c50-1dk@ucbfranny.BERKELEY.EDU (Andy Lieberman) (10/19/85)
I am very interested in upgrading from my Juno-106 to the Akai AX80. I would appreciate any comments about the Akai. I will mostly be using it with my Atari ST, so I am concerned about getting all of the midi specs. Does the manual included with the synth have any information? Is the information available anywhere else? Thanks in advance, Andy Lieberman c50-1dk@ucbfranny.UUCP Andy Lieberman c50-1dk@ucbfranny 1736 Hearst St., Berkeley, CA 94703 (415)644-2250
ewa@sdcc3.UUCP (Eric Anderson) (10/20/85)
In article <10716@ucbvax.ARPA> c50-1dk@ucbfranny.UUCP (Andy Lieberman) writes: >I am very interested in upgrading from my Juno-106 to the Akai AX80. >I would appreciate any comments about the Akai. I will mostly be >using it with my Atari ST, so I am concerned about getting all of the >midi specs. Does the manual included with the synth have any >information? Is the information available anywhere else? The manual that came with my AKAI has absolutely no useful information regarding the MIDI capabilities other than a picture of where the jacks are (in case you can't find them on the back...) Most of the manual is rather non-informative, but operation is so simple and obvious that this isn't a problem. I have seen the AX80 used with the AKAI sampler through MIDI, and it passed pitch bend and other data along with the notes so I suspect the implememtation is fairly complete. AKAI claims you can dump patches over MIDI too. Now for the opinions: I love my AKAI, I think it's a great machine. Much more usable than some others with smaller keyboards, or more complicated editing operation. Editing on the AKAI is a breeze. Press one button for the parameter, and turn one knob to adjust (plus a fine tune button if you don't have the magic touch.) The sampler is great too, its sound reproduction quality is remarkable. It is 6-voice, while the keyboard is 8-voice. It also allows you to overdub samples, and to play them backwards or starting at any point. It has a LFO on board too. (sine wave only.) And, of course, there's a disk drive. Eric Anderson, UC San Diego {elsewhere}!ihnp4!ucbvax!sdcsvax!sdcc3!ewa Home: (619)453-7315 Work: (619)586-1201 White House: (202)456-1414
eric@mcrware.UUCP (Eric Miller) (10/25/85)
> I am very interested in upgrading from my Juno-106 to the Akai AX80.
I, too, have been looking at the Akai AX80. You might be interested
in knowing that the best price I found in the country is at Sam Ash Music
in New York City. They have a toll free number, although I don't have it
with me currently, and are willing to send equipment anywhere. One nice
thing about buying out of state is no sales taxes!! (Which can be consid-
erable on a good synth.) Unfortunately, I haven't seen the manual for the
AX80 so I can't answer your question, but I like to see listings in this
newsgroup.
While I'm at it though, has anyone seen anything about a rack-mount
Ensoniq Mirage? Once I do get my touch-sensitive keyboard I would
like to check one out.
-- A man with one watch always knows what time it is. A man with two
watches is never sure.ewa@sdcc3.UUCP (Eric Anderson) (11/09/85)
>> I am very interested in upgrading from my Juno-106 to the Akai AX80. > > I, too, have been looking at the Akai AX80.... > .... Unfortunately, I haven't seen the manual for the >AX80 so I can't answer your question, but I like to see listings in this >newsgroup. To start on a negative note (-1 in midi?) the manual for the AX80 is pretty bad. That aside, though, it is a wonderful machine for the price. Features include: o 8 voice polyphonic. Unless you like to use all ten fingers at a time this eliminates the popping or note drop-outs associated with 6-voice machines. o 24 oscillators. Each voice has two oscillators, plus a sub-osc which functions one octave lower. Waveforms are square, rising sawtooth, and mixed. The two oscs can be detuned up to three octaves apart, by cent (!). The two oscs can also modulate each other in a couple of ways. o VCA, VCF, LFO (square, saw-up, saw-down, saw-up&down) o ADSR Envelope generators (VCA/VCF/both) o Hardware features include: 61 keys (5 octaves) with velocity sensitivity. One key (or two if switching banks) patch changes. One key parameter select (45 parameters). Big knob for coarse adjustments to parameters, plus fine tuning. 35x12 segment flourescent display showing all parameters at once. Key transpose, chord memory, midi select (ch 1-16). Also pitch bend +/- 1 octave or tunable for more sensitivity over a smaller range (down to one note for full travel). Modulation wheel, for OSC or VCF or both. Also with adjustable range. Master tuning control (in case everyone else is out of tune) o 32 ROM patches, 64 EEPROM. Write protect switch. Good patches for: Harpsichord, Brass, Strings, Woodwind, Bass, Organ (incl church), Synth, Banjo, Harmonica, Etc, Effects like Helicopters (or is it chickens?) and clock tower bells. Obviously, I like it. It's very easy to use, with one or two key sequences for all operations, and the large knob for editing. Velocity sensitivity, 8-note poly and the 5 octave keyboard really help playability. Also goes nicely with the 612(?) Sampler. Questions, flames, midi-dumps-of-your-5-year-old-playing to: Eric Anderson, UC San Diego {elsewhere}!ihnp4!ucbvax!sdcsvax!sdcc3!ewa Home: (619)453-7315 Work: (619)586-1201 White House: (202)456-1414
em@ihuxm.UUCP (Ed Moskowitz) (11/11/85)
One disappointment with the AKAI AX80 is that there are no midi codes to change parameters in a patch or to upload or download patches. This means no computer software can be written to form a patch librarian or easy patch composing for the AX80. Otherwise, I like the machine. Ed Moskowitz AT&T Bell Labs ihnp4!ihuxm!em
ewa@sdcc3.UUCP (Eric Anderson) (11/13/85)
In article <1333@ihuxm.UUCP> em@ihuxm.UUCP (Ed Moskowitz) writes: >One disappointment with the AKAI AX80 is that there are no midi >codes to change parameters in a patch or to upload or download >patches. Can you back this up somehow? On page 16 of the AKAI manual, it says: 'MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is an industry standard for electronic music instruments. Electronic musical instruments compatible with this standard can be connected together with a MIDI cable for automatic performances, remote performances, as well as exchanging voice data with other units.' Technically, this doesn't mean that the AKAI is compatable with the standard, but assuming it is (why else would they say this?) then it should be possible to exchange patches. Eric Anderson, UC San Diego {elsewhere}!ihnp4!ucbvax!sdcsvax!sdcc3!ewa Home: (619)453-7315 Work: (619)586-1201 White House: (202)456-1414