Synth Defects - Ticking Time Bombs

[zaphod betamax]

Here are some that I can't believe nobody mentioned:





Waldorf Blofeld: A bad internal resistor causes volume control havoc.

If the user plugs a below 32 ohm headphone into the HP jack.
The Blofeld is meant for headphones of 32 ohm and above.

I have 4 Blofelds and NONE of them have ever blown the resistor.

[mindpixell]

Ensoniq Fizmo, the controllers in the power supply c**p out.

Furthermore the first material switches in the 303/606 and V-Synth don't keep going extremely long.

[DX]

Roland JP8000: SMD Electrolytic capacitors in the main board go. Acid leaks over the PCB and corrodes on both sides. Symphtoms usually start with dimmed audio outputs. Next, cracks and clicks. All those on the Main Board need to be replaced.

KORG CX-3 (Mk1). All 10uf/16v electrolytic caps on the KLM-245 board must be replaced. They leak on every unit I've had knowledge of, (all were leaking on mine).

Roland MRS2- Promars:
a)All Matsushita lavender electrolytic caps must be replaced. They are prone to leak (I just found one of over 20, though better to prevent...).
b) NI Cd Batteries tend to leak on an invisible way. They are isolated from boards but acid can travel by their connection cables to the main board (connector on mine was green, no damage to the pcb fortunately).

Emu Emax/Emax II. Those 80's switching PSU tend to go. For reliability, better to replace by newer ones.

- Nice to see this forum is still alive and kicking. Lots of knowledge in here.
Stay Safe.
DX.

[merovie]

My Ensoniq EPS rackmount is ridiculously sensitive to temperature changes. There is a window unit in my music room and to keep energy costs down I don't run the AC 24/7. Unfortunately this can be a recipe for disaster when I am really inspired to write a new piece of music and the Ensoniq is not in its "Goldilocks zone." It always decides that the Gotek drive is not formatted. It did the same when there was a regular drive in it. And then when it is a little cooler and the inspiration has passed it decides to work fine. It's maddening. It evidently has to be a SPECIFIC temperature to function optimally.

For contrast - the desktop with Reaper and Cubase on it in the same room boot up with no problems ever.

I live in Texas so humidity isn't a problem. But it also never did this in New Orleans when I lived there.

[massimosala]

Hi
I collect the data about these defects: http://synthesizers.freecluster.eu/
Columns: defects

Feel free to complete the data and add other synths.

Ciao, Massimo

[man-009]

I just picked up another JP8000 for only $130. So how do you not for that price. The reason was battery and memory loss on screen at start up. The seller thought he made out. not! lol. I replaced the battery and now due to the low outputs, I will be changing the capacitors. Easy fix. The headphone jack is still loud and clear. Great deal!! Love these kind of finds!