Korg's first digitally controlled analog synth hybrid; 8 sampled digital waveforms, analog resonant filter with separate VCF and VCA ADBSSR envelopes. Parameters can be altered in real time via a single programmable slider. 6 voice polyphony in two modes, or one monophonic mode with all six voices stacked. 12 digital oscillators (2 per voice) with 8 simple to complex waveforms, 1 de-tunable and with programmable interval. 64 presets that can be reprogrammed by the user.

Awesome fat basses, lovely warm sounding, pulsing strings, and hard, nasal leads. Some wonderful swirling effects can be found. Imagine a Poly 800 with 8 waveforms instead of 2, and you get the picture.

Due to reliance on sampled waveforms, it does not sit well through distortion, and some waveforms do not go well in a mix when used as a pad. Overall, an exceptional and underrated bass and lead machine with some nice pad sounds to boot.

The DW-6000 was quickly surpassed by the DW-8000: it expanded it to 8 notes polyphony, 16 sampled waveforms, a velocity sensitive keyboard with programmable aftertouch, auto-bend, a simple arpeggiator and a digital delay unit.

Mark Wiseman

September 6, 2012 @ 4:24 pm

I have two Korg DW-6000 in great condition... I think they're better than the newer digital units. Now my wife wants me to clean house, and use my iPhone to play music. )-;

Son of MooG

January 5, 2012 @ 12:21 pm

Recently I got the chance to (re)buy a fully functional DW-6000 for 30,-€!!! Many years I sold mine for needed space in my tiny home-studio but somehow allways regretted it. The synth gives me all kinds off lush pads and I like the ADBSSR-EG. I couldn't care less about it's digital or analog inside, I do care about sound...

SirJohnPaulMcDeath

November 13, 2011 @ 4:04 am

Own one:love it! Many possibilities if you're willing to explore and "F" with it.It's a classic!

Lorentz

October 25, 2011 @ 7:14 pm

Spent a rainy day back in 1985, doing a side by side with a DX-7, Ensoniq Mirage and a DW-6000 - trying to work out which had the best piano sound. The Mirage had the best attack, but failed miserably on the decay - the loop was awful. The DX-7 had the most expression, but the DW-6000, in a mix, sounded best overall. The DX won on the day, better keyboard action made it the most playable, but the DW was no slouch, plus you get all the VCF action as well.
Go figure

Henrik

October 22, 2011 @ 6:57 pm

I just bought this and it was a nice, nostalgic walk down the memory lane; this synth was what a synth should sound like in the mid 80s. Easy to program with nice, classic sounds. The pianos and brasses etc. don’t sound natural, but I don’t care. This is a synthesizer and that is what is sounds like. I bought it in Norway for app 130 Euros and it is sure worth it. Is the DW 8000 better? Guess so, never tried it. Is there better synths out there? Sure is, but this is a quite cheap synth and you can get a lot of out of it. And how cool is it with backuping on a cassette tape? A fun synth!

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