Siel DK600 User reviews -Page 6

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Average rating: 3.6 out of 5

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Dave Soviet a hobbyist user from Fairfax, Virginia - USA writes:

Reading the other comments in here, everyone either loves or hates this thing. But it seems like everyone who hates this thing is basically judging it on the lousy construction.

Someone else wrote that DK600 wouldn't produce anything other than a low hum. Pop open the top and push in the ribbons coming out of the power source so they're connected all the way. They probably came loose the last time the synth was transported somewhere. I had the same problem when I had mine sent to me. Once you've got it fixed, leave it in your studio. The keys also might be testy if you pick one up. Spray them with some Dust Off and they'll work fine.

I'm going to have to say that all the opinions who hate this synth are just ignorant. The point of a synth isn't just to have it because it's built well or looks cool. The point of having a synth is to create sound. And while the DK600 maybe lacking in other areas, it excels in the ability to produce sound and the quality of the sound itself.

This thing can produce some of the most lucious strings I've ever heard. Excellent pianos and harps as well. Other than that, you're not going to duplicate any other "real" instruments, though. It can also pull off some amazing stabs and leads. And it will do everything from thundering subbass to pounding techno basses or anything else. The low frequencies on the DK600 blow any newer virtual analog synth completely out of the water. The sound is immensely fat and thick and nothing on it sounds "tiny". All of the sounds on it have a unique quality and the leads and stabs especially will sound a little vintage, but you can easily fix that with some external effects (pedals, filters, etc).

Rating: 3 out of 5 posted Friday-May-24-022 at 04:53

Matt a professional user from England writes:

The siel DK600 is a cheap synth. It looks cheap, feels cheap and isnt very reliable. However no-one buys a synth for the way it looks, they buy it for its sounds and this ones worth every penny you spend on it. The modulation matrix alone makes it usefull, but add to that some decent oscillators and a very fat filter, youve got one fat big bass and lead synth! turn off the keyboard tracking, wind the cut-off down and the resonance up and assign an lfo to the filter and this thing pulses and vibrates the room to shit!! (as long as you got speakers that can handle it!) To top it all off, its even got midi straight out of the box, and despite what people say, you can turn omni mode off and select midi channels. Easily worth the 100 quid (about 150 dollars) that I spent on it. Buy one! You wont regret it.

Rating: 4 out of 5 posted Sunday-Feb-03-022 at 20:47

Scott Gibbons a professional user from USA writes:

A cheap, analogue, MIDI polysynth with 2 DCO's per voice, great sounding filters, and lots of knobs. Not many synths floating around out there can boast these specs! Too bad they are built so shoddy. Sounds better to my ears than other synths in it's class (Juno 106, Polysix) but it's not satisfying to feel the cheap keys and knobs. If you DON'T care for the vintage Moog, Roland sound... but DO like the vintage Korg, SCI, ARP sound... you'd probably dig this piece. I have two, neither of which is for sale! :-)

Rating: 4 out of 5 posted Friday-Nov-16-011 at 12:58

writes:

The DK 600 is a pretty good synth, despite the bad repuation it seems to have among more ignorant people (read some of the other reviews...). It's a bit unreliable but not too bad. One thing that you should *really* watch out for is the backup battery, which leaks onto the CPU board, much like in the Polysix, it will corrode the board and cause the front panel buttons to stop working (it did in mine anyway). I haven't fixed the corrosion in mine yet but the stuff but going by my Expander (DK 600 in a box, also has the battery problem) the sound is very warm and full, kind of bright, makes all the sounds of traditional analog polys. From my partially-working DK 600 I've gotten some very nice SH-101 type acidy sounds. As far as features go, it's got DCOs (though I'm pretty sure all the waveshapes come from analog circuitry), 1 envelope per voice, 3 LFOs, velocity, etc. It seems to have a few very nice strange and exotic features for this type of synth (95 memories, velocity, 3 LFOs, and some very nice mod routings, pitch wheel and LFOs can affect one or both DCOs, etc.) but lacks a few fairly standard features (portamento, mixeable oscillators). The envelopes and LFOs are all analog, not software generated, so there's no stepping.

Anyway if you can find a working one (be sure to check the battery!) I'd consider it a really good deal. I'd say that for comparisions, it's somewhere between the lower-end synths like the Juno and Polysix and the high-end monsters like the Prophet 5 and Jupiter 8. While it lacks the exotic features of the more expensive synths, I'd say it's better than the Juno and Polysix because it's got 2 oscillators and some very cool mod routings (though it doesn't have the Korg's lovely effect section).

Once I get mine fully operational I'll post a more in-depth review.

oh and by the way, the Opera 6 has DCOs too, the DK 600 is just a slightly updated version with better buttons and minor internal improvements).

Rating: 4 out of 5 posted Sunday-Sep-09-011 at 19:52

jeff a hobbyist user writes:

great all around synth. its basically an Opera 6 with DCOs, yet still fully analog; comparable to the Juno 106 in this respect. decent alternative if you're looking for a Juno 106; DK 600's an excellent first choice besides. i personally think it does wonders for real-time performance; the simple and logistical layout, responsive controls. pitch bend wheel needs a bit more stick in its natural setting, but maybe that's just mine. both wheels squeak on mine, too (overuse? needs lubricant?) the keys are velocity sensitive, but not ultra responsive. dig deep into this synth while you're playing it and it'll become your best friend. its always in Omni midi mode, which kinda sucks, but i've found adequate work-arounds using clock/midi chains with my drum machines, which incidentally double as proficient sequencers for the DK 600. You could just play some sound textures and backgrounds straight to audio and find a lot of use for it in this way - midi not necessary here. VCF and VCA pedal inputs on 5-pin Din are strange yet fasinating. can save to and load from tape (hook into any recorder from 1/4" phono - computer even, save as wav) its the kinda synth that makes you giddy. i tend to pass by a lot "never-ending-story" musical stylings when i'm creating ambient patches. i hear there's a new OS for DK 600 that allows one to set unique midi channels and adjust the keyboard velocity sensitivity among other features. Wow, i'm there.

Rating: 4 out of 5 posted Tuesday-Dec-12-000 at 14:31

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