Korg to release ARP Odyssey

[micahjonhughes]

Korg is a Japanese company with US division. You would not have any problem contacting Korg. Also, it looks like the Odyssey comes with a one year warranty. I see some online retailers are offering a 2-year warranty.

Just curious, does the Odyssey have surface mount components or through hole?

[adamstan]

Surface mount, as can be seen here:

[monolith]

China. Why does it matter?

It matters because I recently bought a guitar stand that was made in China and I had some concerns about build quality and I wasn't able to get in touch with the company in the US selling it. Before I purchase something in this kind of price range I like to determine how easy it is to get it fixed if it should break.

Does Korg stand behind this product?

A guitar stand. Okay.

Does Korg stand behind this product? The box mine came in has a big korg sticker with an Aussie flag on it that says '3 year warranty', so I'd say they do. Also, having previously worked for the Australian distributor of Korg products I've found no problems with the addressing warranty issues - which weren't all that common anyway.

[Automatic Gainsay]

At Gearfest, I saw Dave Smith mock everyone who is concerned about surface-mount technology, and watched Tom Oberheim and Roger Linn laugh along.
After that, I kind of want to never hear about it again.

[Stab Frenzy]

At Gearfest, I saw Dave Smith mock everyone who is concerned about surface-mount technology, and watched Tom Oberheim and Roger Linn laugh along.
After that, I kind of want to never hear about it again.

Whenever this topic comes up I try to find the photo someone took of cutting open a through hole ceramic cap to reveal that it's just an SMT cap with leads attached and dipped in epoxy, but it's a hard photo to find.

I own a lot of modules, both SMT and through hole, and there is no correlation between sound quality and construction methods used.

[zoomtheline]

I thought the only difference would be that if you knocked a pot hard that was surface mounted then it's got something solid to hold it. If it's through hole then it's got a little give and if the knock was hard enough it could be enough to break, rip the board/trace etc etc
I dunno though, and I don't really care

[Bitexion]

People seem to think they have to be flimsy because they're so small, but really it's the same circuitry and it's mounted closer to the PCB so it's even more secure.

[Hybrid88]

At Gearfest, I saw Dave Smith mock everyone who is concerned about surface-mount technology, and watched Tom Oberheim and Roger Linn laugh along.
After that, I kind of want to never hear about it again.

Ok, it's probably pretty pointless trying to argue about it, you guys all seem to know everything already. But the fact is if you take something in to be repaired that is SMD construction the tech will most likely not be able to do a component level fix. Let along a diagnosis. I don't know about you but I'd rather replace one component than a whole PCB.

Sure there's a warranty on most stuff now...

SMD is pretty reliable, but when it does fail it will brick a synth.

[pflosi]

I thought the only difference would be that if you knocked a pot hard that was surface mounted then it's got something solid to hold it. If it's through hole then it's got a little give and if the knock was hard enough it could be enough to break, rip the board/trace etc etc
I dunno though, and I don't really care

You can bolt pots to the panels with SMT too you know... And you can have them PCB-mounted only with thru hole if you want. Doesn't have anything to do with SMT vs thru hole.

[micahjonhughes]

My question regarding SMT or through hole was directed at ease of future in home repairs after the warranty is long expired. I get most of my gear used, slightly abused and needing some mending.

Clearly SMT is the way synth manufacturers are going. I'll just need to get some new soldering skills to keep up. I can't think of any reason SMT would sound different.

[Hybrid88]

I thought the only difference would be that if you knocked a pot hard that was surface mounted then it's got something solid to hold it. If it's through hole then it's got a little give and if the knock was hard enough it could be enough to break, rip the board/trace etc etc
I dunno though, and I don't really care

You can bolt pots to the panels with SMT too you know...

Yeah but who does? Seriously. I guess it's a separate issue but I can't think of any manufacturers that bolt SMD pots to the front panel. Plastic cased/shafted pots don't make the problem any better either.

[zoomtheline]

ah, I see, guess i'm out of my tech depth ha

[pflosi]

I thought the only difference would be that if you knocked a pot hard that was surface mounted then it's got something solid to hold it. If it's through hole then it's got a little give and if the knock was hard enough it could be enough to break, rip the board/trace etc etc
I dunno though, and I don't really care

You can bolt pots to the panels with SMT too you know...

Yeah but who does? Seriously. I guess it's a separate issue but I can't think of any manufacturers that bolt SMD pots to the front panel. Plastic cased/shafted pots don't make the problem any better either.

Cwejman, Synthesis Technology, just to name two off the top of my head.

[Hybrid88]

You can bolt pots to the panels with SMT too you know...

Yeah but who does? Seriously. I guess it's a separate issue but I can't think of any manufacturers that bolt SMD pots to the front panel. Plastic cased/shafted pots don't make the problem any better either.

Cwejman, Synthesis Technology, just to name two off the top of my head.

mm a couple of low volume modular manufacturers. I'm more thinking of more mass-produced gear, I suppose it saves the big producers time and money not to screw them on.

[pflosi]

low volume modular manufacturers

Well that's where the quality is at