Did I make a nice trade? Karma/Moss for Ax-60 and D-50

[Spadz]

Synths, like sex, I can never get enough.
I had a Karma with th MOSS card in it. Sounded nice, nice keyboard but never had that "oompf" I like from synths. I put an add and I ended up trading it for a minty clean D-50 and almost as clean Akai Ax-60.

Like many trades, I sort of have a funny feeling today about this. I'm not regretting it, but...

What do you guys think? Have I been "had"? Did I make a nice move?

[Sir Ruff]

Synths, like sex, I can never get enough.
I had a Karma with th MOSS card in it. Sounded nice, nice keyboard but never had that "oompf" I like from synths. I put an add and I ended up trading it for a minty clean D-50 and almost as clean Akai Ax-60.

Like many trades, I sort of have a funny feeling today about this. I'm not regretting it, but...

What do you guys think? Have I been "had"? Did I make a nice move?

it doesn't matter what we think-assuming you knew the capabilities of all the synths involved, and you think you'll get more use of the new ones, then that's all that matters! Money-wise I have no idea what a karma is worth, so I can't comment on that...

[Spadz]

You are right. I worry too much.
If I don't like them, I'll trade for something else!

Money-wise it comes to about the same.

Thanks Sir

[Z]

Money-wise, I think you came out even or maybe on the shorter end of the stick.

I see Karmas selling for around $600-$700, but I have no idea the worth of the MOSS board. D-50s and AX-60s bring $300-$400 each. If the MOSS board is worth more than $100, then the trade is slightly unbalanced.

Like Sir Ruff said, it's all about the use you will get out of your synths. If you'll use the D-50 & AX-60 more, then you've made a great trade! I've never played a Karma (always wanted to), but the AX-60 was my first real synth, bought in '88 after lusting over the (then) $1800 D-50. I eventually got a D-550 in '91 or so. I regret having to sell my AX-60 in the mid 90s becasue of financial issues. It's a great, underrated synth.

[plikestechno]

It's natural to have those feelings.

Like I just traded my Nord G1 keyboard for a grey SH-101 and $200 USD from him. We paid to ship to each other.

Originally I wanted cash.

But this guy offered me a SH-101 and Bass Station Rack.

I countered back with him throwing in $200 USD cash instead of the bass station rack.

I didn't want to take trades but the 101 was so tempting. I love my friend's.

At the end of the day we're both jacked. The 101 came today and I'm super excited, he's jacked to have the Nord.

So who won? The temptation at the end of the day is to analyze. But as we're both jacked, everybody wins.

[Spadz]

Z, I saw on ebay that both the Karma and the moss do for around 550$ each. I lost a bit, I know, but the Karma, like the Motif I had before are really nice but just not "it". I was using it mostly as a controller. I had been wanting an Ax-60 AND a D-50 for while, but people ask way too much.

I know the guy will be enjoying it much more than I did. I'm not a big fan of too modern synths and I don't play much with arpeggiators. So in the end, I lost a bit of money, but I gained 2 synths I wanted and I made a friend in the process.

So i guess I did good.
I can't wait to experiment with those! The only time I tried a D-50 is when they came out. I tried at the store.
The Akai is totally unkown to me. I played an hour with it and I found it quite fun. Not the most sophisticated synth I've ever had, but simplicity is a bit what I want these days.
I've been married for 13 years and I have 2 daughters and a cat. I'm the only guy in the house. I need simplicity once in a while to survive!

[Phollop Willing PA]

I had a D50 for a while and sold it towards a Karma purchase w/ 2 boards one was Moss. I'm happy.

[Spadz]

The Karma is a nice synth. Had it for 2 years, just doesn't fit with me.
The KARMA feature is nuts. I found it really cool to just play and improvise something. It's definitely worth a try.

The thing I'll miss the most is the touch of keyboard. I really liked it. If I could have "kept" the MOSS, I would have...
I'd have to get a Z1, but if I buy another synth, I'll be shot on sight by my wife.

[balma]

Ex Karma owner and AX60 owner here!


Nice deal man. Just for curiosity, what makes you ask to others if you made a good deal after doing it? Peace of mind? je je je je

AX 60 is a great analog synth, specially love it for its autotuning, lots of sliders and unison mode.


IMO, programming on Karma is a total waste of time. Very rigid interface, slow sometimes (specially when using the four k.a.r.m.a. modules at the same time).


But I had some fun with Karma when I had it for a few years.
Chords memory buttons are cool.

I had the idea, that the KARMA is not a synth, but a super keyboard arranger. Yeah, why:

programming sounds is a pain in the a*s.
programming the karma modules, is more browsing arp presets and doing some random parameter changes, than anything else.

But turning on the karma arp, and playing some presets, sounded amazing. But what about customizing the arppegios??? BORING!!

Also, maybe I have some bad feelings with Mr Ray. There's a KARMA MW for the PC. I got it with my Karma, but I wasn't able to use it, for a f**k license.

I purchased this KARMA on Italy. And I had to contact the owner, in order to get the license.

Look all the burocracy to get the KARMA MW:

Your Registration Number:KMW-W43C2-965P5-82E6
> (From the Registration Card included in the KARMA
> Software Box. It takes the form KMW-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX.)

Hello Mauricio,

We have two problems here.

1. You did not include the challenge code. You have to run the app, and send
the challenge code. Please read this if you need more info:

http://www.karma-lab.com/Files/HowToAuthorize-MW.pdf

2. This software is already registered to Luca Perino. If you and he want to
transfer the license from him to you, he must contact me and say so, and
then you must page a $29.95 License Transfer Fee. Details are below:

=========================================================================
The policy regarding transfer of ownership of KARMA MW or KARMA Triton
software (as of Sep 1, 2004) is as follows:
=========================================================================

1) There is a charge of $29.95 US to transfer ownership of the license. This
covers the work involved on our side to change records, provide
authorization codes, tech support in the future, future updates, etc.

2) The previous owner must send an e-mail to [email protected] stating
that they have sold the software and no longer intend to use it. They will
then no longer be eligible for free updates, upgrades, or authorization
codes.

3) To take advantage of this offer, the new owner needs the customer
registration number of the software, which the previous owner should be able
to supply you with (note: it is NOT the challenge/response code.) It is a
number that looks like "KMW-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX" or "KTR-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX".
If this number is not available, we can generally look it up provided the
original owner contacts us according to step 2.

4) The license transfer option can be ordered by going to the Karma Lab
Store "Products" Page, and choosing the last item "MW/KT License Transfer
Fee":

http://www.karma-lab.com/miva/merchant. ... e_Code=KLS

Click on the "LTF" to the left side of the item, and follow the
instructions.

5) On that page, you enter the Customer Registration Number from step 3, and
complete the rest of the order. (If you do not have the customer
registration number, we can retrieve it from the system provided the
previous owner contacts us as mentioned in step 2.)

6) Then, you will receive a download link to the full installer of the
latest version, for either Mac or Windows platforms.

Note: this policy is subject to change at any time.

Note: If you received the software with a used equipment purchase, and are
not sure that you need the software, you can try a limited demo version:





Karma can be replaced for a lot of softsynths, mine had two expansion ROMS, and even with them, it sounded cheesy.

Stephen Ray's arppegiator, good, but..... Isn't better to do all this s**t on sequences or pattterns, than doing it on a synth that really does not have the appropiate hardware controllers?


Karma's price have dropped down a lot with the recent workstations, that also come with the "superarppegiator"

So, have peace my friend. I had the Karma and sold it. I have the AX 60 and will keep it forever.

[Spadz]

Thanks for your support Balma! Peace of mind it is! Haha

I agree with you programming the Karma takes way too much time for my taste as well.
The KARMA arp is really cool for demos and just f?%ing around, but for serious stuff, I never found a way to make use of it.
I don't find the sound that cheezy. Some sounds are really nice. But the tons of menus and menus...

But really, I don't expect regretting it. It's just it happened just like that. I placed an add to sell the Karma, and no news from anyone then this guy emails me... The guy is really nice but knows s**t about synths.
He had bought those 2 and had no idea what to do with them.

Anyways, I'll be happier after I have spent some time with them.

[Ashe37]

Karma keyboards are going for around $500-$600.

MOSS expansion runs $500 all by itself on the 'Bay.

[Spadz]

And so I have spent time integrating my 2 synths and playing with them. I like, I like.
What happened is that, I go thru Cubase to control the synths, I ended up playing a sound from tha Ax60, the D-50, a Mks-50 and a poly-800 all at the same time. Talk about layers!

It sounded like a ton of bricks. Absolutely no effects added. All sounds that are a bit similar but very different at the same times. I thought I'd soil my shorts. Haven't had so much pleasure playing in past months, as in a sort of creative down. But that went on for 15 minutes, but what a 15 minutes.

It's not the first time I do that. But I haven't for a while and maybe there lies my creativity glitch of that past months.

[Phollop Willing PA]

Thanks for your support Balma! Peace of mind it is! Haha

I agree with you programming the Karma takes way too much time for my taste as well.
The KARMA arp is really cool for demos and just f?%ing around, but for serious stuff, I never found a way to make use of it.
I don't find the sound that cheezy. Some sounds are really nice. But the tons of menus and menus...

......

Anyways, I'll be happier after I have spent some time with them.

I was getting frustrated with my Karma too, that is until I midied it up to my Roland MC 505 and used some of the real time controls of the MC 505 to modify the parameters and sounds of the Karma. I loved the way I was able to instantly balance, via the sliders, the multi sound according to my desires. and the knobs do some stuff too.

Also using the Prophecy midied to the Karma, enables the ribbon log wheel to affect parameters. I also use the Karma to load up new patches into the Korg Prophecy with sysex cards on the Karma.

I'm still discovering, after a few years, new ways to modify the sound on the Karma. yes it's complex, but compared to a DX 7, it's a breeze...

I don't use a computer as a sound librarian.

[Spadz]

It's cool you get to have fun with your Karma. Like I wrote, the sound is nice and the KARMA function can be cool. It juts doesn't fit my style.
Funny you compare to a Dx7. It was one of the first synths I got. A used 2 years old (yeah, Im getting old), and I've had some form of FM one way or another since then.