All Things ARP Odyssey

[Sacred Synthesis]

  Alas, it's true!  The price will be $599, beginning this October.

http://www.korg.com/us/products/synthesizers/arpodyssey_module/

http://www.sonicstate.com/news/2016/09/01/korg-announces-arp-odyssey-desktop-module/

[chysn]

Sounds about right. You should get two, one of each color.

My Axxe was the later brown-and-orange face, and I think that's the best ARP face style. But the white has a certain arcanity to it.

[BobTheDog]

Supports midi pitch bend as well unlike the keyboard version. I wonder if the keyboard version can be updated.

[Sacred Synthesis]

Sounds about right. You should get two, one of each color.

My Axxe was the later brown-and-orange face, and I think that's the best ARP face style. But the white has a certain arcanity to it.

I had an Axxe, too, in the same style.  I also had all three Odyssey types.  The Mk III design was my favorite. 

I'm quite excited about this Odyssey Module and will give it serious consideration.  I'll also be interested to see what DSI comes up with this winter NAMM.  Regardless, the Odyssey has always been on the top of my mono/duo synth list, and it would be a thrill to have one again - or better - to have two.  Controlling it with a PEK or P'08 would give me the optimum keyboard length, so that it's hard to imagine a better solo synth.  Of course, the fact that it has only one LFO is a problem, but it just doesn't seem as if the perfect analog mono synth is anywhere to be found.  This would be perhaps close enough.

[DavidDever]

<rant>
At 19.53" wide, that's only one key short of the width of a full-sized three octave (37-key) keyboard, easily enough to accommodate a 32-key keybed without a problem.

What were they thinking when they released the mini-keyed versions???

I would likely jump on this, though (as much as I love the look of the vintage white mk I) I suspect I'll go with the mk III orange/black, to site atop one of the Omni-2 units I'm finishing off in the garage...at the price, it's too hard to ignore, especially with three filter options and an XLR out.

[Sacred Synthesis]

Omni 2?  Beautiful.  That's one ARP I always wanted but never had.  Imagine if Korg re-issued that one as well!  I'm just dreaming, I suppose.  But I am surprised that no one has re-issued one of the old string synthesizer keyboards - say, ARP or Elka.

[Sacred Synthesis]

A new and a very old Odyssey instruction video:

[Paul Dither]

Omni 2?  Beautiful.  That's one ARP I always wanted but never had.  Imagine if Korg re-issued that one as well!  I'm just dreaming, I suppose.  But I am surprised that no one has re-issued one of the old string synthesizer keyboards - say, ARP or Elka.

I don't think that something like a Solina String Ensemble (to stay with ARP) would blow anybody's socks off these days. And there's already the Streichfett by Waldorf for such needs. For analog poly synth enthusiasts, something like a String Ensemble is not really anything to loose sleep over I'd guess. It's not even polyphonic in the strictest sense, as it utilizes divide-down technology, which may not be regarded that big of a deal because it doesn't even have a filter.

Also: Who would go through the hassle of reproducing it - with or without minikeys - for maybe not more than $499 (to name a rather realistic price with regard to what you actually get)? And with a bit of programming, you can get similar sounds out of most current analog poly synths and even the Pro 2, the latter of which even has a nice preset that goes in that direction.

So in short: I think a string synth's use is too specialized and too limited to be worth being reproduced as a device made of analog components. After all, they were just like the dedicated string preset section of a home organ, housed in cheap pressboard.

[Paul Dither]

A new and a very old Odyssey instruction video:

Nices ones! Although I would have hoped that the second file had been made available at a much higher resolution.

The first one shows, why I prefer the Whiteface's filter above the other versions. I just wish that Korg would have made their reissues available with proper mod and pitch wheels, as the push buttons are really awful to operate, since they need so much pressure and are really small. Even the original pitch knob would have been nicer. After all, Korg released a sort of Rev. 4 anyway by including all filter models and the Drive option, so why not improving the pitch and modulation controls? The latter is especially cumbersome, since Korg didn't implement pitchbend and modulation control via MIDI; it's only note on and off via MIDI.

Edit: I just saw that the module version supports pitchbend control via MIDI, but no control via mod wheel, which is still ridiculous.

[DavidDever]

Omni 2?  Beautiful.  That's one ARP I always wanted but never had.  Imagine if Korg re-issued that one as well!  I'm just dreaming, I suppose.  But I am surprised that no one has re-issued one of the old string synthesizer keyboards - say, ARP or Elka.

I don't think that something like a Solina String Ensemble (to stay with ARP) would blow anybody's socks off these days. And there's already the Streichfett by Waldorf for such needs. For analog poly synth enthusiasts, something like a String Ensemble is not really anything to loose sleep over I'd guess. It's not even polyphonic in the strictest sense, as it utilizes divide-down technology, which may not be regarded that big of a deal because it doesn't even have a filter.

Also: Who would go through the hassle of reproducing it - with or without minikeys - for maybe not more than $499 (to name a rather realistic price with regard to what you actually get)? And with a bit of programming, you can get similar sounds out of most current analog poly synths and even the Pro 2, the latter of which even has a nice preset that goes in that direction.

So in short: I think a string synth's use is too specialized and too limited to be worth being reproduced as a device made of analog components. After all, they were just like the dedicated string preset section of a home organ, housed in cheap pressboard.

The most interesting part would likely be the analog Ensemble effect, though you really have quite a few prototypes to choose from - for that matter, perhaps the effort would be better spent there. Imagine a box that could do a wide variety of ensemble effects (certainly, there is a range of variation between the Arp-branded units alone), Roland VP-330 ensemble, Juno chorus + Dimension-D, etc.

Once you have that, then it's simply a case of dealing with the tone-generator portion of the device (which needs to be nasty, along the lines of something that sounds like wet rotting cardboard when the effect is turned off). For pulse-constructed sawtooth imitations, a microcontroller could easily generate these, unless one really felt like implementing a complete divide-down network (I certainly don't).

The Streichfett, for nearly getting everything right, does have an issue with note doubling, which would not happen within an actual string machine, but let's be fair - the tone generator section is a wavetable engine, which has no notion of organ-style divide-down logic (at least within the current firmware). It also sounds too good IMHO with the effects turned off.

[Sacred Synthesis]

Omni 2?  Beautiful.  That's one ARP I always wanted but never had.  Imagine if Korg re-issued that one as well!  I'm just dreaming, I suppose.  But I am surprised that no one has re-issued one of the old string synthesizer keyboards - say, ARP or Elka.

I don't think that something like a Solina String Ensemble (to stay with ARP) would blow anybody's socks off these days. And there's already the Streichfett by Waldorf for such needs. For analog poly synth enthusiasts, something like a String Ensemble is not really anything to loose sleep over I'd guess. It's not even polyphonic in the strictest sense, as it utilizes divide-down technology, which may not be regarded that big of a deal because it doesn't even have a filter.

Also: Who would go through the hassle of reproducing it - with or without minikeys - for maybe not more than $499 (to name a rather realistic price with regard to what you actually get)? And with a bit of programming, you can get similar sounds out of most current analog poly synths and even the Pro 2, the latter of which even has a nice preset that goes in that direction.

So in short: I think a string synth's use is too specialized and too limited to be worth being reproduced as a device made of analog components. After all, they were just like the dedicated string preset section of a home organ, housed in cheap pressboard.

As I said, I was just dreaming.  But it could make a decent module.

[Sacred Synthesis]

The first one shows, why I prefer the Whiteface's filter above the other versions.

The Odyssey has a three-position "Filter Type" switch which offers each of the filters.

From Sweetwater:

"For the new Odyssey, the original design engineer, David Friend, was brought in as a consultant. Original schematics were deconstructed. Absolute authenticity was a must. For instance, it's well-known that during its decade or so of production, the Odyssey sported three different filter designs. Type I was a 2-pole, with an open sound and biting resonance. Type II was a 4-pole ladder filter: round, fat, and rich - great for basses. Type III was also a 4-pole design and similar in many ways to its predecessor, but smoother and silkier when you pushed the resonance. Well, the new Odyssey contains all three filter types - all available at the flick of a switch!"

[Paul Dither]

The first one shows, why I prefer the Whiteface's filter above the other versions.

But the Odyssey has a three-position "Filter Type" switch which offers each of the filters.

I know. Hence I called the Korg version Rev. 4.

[Sacred Synthesis]

I guess I'm in the minority, but I actually liked the Odyssey's Proportional Pitch Control pads.  They were sometimes smoother than a modulation wheel with a center detent.  They took some getting used to, but for subtle changes, I found them quite effective.  What I didn't at all like was the awkward dial on the earliest Odyssey design.

[Paul Dither]

I guess I'm in the minority, but I actually liked the Odyssey's Proportional Pitch Control pads.  They were sometimes smoother than a modulation wheel with a center detent.  They took some getting used to, but for subtle changes, I found them quite effective.  What I didn't at all like was the awkward dial on the earliest Odyssey design.

I guess I'd prefer the Linnstrument when it comes to subtle control via pads. 

Seriously though. If adjusted the right way, or the overall implementation was high quality I would get it, but those pads on Korg's Odyssey felt rather stiff to me. You also have to keep in mind that the width of all three PPCs equals about the width of two of them on the original Odysseys (rev. 2 and 3) or Axxes. So it's that particular combination of force needed to cause any notable effect and the pads' small size that makes thos concept only a nice idea in theory. I at least found the pressure that you have to exert anything but subtle. In fact, I always waited for the moment my finger would disappear in the housing.

[Sacred Synthesis]

That's reasonable.  I haven't tried them on the Korg version, but I didn't have trouble with them on the original.  But this would amount to yet another argument against shrunken synthesizers.  If a company wants to re-issue a vintage instrument, it should re-issue the exact same dimensions or "proportions".

[Paul Dither]

That's reasonable.  I haven't tried them on the Korg version, but I didn't have trouble with them on the original.  But this would amount to yet another argument against shrunken synthesizers.  If a company wants to re-issue a vintage instrument, it should re-issue the exact same dimensions or "proportions".

It's not necessarily problematic with regard to the overall front panel, but you have to think of the PPCs has having been shrunken just like the slimkeys. I know that not everybody was a huge fan of these controls on the originals. But the consensus amongst those who liked or got used to the PPCs on the originals seems to be that the shrunken version doesn't allow for any subtlety, as you can't easily touch them from all angles to get different responses from the margins to the center in order to navigate from weak to strong changes. There's simply not enough space for that. To compensate for that, the technology used would have to be more sophisticated, like on MPE controllers for example.

[Paul Dither]

Plus: I'm not bringing this up to talk you out of it. You should just consider this when getting one and assure yourself whether it works for you. If you indeed plan to control one or two Odyssey modules from another keyboard, the pitch control won't matter so much, as pitch bend movement can now be received via MIDI on the module only. However, the control over the modulation/LFO depth won't be transmittable via an external mod wheel. And that's something to consider if you want to control two units at the same time, unless a third arm is an option. 

[Sacred Synthesis]

Right.  I won't even be using the PPCs, since the Odyssey will be some distance from my keyboard. 

Regarding the instrument's size, I know you and others feel it's plenty big enough (i.e. your soccer field joke), but have you tried to very finely and precisely tune an oscillator with a slider?  It's not especially precise, so that you want the slider to have as long a travel distance as possible.  Plus, it's sometimes helpful if you can rest the side of your hand on the panel.  The Korg Odyssey's shrunken size obviously shortens this distance and eliminates some space, making fine tuning just a bit more difficult.  Of course, the extreme example of this is the Roland Boutiques, which I wouldn't ever bother with because of this issue.  But the shrunken Odyssey will suffer a bit from the problem, too.

Speaking as some one with enough studio space and who does very precise, if somewhat simple, synthesizer programming, I would never want an instrument shrunken in size in any aspect - not the key size, not the keyboard length, not the control panel, not the parameters, not the manual, and not even in a module version.

[Paul Dither]

Right.  I won't even be using the PPCs, since the Odyssey will be some distance from my keyboard.

Then you definitely need to consider whether no MIDI control over modulation depth is something you could live with. I don't know how often you typically use the mod wheel, but it will definitely make it less expressive - even if you would only use it for subtle changes here and there.

Regarding the instrument's size, I know you and others feel it's plenty big enough (i.e. your soccer field joke), but have you tried to very finely and precisely tune an oscillator with a slider?  It's not especially precise, so that you want the slider to have as long a travel distance as possible.  Plus, it's sometimes helpful if you can rest the side of your hand on the panel.  The Korg Odyssey's shrunken size obviously shortens this distance and eliminates some space, making fine tuning just a bit more difficult.  Of course, the extreme example of this is the Roland Boutiques, which I wouldn't ever bother with because of this issue.  But the shrunken Odyssey will suffer a bit from the problem, too.

I didn't feel as if the sliders' travel wasn't enough the two times I checked it out. The only problem is - just like on the original - that there's no detented indication for the tuning of oscillator 1 halfway through its slider's complete travel; sort of a clearly indicated zero position. Other than that, the panel didn't feel small. It's still pretty big if you think of the squareness of the keyboard version. Plus: the sliders are moving firm enough for tiny adjustments. It's not that you need to be afraid of shaky hands while operating it.

I wouldn't lean on the panel though. Not only because there's not that much space to the sides, but also because the unit is very lightweight. It's not a metal chassis, it's plastic. And there's no internal power supply. So all of that makes it a lot lighter than the original.