Overview
The wavestate is Korg’s wave sequencing synthesizer, and Korg calls its engine Wave Sequencing 2.0. A wave sequence steps through a series of samples, but where the Wavestation tied each step’s sample, timing, and pitch together, the wavestate splits them into separate Lanes. Each Lane has its own number of steps and its own start, end, and loop points, so the timing, the samples, the melody, the shapes, the gate times, and the step sequencer values can drift against each other and produce patterns that keep changing.
Up to four Programs layer in a Performance. Korg describes the sample library as totaling in the gigabytes, more than a thousand times larger than the original Wavestation’s, and the instrument ships with over 240 Performances, 740 Programs, and 1,000 Wave Sequences. The original wavestate plays up to 64 stereo voices. Korg also makes the wavestate mkII, with 96 stereo voices, and wavestate native, a plugin version that Korg says is fully compatible with the hardware’s sounds.
Its sound sources are samples, from short single hits to longer multisamples, rather than wavetables. The sense of movement comes from sequencing those samples, not from scanning through the frames of a table.
Wavetables on the wavestate
The wavestate does take user audio, and it’s worth being exact about how. Since the 2.0 software update, Korg’s Sample Builder application for Mac and Windows imports up to 4 GB of your own multisamples into the wavestate. Korg says you can use them in Wave Sequences or as single multisamples, the same way as the factory ones. The wavestate mkII and wavestate native accept the same user samples.
What it doesn’t have is a wavetable oscillator. There’s no place to load a stack of frames and scan or morph through them, so a WaveStack wavetable has nothing to load into, and WaveStack has no wavestate target. You could put a WAV through Sample Builder as an ordinary sample, but a multi-frame table would just play back as a short buzzy sample, frame after frame, at whatever pitch you play. We haven’t tested looping a single frame as a sample on the wavestate, and Korg doesn’t document that use, so we won’t promise it works. Even if it did, you’d get one fixed waveform per sample, and any movement would have to come from wave sequencing rather than from scanning a table.
If you want Korg hardware that reads your own tables, the Korg modwave is the one to look at. It’s a wavetable synth, its Editor/Librarian and modwave native import user wavetables, and WaveStack has a dedicated modwave export that writes the exact frame size and bit depth Korg asks for. Other hardware WaveStack exports to includes the Waldorf Iridium, the MicroFreak, and the Deluge.
Specifications
| Synthesis | Wave Sequencing 2.0 (sample-based) |
|---|---|
| Polyphony | 64 stereo voices (mkII: 96) |
| User samples | Up to 4 GB of multisamples via Sample Builder |
| User wavetable import | None (no wavetable oscillator) |
Frequently asked questions
Can you load custom wavetables into the Korg wavestate?
No. The wavestate is built around wave sequencing of samples and has no wavetable oscillator, so there’s nowhere to load a table of frames. It does import your own multisamples, up to 4 GB, through Korg’s Sample Builder app, and those can be used in Wave Sequences like the factory samples. If you specifically want user wavetables on Korg hardware, the modwave supports them, and WaveStack exports to it directly.
Can I import my own samples into the wavestate?
Yes. The wavestate 2.0 software update added Sample Builder, a free Mac and Windows application from Korg that imports up to 4 GB of your own multisamples. Korg says you can use them in Wave Sequences or play them as single multisamples, just like the factory content. The wavestate mkII and wavestate native are compatible with the same user samples. Check Korg’s site for the latest OS and Sample Builder versions before importing.
Is the wavestate a wavetable synth?
No, although the names get confused. The wavestate is a wave sequencing synth: it steps through a series of samples in separate Lanes for timing, samples, pitch, and other values. A wavetable synth instead scans or morphs through a stack of single-cycle frames. Both produce sounds that change over time, but they work differently, and only the second kind can load a wavetable from WaveStack.
Will a WaveStack export work through Sample Builder?
Not as a wavetable. Sample Builder treats every WAV as an ordinary sample, so a multi-frame table would play straight through its frames as a short sample instead of letting you scan between them. WaveStack has no wavestate target, and we haven’t tested single looped frames on it, so we can’t recommend that route. For Korg hardware, use the modwave export instead.
Which Korg synth can load user wavetables?
The Korg modwave, and its plugin version modwave native. Korg documents wavetable import for both, with tables of exactly 2048 samples per wave as 32-bit float or 256 samples as 16-bit, up to 64 waves. WaveStack has a modwave export that writes either format and reduces longer tables to 64 frames itself, so nothing gets dropped by the synth. The wavestate and opsix don’t import wavetables.