Korg DW-8000
| DW-8000 | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Manufacturer | Korg |
| Dates | 1985 - 1987 |
| Technical specifications | |
| Polyphony | 8 |
| Timbrality | 1 |
| Oscillator | DWGS × 2/Voice |
| Synthesis type | Analog/Digital hybrid subtractive |
| Filter | 24 dB VCF (Analog) |
| Storage memory | 64 |
| Effects | Digital Delay |
| Input/output | |
| Keyboard | 61-key mono-pressure |
| Left-hand control | Joystick |
| External control | MIDI |
The Korg DW-8000 synthesizer was released to the buying public in late 1985 along with the cheaper model Korg DW-6000 synthesizer. The DW-8000 was an eight note polyphonic hybrid digital-analog synthesizer instrument. By the time of its launch Korg had already begun a common trend in 80s synthesizer design of using numerical parameter access as with the Korg Poly-800 eschewing the heavily laden control panels of earlier designs.
A more unusual feature of the instrument for the time was the use of single-cycle digital waveforms as the basic building block of sounds, and the inclusion of a digital delay effect. This latter feature was one significant factor in the relative success of the DW-8000 compared to the DW-6000 released the same year.
Physically, the instrument used a 61-note synthesizer action keyboard that was both velocity-sensitive and could sense channel-pressure aftertouch as well, sending it via MIDI if required. A four-way joystick was provided to control LFO modulation as well as pitch bend. Pulling the joystick bender towards you, also allowed control over VCF as well. Around the back panel headphones, stereo line-out, pedal inputs for damper, portamento and program up were available. Also available were two sockets for tape interface to facilitate offline patch backup and storage. Electrical power was supplied via a two-pin IEC C9-type connection cable rather than the rather more ubiquitous C13 type, which can potentially be a source of frustration if lost just before performance.
The instrument had 64 memories which could be backed up to cassette tape in similar fashion to that used for home computers of the time. This system could be prone to error or mishap as the availability of the “verify” feature for the tape backup system can attest to. The instrument did however possess the capability in MIDI to allow sys-ex transfer provided you had another DW-8000 or a computer with suitable software that can send the MIDI dump request message to it. A modern and more reliable alternative to the cassette tape interface is the portable CD player with wave files saved on disc. An optional accessory was the MEX-8000, a hardware device which could provide extra storage to the user.
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