Korg DSS-1
| DSS-1 | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Manufacturer | Korg |
| Dates | 1986 - |
| Price | $2600 |
| Technical specifications | |
| Polyphony | 8 |
| Timbrality | Monotimbral but multitimbrality can be obtained using multisamples spread across keyboard |
| Oscillator | 12-bit waveforms/samples |
| LFO | 2 - pitch & filter |
| Synthesis type | Digital Sample-based Subtractive |
| Filter | 8x NJM-2069 |
| Attenuator | 8x |
| Aftertouch expression | yes |
| Velocity expression | yes |
| Storage memory | 256kb-2Mb |
| Effects | 2x DDL |
| Input/output | |
| Keyboard | 61-key |
| Left-hand control | Joystick |
| External control | MIDI |
The Korg DSS-1 is a 12-bit polyphonic sampling synthesizer released in September 1986. It came out at a time when many of the popular synthesizer companies were beginning to get into sampling, an area of sound design that had previously been left to a handful of fledgling companies such as Fairlight, E-mu, and Ensoniq. Like Yamaha and Casio, however, Korg did not stay long in the sampling arena. The DSS-1 (along with the rackmount DSM-1) was the company's only sampler until 1998 when Korg introduced sampling options on their Triton and Trinity series of workstations, and on their Electribe series of drum-and-phrase samplers.
The DSS-1 is a 12-bit sampler with analog filters and envelopes. It can sample at 12 bit resolution, with a maximum sampling frequency of 48 kHz. The usual sample editing features are included, such as truncate, loop, crossfade, keymapping, and so on. Multisamples can contain up to 16 individual samples. A single floppy disk can hold 4 "systems", each of which stores 32 patches including all subtractive synthesis parameters and the multisamples used in those patches. The maximum internal sample memory is 256k on a factory standard unit, with some (now rare and hard-to-find) hardware upgrades that increased the memory up to 2MB. A single DSS-1 floppy disk can hold up to 512k worth of multisamples, but only a max of 256k can be loaded into the machine's internal memory.
Like most digital-analog hybrid synthesizers, its architecture is set up much in the same way as on a standard subtractive analog synthesizer. The subtractive analog engine on the DSS-1 allows for two oscillators to be combined and/or detuned. For each oscillator, one of 16 single-cycle waveform loops or full samples can be selected. Also on board the DSS-1 is a simple, non-realtime additive synthesis engine. This allows you to create single-cycle waveforms by either drawing them with a data slider, or by setting the relative amplitude levels of 128 sine waves. These digital oscillators are then fed through a fully resonant VCF and a VCA section. The DSS-1 has the same VCF as on the Korg DW series and the Poly-800 (Korg custom filter # NJM-2069). The DSS-1, unlike the DW series or the Poly-800 allows the filter to be switched between 12dB and 24dB modes.
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