Ok So I sold My Beloved Korg DSS-1

[galaxybr8]

Hi everybody!! Yea, I sold my beloved Korg DSS-1 a few years ago (10 to be exact )
and I have worn out then pairs of steel toed boots kicking my own behind for doing it.

Lo and behold after three years of diligantly searching for another one,I lucked out on ebay and scored another one with some disks for $71.00. It is absolutely MINT!! Needless to say I am tickled pink to finally be getting another of these beasts. The sounds on the DSS-1 I just cant compare to anything I have ever heard in my life. Now to the point . I downloaded a program called copy QM. It states on the website I downloaded from, that copy QM will only run in a Pure DOS. environment, and requires a "Real" MPU-401 Soundcard.(I assume an older soundblaster AWE or equivilant will work.) And a floppy disk drive. Does anyone here have any experience using copy QM that could possibly clarify a few things for me?" Maybe help guide me along?" I have a couple of older PC's lying around the house that are capable of running DOS.
Im just totally corn-fused about how to set up this copy QM thingy to save downloaded
disk images for my beloved Korg. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a bunch, Galaxybr8

[gs]

Hi galaxybr8, welcome to the forum.

I am a died-in-the-wool DSS-1 freak myself. Congrats on getting a mint specimen for so cheap!

I run a DSS-1 Support Site at http://glenstegner.com/dss1. I don't know if that's the site you visited or not. There is another guy Larry Hendry who runs support web pages for this synth as well (or his wife is carrying it on, as poor Larry passed away about a year ago. )

In any case, the instructions for how to use CopyQM to make DSS-1 floppies is very clear and detailed on my site. There would be no point in repeating it all here. Just go to my site and click on DSS-1 Disks, CopyQM and go through all the steps, very easily laid out.

BTW, you don't need to have a sound card of any kind on the computer. All it needs is a floppy drive! You are simply creating DSS-1 sound disks from a disk image, not playing the sounds through the PC.

Check out my special disks at the top of the list, "Analog Master Performance Set" and "Acoustic & Electric Piano Set". I made these two disks from scratch using my own samples and patches, apart from the stock DSS-1 waveforms.

Enjoy the old beast again! It's a very fat and warm sounding hybrid polysynth IMO.

[galaxybr8]

Hey thanks for the warm welcome I'll check out your support site and thanks for the link.
Thats terriffic!! Yea, I must have been reading about a patch editor or something and it threw me for a loop about the soundcard thingy. Thanks for the clarification!! Im heading to your site after I post this. Thanks again for everything. BTW Have you seen Slingblade?"
If so that scene where Carl is out in his old backyard looking at the shed and his brothers grave?That soundtrack that they play during that scene. Thats got to be a DSS-1. I told my wife the first time we watched it "That's a DSS-1!" If you havent seen it yet check out that scene, listen to that sound track and tell me what you think. Again thanks a bunch!!

[galaxybr8]

I went to that you suggested and evidently he doesnt sell the DSDD diskettes anymore. Have you got any other suggestions as to where I might bet ahold of some of those disks?" Thanks again for all the nfo..I installed the load QM without a hitch lost night on an old 486 with 32 megs of ram and a 800 meg hard drive.I seems to be working okay.

[RedSky]

I needed to buy some disks for my DSS 1 recently and got them from ebay off a store called DataServe retro Computers. If they don't have them right now, they will soon, or there are other sellers on ebay that have them, I'm sure.

[gs]

I went to that you suggested and evidently he doesnt sell the DSDD diskettes anymore. Have you got any other suggestions as to where I might bet ahold of some of those disks?

I found this: http://www.superwarehouse.com/Imation_3 ... 82/p/46719. Nice price too: $3.99 for pack of 10. I would rather buy new than used off eBay, as you might end up paying inflated prices for old worn out floppies.

[Entropy Farmer]

You can format normal HD diskettes as DD.

In a Windows command prompt:
format a: /F:720

Don't know if that would be readable for the DSS-1 drive, but I would think so (worked in the 80s for my Tandy 1000, I think). I'd love to know if this works, as I'm looking at picking one of these beasts up.

PS: Anybody have a sample of it running in 6 osc detuned unison? Haven't been able to find one, and that is the particular end-of-the-universe sound that has got me so interested.

Edit: Another potentially interesting thing - has anybody tried to run CopyQM on DOSBox?

[galaxybr8]

Hey Entropy, if you can grab one of these beasts, go for it . You won't be disappointed
I'm still waiting on mine to arrive. I begged the dude to send it fedex and he insisted on USPS Priority mail.. So I hope it arrives in one peice.Anyway thanks for the format trick thingy I'll try it once the Rompler gets here.

[galaxybr8]

Hi, I got my beast today!!! Its mint!!With the exception that there were no disks with the DSS as advertised on the auction. Im not about to send it back. One problem.. In copy QM I'm tearing my hair out by the roots. I have copy QM installed on my older PC running windows ME..I have my .dsk files in their own little folder on my desktop called simply "DSS"(Without quotes) I open copy QM it prompts me for the location of file . I type in : C:/WINDOWS/DESKTOP/DSS/GSA.DSK and hit enter, the pc just sits there doing nothing...I waited 15 minutes ...Nothing ..I hit enter and I get a message that C:/WINDOWS/DESKTOP/DSS/GSA.DSK cannot be found. Ive tried everything ...maybe Im doing something wrong...I know as much about DOS as I know about brain surgery. Could you please help a guy out?" Thanks a bunch.......

[galaxybr8]

When I get the error message it says "The image file does not exist. Press Any Key To Continue. Sorry about that.

[plexicube]

I love my DSS-1 as well. It really has a character all its own once you start throwing in some grungy digital waves. Mine is pretty mint, other than 1 key which doesnt respond (though it *does* transmit aftertouch). the keybed is a pretty daunting looking closed system. Anyone know how to get it open, fix a key, and get it all back together without causing even more of a problem?

[galaxybr8]

Heres the solution I found ..and its out there.... Thought Id warn you ..

I fired up load QM and inputted the location of the file but used backslashes\\ instead of forward slashes //and it worked!!! But heres the weird part. The next patch bank wouldnt accept back slashes\\ but would accept forward// Im using regular ol' floppies for PC..
I put the tape over the right hand hole and its working great. I used the format a: \F:720
that another member suggested and it worked fine. Kudo's for all of the help... Im now enjoying my DSS-1

[galaxybr8]

Go to http://glenstegner.com/dss1 look under manuals to the right ...youll see a service manual there and an owners manual....

[abrokenframe]

Edit: Another potentially interesting thing - has anybody tried to run CopyQM on DOSBox?

i tried, but couldn't get passed the ENTER FILE NAME screen. The screen says: IMAGE FILE CREATED BY UNREGISTERED COPYQM after i enter a disk path. I can then press enter and it starts to read DRIVE A and then says: NO DRIVES FOR THIS FORMAT WERE SEPICIFIED.

Has anyone else tried? I would love to get it to work!

[gs]

You can format normal HD diskettes as DD.
In a Windows command prompt:
format a: /F:720

That's true, as long as CopyQM sees it as DSDD then everything should work. Once the disk has the image on it, you can then take the tape off the hole, as the DSS-1 doesn't even look for it.

Anybody have a sample of it running in 6 osc detuned unison? Haven't been able to find one, and that is the particular end-of-the-universe sound that has got me so interested.

From my DSS-1 Support site, here is a demo of something along those lines. I think it may be 8 unison detuned oscillators, not 6. (Actually it's 16 with Osc2 running and detuned against Osc1!). It is also using some chorusing from the DDLs:

http://glenstegner.com/dss1/demos/tride ... d_lead.mp3.