Vintage Synth Repair

At 21:23 Uhr +0100 08.05.2008, Philip wrote:
> I forgot to say I got interested in the Omni after
> hearing my Quadra..I'm guessing they sound similar? Or
> am I way off? I thought it might be cheap alternative
> to it. Quadra's seem to be worth quite a bit these
> days...a bit more than I can hang on to if you know
> what I mean. And I'm scared of it breaking down
> again..the connection between the control panel
> membrane buttons and the main board is one of the
> worst, fragile..easy to rip and ruin forever, designs
> I think I've ever seen.

I don't exactly recall the panel connection (it probably has been over 10
years since I last looked at a Quadra). I only know the connection used for
the Chroma Polaris which is also very failure-prone.

Yes, Quadra's seem to fetch a really pretty amount nowadays. The Poly
section of the Omni is very similar to the one found in the Quadra. However
I *think* that phase shifter in the Quadra used a different design (I was
very impressed by that type of phasing). I seem to recall rumours that it
used some Mutron technology (ARP had bought Mutron at the time when the
Quadra was developed).
I'll have to check the schematics a bit more thoroughly about this.

> I also have a RS-505 Paraphonic which I think is
> similar to the omni...I do really love the 505 it is
> one of the warmest, sweetest sounding string synths
> I've ever used..It's become a real favourite since I
> got it a while back.

I think I had one of those for some time, too. My favourite string machine
is of course the Solina (I've got a Solina String Synthesizer, not the more
common String Ensemble). I've also got a Crumar Performer.
One string synth I'd love to hear would be the Freeman String Symphonizer.
I don't know if any of those ever found their way to Europe, though...


-- 
Malte Rogacki gacki@...
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"Don't forget to TURN ON THE SYNTHESIZER. Often this is the reason why you
 get no sound out of it." (ARP 2600 Owner's Manual)
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