Vintage Synth Explorer

Korg • DS-8

The DS-8 is Korg's contender among synths like the Roland D-50 and Yamaha DX7. It is a digital FM synthesizer with 4-operators per voice, 8 voices of polyphony and 8 parts multitimbrality. It's good for percussive, strange effect noises and such because its sound (similar to the DX7) is so unique. It has some digital effects such as chorus, flange, delay and analog-like controls for modulators, envelopes and the LFO. A joystick provides control of modulation and pitch bending. It also has a performance section for quick edits on the fly using (3) real-time sliders to control timbre, EG1 and EG2. A nice alternative to the common DX-7.

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Posting Rules: Please keep your comments relevant! Do not post requests for help, do not use for sales, do not post unless you have something interesting to say about this instrument, or we may delete your post.

 

Pepe

Posted 287 days ago

Hi! There's a really good MIDI tool for your synth: MIDI-OX. It is downloadable for free, just look for it with Google. It is very simple to use and works with most synths and does a good job when it comes to send or receive SysEx-files. But wait a minute - you are a Mac user? I don't know if if the program works with a Mac.

Danno

Posted 287 days ago

This is a message for help! I realize you don't accept them so I understand if you discard it.

Hi, I downloaded the factory patches off this site for a DS-8 that is missing half the factory patches(45-99). I have the file on my mac and have my midiman connected to the midi in of the DS-8. I'm unsure how to correctly get the factory data into the DS-8. Do I need to use another program to communicate with the DS-8? The manual talks about transfering patch data between 2 DS-8s, but not getting it from an outside source.

Thanks
D

Z Zibbybone

Posted 293 days ago

Check out my YouTube video demo of this synth:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OQ 3s8rfHVA&fmt=18

Alvino

Posted 313 days ago

In 1989 a kid in walked into a pawn shop in downtown Kansas City and bought this board for $170. This was my 1st and coolest keyboard to date. Why? Because it was so expressive and tweakable. I wrote and recorded about 245 songs with this board. The sounds still today are unique... most of the patches I tweaked had more of a Prince vibe to them as far as overly flanged pads and wah- like solo patches.
I really missed that board... well, I did til' I found one for $70! yeeeh!

zerozeroisland

Posted 328 days ago

i haven't seen one of these in years, but just remastered a song by a band i worked with in the late 80's, and there's a track or two of ds-8 on there. hearing it brought back all kinds of memories. it wasn't a great synth, but it had some great sounds, especially when you added some processing. if you find one these days, it's definitely worth snapping up. for a late 80's fm synth, it sounds remarkably warm and non-dx-7...

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