From analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Tue Apr 13 20:23:13 1993 Received: by quark.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA01216; Tue, 13 Apr 93 20:22:19 -0400 Errors-To: analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Sender: analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Received: from hardy.u.washington.edu by quark.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA01211; Tue, 13 Apr 93 20:22:11 -0400 Received: by hardy.u.washington.edu (5.65/UW-NDC Revision: 2.22 ) id AA08112; Tue, 13 Apr 93 17:22:10 -0700 Date: Tue, 13 Apr 93 17:22:10 -0700 From: Romeo Fahl Message-Id: <9304140022.AA08112@hardy.u.washington.edu> To: cybpunk@well.sf.ca.us, metlay@netcom.com Subject: Re: Question For All: What's your favourite piece of equipment? Cc: analogue@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Status: OR Now that I've seen a few of you mention the Prophet VS, I'm really curious; what makes it so special? Is it like a warm/grungy version of the Wave- station? From analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Thu Apr 15 11:16:34 1993 Received: by quark.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA15390; Thu, 15 Apr 93 11:15:21 -0400 Errors-To: analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Sender: analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Received: from netcom.netcom.com by quark.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA15384; Thu, 15 Apr 93 11:15:14 -0400 Received: by netcom.netcom.com (5.65/SMI-4.1/Netcom) id AA00144; Thu, 15 Apr 93 08:15:14 -0700 From: metlay@netcom.com (metlay) Message-Id: <9304151515.AA00144@netcom.netcom.com> Subject: Re: recent VS sighting. To: ricard@axis.se (Ricard Wolf) Date: Thu, 15 Apr 93 8:15:14 PDT Cc: analogue@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Analogue Synth Mailing List) In-Reply-To: ; from "Ricard Wolf" at Apr 15, 93 8:22 am X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.3 PL11] Status: OR >> >> It is true that parts for VSes are becoming rare. Wine Country sells, >> or used to sell, a "VS survival kit" containing rare parts and chips >> that an aging VS might need. I have one of these, but I am no longer >> really worried. Even at $2500, I can live with the fact that my VS >> will probably have a limited lifespan. My Xpander, though.....|-> > >What are the "special" parts? Chips only? What are they? Waveform ROMs and >Curtis chips or what? I've never delved inside a VS, but might have to some >day; it's nice to be prepared... Curtis chips are easy to find; the problem is that a few of the chips were custom made for Sequential! In particular, the sample and hold chips are not only rare and getting rarer, but DO have a limited lifespan. The kit includes a set of these chips (I forget how many), a couple of other chips, and things like switches and data sliders which are prone to breakage and can't be replaced off the shelf. They also throw in a service manual, with schematics. -- mike metlay * atomic city * box 81175 pgh pa 15217-0675 * metlay@netcom.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------- I'll survive. Indeed I will. But boy will I ever be confused. (s. kellogg) From analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Thu Apr 15 09:43:20 1993 Received: by quark.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA10528; Thu, 15 Apr 93 09:41:54 -0400 Errors-To: analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Sender: analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Received: from relay1.UU.NET by quark.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA10521; Thu, 15 Apr 93 09:41:47 -0400 Received: from spool.uu.net (via localhost.UU.NET) by relay1.UU.NET with SMTP (5.61/UUNET-internet-primary) id AA23024; Thu, 15 Apr 93 09:41:35 -0400 Received: from korgrd.UUCP by spool.uu.net with UUCP/RMAIL (queueing-rmail) id 232206.20934; Wed, 14 Apr 1993 23:22:06 EDT Received: from korgsmtp by korgrd.com (4.1/SMI-4.1) id AA16708; Wed, 14 Apr 93 20:04:16 PDT Message-Id: <9304150304.AA16708@korgrd.com> Date: 14 Apr 1993 20:04:33 -0800 From: "Dan" Subject: Re- Question For All- What' To: "Analog Heaven" Status: OR RE:Re: Question For All: What' 11:32 AM 4/14/93 Technofear writes: > The wavestion is based on the VS archetechture.. > remember that Korg BOUGHT OUT sequential circuits.... Chris Meyer writes, very correctly: > To be 100% accurate, Yamaha bought Sequential, then dropped them; then > Korg came in and bought them. Both the SY22 and Wavestation came out of > there. The folks responsible for the Prophet VS = myself, Tony Dean, and > most of all Josh Jeffe had all left. Tony and Josh went to E-mu; Josh > did the E-III and Proteous. Scott Peterson and John Bowen made some > contributions to the VS that should not go uncredited, and they are > with Korg R&D, but the core crew split. Finally, Mike Metlay writes: > The Wavestation can't compare. It just, well, it just CAN'T. I've > HEARD the best VS-style sounds touted for the WS, and they're like > listening to an M1 play a Minimoog patch . I work at Korg Research and Develpment, nee Yamaha DSD, nee Sequential. As Chris notes, John and Scott are all that remain of Sequential here (Dave Smith is a consultant to Korg, but is not directly connected to Korg R&D). We are actually now as much Ensoniq as we are Sequential; Alex Limberis, our vice president of engineering (and head of the Wavestation project in particular), software engineer Marc Bryan, and his brother Joe Bryan (effects/dsp guru, and the one you can thank for the Wavestation's FX modulation, killer distortion FX, and the A/D's analog inputs) are all from Ensoniq. The Wavestation is based on the VS architecture to the limited extent that it supports a dynamically controlled mix of 4-oscillator Patches. Other than that, both hardware and software-wise, the VS and Wavestation are completely unrelated. Unlike the VS, each of the Wavestation Patch's oscillators has its own filter, panning, amp envelope, etc. Wave Sequencing, the process of cross-fading between up to 255 different waveforms within a single one of those oscillators, is quite beyond the VS. Also unlike the VS, you can split/layer up to eight of these vector patches - and combine them with real-time modulatable multi-effects. The Wavestation's vector envelope is not as fast as that of the VS (a pity), which means that a number of VS sounds which used the envelope to create transients, etc. are not possible to re-create on the Wavestation. On the other hand, slower vector patches come over pretty well (and without quite as much aliasing - feature or bug, your choice :-). The Wavestation, as do all other sample playback synths, uses sampled transients for punch. In my opinion, the Wavestation should be considered not as a pale imitation/ update of the VS, but as its own synthesizer, which *excels* at its own chosen tasks. Pads especially, without compare - thick, subtle, ambient, swirling, delicate and/or ominous in any combination. As Keyboard mag's Jim Aikin wrote in his recent review of the Wavestation SR, "it's hard to program a Wavestation sound that doesn't have character." A year ago at NAMM, I ended up in the Korg booth behind the counter of the keyboard display, answering questions, etc. (normally it's staffed by people from Korg USA, but someone was sick and I covered for them). The booth had all of the current Korg synth keyboards and modules set up, basically variations of the 01/W and then the Wavestation. I was interested to note that people who played the various 01/W's would ask questions about features, number of voices, sequencer tracks, etc., comment a bit on the sound, and so on - basically good reactions; but people who played the Wavestation would just stand there, listening, eyes closed, transfixed, for a good 15 minutes, then take the headphones off, sigh, and say (softly), "gotta have one." (Loosely translated.) - Dan Phillips From analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Thu Apr 15 04:17:25 1993 Received: by quark.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA03667; Thu, 15 Apr 93 04:16:14 -0400 Errors-To: analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Sender: analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Received: from motgate.mot.com by quark.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA03658; Thu, 15 Apr 93 04:16:08 -0400 Received: from pobox.mot.com ([129.188.137.100]) by motgate.mot.com with SMTP (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4/MOT-2.13 for ) id AA22242; Thu, 15 Apr 1993 03:16:06 -0500 Received: from comm.mot.com (il02dns1.comm.mot.com) by pobox.mot.com with SMTP (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4/MOT-2.12) id AA22632; Thu, 15 Apr 1993 03:16:06 -0500 Received: from dub-tse ([145.21.14.7]) by comm.mot.com (4.1/SMI-4.0) id AA10106; Thu, 15 Apr 93 03:16:29 CDT Message-Id: <9304150816.AA10106@comm.mot.com> Received: by dub-tse (16.6/16.2) id AA11495; Thu, 15 Apr 93 09:12:42 +0100 From: Peter Cassidy Subject: Re: recent VS sighting. To: ricard@axis.se (Ricard Wolf) (Ricard Wolf) Date: Thu, 15 Apr 93 9:12:40 BST Cc: ANALOGUE@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Analogue Mail List) In-Reply-To: ; from "Ricard Wolf" at Apr 15, 93 8:22 am Mailer: Elm [revision: 66.25] Status: OR > BTW, anyone know of a good source of Q81 resistors (helpful when fixing > a MiniMoog...)? > > /Ricard > > -- > Ricard Wolf / | \ / | /- email: ricard@axis.se What's a Q81 resistor, Ricard ? Regards, Peter ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | M O T O R O L A B . V . I R E L A N D | | ----------------------------------------- | | Peter Cassidy - T.S.E Dublin | Phone : 353-1-840-8866 Ext. 417 | | MACCVM : C10404 | X400 : peterc@comm.mot.com | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ From analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Thu Apr 15 02:25:01 1993 Received: by quark.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA01878; Thu, 15 Apr 93 02:23:50 -0400 Errors-To: analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Sender: analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Received: from nic.lth.se by quark.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA01873; Thu, 15 Apr 93 02:23:49 -0400 Received: from axisab.axis.se by mail.lth.se with bsmtp (Smail3.1.28.1 #2) id m0njNM5-000MToC; Thu, 15 Apr 93 08:23 MET DST Received: by axisab.axis.se (/\==/\ Smail3.1.25.1 #25.6) id ; Thu, 15 Apr 93 08:22 MET DST Message-Id: From: ricard@axis.se (Ricard Wolf) Date: Thu, 15 Apr 93 08:22:00 MET DST X-Mailer: Mail User's Shell (7.0.1 12/13/89) To: metlay@netcom.com (metlay), TOD3253@ACFcluster.NYU.EDU (an excursion through technospace) Subject: Re: recent VS sighting. Cc: analogue@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Analogue Synth Mailing List), pixel@ihlpe.att.COM (William Sequeira) Status: OR > The local off feature is added with the rev 1.2 software, which also a > allows separate transmit and receive channels and a few other things. > I recommend it. Keyboards are MUCH cheaper than racks, because there > are many more of them and the keyboard itself is prone to problems > with pressure sensitivity. What kills me is that I HAD a rack, which > only cost me $700, and I traded it straight for a keyboard. I sold the > keyboard for $1500 after I fixed it up, but I still lost $1000 when I > bought the new rack. > > It is true that parts for VSes are becoming rare. Wine Country sells, > or used to sell, a "VS survival kit" containing rare parts and chips > that an aging VS might need. I have one of these, but I am no longer > really worried. Even at $2500, I can live with the fact that my VS > will probably have a limited lifespan. My Xpander, though.....|-> What are the "special" parts? Chips only? What are they? Waveform ROMs and Curtis chips or what? I've never delved inside a VS, but might have to some day; it's nice to be prepared... BTW, anyone know of a good source of Q81 resistors (helpful when fixing a MiniMoog...)? /Ricard -- Ricard Wolf / | \ / | /- email: ricard@axis.se Axis Communications AB /__| \/ | \__ uucp: axisab.se!ricard S - 223 70 LUND / | /\ | \ Tel: +46 46 19 18 63 SWEDEN / | / \ | \__/ Fax: +46 46 13 61 30 -- "Do you consider yourself - human?" -- From analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Wed Apr 14 20:59:44 1993 Received: by quark.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA23255; Wed, 14 Apr 93 20:58:20 -0400 Errors-To: analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Sender: analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Received: from hitwide.hitachi.co.jp by quark.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA23250; Wed, 14 Apr 93 20:58:14 -0400 Received: from [133.144.31.130] by hitwide.hitachi.co.jp (5.65/2.7W-HINOC) id AA24061; Thu, 15 Apr 93 09:58:07 +0900 Received: from hcrlgw.crl.hitachi.co.jp by hcrlgw92.crl.hitachi.co.jp (4.1/6.4J.6) id AA27092; Thu, 15 Apr 93 09:58:05 JST Received: by hcrlgw.crl.hitachi.co.jp (4.0/6.4J.6) id AA02351; Thu, 15 Apr 93 09:58:03 JST Date: Thu, 15 Apr 93 09:58:03 JST From: steve@crl.hitachi.co.jp (Steven Collins) Return-Path: Message-Id: <9304150058.AA02351@hcrlgw.crl.hitachi.co.jp> To: analogue@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Subject: VS sighting... Status: OR Prophet VS rack for $2500. Ha, its nothing. Listen, in a shop here in Tokyo I've seen 2 keyboard versions, each going for $4100 dollars approx. Like they sounded fabulous, but man, you'd want to be well off...! steve --- +-------------------------------------+----------------------------------------+ | Steven Collins, Visiting Researcher | email: steve@crl.hitachi.co.jp | | Hitachi Central Research Lab. Tokyo | ph: (0423)-23-1111 fax: (0423) 27-7742 | +-------------------------------------+----------------------------------------+ From owner-synth-l@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU Wed Apr 14 20:53:33 1993 Received: from auvm.american.edu by quark.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA23071; Wed, 14 Apr 93 20:53:28 -0400 Message-Id: <9304150053.AA23071@quark.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu> Received: from AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU by AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU (IBM VM SMTP V2R2) with BSMTP id 2952; Wed, 14 Apr 93 20:50:53 EDT Received: from AMERICAN.EDU (NJE origin LISTSERV@AUVM) by AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU (LMail V1.1d/1.7f) with BSMTP id 3478; Wed, 14 Apr 1993 20:50:53 -0400 Date: Wed, 14 Apr 1993 17:56:26 -0700 Reply-To: "Electronic music \"gearhead\" list" Sender: "Electronic music \"gearhead\" list" From: Dan Harkless Subject: Re: MULTIPERS COMPUPLE Comments: To: "Electronic music \"gearhead\" list" To: Multiple recipients of list SYNTH-L In-Reply-To: Your message of "Wed, 14 Apr 93 16:39:09 PDT." Status: OR > > Eh? I thought he sold the VS to get a VS rack. And the Xpander > >doesn't have a full front panel per se, so I give up, Mike. What is your > >last synth with a FFP? > > ME!!!! > > naaaaaaaaaarnuuuuuummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm > gesplangerangerangerangeranger > > scuRHEEEEEEEEEEEEEM! I'm interested in learning more about what's being done in the field of biological synthesis these days... I had this wierd short film assemble itself in my head one time about this weird, misunderstood mad scientist type, who, of course, lives all alone in his home/lab out in the middle of nowhere. All he has are his animal companions. One day this animal-loving and easily shook-up woman visits him for some reason. Then, one night, she's exploring the weird abode without his leave, and stumbles into a strange room. Her nostrils flare at the pungent aroma of formaldehyde. It's very dark, and she's trying to make out what the shapes in half-filled jars and mounted on steel rods are. In the adjoining room with a window looking onto the room she's in, Kitty #n is chasing a mouse, who decides to jump onto the keyboard of a normal-looking organ. The cat follows. Nothing happens until Mr. Scientist walks into the anteroom and flips on the power. There is suddenly a hideous screeching like a flock of undead birds. The lights begin to glow, revealing preserved birds mounted stiffly on rods, or gurgling in jars of formaldehyde. The noise continues until kitty and friend leap off the key- board. Lady gets frightened out of her mind, and Mad Scientist has the hardest time explaining that he *really*does* love animals... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | Dan Harkless | "The sore in my soul | | dan@cafws1.eng.uci.edu | The mark in my heart -> Front 242, | | dharkles@bonnie.ics.uci.edu | Her acid reign..." Tragedy >For You< | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ From owner-synth-l@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU Wed Apr 14 19:44:37 1993 Received: from auvm.american.edu by quark.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA20664; Wed, 14 Apr 93 19:44:24 -0400 Message-Id: <9304142344.AA20664@quark.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu> Received: from AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU by AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU (IBM VM SMTP V2R2) with BSMTP id 2685; Wed, 14 Apr 93 19:41:50 EDT Received: from AMERICAN.EDU (NJE origin LISTSERV@AUVM) by AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU (LMail V1.1d/1.7f) with BSMTP id 2250; Wed, 14 Apr 1993 19:41:50 -0400 Date: Wed, 14 Apr 1993 16:39:09 -0700 Reply-To: "Electronic music \"gearhead\" list" Sender: "Electronic music \"gearhead\" list" From: "David C. Elliott" Subject: Re: MULTIPERS COMPUPLE Comments: To: "Electronic music \"gearhead\" list" To: Multiple recipients of list SYNTH-L In-Reply-To: Your message of Wed, 14 Apr 93 15:42:03 -0700. <9304142248.AA23366@Sony.COM> Status: OR > Eh? I thought he sold the VS to get a VS rack. And the Xpander >doesn't have a full front panel per se, so I give up, Mike. What is your >last synth with a FFP? ME!!!! naaaaaaaaaarnuuuuuummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm gesplangerangerangerangeranger scuRHEEEEEEEEEEEEEM! ...David Elliott ...dce@smsc.sony.com | ...!{uunet,mips}!sonyusa!dce ...(408)944-4073 From owner-synth-l@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU Wed Apr 14 18:50:17 1993 Received: from auvm.american.edu by quark.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA18314; Wed, 14 Apr 93 18:50:16 -0400 Message-Id: <9304142250.AA18314@quark.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu> Received: from AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU by AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU (IBM VM SMTP V2R2) with BSMTP id 2247; Wed, 14 Apr 93 18:47:41 EDT Received: from AMERICAN.EDU (NJE origin LISTSERV@AUVM) by AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU (LMail V1.1d/1.7f) with BSMTP id 0410; Wed, 14 Apr 1993 18:37:11 -0400 Date: Wed, 14 Apr 1993 15:42:03 -0700 Reply-To: "Electronic music \"gearhead\" list" Sender: "Electronic music \"gearhead\" list" From: Dan Harkless Subject: Re: MULTIPERS COMPUPLE Comments: To: "Electronic music \"gearhead\" list" To: Multiple recipients of list SYNTH-L In-Reply-To: Your message of "Wed, 14 Apr 93 07:39:01 -0100." Status: OR > >A full control panel, so you didn't need ANY displays, he said wistfully, > >waving goodbye as his second-to-last synth with a full front panel rolled > >away in a Greyhound bus bound for Philadelphia.... > > Leaving you with the Xpander and the VS, I presume. Eh? I thought he sold the VS to get a VS rack. And the Xpander doesn't have a full front panel per se, so I give up, Mike. What is your last synth with a FFP? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | Dan Harkless | "The sore in my soul | | dan@cafws1.eng.uci.edu | The mark in my heart -> Front 242, | | dharkles@bonnie.ics.uci.edu | Her acid reign..." Tragedy >For You< | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ From analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Wed Apr 14 18:38:32 1993 Received: by quark.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA17796; Wed, 14 Apr 93 18:36:47 -0400 Errors-To: analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Sender: analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Received: from nkosi.well.sf.ca.us by quark.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA17789; Wed, 14 Apr 93 18:36:44 -0400 Received: from well.sf.ca.us by nkosi.well.sf.ca.us (5.65c/SMI-4.1/nkosi-930414-4) id AA01952; Wed, 14 Apr 1993 15:36:22 -0700 Received: by well.sf.ca.us (5.65c/SMI-4.1/well-930413-1) id AA10354; Wed, 14 Apr 1993 14:54:48 -0700 Date: Wed, 14 Apr 1993 14:54:48 -0700 From: Chris Meyer Message-Id: <199304142154.AA10354@well.sf.ca.us> To: TOD3253@ACFcluster.NYU.EDU, analogue@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Subject: Re: recent VS sighting. Status: OR I think the last ROM version for the Prophet VS available from Wine Country adds Local Off. $2500 for a rack? Wow. - CM From analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Wed Apr 14 14:09:21 1993 Received: by quark.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA02201; Wed, 14 Apr 93 14:07:17 -0400 Errors-To: analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Sender: analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Received: from netcom.netcom.com by quark.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA02196; Wed, 14 Apr 93 14:07:13 -0400 Received: by netcom.netcom.com (5.65/SMI-4.1/Netcom) id AA14095; Wed, 14 Apr 93 11:06:57 -0700 From: metlay@netcom.com (metlay) Message-Id: <9304141806.AA14095@netcom.netcom.com> Subject: Re: recent VS sighting. To: TOD3253@ACFcluster.NYU.EDU (an excursion through technospace) Date: Wed, 14 Apr 93 11:06:56 PDT Cc: analogue@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Analogue Synth Mailing List), pixel@ihlpe.att.COM (William Sequeira) In-Reply-To: <01GX03QXVDBCM265FB@ACFcluster.NYU.EDU>; from "an excursion through technospace" at Apr 14, 93 1:15 pm X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.3 PL11] Status: OR > >rogue music here in NYC just sold a Prophet VS rack for $2500! > >yow. TWO of them, actually. One is in my rack, and one is in William Sequeira's. William has a huge rig of gear like mine, and I should probably let him know about this List since he loves analog stuff. >a friend of mine has the key version (got it for $700)... and wishes he had >the rack, 'cos the keyboard transmits velocities weird and there is no local >off. > >*sigh* The local off feature is added with the rev 1.2 software, which also a allows separate transmit and receive channels and a few other things. I recommend it. Keyboards are MUCH cheaper than racks, because there are many more of them and the keyboard itself is prone to problems with pressure sensitivity. What kills me is that I HAD a rack, which only cost me $700, and I traded it straight for a keyboard. I sold the keyboard for $1500 after I fixed it up, but I still lost $1000 when I bought the new rack. It is true that parts for VSes are becoming rare. Wine Country sells, or used to sell, a "VS survival kit" containing rare parts and chips that an aging VS might need. I have one of these, but I am no longer really worried. Even at $2500, I can live with the fact that my VS will probably have a limited lifespan. My Xpander, though.....|-> -- mike metlay * atomic city * box 81175 pgh pa 15217-0675 * metlay@netcom.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------- I'll survive. Indeed I will. But boy will I ever be confused. (s. kellogg) From analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Wed Apr 14 13:42:42 1993 Received: by quark.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA00917; Wed, 14 Apr 93 13:41:22 -0400 Errors-To: analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Sender: analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Received: from skycat.usask.ca by quark.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA00909; Wed, 14 Apr 93 13:41:18 -0400 Received: from SKYCAT.USask.CA by SKYCAT.USask.CA (PMDF #2853 ) id <01GX00F45EK290MX17@SKYCAT.USask.CA>; Wed, 14 Apr 1993 11:40:09 CST Date: 14 Apr 1993 11:40:09 -0600 (CST) From: GRAHAME@sask.usask.ca Subject: Prophet VS for $2,500,000 !! To: analogue@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Message-Id: <01GX00F45EK490MX17@SKYCAT.USask.CA> X-Envelope-To: analogue@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu X-Vms-To: IN%"analogue@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu" Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Status: OR Two and a half grand for a rack? Wow. William recently sold his VS for $1250, Caruso was asking $1000 for a nice one (it's gone... don't bother calling). One warning, however - The folks at Wine Country recently informed me that they're running low on replacement parts for the VS. JG -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________________________ / o oooo ooo oooo o o o /\ / oo ooo oo oooo o o o / / J.B. Grahame / _________________________ / / ASPP - Dept. of Psychology / // / // /// // /// // /// / / / / University of Saskatchewan /___ //////////////////////////_/ / Grahame@sask.usask.CA \____\________________________\_\/ From analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Wed Apr 14 13:19:53 1993 Received: by quark.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA29814; Wed, 14 Apr 93 13:18:36 -0400 Errors-To: analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Sender: analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Received: from AXP2.ACF.NYU.EDU by quark.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA29802; Wed, 14 Apr 93 13:18:32 -0400 Received: from ACFcluster.NYU.EDU by ACFcluster.NYU.EDU (PMDF V4.2-10 #2884) id <01GX03QXUU12M265FB@ACFcluster.NYU.EDU>; Wed, 14 Apr 1993 13:15:11 EST Date: Wed, 14 Apr 1993 13:15:10 -0500 (EST) From: an excursion through technospace Subject: recent VS sighting. To: analogue@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Message-Id: <01GX03QXVDBCM265FB@ACFcluster.NYU.EDU> X-Vms-To: ANALOGUE Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Status: OR rogue music here in NYC just sold a Prophet VS rack for $2500! yow. a friend of mine has the key version (got it for $700)... and wishes he had the rack, 'cos the keyboard transmits velocities weird and there is no local off. *sigh* oh, the hardships of owning a VS... >>taylor.808 t r a n c e a d d i k t From analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Wed Apr 14 13:01:46 1993 Received: by quark.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA28837; Wed, 14 Apr 93 12:59:34 -0400 Errors-To: analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Sender: analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Received: from nkosi.well.sf.ca.us by quark.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA28832; Wed, 14 Apr 93 12:59:32 -0400 Received: from well.sf.ca.us by nkosi.well.sf.ca.us (5.65c/SMI-4.1/nkosi-930322-1) id AA04436; Wed, 14 Apr 1993 09:59:08 -0700 Received: by well.sf.ca.us (5.65c/SMI-4.1/well-930413-1) id AA22989; Wed, 14 Apr 1993 09:59:05 -0700 Date: Wed, 14 Apr 1993 09:59:05 -0700 From: Chris Meyer Message-Id: <199304141659.AA22989@well.sf.ca.us> To: metlay@netcom.com, palefox@u.washington.edu Subject: Re: Question For All: What's your favourite piece of equipment? Cc: analogue@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu, cybpunk@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Status: OR An important part of the VS sound is that we did it "wrong" - we did not interpolate etc. the waves on the low end, so you end up with a bunch of imaging/aliasing noise that makes the bass so huge. And the low end reaches pretty well too (too many synths roll off the low end accidentally by being too cautious with the DC-blocking caps in the output stages). Of course, this aliasing is your enemy with high notes, but hey. The Wavestation took it's VS waves direct from ROM, instead of sampling the output of the VS after it gets distorted by all the analogs. I once sampled the sine wave and removed the fundamental and found two or three other harmonics hanging around (which I then normalized and loaded back into my VS as a new wave, having in essense "the essence of VS"). - CM From analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Wed Apr 14 12:51:52 1993 Received: by quark.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA28332; Wed, 14 Apr 93 12:50:24 -0400 Errors-To: analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Sender: analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Received: from nkosi.well.sf.ca.us by quark.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA28325; Wed, 14 Apr 93 12:50:20 -0400 Received: from well.sf.ca.us by nkosi.well.sf.ca.us (5.65c/SMI-4.1/nkosi-930322-1) id AA04183; Wed, 14 Apr 1993 09:49:42 -0700 Received: by well.sf.ca.us (5.65c/SMI-4.1/well-930413-1) id AA20228; Wed, 14 Apr 1993 09:49:37 -0700 Date: Wed, 14 Apr 1993 09:49:37 -0700 From: Chris Meyer Message-Id: <199304141649.AA20228@well.sf.ca.us> To: analogue@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu, steve@crl.hitachi.co.jp Subject: Re: The Prophet VS... Status: OR 4 independently-tunable VCOs per voice, that were then mixed with a sort of 2D envelope (that could loop) and then fed to a typical Curtis 4-pole VCF and then a VCA. As mentioned before, VCF & VCA also had the 5-stage loopable envelopes. Main differences in the SY22 and WS is that the SY22 does not have a filter, but has a 50-stage mix envelope that can either do mixing or pitch (and I think it has that "learn" function you were mentioning). The WS has a separate VCF (actuallym digital filter w/o resonance) per osc, then they are mixed. On the one hand, this gives more power since you can filter each osc, but it can make it more involved to program. The WS also has "wave sequencing". The VS has only 8 voices, and is bi-timbral. It has a true stereo chorus that can be modified in real time by performance params, and pretty nice layering capabilities (detune & delay) as well as an involved arpegiator. Oh, yes, it was also very stereo; the position of voices can be dynamically panned by LFOs, envelopes, etc. Not a spec monster by today's standards, but I think it really hit that balance of being powerful but manageable, and sounds gooooooooood.... - CM From analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Wed Apr 14 12:40:46 1993 Received: by quark.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA27761; Wed, 14 Apr 93 12:39:44 -0400 Errors-To: analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Sender: analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Received: from netcom.netcom.com by quark.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA27753; Wed, 14 Apr 93 12:39:42 -0400 Received: by netcom.netcom.com (5.65/SMI-4.1/Netcom) id AA10906; Wed, 14 Apr 93 09:39:40 -0700 From: metlay@netcom.com (metlay) Message-Id: <9304141639.AA10906@netcom.netcom.com> Subject: Re: The Prophet VS... To: steve@crl.hitachi.co.jp (Steven Collins) Date: Wed, 14 Apr 93 9:39:39 PDT Cc: analogue@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu In-Reply-To: <9304140618.AA16895@hcrlgw.crl.hitachi.co.jp>; from "Steven Collins" at Apr 14, 93 3:18 pm X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.3 PL11] Status: OR > >I'm interested in the VS. Chris Meyer says that the SY22 and ~station came >from the VS. I presume the similarity if the Vector synthesis. Apart from >this, what sort of architecture did the VS have. I assume it has at least >4 osc. per voice, but what sort of polyphony did it have, and was it capable >(like the SY22) or saving vector paths real-time (unlike thw ~station which >was one of its major drawbacks I think). I played with a VS briefly for the >first time about 1 month ago and fell in love with the sound. A lot of people are interested in the VS. The SY22 and WS did come from the VS; Chris, as the VS's papa, ought to know. The vector synthesis and the use of a joystick are the critical links here. The VS had eight voices, each with 4 oscillators, a Curtis VCF and a VCA, with a 2D mix envelope, five-stage looping envs for VCF and VCA, 2 LFOs and a built-in chorus (why not a DDL?!!! AAARGHH!!!). It did not save vector paths in realtime. I doubt this was possible, let alone practical, in 1985. -- mike metlay * atomic city * box 81175 pgh pa 15217-0675 * metlay@netcom.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------- I'll survive. Indeed I will. But boy will I ever be confused. (s. kellogg) From atomic@netcom.com Mon Sep 12 11:11:25 1994 Date: Mon, 12 Sep 1994 07:30:52 -0700 (PDT) From: atomic city To: Thomas C Butcher Cc: Analogue Heaven Mailing List Subject: Re: Prophet-VS opinions? Thomas C Butcher jotteth.... > >Hi... > >> Anyone have one of these? > >Yup.. I do. I love it :) I'm on my third. Make of that what you will. >> Is $1000 a good deal on one? > >It's a decent price for the keyboard version, and a killer price for the >rack version! Heheh... I got my VS for $1k- mint condition with flight >case. It did have a bad chip though, which I'll get to later. $1200 is the standard going price for a good condition VS keyboard, with condition of the pressure sensors not really entering into the equation unless you want a major fight on your hands (see below). Racks, far more reliable and rare, go for $2200 up to $2500 or so; Wine COuntry is now offering to rack keyboard VSes for $1000 plus the VS itself, but this retro is not well-known and will hose the resale value of the machine if you worry about such things. >> Any thing to watch out for (old parts, buggy ROMs)? > >Here's the bad part. 1: the pressure sensors in the keyboard burn out >rather quickly. You can still get them from Wine Country, though. >There is a mod somewhere that corrects the problem. 2: some VS's are >prone to burn up a costly d/a converter chip which is essential to its >operation. Mine is one of these. The chip in question is the Curtis >5530, which is no longer in production. Wine Country will charge you >well over $100 for one. Replacing the chip won't always solve the >problem though. Some VS's eat them in about 5 minutes. There is hope, >though :). For abuot $70, you can build a PC board that emulates the >chip and solves the burn-out problems. The kit was designed by a fellow >AH'er, Eric Covington... Very true. And there are other chips that can die as well that are irreplaceable. Wine Country sells a VS Survival Kit of spare parts and schematics essential to extend the life of a VS. I recommend it (despite the high price) to all VS owners. BTW, the latest ROM (highly recommended and very rare) is 1.2. It fixes some LFo glitches and really improves the arpeggiator's functioning, but don't expect the local-off feature to make the VS a great MIDI master controller; it can't process data fast enough to do a good job. I found this out the hard way; don't make my mistake. >Anyway, I love the VS a lot... and if it's in good condition, I think >$1k is worth it. It has a sound that's hard to reproduce on other >things. I'd agree. All three vector synths-- the Prophet VS, the Wavestation, and the SY22/35/TG33-- are very different beasties. There are plusses and minuses to each, and all are worth having around for vector fanatics (joystick jockeys? cartesian crawlers? "stick-heads"! :) like me. Also, thanks to Bill Fox for plugging the VS newsgroup, Vectory. It's usually very quiet but has had some traffic lately; you can write me if you'd like to join. -- mike metlay * atomic city * box 81175 pgh pa 15217-0675 * atomic@netcom.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Girls who are Boys who like Boys to be Girls who do Girls like they're Boys who do Boys like they're Girls...." (blur) "Whoa. Sounds like FurryMUCK on a good night." (zrgynl)