Korg Poly800/EX800 Users

On Fri, 18 Jul 2008, Erik Hines wrote:

> Please repost purchase information for the hawk kit. I have been waiting 
> for the bugs to be worked out before I purchased the kit myself. Once 
> it's solid and most of the major bugs worked out, I think you'll find a 
> lot of us 'open minded skeptics' oredering these kits...
========================

count me in the "wait and see" camp...

i avoid version 1 of just about anything, even for things like CD players 
and video recorders. i'm waiting for the (inevitable) bugs to get worked 
out, and also see if the "expansion" for the atomohawk ever comes out (i 
can live without it, but if it's on the way i'll wait for it and order the 
whole thing at once).

so, mr hawk... do you think the project might get put on the back burner 
indefinitely, or only until your other obligations pass?

in a project of this scope (upgrading the hardware and software of a 80's 
synth) one thing is certain: after counting your time, there's no way 
you'll make money. similar projects have upgraded the software for synths 
of the same vintage as the poly-800 (the cheetah MS6, yamaha TX16W and the 
roland MKS30 come to mind), and i seriously doubt that those have been 
money-makers for the people who did them (and AFAIK those projects left 
the original hardware, only upgrading the software). the only sane 
perspective on this is to consider this a hobby/project that you're doing 
for yourself and making it available to others. if you (or your wife) take 
the position that it's anything resembling a profitable venture, then it's 
doomed to let you down.

my mods are done for me, and given away for free. a few people have 
offered to take me to lunch, but as yet i've been unable to redeem any of 
those offers. of course i'm giving away information, and no one would ask 
you to give away hardware, but the business models are otherwise about the 
same.

as i've said, i tend to avoid anything that's version 1. if i had to make 
a choice between ordering the kit as it is, or never getting one, i'd put 
in an order... but if you think the kit will be more mature in 6-12 
months, i'd rather wait. i can even send you half the money now, and the 
other half when you ship a more mature kit. at the moment, it seems like 
the worst bug is the short life of the backup battery; if i've been 
following things accurately, all of the other problems seem to lie in the 
software realm, so shouldn't be hard to fix after the units are sold 
(deployed?).

q1) what's the latest update with the battery? do you think that will need 
a new layout on the board? or can the problem be fixed with some flying 
wires and 1-2 resisters later on? or maybe a drop-in replacement for the 
RAM?

q2) not counting software bugs and yet-to-be-implemented features, are 
there any other concerns about the hardware?

q3) do you think the atomohawk expansion will see daylight? when?

q4) if i don't order by the "deadline", will i lose my chances of ever 
getting the kit? or will i have another chance after your other project(s) 
wrap up?

q5) what's your opinion of getting a group of fence-sitters (it seems i'm 
not the only one) to each send you $50 now, with a promise that certain 
bugs/features will be fixed/added within a certain time-frame, and then 
send you another $50 before you ship?


-- 
         ...atom

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