Attention Korg! Potential R3 bug!

diegombass · Post by **diegombass** » Tue Sep 01, 2009 8:50 pm

I remember a gig where I was playing the R3 with a delay FX, the tempo was syncronized from a PC by USB. It seems to be a little dwarf playing with a knob. However at home, it uses to work...

I think the R3 is a little unestable, because recently I've posted this http://www.korgforums.com/forum/phpBB2/ ... hp?t=45836
There I'm talking about a problem that suddenly yesterday didn't happend.

I wish you undertand my english.[/code]

MrDuke · Post by **MrDuke** » Fri Sep 11, 2009 11:21 pm

DAMN! I just noticed this on my R3!! I'd say it's a pretty big problem.

All signs indicate it might the knob that's the cause of it, because at least on mine if you turn it to maximum before turning the R3 on, it "stays put". But as soon as you change tempo, it starts shifting -1, +1...

Has Korg made any official statements about it, or is it one of those, "Nah, couldn't be bothered, deal with it." -type of situations?

TiaR3 · Post by **TiaR3** » Fri Oct 09, 2009 11:51 am

Bought a R3 2 days ago. Same kind of problems.
When I turn this knob the sound glitches (sort of high freq alias sound)

If somebody can point to the "capacitor" mod to perform, I would not be afraid to give it a go

(I love to have a look inside my synths).

Re-Member · Post by **Re-Member** » Sun Oct 11, 2009 5:18 am

diegombass wrote:I remember a gig where I was playing the R3 with a delay FX, the tempo was syncronized from a PC by USB. It seems to be a little dwarf playing with a knob. However at home, it uses to work...

I think the R3 is a little unestable, because recently I've posted this http://www.korgforums.com/forum/phpBB2/ ... hp?t=45836
There I'm talking about a problem that suddenly yesterday didn't happend.

I wish you undertand my english.[/code]

Check to see if your MIDI clock settings are set to Auto (in menu #42). Having it on Auto will still cause the problem, so set it specifically to Ext USB or Ext MIDI.

katsyonak · Post by **katsyonak** » Sat Nov 14, 2009 2:13 pm

TiaR3 wrote:If somebody can point to the "capacitor" mod to perform, I would not be afraid to give it a go (I love to have a look inside my synths).

My R3 also have this problem. I'd really appreciate if someone who knows can explain how to do this capacitor mod.

danx · Post by **danx** » Fri Nov 20, 2009 9:41 am

My second hand R3 was suffering from FX "noise click" and a channel lost failture.
I took it to service when they fix the "FX memory Rom".
Now guess what.....the tempo knob issue!

Back to Service i believe

danx · Post by **danx** » Sat Nov 28, 2009 12:51 am

Well my R3 has come back from service.
The technician told me that the problem with the "jumpin´tempo" was the knob,so they replaced it and volia!.
Btw i don´t know if i had reported already but the problem with the missing channel and FX random noise was the memory ram.
Now everything seems to be fine.

Good Luck

tpantano · Post by **tpantano** » Sat Nov 28, 2009 3:55 am

IM SCARED. SHOULD I EVEN PURCHASE THE R3!??!?!?!?

WHat will this effect? arpeggio patterns, what?

X-Trade · Post by **X-Trade** » Sat Nov 28, 2009 9:02 am

Seen as no one else seems to be bothered to use the Search function, I've found the post about the solution here:

http://www.korgforums.com/forum/phpBB2/ ... 7091802667

Aequitas123 wrote:Just got this, after some pressing, from Korg:

Problem

The tempo value changes intermittently. The value may only change slightly, or flicker between two values, but each change causes the LCD display to update. This constant display switching makes it difficult use the other functions of the unit. The problem occurs sporadically and may not always show up during testing.

Solution

Korg has determined that the tempo circuit in a small number of R3 units may be sensitive to electrical noise. This problem can occur in units with serial numbers lower than 006151. However, not all units below this serial number will exhibit the problem. Units that do have the issue should be modified by adding a 1000pF capacitor to filter out the noise.

tpantano · Post by **tpantano** » Sat Nov 28, 2009 3:02 pm

X-Trade wrote:Seen as no one else seems to be bothered to use the Search function, I've found the post about the solution here:

http://www.korgforums.com/forum/phpBB2/ ... 7091802667
Aequitas123 wrote:Just got this, after some pressing, from Korg:

Problem

The tempo value changes intermittently. The value may only change slightly, or flicker between two values, but each change causes the LCD display to update. This constant display switching makes it difficult use the other functions of the unit. The problem occurs sporadically and may not always show up during testing.

Solution

Korg has determined that the tempo circuit in a small number of R3 units may be sensitive to electrical noise. This problem can occur in units with serial numbers lower than 006151. However, not all units below this serial number will exhibit the problem. Units that do have the issue should be modified by adding a 1000pF capacitor to filter out the noise.

Well, I was originally planning on purchasing my R3 secondhand, but I'm not sure if it will end up costing me more in the end to have it repaired...

What will the tempo problem affect? LFO modifying, Arpeggiators?

MrDuke · Post by **MrDuke** » Tue Dec 15, 2009 11:03 am

X-Trade wrote:
Solution

Korg has determined that the tempo circuit in a small number of R3 units may be sensitive to electrical noise. This problem can occur in units with serial numbers lower than 006151. However, not all units below this serial number will exhibit the problem. Units that do have the issue should be modified by adding a 1000pF capacitor to filter out the noise.

A capacitor? Could you expand on that a bit - this problem is driving me nuts, to the point where using a lot of sounds has proven to be impossible because of the twitching tempo.

X-Trade · Post by **X-Trade** » Tue Dec 15, 2009 1:27 pm

A capacitor is not an expensive component. The labour may cost you if you have someone else to do it.

I don't own an R3 so can't have a look and haven't even tried it. Capacitors are often used for line filtering to even out a noisy signal, but i'm not sure either where it should be connected.

As with any hardware problem, I'd suggest you take it to a service engineer or have it repaired under warrantee. Rather than fiddling about and potentially destroying it yourself. its a small price to pay really.
They should know about the fix but i'd tell them about it just in case.

The tempo issue would affect anything that uses tempo syncing - delays would 'jitter', LFOs would be affected but as I don't think the tempo varies by more than a few BPM I doubt you'd notice unless you were playing to a click track. same for the arpeggiators.

it can also make editing a pain though as parameters may jump whilst editing on the panel (i.e. not through the software).

axxim · Post by **axxim** » Wed Dec 16, 2009 10:49 pm

My R3 has serial # 774 but the tempo remains stable. The only one that jitters sometimes is the one shown in my DAW because it resolves to 2 decimals. Maybe its due to a jittering in the R3, but until now it hasnt been an issue to me.

The 1000pF (=1nF) capacitor, I suppose, is to be applied between the center pin of the tempo potentiometer and the one connected to ground (seen from the bottom it should be the center and right pins)

The capacitor is to low pass filtering the potentiometers voltage which may be a bit noisy or be succeptible tho external interferences.

Until now I haven't opened my R3 so I cant't tell if it is easy or not. To add the capacitor, you need a soldering Iron and it should be done by someone with good experience with it. If the R3 is still in warranty then it should only be done by Korgs authorized customer service centers.

suburez · Post by **suburez** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 12:14 am

i'm not pissed that they don't have repair shops all over montana, obviously. thanks for the stupid retort though. i am pissed off when i buy a brand new product (straight from korg to my local dealer) that doesn't work, and them am told to fork out a bunch of cash to drive across the fourth biggest state in the union to repair the brand-new, out-of-the-box item. don't act like i'm not right to be pissed about that, cause that is b.s!