If by “next level” we mean analog input - and we don’t care about Wave Sequencing 2.0 - sure.
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I will preface by saying that I have been using the Wavestation since the EX versions was released. I have always owned at least one incarnation, and for many years, the EX was my main synth. I never use presets, so I got to know the architecture very well. Therefore my expectations might be different than that of other users. So what follows may be very specific to me, rather than Korg’s current target customer base.
For me personally, Wave Sequencing 2.0 was not an improvement over the original. I don’t feel that breaking out the various parameters into ‘lanes’ makes up for the reduced length, nor the number of layers allowed by the Wavestate’s architecture. I could never make the sorts of deep and evolving patches on a Wavestate that I made on the original Wavestation.
Taken on its own, the Wavestate is pretty cool, but the name “Wave Sequencing 2.0” was a bit misleading on Korg’s part. If it included all the functionality of the original, plus the new stuff, it would make sense (and would be my favorite sample-based synth), but for me, it was two steps sideways and one step back.
I finally caved in and bought one when they added sample import (which is far superior to the WaveRex card I use for the A/D), but I’ve barely touched the thing after my initial explorations.
Having said that, the reason I didn’t suggest the Wavestation A/D is because its interface and architecture might seem a bit too obscure to a modern user. There are few realtime controls, the filters don’t resonate, and programming long, evolving wave sequences often requires a lot of thought and effort (“how many steps in total must this first blank step be if I want this bit to kick in at two minutes?”). Compared to today’s instruments (even one as menu-divey as the Wavestate), it can seem less than immediate, and positively archaic.
Additionally, the originals are getting harder to find and difficult to maintain. These are 30 year old machines. Adding one’s own samples is a kludge that requires a 3rd-party device that is rarely in stock. Available software editors for the original WS series are awful, so you must be willing to patch from the panel.
So for the modern user, the Wavestate is (for now) the only real option. Despite my own disappointment in it, there is still nothing else like it on the market.
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What is “length” in the context of your post? Length of sample? Number of steps? Something else?
How many layers did the old Wavestation(s) allow?
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The original Wavestation could layer eight “Patches” into a “Performance”, and each Patch could contain up to four waves or wavesequences. This allows for up to 32 layers on each key press. In the original, the Wavestate’s four layers would be seen as one “Patch”. The polyphony is reduced accordingly, but as a 32-voice machine, it is possible to play every one of those layers.
When I say “length”, I am referring both to the number of steps allowed in a single Wavesequence (256, with a total of 517 per Bank on the original) and the potential length of each step (each step of a Wavesequence could be up to the equivalent of 499 step-lengths in duration).
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There’s also the Wavestation SR. Is that worth it or just a big pain to use?
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Well… I have owned a few of SRs. If you like presets, it’s the one to get, since it had loads of them. On the other hand, I found it almost unusable for patching my own sounds - that tiny display means much, much more menu diving than on the other versions. Also, if you do want to use your own samples via something like WaveRex, you’ll be out of luck, as the PCM data card format used is not compatible. Also, no audio inout, so no vocoder or wavesequencing of external audio signals.
On the other hand, it is smaller, sleeker and not as old (if only by a little). There are plenty of SRs about and they are usually less expensive.
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I replied to someone who has a few on sale. What about an editor for it, are there any?
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As I said before, I have yet to find a decent editor for the Wavestation. I’ve tried a lot of them - especially when I had an SR. Now, this isn’t strictly the fault of developers - the Wavestation requires transferring a lot of dense data, and it can be tricky to make SYSEX transfer work. I suspect this is why Korg has never allowed SYSEX transfer between the plugin and hardware versions of the Wavestation. Maybe there has been something better in recent times, but if so, I’m not aware of it.
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Patch Base might do an editor for it. Having it on iPad would be awesome. 
It’s on the 7th place currently with most votes so it probably won’t see the light any time soon.
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Yeah, I requested that one, if I recall…
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Wow! I understand now why, from your perspective, the Wavestate’s implementation does not look like an improvement.
I am just a lowly preset buyer and user on the Wavestate, so I am ill-qualified to design the next generation wave sequencing synth. Might as well as a regular car owner to design a Formula One winning race car.
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No one is stopping anyone from having both old and new, thank goodness. I just need to learn to love the Wavestate for what it is, not what Korg suggested it would be. 
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I noticed the Korg Nautilus site mentions vector/wave sequencing as part of the HD-1 sample playback engine, but only on the specifications page. Korg seems to content to let people download manual(s) and study them to figure out how far you can go to make a Nautilus emulate a Wavestation/Wavestate.
The Korg M3 had it as well but you had to tinker with the KARMA settings or something.
I suspect what’s in the Nautilus was simply ported over from Kronos, sometime before Wavestate’s release. Any updates they make to its wave sequencing capabilities would have to fit within the constraints imposed by its front panel, which has only a fraction of the knobs that Wavestate has - I’m guessing because Korg thinks you’ll be using the touchscreen a lot. It might be a USB host, so perhaps you can plug in controllers with more knobs/sliders. All assuming the wave sequencing piece is anywhere close to what a veteran Wavestation patch programmer would find acceptable.
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Read your comment so I thought I’d check out the original as I have the Wavestate. I can see why you’d be disappointed:
For what it does though it’s an awesome synth, and would be a great choice for a desert island synth solution.
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Hello.
It is said that the Wavestate can be loaded with thousands of sounds (“ > The wavestate comes with more than 200 factory sounds, and can store thousands more”) as if we do not have to worry, but the truth is, everything has a limit and I am starting to worry! 
Does anyone really know how many thousands of sounds one can load into the Wavestate? 
They they are all single cycle waveforms, probably even more.
If they’re 30 second drones, perhaps not as much.
…let me get my ball of string and tape measure. 
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I just watched some mind blowing videos on YouTube using the Wavestate, also some reviews, and going through the manual right now. It looks like an amazing and versatile piece of kit, also going pretty cheap on second hand market, that probably can create amazing complete tracks on its own, plus sounds that could be really difficult to replicate in any other synth, if not impossible. Selection of voices and editing plus sequencer looks amazing, so the FX part. I wonder if it was an Elektron’s instead of a Korg, people would be much more into it on this forum…
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It has a wealth of sounds and sound design options in it. Tons of mod capabilities as well, it could easily be a desert island synth. The problem is that the editing can be tedious and there’s some menu diving.
If a module version was available, it’d be more of a hit in this forum. Pricing would have to be right too. Problem with the Minilogue XD module for example, was it cost more than the keyboard version in some countries due to taxes/fees/whatever.
A surprise drop to $329 might also boost ownership, but I think peeps might be more cautious this time, given what happened to $329 Opsix units. Seemingly sheer luck determined who got fully functional units, and who got one with a broken screen or other infamous issue.
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