Artesia

my panda's going to kick your ass ! (...either that, or lick it...)

whats the 'World Wildlife Foundation' got to do with it ?

thats the lol of the day for sure :) will paste some stupidness in response when i remember :)

heres the mods they did to this one prior to this return btw: 5x resistor mods around the cpu (bootup mods ?) ...not the tidiest soldering iv'e ever seen.. tho smt is difficult by hand. Oscillator section comprising of 2 voices / 8 oscs (each dac also serves another pair of ASO & ASF chips on the lower parto f the board) resistor mod around Oscillator chip,. A further closeup of the DAC section; burr brown 2134ua opamp on output dutys; presumably S&H onboard Custom chips. ..seriously ..one of these days im going to design and make a analog domain synth far more powerful & characterful than this.. which works as one would expect it to; just so i can go Nyaaaahhh ! ;) ...well maybe.

unfortunately it would seem that most of the s&h circuitry is in those custom chips ..however i could be wrong.

no problem.. i could invite them if they wished.. however they would probably just view it as harassment. if for some reason this did raise an eyebrow or two.. im sure they would comment if they wanted to... i dont usually do 'poll' things.. however im just curious as to how other people view the handling of this issue. Alesis didnt provide any information at all; their returns form simply states S1 - Recalibration.. and a polite phonecall just now, did not obtain a useful response or acknowledgment.. if you can think of a way for me to provide a more complete response let me know. im simply letting other people know of the 'minor' problems im encountering here, so that they may avoid an issue with a product which will not be sorted & wasting time with customer support. Im not the only one whos experienced exactly this; however i wanted to give them a clear chance to streighten it out before i published the problems on the web.

Date: 26 Jan 2008 18:19 Subject: ref, return - alesis andromeda fault report.. To: bbridges@neumark.com Hi, heres the fault report for my andromeda (ser no: (21) a10611045700***). * I am experiencing some oscillator tuning issues whereby all of them are drifting relative to eachother at an unacceptable rate (2/3rd second and faster for a complete drift). This is in spite of observing all matters concerning tuning & making sure the auto tune settings remain on all the time. This results in an audible phasing between sound elements which should be in 'perfect' harmony. For instance, this can easily be seen/heard when setting two oscillators in a voice to the same pitch, when in unison with '0' detune, in stack mode & when in multimode & layering the same patch across all multi's. Also this undesired effect can clearly be heard when holding down notes an octave (octave being 2x the lower note & sholdnt drift) appart. This anomaly is also significant enough to affect the musicality of cords.. which just dont sound right. The above effects are most easily demonstrated when using square waves ..the effects of the drift are quite startlingly obvious ...and when compared to another analog, which itself exhibited a little drift; it was so small that it simply isnt audible compared to the andromeda. * See the two attached mp3 files (a6.mp3 & other.mp3) for recorded examples of this anomaly; both start with two sinewaves an octave appart & then two squarewaves an octave apart. The differences between the two synths drifting can most clearly be heard with the latter squarewave section. Also it is advisable to open the file in a wave editor, & scroll along to see the effect of the drift (most easily seen with sine); otherwise an oscilloscope is a better option. - Also goto User Bank; PROGRAM 12 on the andromeda (when it arrives) for a patch already setup to demonstrate these problems. Additionally see mix bank 00 to hear all 16 voices in unison & the effect this has on the timbre. Thanks. Attachments: (links work here too) http://homepage.ntlworld.com/nausicaa.valley/ucapps/alesis_andromeda/A6.mp3 http://homepage.ntlworld.com/nausicaa.valley/ucapps/alesis_andromeda/OTHER.mp3 --------------------------------- Phoned them up after receiving it with exactly the same problem & the issue remains... they failed to recognize that there was an issue at all.. stating they couldn't hear a tuning anomaly ..in spite of having the problem described clearly as above... and fascinatingly... they didnt even attempt to describe it as a 'feature' ...would this be due to concern about acknowledging the anomaly ? they allege that a 'components added' mod was done to the voice board for tuning issues in a previous service ..as for what this did tho... Apparently other users have encountered this too.. and had the same issue with warranty servicing.. Be aware that all andromedas seem to lack the ability to tune all oscillators 100% & they just dodge this one... (a fundamental 'flaw' in the custom chip design ?) ...shame; and shame on them.

well.. yes; sometimes the packaged sound drivers don't work with many such products.. i put some delta 2496's in some machines i made for someone & although the out the box driver didn't work with xp64; it didn't take long to find one on their website. Now work perfectly, super low latency, rock bottom noise floor, excellent performance, easy to understand control/routing panel & ...erm cheap too. so no complaints really. ..however take something lie a focusrite saffire ..and my god they can be a bitch to get working ...and the card mixer interface is a confusing nightmare. ..thats a box i wish i hadn't put on another's machine... Got a spare LE here at home ..and its not much better for confusion.. Lynx SC's... erm not really in the price range the chap was intending on ..thats more like protools money oddly enough.. basic lynx card cost more than i paid for my chosen method of personal transport ;)

no d50 ...tho thanks for reminding me ..will be keeping an eye out for a racked one at a reasonable price sometime... They offer a significantly different enough approach & nice enough sound to warrant adding to the collection :) XT pics ...search the forum ..i documented it on here sometime ago.

btw the only difference between the q kbd and q+ ..is the addition of analog filters ...and instead of 25 (?) max voices ..it has the dsp grunt for 100 :) ...although only 16 all analog filtered voice polyphony.

curious ..this thread didnt generate anywhere near as much interest from readers as other 'lids off' expose's ..interesting ...maybe peeps dont know of the mks 80 being a 'seceret' jupiter ;) ..they cant of forgotten what a jupiter is ..could they ? ;)

red display.. all one monochromatic colour scheme isnt always the way to make things look best ..ask women about colour co-ordination ;) the display is like the eyes of a person, a central definining feature which is rarely matched to their clothes (a nono in 'fashion' terms...) ..having green/blue contrasting against the reds & blacks works quite well for my tastes ..just prefer the vfd looks. I dont mind the jog wheel, it is plastiky ...but of a high enough quality dimpled finish & with a deep enough tint to be attractive ..rather than tacky ..i prefer brushed metal & black plastic knobs ..but thats a different game :) ..i feel they missed out on the oppertunity to illuminate the knobs on this synth ...they are made of transparent perspex with a rubber sleeve.. maybe ill see to this when the warrantys truely over ;) the q+ allows simultaneous use of both digital and analog filters; they can be ganged in serial, parallel ..or an inbetween mix of both. ive not looked to see if effects can be applyed sepperately in multi mode.. however given that this stacks patches which save individual effects ..i would expect so ..will check soon. The q manual also details the q+ features ..check waldorfs file server. i have a disc here with the q+ manual on ..i dont see why this file shouldnt be on thier server as well.. otherwise ..ask and ill send. no demo places :/ ..if theres any particular things you want to hear let me know and ill knock something together :) ..btw folks ..keep an eye out for the blofeld ...its awesome (and cheap ;) )

checked ? ..see the provided link ..theres all the tech data you could wish for on that pdf from intersil.

hi doug ...your rev5 should be identical inside. tho pics of the rev 4 internals would be useful for comparison. pics of the main boards inside, cropped into sections which at 800 pixels wide are detailed enough to see part numbers would be useful... ta. :)

i've been collecting, in some rare cases.. saving (& cutting a mean deal) ..and winning cheap auctions for repair for sometime now.. i wish id had the sense to buy a mks80 before the prices rocketed ..however still got a bargain.. and im fairly certain prices arent going to come down on alot of analog kit ..its just going to go up. so im collecting the bits i want; whilst i can still afford them & if i totally loose interest in it all; its a tidy investment which can also return at least its invested financial worth ...if not ..to hell with it.. tis all fun ;) i did total what itd of cost if id paid the mugs price for the kit i have ..and i beleive in some countrys that kind of money can by houses ..opposed to sheds :) ..however I've been abit more studious overall & spent nothing like that mulah,, oh... yes and i dont blow my money on regular bouts of drinking, smoking or drug takery ...and that sort of thing, and youll be supprised what that can do for your finances. theres many hours more entertainment than the same money spent on the former can get you ...and if you do well ..it can pay you for having fun with it :) racking ..im keeping an eye on the heat situation.. they vary greatly in depth between them; staking them carefully insures that there is space between them as facilitated by their depths ..also the sides are open... so plenty of free circulating air :)

details for intersil now listed above...

Kustom Homie ! ;) in all seriousness, if anyones got some waldorf knobs spare ..im missing two as above ..ta.

Bought one o' these Roland - Super Jupiter MKS 80 Rev. 5 racks off ebay at the beggining of the month for not inconsiderable amount of money.. tho theres no way im paying what some people in the uk (sospubs.co.uk ads) want for them ..around 2,000 ukp ! Its a rackmount 8 voice Jupiter synth with some additional bells and whistles; including the bizarrely missing velocity sensitivity in the keyboard version.. Has the indispensable ability to fully edit over midi (the kbd didnt feature midi natively) ..and importantly transfer patches & presets via midi too ..something we take for granted in modern boxes :) Oh, yes and it sounds very nice... Capable of being very bright and airy, its nature allows you to create pretty realistic timbres (comparable to 'real' instruments) ..as well as sound typically synthy & is quite relentlessly beefy in the bass line department when pushed ..although the undisputed king there of course is the moog.. however you can create more complex timbres and rumbles here :) only took me afew button presses on editing a preset to get it to spit out a complete floorboard twisting bassline.. the presets are usually quite tame.. but better than most ..various sounds echo back to the jd990 which i had first.. however this does 'em better ;) pretty high on the favorites list :) only downside, is for its sonic guts ..its not exactly a looker compared to the keyboard ..although theres something quaint about it ...then again we are very design conscious these days. Oh and dont break the lcd, you wont get another ..its a WEEEIRD bespoke roland one. Also this is the rev. 5 there are two versions, the first (rev. 3 & 4 (is there 1 & 2 ?) serials upto 511799) share most of the hardware chips (all curtis chips with Roland Filter) with the jupiter 6 ...and this one is pretty much all roland designed chips (a refinement on the line one would hope ? ..prompted by uncertainty over curtis surviving at the time) & sounds pretty sweet for it :) Theres people who rave on about versions... and this ones mostly to my taste Sonically ..the earlier Curtis revs apparently have that typically Curtis mid band ness & with a portion of distortion in that range which people either like.. or don't ..and ive got enough of the curtis thing going on with other synths :) + the older rev. cheats and uses an excessive bass boost circuit. ...rolands custom chips sound quite different ...shame people dont make things this way anymore :/ ..not since alesis anyways. Theres Two analog boards like this, stacked ontop of eachother; with cpu board below: Packed.. 3 hinged layers of nuttyness & a rather big case..: CPU Board (each analog board has a processor on it too !): Roland ir3r03 - vco's: The only curtis chips here are dual VCA's.. often mistook for being filters: Sharp ir9022 - dual opamp 500mv/s slew rate, Roland ir3r05 - vcf/vca. 3x intel 8051 12mhz processors & associated hw in synth !: * Intersil icl 7134 ulcji - DAC: 14-Bit multiplying microprocessor-compatible D/A converter, non-linearity 0.003% (14-bit), uniplar version in 28-pin CERDIP package. Operational temperature range from 0°C to 70°C. http://www.intersil.com/data/fn/fn3113.pdf * (7x) hitachi hd14051 - 8 channel analog multiplexer. UNKNOWN Motorola M5230L Opamp ?: Rolands Custom ba662 OTA Opamps made to superceede the ca3080 in their designs: Run Pretty damned hot... UNKNOWN Motorola M5218L Opamp ?: Hmm.. time for another rack, this ones full (the other matrix1000 is out on loan) ! USPS ....GARRR ! ..7-10 day delivery for this turned into 3 weeks / 20 days ! heres what happened.. USPS.COM Parcel Tracking Label/Receipt Number: CP6151990**US Detailed Results: * Delivered Abroad, February 22, 2008, 3:00 pm, GREAT BRITAIN * Attempted Delivery Abroad, February 22, 2008, 8:09 am, GREAT BRITAIN * Out of Foreign Customs, February 21, 2008, 11:35 am, GREAT BRITAIN * Into Foreign Customs, February 20, 2008, 9:17 am, GREAT BRITAIN * Arrived Abroad, February 20, 2008, 9:01 am, GREAT BRITAIN * International Dispatch, February 14, 2008, 3:17 am, SAN FRANCISCO * Acceptance, February 02, 2008, 12:46 pm, SIMI VALLEY, CA 93065 ...It sat around effectively in usps's hands for 17 days (2 days short of 3 weeks), and i was getting pretty pissed off.. Then it takes a day to clear customs, and one to 'apparently' not be delivered to my doorstep.. This was where the fun started with royal mail (didnt know it was with them at that point tho)... I even had to go directly to a postal depot 7 miles away to collect the parcel; as they wont deliver to door on customs chargeable items any more (cant get the insurance to have postmen collect money now) ..tho can pay it via credit card apparently. If i hadnt of signed up to the usps tracker; id not of heard that it had arrived at all. due to all the breacracy in the postal system.. it sent me an email informing a missed delivery at 8AM ...thats funny i thought; no parcel delivery note ... hmm. so i tried to find out who had the parcel via usps, which said nothing about it at all.. googled who delivers in the uk for them and found out it was royal mail's parcelforce division; and that usually you can enter the tracking number into their system to see where its at. ..ok good; that worked ...and then it gave me aaaanother number for the uk tracking. so i phone up the local depot on a whim; give them the local uk number ..and they say its in & that they never attempted to deliver it; that was the time it arrived at their depot & a quirk of being witheld by them due to customs fees. ..so i go and collect it. if id not of found out about the 'non' missed delivery.. then they would of done their usual thing of ...posting a letter to tell me i had something waiting there ! (apparently they arent quick to do that either...). ...grumble ! and heres how royal mails info looked: EC6308489**GB Date Time Location Tracking Event 22-02-2008 15:00 Leicester Central Depot Parcel delivered 22-02-2008 13:32 Leicester Central Depot Collected by addressee 22-02-2008 08:09 Leicester Central Depot Awaiting payment of charges 21-02-2008 22:27 Leicester Central Depot Arrived at delivery depot 21-02-2008 18:02 National Hub Sorted in hub 21-02-2008 11:35 International Hub En route to delivery depot 21-02-2008 11:19 International Hub RELEASED WITH CHARGES 20-02-2008 09:17 International Hub AWAITING CUSTOMS CHARGING 20-02-2008 09:01 International Hub Arrived in destination country 14-02-2008 03:17 CAPE ISC SAN FRANCISCO (USPS) Left origin country 'left origin country'>'arrived in destination country' ...6 days in the air ...eh ? ..wtf ;) ...must be counting airfields as international space.

im waiting on another package from las vegas atm; with a rev 4 Roland MKS80 in it ;) ..customs in the us sat on it for TWO WEEKS ! (*expletive*) ..now its uk customs turn to delay it & poorly repackage ;)

LOL !

btw.. not a Dig at the packing Doug.. Tho for the benefit of everybody; heres what a loose transformer does to a transatlantic envelope...

not a worry these things happen... it got here tho :)

Exchanged 110/240v transformers successfully with the chap in the post above :) nice to know there are folks on ucapps you can blindly trust to do exchanges like this; Thanks :) one thing i will say tho; is pack heavy things like transformers securely ..especially when traveling between continents ! :)

The final mod, the addition of a far easier to read OLED display :) VS: I prefer the turquoise/mauve tints of the lcd up against the colour of the wood.. tho its just so damn unreadable ! ..ack weil :) Maybe i'll put one of those turquoise VFD displays in one day ..tho this will do for now ;)

more of the Q mod ...its a disgrace for a synth like this to not include some nice lumps of wood ...so i made some ;) aaaah.... Much better ?