Just some feedback on some comments above, having an Osmose for two months now. Some feel the Eagan Matrix (EM) is limited perhaps compared to other options, let's say for strings. However, EM+Osmose offers a responsiveness nothing will match currently, simply because it's MPE+ is beyond Swam or anything else, and the SHARC onboard chips do certain things really fast. So you can get a pretty spectacular articulation. As we know, great samples sound canned even with all variables availed. That might not be an issue if the piece is a score that will be played by live instruments. The Osmose can give the closest I've heard to the variations of a real fingerboard from any keys (I torture violin, viola, cello) The EM in good hands is pretty remarkable. I heard a clavichord at the recent conference in Portugal which was great. There is a certain ethos about acoustic "imitation" in some circles, where it's better to "be inspired by a violin". No commercial physical modeling synth offers any thing close to this performance and low-level access to sound production, provided you want to spend the time to learn the engine. Like chops, there won't be instant results. Also, currently the expressiveness is best live or as recorded sound, not as recorded digital control signals. That stream seems too thick and fast for DAWs right now.
Osmose does not replace anything. It's a new instrument with different, unique strengths. With it's EM engine, you have a control at the keys never seen before. Nothing is close. But as such it's something different. It's not the machine to pretend to be an older keyboard, your montunos or fast polyphonic riffs will be easier on the old boards. But for single note leads, no keyboard comes close, and I think in 2 years there will be some players opening eyes with it in polyphony of many flavors, both electronic and "acoustic-like".
I recently acquired a 7 course lute. Recordings don't come close to the sounds it makes...in the same room. I have not touched my guitars, elec or classic, since it came. Of course it's not loud, but it's rich. Fantastic for solfeggio. Horses for courses, right? The Osmose is more than a new breed, it's a new species.
Aaagh.
