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Hi,
I just got a Korg DW6000 really cheap and I was wondering if someone ever tried to mod this synth? I didn't find anything except the 256 waveform mod which require programming skills (hence it's to complicated). Does anyone know where I can get more information on bending/modding this synth?
Thank you!
Sim
Last edited by ??? (Jan 21, 2012 9:31 pm)
A synth like that can do so much stock - I wouldn't even think about modifying it until I'd spent well over a year learning what it can do!
And considering that it's 80's digital technology - likelihood of permanent damage is pretty high.
Last edited by kineticturtle (Jan 5, 2012 3:36 pm)
This synth is actually very limited, it has 8 waveform, but no square, saw or pulse. It has a singe LFO with 2 destination (osc, filter) and no modulation matrix. It's a very basic synth, the only cool feature on it is the analog filter which makes a cool sound with digital lo-fi oscillators. It's not a beast as some people said. It can do nasal sounds pretty well, but lacks a bit of fatness in the low end. It has a bright tone in general and is mostly usefull for pads and ambiant stuff... I figured it out in an afternoon (believe me, I know a lot about synths/synthesis) and messed with it for a night, and I'm not sure if I like it or not... It has a kind of unusual sound... I'm probably gonna sell it.
Last edited by ??? (Jan 5, 2012 4:00 pm)
... I'm probably gonna sell it.
That's what I would recommend. Bending it would be a terrible waste of an instrument.
I don't understand why you guys value this synth that much... Really it's just an average synth for cheesy 80' tones.
Last edited by ??? (Jan 5, 2012 9:59 pm)
korg's analog filters are worth their weight in gold imo
Don't destroy a perfectly good 80s synth, man. 
And some of us love those 'cheesy' 80s tones.
This synth is actually very limited, it has 8 waveform, but no square, saw or pulse.
waveforms 1 and 7 are essentially narrow pulse waveforms. waveform 8 is square but the high amplitude of the 5th and 11th harmonics are what add that spike in the middle of the shape. the rest are all dirty variations of a downward saw.
with relative ease the dw-6000 could be modified so you can modulate the filters with their respective oscillator, audio inputs for each filter and/or voice, a switch between 12dB and 24dB slope per filter IC, panel mounted resonance and cutoff control per filter.
however, if you were capable of doing these mods you wouldn't need to ask how to circuit bend it.
I agree that the waveforms are variations of square & saw/sine, but they still sound very different from classic waveforms. I would be able to do these mods if someone could tell me where to break the path, solder, add a pot, a switch an so on... I have the skills to do it, but I lack knowledge to do this by myself. If there is a page explaining how to make these mods, please let me know. I really like modulating filters with osc. These mods would make this synth pretty interesting...
Last edited by ??? (Jan 6, 2012 5:05 am)
bending is cool if you know what you are doing but there are somethings that just shouldn't be touched because they are powerful enough as is. For pro gear and synths i wouldn't dare bend unless i knew exactly what i am doing and that the results would be something useful. Its a waste to waste something useful. that is my only problem with bending.
most people destroy good things because of their poor knowledge.
there are talented people who do things useful but most of the time its just makes things shit.
this can be good but if your going to be making shit then use shit. no need for the nice stuff ya kno?
i say go for it but make sure your doing it in an intelligent manner. cant do that then dont fuck with it.
you still want to go ahead?
the thing uses analog filters and other components that are controlled digitally. should be easy to find an out point from a filter and have it loop back into its self. add a pot in between and you have an adjustable feed back circuit. simple but effective but i am not sure it would make the synth any more interesting then it is already. if you threw the analog components at each other you could get some interesting stuff easy. just look at the schematics if possible or just follow the traces and research the components.
the thing to me looks like it is an ok synth as is. i am sure if you learned the synthesis engine inside and out and got creative you could be satisfied without moding the synth at all.
It is ok as is, but I've got a lot of synth so there is nothing special about it for me. I wont kill a synth "just for fun" since I could get al least 3 times the money I paid for it. Maybe I'll try a filter mod for one of the voice if I'm confident enough about it. I already opened it just to investigate the pcb and I've spotted the voices & filter chips. If it doesn't look too bad, I might give it a try.
Oh yeah, I don't want to make a drone-weird-shit-noisy-useless-and-fucked-synth. My goal is to make something simple and effective to give it a little more character.
reading more into the stats of the thing it is also using DCO so you could probably use the voices to modulate the filters too.
for sure would give some interesting results.
I just opened it again, there are 6 filters, this would be some hard work. I'm afraid to break it. I guess I'll just forget about it.... Damn I would like to have a professionnal friend for this kind of job.