The Yamaha AN1x Synthesizer mailing list

--- In AN1x-list@y..., Richard Whitehouse <rsw@a...> wrote:

>
> You could always do what I did: just sell the shit, get rid of

it. I had

> a CS6x with a PLG150AN and a PLG150PF card. What a friggin'

headache.

> That's got to be one of poorest operating system and user interface

designs

> I've ever encountered. Totally non-intuitive and non-musician-

friendly.

> And I'm not a chimp, either - I am literate about synthesizers and
> computers. I've been dealing with midi synths for almost 20 years,

and I

> also work as a computer programmer. I finally realized that I was

wasting

> my time on that shit, and needlessly frustrating myself. I did

myself a

> favour and got rid of the whole thing. From now one, some of my

primary

> rules are: 1) never buy a synth that needs expansion cards - if

you're not

> happy using it without expansions, don't buy it 2) avoid

expansion cards

> - proceed with extreme caution 3) proceed with extreme caution

where

> Yamaha synths are concerned 4) make user-friendly operating system

a

> higher priority when buying synths.
>
> Richard
>
> Please help stamp out velocity-switching.

BRAVO! Good for you. There's an attitude I can respect - no fooling :-
) I owned a Korg Wavestation for years. Loved the sound :-) hated
programming it :-# Consequently, I was never able to exploit the
machine the way it was intended :-(

In regards to the AN1x, ever notice how many comments in the online
reviews detract from the Assign Knob/Function button design? I find
this an effective mechanism to navigate - and the matrix works for me
too (if only the select knob were replaced by a column of buttons as
on the A3000.) But I imagine if the user is not already experienced
with your typical subtractive synth layout that this can be confusing.

regards,

Jon

p.s. - Are you lobbying to replace velocity-switching with crossfade
switching or another mechanism?