The Nautilus 61 is a synthesizer workstation running nine separate sound engines, from sampled concert grands to physically modelled strings. Its semi weighted 61 note board leans towards organ parts and synth lines rather than heavy piano work. One board, a whole set list.
Nine engines rather than one
Why stretch a single architecture across every sound? Korg instead gave this workstation a dedicated engine per job. SGX-2 takes acoustic pianos and EP-1 the electrics. General sample duties fall to HD-1. Analogue tones come from AL-1 and plucked strings from STR-1, with MOD-7 adding waveshaping VPM on top. Because processing is drawn from one shared pool, voice counts move with whatever you are actually playing.
Piano detail without compromise
SGX-2 samples the whole keyboard in stereo, chromatically, at up to a dozen velocity levels and with no loop points. Damper resonance, string behaviour, key release and mechanical noise each sit under their own control, so the character can be trimmed to suit a room. Una Corda is supported. Four libraries live inside the instrument, covering a German grand, an Italian concert instrument, a Japanese upright and a prepared set.
Electric pianos and vintage keys
Seven tine and reed models come out of EP-1 and its Multi Dimensional Synthesis, among them both early and late versions of the first tine instrument. Preamp, tone, vibrato and cabinet controls appear roughly where the originals put them. Nine period effects follow, from phasers and choruses through to a wah and a compressor. It gets close.
Organs, strings and two Korg classics
CX-3 recreates a tonewheel organ down to drawbar behaviour. Plucked and struck tones are the work of the physically modelled STR-1. More unusual are MS-20EX and PolysixEX, component level rebuilds of two well known Korg synths that then run past what the original hardware allowed. Vector synthesis ties the lot together, using a joystick and a tempo synced envelope to crossfade between oscillators and effects.
Memory, samples and libraries
Preset data runs to 496 MB in RAM with 2.3 GB on disk, holding 1,771 multisamples and 3,955 drumsamples. Fourteen expansion libraries arrive already installed, taking in vintage keyboards, guitars, basses, world instruments, loops and drums. Sampling has around 2 GB of PCM RAM to work with, roughly 260 MB of it free as shipped. Wave sequencing adds 377 preloaded and 598 user memories.
See it in action
Specifications
| System | NAUTILUS system version 1.0 |
|---|---|
| Keyboard | 61 keys, Natural Touch semi weighted, C to C. Velocity sensitive. Aftertouch is not supported |
| Synthesis types | 9 engines. SGX-2 premium piano (acoustic piano), EP-1 MDS electric piano, HD-1 high definition synthesizer (PCM), AL-1 analog synthesizer (analogue modelling), CX-3 tonewheel organ modelling, STR-1 plucked string (physical modelling), MOD-7 waveshaping VPM synthesizer, MS-20EX component modelling technology, PolysixEX CMT analogue modelling |
| Maximum polyphony | SGX-2 100 voices (100 dual stereo notes, equivalent to 400 mono voices), EP-1 104 voices, HD-1 140 voices, AL-1 80 voices, CX-3 200 voices, STR-1 40 voices, MOD-7 52 voices, MS-20EX 40 voices, PolysixEX 180 voices. Voice processing power is allocated dynamically between engines, so these figures apply when a single engine has all of it. Polyphony may drop slightly when many processor intensive effects run at once |
| Preset PCM | RAM 496 MB, disk 2.3 GB (ROM 1,771 multisamples, 3,955 drumsamples) |
| Built in expansion PCM libraries | EXs301 German2 D Piano, EXs302 Italian F Piano, EXs303 Japanese Upright U Piano, EXs304 Prepared Piano, EXs305 Historical Keyboards, EXs306 Vintage Keyboards 2, EXs307 Strings and Synths, EXs308 Guitar Collection, EXs309 Bass Collection, EXs310 World Essence, EXs311 Background Loops, EXs312 SFX and Hits, EXs313 Found Percussions, EXs314 Expansion Drums |
| PCM RAM capacity | Approx. 2 GB. Memory available for sampling mode changes with the use of expansion PCM libraries and user sample banks. Approx. 260 MB is available as shipped, loading the file named PRELOAD.KSC |
| Wave sequences | 598 user memory, 377 preload. Support for stereo multisamples, synchronisation of individual notes and tempo based settings |
| Premium piano (SGX-2) | Full key stereo sampling, chromatically sampled at up to 12 velocity levels, no looping. Damper resonance and mechanical noise are reproduced. Una Corda sample support |
| SGX-2 expansion PCM | EXs301 German2 D Piano, 12 velocity levels, includes ambience piano type and samples. EXs302 Italian F Piano, 12 velocity levels, no Una Corda samples. EXs303 Japanese Upright U Piano, 8 velocity levels. EXs304 Prepared Piano, 1 to 4 velocity levels |
| Piano types | 128. With the factory settings the 64 varieties in EXs6 German D Piano, EXs7 Japanese C Piano, EXs12 SGX-1 Austrian D Piano and EXs17 Berlin D Piano do not produce sound, as those options must be downloaded |
| SGX-2 oscillator control | Damper resonance, damper noise, mechanical noise, note release, string resonance, Una Corda |
| MDS electric piano (EP-1) | Tine and reed type electric pianos powered by Multi Dimensional Synthesis, plus vintage effects |
| Electric piano model types | 7. Tine EP I Early, Tine EP I Late, Tine EP II, Tine EP V, Tine EP DMP, Reed EP200, Reed EP200A |
| EP-1 panel control | Tine type: preamp volume, tone (treble, bass), vibrate (on and off, intensity, speed), amp and cabinet (on and off, drive). Reed type: preamp volume, tone (treble, bass), vibrate (intensity, speed), amp and cabinet (on and off, drive) |
| EP-1 effect types | 9. Small Phase, Orange Phase, Black Phase, Vintage Chorus, Black Chorus, EP Chorus, Vintage Flanger, Red Comp, VOX Wah |
| Advanced vector synthesis | Control oscillator volumes and synthesis and effects parameters using the vector joystick and the tempo synchronised vector envelope |
| HD-1 structure | Single uses OSC1 only. Double uses OSC1 and OSC2, layering two separate synth voices, each with its own velocity switched oscillator, dual filter, EGs and LFOs. Drums uses one drum kit, double drums uses two |
| HD-1 oscillators | 8 velocity zones per oscillator, with switching, crossfades and layering. Each zone can play mono or stereo multisamples or wave sequences |
| HD-1 filters | Two multi mode filters per voice (low pass, high pass, band pass, band reject) with four filter routings (single, serial, parallel and 24 dB mode) |
| HD-1 modulation | Three envelope generators, two LFOs per voice, common LFO, four key tracking generators, AMS (alternate modulation source), two AMS mixers |
| EQ | Three bands with sweepable mid |
| AL-1 oscillators | Ultra low aliasing oscillators, OSC1, OSC2, sub oscillator and noise generator, with ring modulation, FM and sync |
| AL-1 audio input | External audio can be processed through the ring modulator, filter, driver, amp and EQ |
Specifications from Korg. Appearance and specifications are subject to change without notice.
