Korg DW-8000 synthesizer repair and calibration.

Started working on this one a couple of months back and found myself here..

"After a circuit and mechanical service, this classic displays some slight distortion at high frequencies...is it just requiring calibration? or will it require circuit repair? Will find out over the next couple of days. "

Simple dismantle and straight forward access for through hole replacement, and adjustment/calibration.

Now after replacement of various components within the voice circuit, correcting any out of spec voltage readings, the adjustment procedure should be able to be completed... or reveal other circuits that whilst still "working", are not in a healthy state. and need attention.

KLM-662 - Voice circuitry, with adjustment/test points for steps 1-6 of the adjustment procedure.

Straight forward design, and clear documentation allowed for easy adjustment, with no issues presenting themselves post calibration...

..and a great opportunity to load a new bank of sounds, given that the prior bank must be deleted and loaded with test patches specific to the adjustment procedure. Espen Krafts DW-8000 Vol 2 was the choice, which can find here, along with a few others from him. https://thepatchbay.io/product/korg-dw-8000-synthpop-synthwave-sysex-espen-kraft-80s-presets-dw8000-fb-7999-plugin/

Some beautiful sounds from this new patch bank - this unit will get some studio time, before going up for sale. Work completed includes all 22 tact switches replaced, internal clean, mechanical service, new battery, main power PCB components replaced, and various others in the voice circuit, resolving high frequency distortion in voices, and ensuring adjustment/calibration could be performed.

Have been using this for the last week or so, Im happy to say I passed up a DW-6000 to wait for a DW-8000 to turn up. An improvement on the 6000, being Korgs first polyphonic digital-analog synthesizer, with 8 voice polyphony, velocity sensitivity,

and digital delay effect. It also introduced 16 digital waveforms, doubling the DW-6000's eight, along with an arpeggiator, and an 'auto-bend' feature.

I've spent many hours on a friends DX-7, both the Juno 106 and JX-8P emulators, and without a doubt, these classics live up to their status, packed full of some highly appealing pads and classic sounds. The DW-8000 is far more to my tastes however. Both the updated and original patches offer a more diverse sound palette. The DW-8000 is truly a slept on gem from the mid 1980s. This one will be posted up for sale in the coming months, on Reverb and the AST Repair website.