The Korg M1 and Wavestation VSTs

Loading SysEx into Korg VSTs

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At SoundEngine, we work with both current and vintage synths, both in hardware and software embodiments. We were initially drawn to the Korg Collection VSTs because we wanted to stay current with our sounds and technology. For the most part, Korg provides many of the famous Factory ROM card sounds as factory standards, but there are a *ton* of open-source patches for Korg synths on the Web. Mostly, the format of the sounds on the Web is MIDI System Exclusive format, commonly called SysEx. We’ll learn about the various formats of files that the Korg Software Apps use, and take steps loading these SysEx files into Korg VSTs, so you can increase your tone pallette quickly.

The Korg Collection VSTs


The KORG Collection VSTs are fantastic. To my ears, they are exact replicas, with slight variations due to the advancement of Digital-to-Analog conversion technology, of the original classic Korg synths. If you want to get vintage Korg sound or recreate a synth you used to have but don’t anymore, the Software Pass Apps are the way to go. 

Doing a quick search for “Korg M1 SysEx Downloads” results in dozens of sites with SysEx files available. In addition, our catalog of M1 Sounds includes professionally developed M1 “Pro Select” Sounds as well as a huge collection of freeware sounds that have been curated over the decades. Let’s take steps to Loading SysEx into Korg VSTs by starting with an M1 SysEx file followed by a Wavestation file. First though, we need to understand the various file formats that we’ll encounter on this road trip.

Various File Formats

I have to admit that it took me a while to figure out how to do what we are about to do, largely because of the file formats that Korg has decided to use in their VSTs. First, let’s talk briefly about .SYX or SysEx files. 

We’ve covered this ground in our Dexed and K1v tutorials, so I’ll be brief. .SYX files are MIDI System Exclusive files – meaning that they will only load into the specific synthesizer that they were designed for. In this post, we’ll be talking about .SYX files for the M1 and the Wavestation. You can’t interchange them – the M1 files are only for the M1, etc.

Another file format that we’ll run into is the .M1ALL file format, which is an “all programs” file for the Korg M1. It’s parallel on the Korg Wavestation VST is the .WSRAM (Wavestation RAM) file. There’s another format used on the Korg Wavestation VST, but not on the M1 VST, the .FXB file format. This is where I initially got confused using these apps, but I think I’ve worked it out.

The .FXB files for the Wavestation VST seem to be an “ALL” file – meaning that when you load one of them, all RAM data is overwritten, rather than just a single bank of sounds as in the .WSRAM case.

In summary, we have:

Korg VSTFile ExtensionFunction
M1.SYXM1 System Exclusive File
M1.M1ALLAll programs in a Bank (VST)
Wavestation.SYXWavestation System Exclusive File
Wavestation .WSRAMAll programs in a Bank (VST)
Wavestation.FXBAll RAM data (VST)

These are the relevant file formats for our exercise – a combination of VST specific files and those you’ll find on the Web. Now, let’s import them into our Korg VSTs.


Loading a SysEx File from the Web – M1 VST

First, make sure that you have launched your DAW and have the M1 VST assigned to a track. Please note – in the stand alone version on MacOS, you need to have the Browser context be “COMBI” for Combination SysEx files, and PROG for Program SysEx files. Next, let’s imagine we’ve found an M1 .SYX file. I’ve included one here to use as an example. The steps to load the file into the M1 VST are:

  1. Navigate, starting in the upper left corner of the window, to File>Import>All Program…
  2. Use the File Open dialog to find the M1-SoundEngine.syx file you downloaded.
  3. Once imported, you can press “Browser” at the top of the window, then press CARD, then USER 1.
  4. You should see programs, starting with one named “Super JX” in the window. 
  5. You now have 200 more sounds loaded into the Korg M1 VSTi.


Loading a SysEx File from the Web – Wavestation VST

First, ensure you have launched either the standalone version of the Wavestation (stand-alone import works), or you’ve started up your DAW and have the Wavestation VST assigned to a track. Next, imagine we’ve found a Wavestation .SYX file. I’ve included one here to use as an example. The steps to load the file into the Wavestation VST are:

  1. Navigate, starting in the upper right corner of the window, to File>Import…
  2. Use the File Open dialog to find the WS-SoundEngine.syx file you downloaded.
  3. Once imported, even though the sounds are imported, the display is not updated with the imported sound names. You can press RAM2 then RAM1, and you will see the new sounds.
  4. You should see programs, starting with one named “Frippertronics” in the window. 
  5. You now have 50 more sounds loaded into the Korg Wavestation VSTi.
  6. Note that to reset to the Factory RAM sounds, you will need to reload the file “Factory Sounds. “fxb” that was initially installed with the VST. There is no “Pre-load Reset,” as in the M1 VST.


Insights, Inconsistencies, and Summary

It’s clear that there that there are minor issues with how loading SysEx into Korg VSTs works – even with what likely are the two most used VSTs in the collection. The fact that they don’t work similarly and that each one doesn’t have a built-in Factory Reset mechanism is also a slight annoyance. Beyond that, however, these are minor inconveniences. Follow the steps in this post and you probably will never run into them. 

At SoundEngine, we focus on getting lots of sounds into your hands as conveniently and easily as possible. We want to share our experiences with hardware and software music-making technology that can remove burdens and make getting to your song-writing destinations easy.

Please take a look at the resources below – if you find something interesting, let us know!


Resources

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