Wow, Barney, I never expected the Spanish Inquisition! (Yes, that's
a cue....)
I'm really surprised by your interpretation of my posting, which was
intended as a continuation of the discussion as to what makes the AN1x
(still) a great synth, and what would be nice to see in a new product
which improved on its best aspects (sound/architecture/control). It
wasn't meant to be expert, snobby or high-handed condemnation - but
I got the impression that airing a personal opinion was allowed on this
forum.
Electronic music is my hobby, not my livelihood, I just love the sound
of synths and have been playing with them since 1978 (Korg MS10). I have
owned and recorded with (in an amateur capacity) various products, and
along the years have acquired a CZ101, SQ80, AN1x, Novation Nova and now
the MS2000BR. I had put my synths in a cupboard and drifted towards
VSTis for sheer convenience, but I found myself wanting to get back to
hardware, with hands-on access. Thus the Behringer (principally for the
AN1x) and MS2000.
Sorry if I gave the impression that I didn't like the AN1x. The
opposite is true - it is the best- sounding of all of my synths and I
intend to continue to explore it - Richy's recent patches and posts
on detailed patch editing have been especially welcome. An issue with
the AN1x, noted by others on this thread, is that the knob matrix is not
the most intuitive route into that lovely sound engine.
For that reason I hope to create a template for the Behringer BCR2000,
which would potentially be an asset for this group. For just over
£100, you can get 32 knobs and 16 switches (and four switchable
layouts per preset = 128 knobs and 64 switches). Obviously it can also
be used to control other hard and soft synths - see the BC2000 Yahoo
Group. I will share when I get my head around the technical issues,
sysex etc, and hope it will be useful in due course and will help to
`work around the weaknesses of the instrument'. In the
meantime, I hope that my very small contribution below may be useful to
someone.
Jeff - it would be nice to think that Yamaha might be watching, and that
our views would be more than just enthusiastic exchanges between users
of a 15-year-old synth. As Jerome posted, we feel the AN1x `was
designed with love by very smart people who understood what players
need' - it may happen again!
In friendship, Bill
author of a pretty coloured version of the AN1x signal flow diagram
http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/YKtKT1scpME8nfzItNiHD_Kg2pTegX29kDbnpiOGmom\B9lWnoeyNKqhwBqfFdomvdiaaqO72Mt168eY2uxylqWiYvKMipvL7lpbp4Q/Manuals%20%2\
6%20Guides/AN1X-flow-diagram-colour.pdf