Digital clipping/distortion on R3?

[groovatious]

Hey, I noticed the digital ticking with my R3 as well! At first I thought it was just a power drop or something in my speakers, but it only ever happens with the R3 and mostly on patches with lots of Reverb/Delay, especially pads.

So is this a fault? Should I take the unit back for a replacement?

On a separate note, does everyone else's unit make horrible loud zapping etc sounds when they turn the tempo knob after playing a note on a patch with delay? Or is this just a glitch in the tempo delay?

[Hugh Mann]

Hey, I noticed the digital ticking with my R3 as well! At first I thought it was just a power drop or something in my speakers, but it only ever happens with the R3 and mostly on patches with lots of Reverb/Delay, especially pads.

So is this a fault? Should I take the unit back for a replacement?

On a separate note, does everyone else's unit make horrible loud zapping etc sounds when they turn the tempo knob after playing a note on a patch with delay? Or is this just a glitch in the tempo delay?

I would take it back and try another unit. The new unit I got does not clip like the first one I got. I also get the zapping noise when changing the tempo, but it's not that bad to me and it only really happens when I make extreme tempo changes.

[IIRC]

So apparently the OP does not want to share any useful information regarding the new unit.
Is it possible for a Korg sales rep to tell us which patch/serial numbers to avoid? Or have these units already been pulled from the market?

[ayron]

Well, finally got my replacement R3 a couple of days ago(there were apparently some problems with ordering a replacement), and I'm very happy to say it works fine now, no trace of crackling and digital distortion, just a rockin' sound engine!

The serial # of my new R3 is in the high 3000's, so I think the problem might be just a random production fault, and can not be traced back to a specific batch.

[groovecake]

I got one of these today and, obviously, it's going back. I am not going to bother with trying another one because I don't want to deal with the constant shipping hassle.

This happening made me reinvestigate my Fantom and it is going to do the trick for now.

Thanks for all the info in this post!

[groovecake]

So, a couple years later I am buying another R3. Could anyone tell me if the clipping issue was resolved in some way?

Thanks!

[X-Trade]

I think it is relating to the jitter problem which affects the tempo knob. The tempo is adjusting slightly whilst you are playing, causing the tempo synced delays or such to move. from the OP's description it is not at all a clipping or distortion. more of a delay glitch, which does happen if you change tempo suddenly on most digital delays.

I believe there is a fix for the jitter problems, Korg will supposedly repair it, and it has been fixed in later models - I think.

[Kazy]

Hi,
I saw this topic and I got a bit... worried
So I've got a question for you guys : is that normal that my R3 makes clips and co, particularly when it's about low sounds ? It doesn't make it for all the patches (mostly those I try to create), I have this problem mostly with Sine and Triangles Oscillators...
Guess I don't master the beast yet.. Or is there any trouble with the machine itself ?

[X-Trade]

Hi,
I saw this topic and I got a bit... worried
So I've got a question for you guys : is that normal that my R3 makes clips and co, particularly when it's about low sounds ? It doesn't make it for all the patches (mostly those I try to create), I have this problem mostly with Sine and Triangles Oscillators...
Guess I don't master the beast yet.. Or is there any trouble with the machine itself ?

You're just making sounds that are too loud

It is possible to make the R3/Radias clip between the synth and the FX modules, or on the output, if you boost the waveform too far.

[Kazy]

Ok, now I feel better
But what do you mean exactly when you say "between the synth and the FX modules" ?

[tpantano]

Ok, now I feel better
But what do you mean exactly when you say "between the synth and the FX modules" ?

he's just saying if you use too much volume level, or waveshaping, or distortion in the fx, etc. you'll get the volume too high.

[X-Trade]

Ok, now I feel better
But what do you mean exactly when you say "between the synth and the FX modules" ?

he's just saying if you use too much volume level, or waveshaping, or distortion in the fx, etc. you'll get the volume too high.

or boosting extreme EQs, etc.


I'm sure there is some bottleneck though. From a little bit of experimenting I think I've determined for example that you don't actually clip straight in the filter section or waveshaper (unless you use a hardclip waveshaper type ). Clipping mainly occurs between synth timbre and EQ, between EQ and FX1, between FX1 and FX2, and between MFX.

For example I could have a limiter going into an EQ going into a reverb. The limiter could be too high, and I might have adjusted it with the EQ to bring the level down, but it is still clipping but the clipping has been made quieter. In particular you can hear that the actual clipping noise is reverberating too. The clipping is actually occurring between the limiter and EQ (I'm not talking about the part EQ in this case, but about an EQ IFX in slot 2).

This idea is reinforced by at least one report in the past that their FX section had distortion but without FX was fine - suggesting that they are on different cores or on different processors entirely from the synth engine, and that integer or some other less flexible data line is used between FX modules but perhaps internal processing is done with more headroom.

[Kazy]

Thanks a lot for your explanation, it really makes sense now.

[xmlguy]

Ok, now I feel better
But what do you mean exactly when you say "between the synth and the FX modules" ?

By the way, there is a handy-dandy block diagram of the R3 on page 2 of the manual. It shows how the signal path flows between the synthesis elements, which is very nice information to know so that you don't have to guess. There's another one on page 4 for when using the Vocoder, because the structure changes in that mode. It's useful to print copies of those two pages to have at hand for editing.