Korg DW8000

[Onkel Dunkel]

A helped a friend of mine move to a new place today and he had an old Korg DW8000 synth that didn´t work that i could have if i could fix it. From what he said it sounds like it´s just a fuse that needs to be changed. I´m going to fetch it in the end of this month. Has anyone here ever worked with a DW8000? I thought that if i could fix it i could give it to Thor when he gets a little older (to pace him to become a synth addict like his father of course :D)...

[AlexHall74]

A helped a friend of mine move to a new place today and he had an old Korg DW8000 synth that didn´t work that i could have if i could fix it. From what he said it sounds like it´s just a fuse that needs to be changed. I´m going to fetch it in the end of this month. Has anyone here ever worked with a DW8000? I thought that if i could fix it i could give it to Thor when he gets a little older (to pace him to become a synth addict like his father of course :D)...
Nice thinking Onkel Dunkel! Every young LFO tweaker needs a starter synth. Thor will thank you when you give it to him. :)

All I know about it is this...

http://www.vintagesynth.com/korg/dw8000.jpg

http://www.vintagesynth.com/index2.html

Cheers!

-Alex

[Onkel Dunkel]

I´ve already read the article but thanks anyway :)

[AlexHall74]

Sorry for posting with the obvious!

:)

At least there is some reference info now for others.

[Onkel Dunkel]

I forgive you ;)

[thelike5]

I had a Korg Dw 8000, I thought it was an excellent sounding synth. Really cool hybrid Analog/Digital synth. Made really cool lead sounds. Arp feature was primitive but sounded nice. Kinda like a larger sounding SH 101 mixed with FM tones of a DX series synth. At least to me.

I picked one up maybe 5 years back for $150 or so... I ended up trading it for an Electribe. I just wanted something smaller and I already had a JP-8000 so...

You will enjoy the DW -8000 or at least your kid will. It's an excellent underrated synth. Should get every bit as much props as the Polysix in my opinion.

[AlexHall74]

Hey there Thelike5, which Electribe? The EMX or the ESX? Do you like it?

[Onkel Dunkel]

Thanks for the feedback Thelike5 :) I just hope i will be able to fix it...

[RASP]

I love those old analog/digital hybrids (i.e. Ensoniq ESQ-1, Ensoniq SQ-80, Korg DW series). I'm pretty sure Depeche Mode used the DW-8000 during their Black Celebration era live shows. Its a cool synth.

[thelike5]

Hey there Thelike5, which Electribe? The EMX or the ESX? Do you like it?


It wasn't that good of a deal... I traded my DW-8000 for a Electribe EA-1!

As far as I remember, The Esx or Emx weren't even released whan I made that deal. I simply wanted something small to fit on my Jerker desk. In retrospect, the deal wasn't that great as the DW-8000 was/is a pretty great standalone synth. I also recall reading somewhere that Depeche Mode used it exstensively during Black Celebration. That doesn't surprise me. It definetly has that sound to it.

Unkle Donkle, good luck with the repair. Maybe you are a more motivated man than I am! I've had a Yamaha DX -11 sitting in my closet for about two years which is just collecting dust. I needed to get a battery put into it (which I did) but still can't figure out how to get the "sounds" back into it. Apparently, this involves a sysex dump but I was utterly lost trying to figure that out.

In any event, I just checked my tracking number and I am scheduled to receive my new Access Virus ti Snow tomorrow! As I mentioned before this is my first Access Synth. I can't wait. I'm fairly confident it will inspire me all the while sounding amazing. I just want to hear those pads! Throw in all those Access ti patches that are readily available and I think I will be in heaven just trying to configure which souns to store in which banks. $1250 is a lot of dough and I have 30 days to keep or return it. Win/Win situation!

[AlexHall74]

Hey thelike5,

Regarding your DX11, You might want to check out his guy's site:

http://stores.ebay.com/Vintage-Synth-Rescue-Kits

He is a powerseller on eBAY selling vintage synth rescue kits of all kinds. You might want to contact him, he's real cool. I've chatted with him on email a few times, he might be able to pint you in the right direction to get that synth up and running.

Cheers,

-Alex

[Onkel Dunkel]

Sound to me like you lost your memory due to a dead backup battery and now you need to dump the sounds back into it. From reading on the net i saw that the same thing happens if a DW-8000´s battery dies. I think that many old synths don´t have a "factory restore" ROM so if the battery dies in new synths the original factory presets are there even without a battery while in old synths there will de nothing until you load the sounds again. Seems logic since ROM memory was very expensive (an small) back then. Fun to think about when memory is so cheap now :rolleyes:

[thelike5]

Yeah, that's exacetly what happened. I knew that the sounds were lost once you replaced the battery. I took it into get serviced and was told the guy would "dump" the original files back into it once the battery was replaced. He told me "he couldn't figure it out" but he did manage to put in a new battery and charge me $40. Great. Thanks man!

I also couldn't figure out how to sysex dump the factory sounds into the DX-11 so it now lives in my closet, fresh battery and all...

Yeah, the older synths didn't back up ROM for the reasons you stated. I personally would much rather have a Virus or Nord than an original prophet or MS-20 simply because of reliabilty facotrs. Not the battery in this case but tuning, or other electrical issues.

Now a TB-303 or TR-808? Well that's a different story. If I had a non working unit I would do whatever it took to get that going again. I just simply got my FM fix through NI's FM8 and a Yamaha DX-200 (highly underated, secret weapon). The DX-11 is also hella huge in size and a pain to program

[Onkel Dunkel]

Yeah, i fixed it :cool: It wasn´t a fuse but a faulty 7805 (+5V voltage regulator chip). Cost about 1€ in the local electronics shop and a couple of hours troulbeshooting and welding work and it´s up and running again. Some of the keys are a bit crappy though (you have to hit them very hard to make them work). I tried cleaning them and correcting some bend key contacts but that only worked on some of the keys but hey; MIDI works and i cost me 1€ i spare parts (actually the bus ticket to the electronics shop was more expensive) so who gives a shit. Sounds great too :D There´s some great sounds on it that my friend i got it from programmed. I´m impressed that the memory still is intact since it has been in his attic for years. Mayby i should do a backup if he like to use some of them again :rolleyes: