The Yamaha AN1x Synthesizer mailing list

From: "fuentes925" <fuentes925@...>

> Hello, I was wondering if the an1x makes for a good master keyboard,
> it seem's it has all I would need, velocity sensitive, after touch,
> ribon controller, and assignable knob's. But how does it all work.
> would you use it for a master keyboard and ig you do, what do you
> think about it..

While I think the AN1x has a pretty good keyboard for its price class, I
don't think it's the ideal master keyboard. It depends on a lot of things,
though, like your budget, whether you have to carry it around a lot to gigs,
etc.

Apart from the AN1x, I also have an EX5, and there you can divide the
keyboard in up to 16 zones, those zones can be assigned to internal and/or
external voices, it has two separately controllable MIDI outs, and a larger
and better quality keyboard - all things an AN1x doesn't have. But it also
weighs 21 kilos and is just very big.

If you're going to use the AN1x as a master controller, you'll need some
external box (which could be a computer) to route the MIDI signals to the
appropriate instruments.

So, as said, it depends on what you intend to do with it. One possibility,
of course, is to start out with an AN1x, and in due time move to a better
controller and use the AN1x as a lead synthesiser (something which it is
very good at). It's up to you.

- Peter

So you can not split the keyboard to control diffrent machines at the 
same time, or to control the internal sound's and some external 
sounds' at the same time.. is this correct. if so then it might not 
be good for me since I wanted to use it to control a nord micro, and 
it's self at the same time, or I could use the machinedrum to 
sequence the micro and use the an1x stand alone. I'm not to sure I'm 
still pertty new to all this, how would you suggest using this 3 
machine's together .    
                          thank's

I don\ufffdt know about other annies out there or other possible master keyboard
options available but my beloved an1x -keyboard has been showing some signs
of aging.
Nearly all of the black keys have lost their sensitivenes by now. And that\ufffds
after five years of banging - it is a rhythm instrument after all :)
I don\ufffdt know how to fix it. Someone knows for sure ?

Erkki

----- Original Message -----

From: fuentes925 <fuentes925@...>
To: <AN1x-list@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, May 19, 2002 11:35 PM
Subject: [AN1x] an1x as master keyboard?


> Hello, I was wondering if the an1x makes for a good master keyboard,
> it seem's it has all I would need, velocity sensitive, after touch,
> ribon controller, and assignable knob's. But how does it all work.
> would you use it for a master keyboard and ig you do, what do you
> think about it..
>                       Thank's for any help..
>
>
>
>
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>

The AN1x is a good, but not stellar, master controller.  I use the AN1x to control itself, an Alesis S4, and a vocoder, as well as to provide a second manual for an organ, and it does a decent job of the task.  I use the AN1x in Local Off mode, and change the Tx channel to re-direct the output to the different devices.

What the AN1x does well:

- Quickly switches channels using one button
- Knobs are programmable to various MIDI CC#'s
- Supports two volume-pedal style controllers, plus one sustain-pedal style controller, with programmable MIDI CC#'s
- Sequencer can send on a different MIDI channel than the keyboard
- Local Off mode does not lead to dropped notes (at least, in my experience)

What the AN1x does NOT do well:

- Zones -- the AN1x can receive on two channels at once, but it can only send on one
- The velocity curves are set globally, rather than on a per-patch basis (this is one of the biggest limitations, IMHO)
- The MIDI channels are set globally, rather than on a per-patch basis
- The knob CC#'s are set globally, rather than on a per-patch basis

I use a MIDI Solutions Router to get around some of the limitations by filtering and re-channelizing some of the MIDI outputs.

Regards,

-BW

--
Bruce Wahler
Design Consultant
Ashby Solutions\ufffd   http://consult.ashbysolutions.com
CloneWheel Support Group and HiNote moderator
978.386.7389  voice/fax
bruce@...

At 09:02 P 5/19/2002 +0000, you wrote:

>So you can not split the keyboard to control diffrent machines at the 
>same time, or to control the internal sound's and some external 
>sounds' at the same time.. is this correct. if so then it might not 
>be good for me since I wanted to use it to control a nord micro, and 
>it's self at the same time, or I could use the machinedrum to 
>sequence the micro and use the an1x stand alone. I'm not to sure I'm 
>still pertty new to all this, how would you suggest using this 3 
>machine's together .    
>                          thank's

In a message dated 20/5/02 2:24:33 pm, ihanaa@... writes:

>I don´t know about other annies out there or other possible master keyboard
>
>options available but my beloved an1x -keyboard has been showing some signs
>
>of aging.
>
>Nearly all of the black keys have lost their sensitivenes by now. And that´s
>
>after five years of banging - it is a rhythm instrument after all :)
>
>I don´t know how to fix it. Someone knows for sure ?
>
>
I've never really been that keen on the AN1x's keyboard 'feel'- I've been 
spoilt because my previous master keyboard was a Casio VZ1- that keyboard was 
*lovely* (I mean the keyboard, the VZ tone generator sucked imo.(the CZ 
range-was much warmer imo).

The circuit board inside is tiny (AN1x)- I've always considered the 
possibility of some sort of way to rackmount it. (?- anybody done this??)

- must drink more coffee.........

Tom

>I've never really been that keen on the AN1x's keyboard 'feel'- I've been

Darn right.  Only keyboard I've had with a worse action was an Akai AX-60 - I
think it had no felt under the keys so it was always literally "banging" on the
keyboard when you played.  Sometimes Yamaha is infuriating in their designs, you
get this "What were they thinking?" feeling about certain things.  I have a
Yamaha A3000 sampler which uses SCSI 1 to communicate!  Talk about slow... 1984
technology in a unit released in 1997.  What were they thinking?  But, the AN1x
is still one of the best VA synths for the money out there.

Easy solution for the key action wearing out: use another keyboard as the
controller via MIDI.  I do this for some songs anyway since the action on the AN
annoys me so much.

Ed Edwards
Leader: Ezekiel's Wheel      \ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffdRetro-Progressive Rock\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd
http://www.untiedmusic.com/ezekiel
http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/227/ezekiels_wheel.html
\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd

On Tue, 21 May 2002 04:41:30 EDT terryfunken@... wrote:

> The circuit board inside is tiny (AN1x)- I've always considered the 
> possibility of some sort of way to rackmount it. (?- anybody done this??)

Yamaha did it (AN1r), but they canned the project. Your guess is as good
as mine as for why they did that.

- Peter

Make new friends online!
Go to http://chat.di-ve.com to start chatting.

In a message dated 21/5/02 12:14:35 pm, peterk@... writes:

>Yamaha did it (AN1r), but they canned the project. 

The AN!r??????- how did you come about this??

In a message dated 21/5/02 12:52:26 pm, edward.edwards@... writes:

>Darn right.  Only keyboard I've had with a worse action was an Akai AX-60
>- I
>
>think it had no felt under the keys so it was always literally "banging"
>on the
>
>keyboard when you played.  Sometimes Yamaha is infuriating in their designs,
>you
>
>get this "What were they thinking?" feeling about certain things.  I have
>a
>
>Yamaha A3000 sampler which uses SCSI 1 to communicate!  Talk about slow...
>1984
>
>technology in a unit released in 1997.  What were they thinking?  But,
>the AN1x
>
>is still one of the best VA synths for the money out there.
>
>
That's funny- 'cos the first 'real' sampler I had was an A3000- and one of 
the things that pissed me off the most about was the time it took to load 
from scsi.- The other thing was the noisy output expansion card.- I dumped it 
for an Emu e6400- and never really looked back. (but I did miss the 'toylike' 
aspect of the thing- especially the 'recycle/sample re-arrange' function- and 
the realtime knob upgrade- something the emu lacks).

As for the keyboard, I wonder if it is possible to swap keyboards in it?- 
yeah I loathe its keyboard!

Tom

All,

>>I've never really been that keen on the AN1x's keyboard 'feel'- I've been
>
>Darn right.  Only keyboard I've had with a worse action was an Akai AX-60 - I
>think it had no felt under the keys so it was always literally "banging" on the
>keyboard when you played.  Sometimes Yamaha is infuriating in their designs, you
>get this "What were they thinking?" feeling about certain things.  I have a
>Yamaha A3000 sampler which uses SCSI 1 to communicate!  Talk about slow... 1984
>technology in a unit released in 1997.  What were they thinking?  But, the AN1x
>is still one of the best VA synths for the money out there.

One man's junk is another man's treasure, I guess.  I've always liked the feel of my AN1x's keys.  Much better, IMHO, than the D-50 I used before that -- I was breaking sharps at the rate of one/month!  Even though I could do the repairs myself, the costs were getting significant.

I should say that I'm predominantly an organist, rather than a pianist, so weighted keys are not a priority for me.  Besides analog synth sounds -- and the Annie's keys feel just fine for that -- I tend to use the AN1x to control (in rough order of frequency) Clavinet (external module), brass (external), second manual on the organ, guitar sounds (external), Rhodes (external) and finally, acoustic piano.  The last two are a stretch on the Annie, but the rest are fine.

Regards,

-BW

--
Bruce Wahler
Design Consultant
Ashby Solutions\ufffd   http://consult.ashbysolutions.com
CloneWheel Support Group and HiNote moderator
978.386.7389  voice/fax
bruce@...

Hello everybody

Does anyone know how to service the keyboard yourself. Anytime I even touch
any of the black keys it sounds as if the filter was opened up completely -
BANG.
I hate to take it to the store. They said they could fix it.
Just forgot to ask how they would do it and don\ufffdt remember how much that
would cost me. Too much anyway.

Erkki

----- Original Message -----

From: Peter Korsten <peterk@...>
To: <AN1x-list@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, May 21, 2002 5:16 PM
Subject: Re: [AN1x] an1x as master keyboard?


> On Tue, 21 May 2002 08:49:06 EDT terryfunken@... wrote:
>
> > In a message dated 21/5/02 12:14:35 pm, peterk@... writes:
> >
> > >Yamaha did it (AN1r), but they canned the project.
> >
> > The AN!r??????- how did you come about this??
>
> I heard it from Jay Vaughan, who at the time was close with Yamaha. The
> canning part is all I know about it, although I'd wager a bet that it
> would be an AN1x minus the keyboard: no extra voices, cross modulation or
> built-in cirtus press. But that's just a wild guess.
>
> Jay is working for Access (the guys of the Virus) now, so don't look at
> either me or him for more Yamaha rumours.
>
> And no, nor for Virus rumours. :)
>
> - Peter
>
> Make new friends online!
> Go to http://chat.di-ve.com to start chatting.
>
>
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>

On Tue, 21 May 2002 07:28:37 -0400 "Ed Edwards" wrote:

> >I've never really been that keen on the AN1x's keyboard 'feel'- I've been
> 
> Darn right.  Only keyboard I've had with a worse action was an Akai
> AX-60 - I
> think it had no felt under the keys so it was always literally
> "banging" on the
> keyboard when you played.  Sometimes Yamaha is infuriating in their
> designs, you
> get this "What were they thinking?" feeling about certain things.  I
> have a
> Yamaha A3000 sampler which uses SCSI 1 to communicate!  Talk about
> slow... 1984
> technology in a unit released in 1997.  What were they thinking?

If I recall correctly, SCSI 1 has a maximum transfer rate of 5 Mb/s,
which would be great if the A3000 could actually manage that. The reason
why SCSI is so slow on the A3000 has little or nothing to do with the
choice of the interface, but in fact with the actual implementation,
notably the handling of interrupts.

And while 45 minutes loading time for the maximum 64 Mb on an EX5 is not
really fun, it's not a computer. A hard disc on a hardware sampler is
strictly off-line storage and doesn't need to be on par with the latest
developments in computer land. We're talking different designs, small
volumes, and hence inherently higher prices. Getting the latest, greatest 
interface leads to even higher prices. You also have to consider that
development of a machine like the A3000 easily takes five years or more.

> But, the AN1x
> is still one of the best VA synths for the money out there.
> 
> Easy solution for the key action wearing out: use another keyboard as the
> controller via MIDI.  I do this for some songs anyway since the
> action on the AN
> annoys me so much.
I think the AN1x has a very good keyboard for a synthesiser in its price
class. It just happens to be in a pretty mid price class. If you want to
have a better quality, you're easily looking at twice the price (if there 
would still be new AN1x's).

Yamaha does make very good keyboards, as can be found on the SY99, EX
series, probably the Motif and the Korg Trinity and Triton (not the
Trition LE or Karma). But these synths are top end - and the AN1x isn't.

- Peter

Make new friends online!
Go to http://chat.di-ve.com to start chatting.

On Tue, 21 May 2002 08:49:06 EDT terryfunken@... wrote:

> In a message dated 21/5/02 12:14:35 pm, peterk@... writes:
> 
> >Yamaha did it (AN1r), but they canned the project. 
> 
> The AN!r??????- how did you come about this??

I heard it from Jay Vaughan, who at the time was close with Yamaha. The
canning part is all I know about it, although I'd wager a bet that it
would be an AN1x minus the keyboard: no extra voices, cross modulation or 
built-in cirtus press. But that's just a wild guess.

Jay is working for Access (the guys of the Virus) now, so don't look at
either me or him for more Yamaha rumours.

And no, nor for Virus rumours. :)

- Peter

Make new friends online!
Go to http://chat.di-ve.com to start chatting.

In a message dated 21/5/02 1:58:39 pm, peterk@... writes:

>I think the AN1x has a very good keyboard for a synthesiser in its price
>class. It just happens to be in a pretty mid price class. If you want to
>have a better quality, you're easily looking at twice the price (if there
>
>would still be new AN1x's).
>
The AN1x was £900 in this country when new- I don't call that cheap.

--- In AN1x-list@y..., terryfunken@a... wrote:
> 
> In a message dated 21/5/02 1:58:39 pm, peterk@m... writes:
> 
> >I think the AN1x has a very good keyboard for a synthesiser in 
its price
> >class. It just happens to be in a pretty mid price class. If you 
want to
> >have a better quality, you're easily looking at twice the price (if 
there
> >
> >would still be new AN1x's).
> >
> The AN1x was £900 in this country when new- I don't call that 
cheap.

Yes, but the AN1x was quickly discounted. They went from $1495 
-> $1250 -> $800 -> $500 in something like 18 months - and 
they fetch between $400-500 on average 2nd hand. Clearly 
compromised were made to meet the intial $1495 price point.

I agree with the comments regarding the quality of keyboard 
mechanism for its price class. FWIW, my preference remains the 
keyboard mechanism (Fatar?) used in the (old) Korg 
Wavestation and Yamaha SY77. I think this is still used in Korg 
keyboards today but I may be mistaken.

regards,

Jon

From: <terryfunken@...>

> In a message dated 21/5/02 1:58:39 pm, peterk@... writes:
>
> >I think the AN1x has a very good keyboard for a synthesiser in its price
> >class. It just happens to be in a pretty mid price class. If you want to
> >have a better quality, you're easily looking at twice the price (if there
> >
> >would still be new AN1x's).
> >
> The AN1x was \ufffd900 in this country when new- I don't call that cheap.

Still, it was mid-price, and less expensive than, say, a Virus, Supernova or
Nord Lead.

- Peter

From: "jondl_2000" <jondl_2000@...>

> I agree with the comments regarding the quality of keyboard
> mechanism for its price class. FWIW, my preference remains the
> keyboard mechanism (Fatar?) used in the (old) Korg
> Wavestation and Yamaha SY77. I think this is still used in Korg
> keyboards today but I may be mistaken.

Oooooh, I thought it came from Yamaha (also because Yamaha used to own
Korg). Makes sense, though. Or maybe Yamaha bought Fatar?

- Peter

Peter,

Yamaha only owns a percentage (30% ?) of Korg, not the whole company.  And Fatar is still its own, very quirky company...

Regards,

-BW

--
Bruce Wahler
Design Consultant
Ashby Solutions\ufffd   http://consult.ashbysolutions.com
CloneWheel Support Group and HiNote moderator
978.386.7389  voice/fax
bruce@...


At 08:39 P 5/21/2002 +0200, you wrote:

>From: "jondl_2000" <jondl_2000@...>
>
>> I agree with the comments regarding the quality of keyboard
>> mechanism for its price class. FWIW, my preference remains the
>> keyboard mechanism (Fatar?) used in the (old) Korg
>> Wavestation and Yamaha SY77. I think this is still used in Korg
>> keyboards today but I may be mistaken.
>
>Oooooh, I thought it came from Yamaha (also because Yamaha used to own
>Korg). Makes sense, though. Or maybe Yamaha bought Fatar?
>
>- Peter

Hhhm, I was under the impression Yamaha had a much larger 
stake in Korg - something like 51%?! Accurate information on 
this subject has always been tough to come by. And I though 
Fatar licensed their keyboard mechanisms to MANY synth 
manufacturers (in addition to marketing low cost models under 
their own name.) Am I mistaken on this too?

Jon


--- In AN1x-list@y..., Bruce Wahler <bruce@a...> wrote:
> Peter,
> 
> Yamaha only owns a percentage (30% ?) of Korg, not the 
whole company.  And Fatar is still its own, very quirky company...

> 
> Regards,
> 
> -BW
> 
> --

> Hhhm, I was under the impression Yamaha had a much larger
> stake in Korg - something like 51%?! Accurate information on
> this subject has always been tough to come by. And I though
> Fatar licensed their keyboard mechanisms to MANY synth
> manufacturers (in addition to marketing low cost models under
> their own name.) Am I mistaken on this too?
>
> Jon

Having known an engineer at Korg in the early '90s, I learned that Yamaha has a
very "hands off" relationship with Korg, and yet allows them to be direct
competitors.  The Japanese view of capitalism as competition is very strong, but
they still have a sense of nationalist comraderie and respect which generally
limits them socially from driving another business completely into the dirt.
They mutually buy parts and services from direct competitors without major
reservations.  Therefore the link to Korg.

I don't think the Wavestation, 01/W, DX7 and SY series were from Fatar.  The
keyboard action on all of these are similar to identical... DX7 keys can be used
for replacing broken 01/W keys (known from experience).  And yes, respected Mr.
Jon, these synths had actions like few others which feels great.  That's why I
use my 01/W to control my Annix for some songs.
Ed Edwards
Leader: Ezekiel's Wheel      \ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffdRetro-Progressive Rock\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd
http://www.untiedmusic.com/ezekiel
http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/227/ezekiels_wheel.html
\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd


----- Original Message -----

From: "jondl_2000" <jondl_2000@...>
To: <AN1x-list@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, May 21, 2002 9:03 PM
Subject: Re: [AN1x] an1x as master keyboard?



>
>
> --- In AN1x-list@y..., Bruce Wahler <bruce@a...> wrote:
> > Peter,
> >
> > Yamaha only owns a percentage (30% ?) of Korg, not the
> whole company.  And Fatar is still its own, very quirky company...
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > -BW
> >
> > --
>
>
>
> Community email addresses:
>   Post message: AN1x-list@yahoogroups.com
>   Subscribe:    AN1x-list-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
>   Unsubscribe:  AN1x-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
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>
> Shortcut URL to this page:
>    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AN1x-list
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>

Jon,

>Hhhm, I was under the impression Yamaha had a much larger 
>stake in Korg - something like 51%?!

No, it is less than half; of that much I am certain.

>And I though Fatar licensed their keyboard mechanisms to MANY synth 
>manufacturers (in addition to marketing low cost models under 
>their own name.) Am I mistaken on this too?

No, this is completely true.  Fatar sells OEM keybeds -- the proper name for key-and-switch mechanisms -- to Korg (CX-3), Peavey (DPM-8), and Clavia (Nord Electro), to name a few that I know of first-hand; as well as selling their own line of MIDI master controllers, the Studiologic series.  I didn't mean to imply otherwise, I simply meant to explain that Fatar is not a subsidiary of Yamaha or any other musical instrument company.  Fatar keybeds appear in a large percentage of all modern musical instruments.

Regards,

-BW

--
Bruce Wahler
Design Consultant
Ashby Solutions\ufffd   http://consult.ashbysolutions.com
CloneWheel Support Group and HiNote moderator
978.386.7389  voice/fax
bruce@...

In a message dated 22/5/02 3:37:19 am, edward.edwards@... writes:

>The Japanese view of capitalism as competition is very strong, but
>
>they still have a sense of nationalist comraderie and respect which generally
>
>limits them socially from driving another business completely into the
>dirt.

Hmmm- perhaps the USA could take a few notes down here?- It's amazing what 
you will do for peace, friendship and brotherhood, after someone (namely the 
USA) drops an Atombomb on your head.

From: <terryfunken@...>

> Hmmm- perhaps the USA could take a few notes down here?- It's amazing what
> you will do for peace, friendship and brotherhood, after someone (namely
the
> USA) drops an Atombomb on your head.

I don't think there's need for that on this list, really.

- Peter (living a mere 230 km from Tripoli and indeed worried)