Korg DW8000 Synthesizer User reviews -Page 16

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Average rating: 4.3 out of 5

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Jamison a professional user from New York writes:

I just recently bought a DX8000 and I love it, but I wanted some help from anyone who has a lot of experience with it. My main question is, is it possible to get a decent acoustic piano sound as well as some good organ sounds on it? If someone could send me an email with advice, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks!

Rating: 4 out of 5 posted Tuesday-Jun-27-066 at 16:41

Corey a professional user from US writes:

I've had my DW for a couple months now, and I have to say I'm impressed. While the interfece leaves a lot ot be desired in the era of Nord Leads and Ions, the lack of knobs is more of a minor annoyance than a real hinderance to creativity. This thing is very simple to program if you have a basic understanding of analog-type synthesis. 2 DCOs, 16 waveforms each, plus a noise generator that can get pretty nasty. Real analog filters give the DW a smooth, buttery feel, though they are capable of making some wonderfully awful noises. 2 poly and 2 unison modes, the unisons can get really fat and nasty sounding, if you're so inclined. Pretty basic arpeggiator, but definitely usable in live settings. The presets are mostly very boring, far too many DX-y sounding pianos and bell type stuff. As with any good synth, you don't get to know it until you dig in and make it your own. The DW8k can get HUGE, house-shaking bass sounds and really punchy leads that can cut through a live band without being harsh and unpleasant sounding. But in my opinion, it's real strength lies in the pads. With the nice, slow filters and very warm digital delay, you can make some of the most interesting, textural and downright weird pads and noises you've ever heard. With the ability to send the filter cutoff to the pitch bend joystick, making cool Wilco-esque soundscapes that fit well behind acoustic guitars, etc... comes easily. Also incredible for analog string sounds. Mix with your ROMpler for a HUGENORMOUS string barrage. :) Definitely a great choice for "analogy" sounds backing a rock band, or for your own late night weirdness. An overall dark sound to the synth makes a great fit for ambient/IDM stuff as well.

Rating: 5 out of 5 posted Sunday-Aug-07-055 at 00:32

Robert a professional user from USA writes:

The DW-8000, to me, is a must-have synth. It was the first synth that I learned to program on and I have always found it to be easy to get around and find cool sounds. The keyboard feel is decent, as is the after-touch. For usually under $250 (they were cheaper for a while, but they seem to be going up along with the DX7), to me it is a better choice than an analog modeler.

I sold my first one back in the early 90s when they were 'out of vogue," but I have recently picked up another and have no regrets!

Bottom line: I love it!

Rating: 5 out of 5 posted Monday-Jan-10-055 at 12:43

a part-time user writes:

Yes, I agree with Johnathan and the rest of the positive reviews here. I've thought about selling it but I just can't do it. The filter is superb, it's wide, creamy and TRANSPARENT -even on the most rude settings. So that's useful when mixing.

It does require programming but you can achieve some great spacey pads and lively leads with the delay section, which is also nice and warm. The sine wave is nice I think.

I do wish the envelopes were faster but punchy sounds can be programmed with work. At least they're not as slow as a JX-10 (which I also agree with Johnathan about the resonance being terrible). I'd also wish for a better feeling keyboard with more articulate velocity sensing.

Mine has the Angel City mod which makes this board much more useable. It adds 512 patch storage, allows splits/layers, some missing MIDI parameters (including local off!) and a nice random LFO waveform.

Rating: 4 out of 5 posted Sunday-May-23-044 at 11:14

Jonathan Pratt a part-time user from USA writes:

The EX-8000 is a real sleeper. I think this has one of the nicest sounding analogue filters on a rackmount synth. I've owned Roland Super JX, Juno-60, Modulars, Oberheim Fourvoice, Oberheim Xpander, Oberheim OB-Mx (I love OBs!), a DSI evolver and Korg's Poly-800II. I have had the Poly-8 for a very long time and the filter on it is very pretty and useful. The EX-8000 has the same filters and 16 waveforms to choose from. You can do some sick long portamentos on the EX as well as a zillion different pads. Yes, it lacks x-mod, ring mod, AM, sync or PWM, but it definately has many good sounds. It's easy to program and you'll be able to punch out sounds quickly if you know synthesis.

Back to the filter. It's dark, lovely, sounds nice at high or low res and everything in between. I can't say that about the Roland Super JX (rackmount JX-10). In fact, I thought Resonance on the Super JX was pretty crappy. You had to turn it almost all the way down if you even wanted to consider making any pad sounds. The EX's filter is much more useable at any setting and will squeel nicely when juiced up. The waveforms are a good selection and have a nice digital warmth to them like a waldorf microwave or something. The noise source is analogue and definately sounds like it. There is one LFO for the whole synth, so you don't get the Oberheim poly LFO treatment here, but it's definately a nice touch. The digital delay is VERY warm sounding IMHO, nothing like a quadraverb or other nasty Delays. You can make a lot of movement in the sound by detuning the Oscs, adding a little LFO, adding some Delay with Mod and applying the pitch slope envelope (it's either an attack or decay with adjustable time and initial distance and can be routed to either or both oscs). You've got some pretty complex EGs for both the VCF and the VCA as well as limited velocity and aftertouch routing.

Overall a really nice synth for the money. I mean, specs are swell and everything but the sound is more important and this synth delivers on sound.

Rating: 0 out of 5 posted Tuesday-May-18-044 at 12:50

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