Korg ARP 2600M

[Sacred Synthesis]

The Korg ARP 2600M will be making its appearance in the near future.  I'm definitely excited about this instrument, in spite of the "M." 

 https://www.synthtopia.com/content/2021/05/28/synthfest-france-coming-sunday-june-6-2021-as-a-free-online-event/

[Sacred Synthesis]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RozMJhCgTwc

[Sacred Synthesis]

The size of this instrument probably makes it difficult to program, especially to fine tune, but maybe it wouldn't be much of a problem if used only in the studio.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-LznAWO_oU

[Sacred Synthesis]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KdLBf8T9b0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pCUR9hdRnI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Bj7KIzw-wQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fp5rs4Aiw7Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2UCgsyhDM0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4aZHtnGeHE

I'm quite impressed with the sound of this instrument.  Based only on these YouTube videos, it does sound as good as, or better than, the Korg ARP Odyssey - a stronger bottom end especially.  As for the diminutive size, I could live with the shrunken panel much better than the shrunken keyboard.  But I would replace it with a full-size five octave keyboard anyway.  Alas, this is definitely my kind of synthesizer.

[Sacred Synthesis]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cpp3j6DBWl4

[Paul Dither]

Marc Doty is about to release a series of videos on the 2600M:

https://youtu.be/9MvrDsoyH1c

[Paul Dither]

https://youtu.be/iXP0-bkKzlM

[Sacred Synthesis]

The Limited Edition is $2,350.  The Standard Edition will come out this summer and will be black, lack the little keyboard, and have a different case.  I believe the price will be $2,250.

[LPF83]

I know it's a silly cosmetic observation, but given that it's meant to appeal to the vintage synth enthusiast crowd I'm not sure why they went with those shiny patch inputs.

I've also heard enough differences between the FS model and the original that I don't think as a reissue it would satisfy my sense of authenticity (and I assume the M sounds like the FS).  Not to say its a bad sounding synth at all, it's just if I am buying a reissue, authentic sound is very high on the list.

[Sacred Synthesis]

It sounds fabulous to me.  I believe the build quality is at least close the the FS. 

[LPF83]

It sounds fabulous to me.  I believe the build quality is at least close the the FS.

I agree it sounds good.  I guess I just become a bit of a cork sniffer once something calls itself a reissue of an older synth, and at that point I expect the reissue to be able to fully duplicate the sounds of the original in a way that's largely undetectable.  It has to capture the soul of the original.  I guess what the definition of soul is when it comes to sound is subjective, so mileage may vary here.  But I've seen some videos where the overall brightness range wasn't like the original, or the noise generator just sounded vastly different than the original.  The tone of the noise is an important, fundamental feature to recreation of sound on a synth.

Aside from the capacitor issue on the early units of the Rev4 (filtergate etc), which Dave made right, I never heard any comparison audio where the Rev4 sounded less than authentic against a vintage Prophet 5.  So to me that's kind of the baseline expectation of a reissue.

[Sacred Synthesis]

But I've seen some videos where the overall brightness range wasn't like the original, or the noise generator just sounded vastly different than the original.  The tone of the noise is an important, fundamental feature to recreation of sound on a synth.

There aren't too many videos on the 2600M. Which one were you referring to, and how did you compare it to the original instrument?

[LPF83]

But I've seen some videos where the overall brightness range wasn't like the original, or the noise generator just sounded vastly different than the original.  The tone of the noise is an important, fundamental feature to recreation of sound on a synth.

There aren't too many videos on the 2600M. Which one were you referring to, and how did you compare it to the original instrument?

They weren't specifically on the 2600M, they were FS vs. the original.  It's been a while since I listened to them as well, I'll try to make a note to come back and post them if I encounter them again.  Granted, I am assuming that the 2600M sounds the same as the FS.

[LoboLives]

But I've seen some videos where the overall brightness range wasn't like the original, or the noise generator just sounded vastly different than the original.  The tone of the noise is an important, fundamental feature to recreation of sound on a synth.

There aren't too many videos on the 2600M. Which one were you referring to, and how did you compare it to the original instrument?

They weren't specifically on the 2600M, they were FS vs. the original.  It's been a while since I listened to them as well, I'll try to make a note to come back and post them if I encounter them again.  Granted, I am assuming that the 2600M sounds the same as the FS.

These tests are only worthwhile if they are true blind tests. Otherwise your subconscious distracts you.

[LPF83]

These tests are only worthwhile if they are true blind tests. Otherwise your subconscious distracts you.

Blind tests work for things like "I bet I can tell whether its analog or digital".

But never having owned an original ARP 2600, I would have no point of reference on what the original noise generator should sound like, in that case the best test is a comparison video from someone who has both old and new, side by side.

[LoboLives]

These tests are only worthwhile if they are true blind tests. Otherwise your subconscious distracts you.

Blind tests work for things like "I bet I can tell whether its analog or digital".

But never having owned an original ARP 2600, I would have no point of reference on what the original noise generator should sound like, in that case the best test is a comparison video from someone who has both old and new, side by side.

I always find by doing that you run the risk of getting distracted by what your eyes are seeing rather than what your ears are hearing. Case in point the S2400 vs SP1200. Almost everyone in the comments said the SP1200 sounded better but how much of that was a knee jerk reaction to the idea of “the original” as opposed to an unbiased conclusion

[Sacred Synthesis]

Unless you're absolutely committed to imitating the sound of a vintage ARP 2600, why does the exacting comparison matter so much?  The Korg re-issues sound excellent, that's certain.  My Odysseys sound gorgeous, and their build quality is solid.  They've got that "Odyssey sound" as I remember it, but I say that having no point of reference other than my musical ear.  Yet for all I know, they're not a 101% perfect copy of the original. 

It seems as if having such a standard of impeccable identity with the original only keeps one from being happy with an excellent instrument.

[LoboLives]

Unless you're absolutely committed to imitating the sound of a vintage ARP 2600, why does the exacting comparison matter so much?  The Korg re-issues sound excellent, that's certain.  My Odysseys sound gorgeous, and their build quality is solid.  They've got that "Odyssey sound" as I remember it, but I say that having no point of reference other than my musical ear.  Yet for all I know, they're not a 101% perfect copy of the original. 

It seems as if having such a standard of impeccable identity with the original only keeps one from being happy with an excellent instrument.

The ironic thing in that is that the originals likely had variations from unit to unit and weren't exactly 1:1 either

[Sacred Synthesis]

Yes, plus the differing filters, depending on the year.

[LPF83]

It seems as if having such a standard of impeccable identity with the original only keeps one from being happy with an excellent instrument.

Only if the instrument doesn't match their expectations, and of course expectations vary.  For me, I'm normally not too picky about things like exact knob/slider positions, because these are the types of things that could vary quite a bit from unit to unit due to manufacturing variance.  Sometimes you need to nudge a knob an extra half millimeter on one synth to achieve the same sound on another of the same model.  But, if the two sound no where near each other within like 25% of the total range of the knob, that would be a problem.  Or if some basic fundamentals like the saw waves, noise type, filter etc just sound nothing alike then to me that's a bigger problem (for my own personal expectations) because if the fundamentals aren't there, it means it's only a "loosely inspired by" synth, which is of way less value to me than a proper reissue.

But, I do agree, at some point a synth either captures what an individual ear liked about the original synth its based on, or it doesn't.   And if it does scratch all the right itches, then it probably should be obtained...   as long as that criteria is satisfied, it really doesn't matter at the end of the day if sound matches identically or not.