Hello !
>My Siel DK600 - vastly underrated and I think wonderful synth -
>suffered the common battery leakage fault on those synths in the days before
>the net provided us with information to warn us about that problem ;-) I
>still have it, can't bear to get rid, hoping that one day I'll find someone
>who might be able to fix it.
>
This battery leakage problem is well known on these old things, the Korg
"Poly 6" often suffers the same disease.
Hopefully it is not often a very bad issue, that can be fixed by any
electronics DIYer .
Remove the battery, and clean carefully the polluted area first. Then
check (with a multimeter) if there is no short circuit between the PCB
tracks and/or if these copper tracks are not cut by the corrosive liquid
of the dead battery. You can repair a cut track with a bit of small wire
(wire wrapping special wires are ideal..) and solder, with a proper
soldering iron of course. Or use conductive glue. This one is helpful to
repair some keyboard key contacts, TV remote control knobs... too.
Once fixed you can (must ?) place the new battery anywhere else. There
is no problem using long wires, as they carry only DC current and not an
AC current or audio signal.
If some IC pins are corroded, the problem is more serious... but you can
still find parts on the web, or in any electronics shop if it is not a
dedicated IC, such as the EPROM (its content...) or a SSM chip.
I've had the complete schematics of the SIEL DK600 (alias Opera 6 in
France and Kiwi in Germany..) , because i've tried unsuccessfully to
find one second hand. Now what could be described as "the poor man's
Prophet 5" (most of the chips are the same..) is cheap but hard to find:
not very reliable, and quickly "killed" by the early japanese digital
synths (DX7, Casio CZ and others). I will take a look in my hard disks:
if i have kept the files (scanned manual)....
Cheers
J.F.
NovemberPapa a écrit :
>Hi,
>
>
>
>Having a variety of gear is the key IMO, so you have a palette to choose
>from. I don't have an AN1x, but I do have the AN board (in a Kenton
>Plugstation with the DX, PF and VL boards also installed). I've found it
>good to layer in real analog with the VA stuff, it definitely expands the
>overall sound and helps to get away from that aspect of a synth's "sound"
>that always identifies the piece of hardware. Even a sample of some analog
>equipment layered with the VA synth just gives it that different feel that
>stops the synth being so identifiable.
>
>
>
>As you have lots of gear, you'll know what I mean about each piece of
>hardware having its own sound. Whatever sound you create, or dial up, on a
>piece of hardware, there is something about the sound that is always the
>same. It's just simply down to the combination of the components - no 2
>synths have exactly the same combination of oscillators, filters and
>amplifiers (or their virtual or digital equivalents), and each of these
>components add its own stamp to the sound.
>
>
>
>I had similar questions a while back about my DX7 related gear - I have a
>DX7s, a TX802 and the DX board in the Plugstation. But in the end I
>realised that unless I need the space, or the money, what's the point of
>ditching any of them when using them in layering can still keep them useful.
>Just think how stand out the bass line sound in Nelly's Hot In Herre was -
>not that I'm a Nelly fanas such ;-0 - layering in a DX7 electric piano
>really made that sound.
>
>
>
>Some gear might get used less than it used to, but there's always a use for
>it sometimes, so my advice would be to only get rid of the AN1X if you need
>the money, or the space. Of course, you might need both if you have seen
>something new that you fancy!
>
>
>
>My gear list has grown and shrunk and grown again with the times over the
>years, with only 2 real disappointments. I sold my OSCar to a friend to
>raise some money for a Tascam 38 in the early 90s, on the basis that I would
>get first refusal if he ever wanted to sell it later. I subsequently found
>out he'd sold it on as they became more valuable, and didn't remember to ask
>me if I wanted it back! That was the end of what up to then had been a good
>friendship. My Siel DK600 - vastly underrated and I think wonderful synth -
>suffered the common battery leakage fault on those synths in the days before
>the net provided us with information to warn us about that problem ;-) I
>still have it, can't bear to get rid, hoping that one day I'll find someone
>who might be able to fix it. I have heard of them being fixed, but haven't
>yet traced anyone who claims to be able to do it!
>
>
>
>Of course my other general disappointment is that I didn't jump on to the
>second hand buying game until after gems such as the Jupiter 8, Prophet 5
>(although a friend has one I borrow on occasion) Oberheim Matrix 12 and of
>course the Moogs became so popular again (with prices to match) - I'm sure
>some were bought at crazily cheap prices by today's standards a few years
>back.
>
>
>
>Other than that, I currently rely on:
>
>Real Analog - Roland MKS-50 and Walfdorf Pulse+
>
>Virtual Analog - AKAI S5000 sampler, Novation A-Station, Yamaha AN PLG board
>
>FM - Yamaha DX7s, TX802 and DX PLG board
>
>Sample-Based - Alesis D4 and NanoPiano, E-MU Proteus 2000 (with B-3, MoPhatt
>and Extreme Lead ROMS in addition to Composer ROM), Korg X3-R, Roland D-550
>and PMA-5, Yamaha PF & VL PLG boards, QS300 and QY700
>
>
>
>And, of course, plenty to mash the sound up with:
>
>Alesis 3630 compressor, Micro Series gate, compressor and exciter (hard
>wired in line with my Sessionmaster Guitar Pre-Amp), MEQ230 EQ, Midiverb 3,
>Quadraverb +
>
>Aphex Aural Exciter type c and 108 easy compressor
>
>BBE Maxcom compressor/enhancer
>
>Behringer T1952 compressor and DSP8024 EQ
>
>dbx DDP (Digital Dynamics Processor, 266XL compressor and 286a mic
>preamp/processor
>
>Drawmer DS301 MIDI Dual Expander Gate
>
>Lexicon MPX550 FX
>
>MTR DNG-1 Dual Noise Gate
>
>Presonus ACP88 8 Channel compressor
>
>Roland SDE-2000 delay
>
>Sessionmaster Guitar Direct Recording Pre-Amp
>
>2x TC Electronics Unity Cards in my Yamaha 02R mixer, giving M2000 and
>Finalizer FX
>
>Yamaha FX500.
>
>
>
>I do embrace software synth and fx, and do use them, but I do find each has
>their own sound, just like their hardware equivalents. They each have their
>place I the scheme of things. Native Instruments B3 blows away E-MU's B3
>board, and the Pro-53 is pretty close to the Prophet. I also like Arturia's
>CS80 and Minimoog emulations. Some of the software FX are just wild! I
>often plug synths thru Guitar Rig running on my PC - amazing, and there are
>lots of others.
>
>
>
>But I'll never get rid of my hardware unless I hit hard times or the cost of
>electricity to power up my hardware on a regular basis becomes more than I
>can afford. Besides, the workstation I designed and had custom made (based
>on the omnirack workstation for the Yamaha 02R mixer but suitably
>embellished for my needs) would look a sad state if it wasn't full of gear
>;-)
>
>
>
>Don't be phased or overcome by how much hard and soft ware you have access
>to - embrace it! The trick is to sketch out what parts you need in a song
>and then find the right sounds for those parts, and try not to be distracted
>from that. So if you say you need piano, organ, brass, and analog lead in a
>song, stick to that thought, and only go looking for other sounds away from
>that palette if you later find the song it working as you hoped.
>
>
>
>Anyway, that's my 10p worth
>
>
>
>NovPap
>
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