Re: Got out the old K5 again....

2007/7/26, gdarceyclmg <gdarcey-yBeKhBN/[email protected]>:
>
> I have had my K5 stored in the garage for the last 6 years.
> The last time I used it, it's LCD was getting dim and it aliased a ton and
> didn't have much
> output.
> I did have the K5 editor from Dr. T though. Too bad I threw out the Atari
> computer years
> ago.
>
> I dug it out tonight, hooked it into my MIDI interface and played with it
> a bit.
>
> The factory presets are pretty lame. I'd love to hear some others.


There are some in the files section of the group, but I already heard some
K5 MP3s that had much better sounds than the sounds I can find.

I have Sound Quest XL and it seems to work well with the K5. Editing the
> partials could be
> better but it's not horrible.
>
> I find that using individual out 1 is better than the mix out and when I
> run it through my
> SE70 effects unit and my secret stereo space reverberator, it sounds
> pretty good. It layers
> great with my Waldorf Microwave XT.


Am I the only one that doesn't hear any difference between Mix and 1? I know
I modded things a bit... Maybe that's related, or maybe some parts produce
so much noise that I don't hear the opamp noise anymore...

I plan on making some ambient pads which I think this will excel at.


Yep, it's pretty good at these.

I also used it with my Akai EWI4000s wind controller and it worked very well
> with it.
> Layering it with the EWI's VA synth made a nice contrast.
>
> I'm going to do the resistor mod this weekend and need to source a
> backlight and check
> the inverter.


You could do the mod with <147k resistors. 147kOhm is too high for mine, the
gain jumps high in the highest 10% of the slider and the opamps clip.

Well, the backlight... There are synth service stores which would sell it to
you for about $30-$40, but I found the FLATLITE EL rolls for $12/foot if I
remember correctly.
A group buy would let us save more money than just buying a foot per person
from the same store, but I'm probably not going to be the one buying the
roll since I don't have the money for this.

If the K5 whines as usual, the inverter is OK, but if not, it's probably
dead. You can check the PSU board solders, sometimes it's just that.
Resoldering the whole PSU board solved for me a huge hum problem in the
headphones jack and reduced the overall noise in the synth.

Anyone have any nice sound examples and presets?


Not right now, I'll load them from the K5 I don't have with me right now.


Antoine