Discussion about the Korg PolySix synthesizer

Sorry for this dull question but I remember I once read on this forum that changing some old capacitors for better new ones could increase the overall quality of the audio signal.

I've also bookmarked a french article about the impact of passive components on sound :

http://www.petoindominique.fr/php/audiophile1.php

About Jean Higara (in english) :

http://www.jean-hiraga.com/uk/legende.htm

Of course this article is aiming the audiophile community (Hi-Fi) but I wonder if we could adapt their advice to improve our beloved P6.

I don't have a clear (not to say any) idea of the complete audio signal path in the Polysix and which components are involved in this process.

The question is definitley dull : I don't even know if those improvements would be noticeable for "normal" ears.

I think with these guys you are getting into the serious audiophile
territory. You know the type... They have a second ring main in the house to
keep the supply clean and a record deck with $30,000 moving coil cartridge.
I don¹t think the Polysix was ever built with Œhi-fi¹ in mind (it is mono,
for heaven¹s sake!) however, it would not hurt you to make sure the signal
path is as clean as possible. There is a cable from the voice board (right)
down to the effects on the other side (left) and then a cable up to the
preamp on the top panel (sorry don¹t have the manual to hand). It would be
worth making sure these are firmly seated and non-corroded. Also it might
not hurt to change the jack plugs on the back which is a fairly straight
forward one to do. Also, make sure the ground wires, especially the big
black one down to the 367 are secure. I have had radio demodulation problems
(AM radio stations breaking in to the audio channel) at night when this wire
has been floating.

Unless you have a specific audio issue (hum, etc) then changing all the
capacitors in the signal path could be a very long process! If in doubt find
a friend with an oscilloscope and chase the signal from the voice to the
output and see which sub-systems distort the signal, if at all.

Cheers,
Andy


On 05/03/2010 13:02, "n0disc0" <n0disc0@yahoo.com> wrote:

>  
>  
>  
>    
> 
> Sorry for this dull question but I remember I once read on this forum that
> changing some old capacitors for better new ones could increase the overall
> quality of the audio signal.
> 
> I've also bookmarked a french article about the impact of passive components
> on sound :
> 
> http://www.petoindominique.fr/php/audiophile1.php
> 
> About Jean Higara (in english) :
> 
> http://www.jean-hiraga.com/uk/legende.htm
> 
> Of course this article is aiming the audiophile community (Hi-Fi) but I wonder
> if we could adapt their advice to improve our beloved P6.
> 
> I don't have a clear (not to say any) idea of the complete audio signal path
> in the Polysix and which components are involved in this process.
> 
> The question is definitley dull : I don't even know if those improvements
> would be noticeable for "normal" ears.
> 
>  
>    
> 
> 



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Thank you for the reply and explanations Andy.

I feel uncomfortable with my stupid questions. I have no electronic skills but I'm very interested in all these things. I keep on reading articles or users comments on electronic matters but I'm quite sure I understand correctly only 10% of what is written. 

For instance before you and Jed came to rescue damaged KLM-367A owners, and as OldCrow had disappeared from the face of the earth, I planned to "clone" the board by myself.

I've used the schematics from OldCrow's website and I've ordered the service manual. It took me weeks and weeks to draw the double-sided board using Photoshop and to compare components datasheets to find replacement parts.

I'm quite sure it would have resulted in a non working board that could have potentialy harmed my P6. Sometimes passion and will are not enough... Electronics require strong theorical knowledge and practical skills. 

When I was working on my so-called project I've read, for instance that 4558 op-amps sound crappy, and that NE5532 or TL072 were much better ones. Without knowing what exactly these amplifiers are or how they work I tended to think it could improve the overall P6 sound if I would have changed them all...

In some ways I didn't really changed since I was a child when I used to open electronic devices to "see" how they worked...

Yours,

Ben

> When I was working on my so-called project I've read, for instance that 4558
> op-amps sound crappy, and that NE5532 or TL072 were much better ones. Without
> knowing what exactly these amplifiers are or how they work I tended to think
> it could improve the overall P6 sound if I would have changed them all...

However the 4558 on the KLM-367 are not in the audio signal path; as far as
I can see most are just buffers for the control voltages. There will
probably be very little to gain by exchanging them.

Quite agree! A lot of the electronics on the 367 is not directly involved
with output signal processing at all. Also be very carefully not to
circumvent the actual design of the P6 circuitry, some of the those
components were chosen with good reason by the designer for their
characteristics (gain, slew rate, etc).

Cheers,
Andy


On 06/03/2010 16:39, "Malte Rogacki" <gacki@gacki.sax.de> wrote:

>  
>  
>  
>    
> 
>> > When I was working on my so-called project I've read, for instance that
>> 4558
>> > op-amps sound crappy, and that NE5532 or TL072 were much better ones.
>> Without
>> > knowing what exactly these amplifiers are or how they work I tended to
>> think
>> > it could improve the overall P6 sound if I would have changed them all...
> 
> However the 4558 on the KLM-367 are not in the audio signal path; as far as
> I can see most are just buffers for the control voltages. There will
> probably be very little to gain by exchanging them.
> 
>  
>    
> 
> 



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Ben,

I don¹t think there is a single person in this forum who think your
questions are stupid. I think they¹d have said something by now, to be
honest! I wish I were a better musician, but you can¹t be good at
everything. Keep on asking and don¹t be shy!

Cheers,
Andy


On 06/03/2010 13:12, "n0disc0" <n0disc0@yahoo.com> wrote:

>  
>  
>  
>    
> 
> Thank you for the reply and explanations Andy.
> 
> I feel uncomfortable with my stupid questions. I have no electronic skills but
> I'm very interested in all these things. I keep on reading articles or users
> comments on electronic matters but I'm quite sure I understand correctly only
> 10% of what is written.
> 
> For instance before you and Jed came to rescue damaged KLM-367A owners, and as
> OldCrow had disappeared from the face of the earth, I planned to "clone" the
> board by myself.
> 
> I've used the schematics from OldCrow's website and I've ordered the service
> manual. It took me weeks and weeks to draw the double-sided board using
> Photoshop and to compare components datasheets to find replacement parts.
> 
> I'm quite sure it would have resulted in a non working board that could have
> potentialy harmed my P6. Sometimes passion and will are not enough...
> Electronics require strong theorical knowledge and practical skills.
> 
> When I was working on my so-called project I've read, for instance that 4558
> op-amps sound crappy, and that NE5532 or TL072 were much better ones. Without
> knowing what exactly these amplifiers are or how they work I tended to think
> it could improve the overall P6 sound if I would have changed them all...
> 
> In some ways I didn't really changed since I was a child when I used to open
> electronic devices to "see" how they worked...
> 
> Yours,
> 
> Ben
> 
>  
>    
> 
> 



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]