.S. you may check here www.wersimusic.com

Kewl! Then probably Kontakt will run.

For those that do not know, Kontakt is a software sample program (like Gigastudio), but also offers resynthesis. It was the most highly rated (at Harmony Central) product at this month's NAMM. It comes as a VST plug-in, so it should work smoothly with Cubasis. Any corrections?

P.S. Isn't 30kg about 66lbs? Maybe it should come with wheels.

[This message has been edited by Clif Anderson (edited 01-30-2002).]

Cosel,

When I want to play my keyboard, I want to play directly on it after I've switched it on.
I wonder how long does it take before your windows based abacus has started up ? Or is your keyboard ready immediately after you've switched it on ?
I personally hate it when I have to wait a long time after I've switched on the instrument.

regards, Bart

Cosel,

Thank you for sharing this. I am really curious and eager to hear some of the sounds and styles.

I think most keyboards and sound modules have some "boot" time. My Karma is about 12 seconds, my Roland XV-5080 is about 18 seconds. But Windows takes forever to boot up. Hopefully, Wersi implements a sleep mode. My Sony RX-590G takes about 15 seconds to be active after sleep mode.

Are there some expansion ports on it? Like for PCMCIA modem? Or does it has a built-in modem (wireless is cool) so I can download some cool sounds while performing in the stadium?