ARP Odyssey - Pitch tracking issue

[Fluent]

Hello!

After falling in love with the Odyssey years back, buying my own original Rev 2 in 2009, having to sell it (for several issues, one including the same issue I'm having again with the NEW one, more on that in a second) and then finally being able to buy the remake, I'm thrilled to own the Odyssey again!

That said, this issue is bugging me. Basically, yet again, the pitch is not tracking correctly on my Odyssey. I am controlling the Odyssey module via MIDI with a Yamaha PSS-680 keyboard/synth, and the pitch of OSC 1 gets sharper the higher up the keyboard you go. By the time you get to the top octaves it is quite sharper than it should be. Looks to be about 15 cents too sharp up there. OSC 2 has the same issue but is not as bad, yet still exists (I'm using a digital tuner.)

So what gives? I love the remake so far and am super grateful that they kept the original design and components but I was hoping that wouldn't extend to the pitch tracking faults as well. Had that issue (much worse, mind you) with the Rev 2 I picked up back in '09, which led to having to sell it because I couldn't get it fixed at the time.

Any ideas on this? Do I just have a faulty one? I don't have any other MIDI devices to test it with. Time to pack it back up and ship it to KORG?

[mihu]

Here you will find interesting discussions regarding oscillator tuning:
https://www.muffwiggler.com/forum/viewt ... 619f25678a
http://www.muffwiggler.com/forum/viewto ... e96e2a7e76

I assume you understand that analog might not be perfect when it comes to tuning and you actually hear it and not only see it on the digital tuner.

You should not expect the reissue to be much different when it comes to tuning stability and accuracy, as this might affect the sound. Arp's oscillators are considered quite stable (they don't drift over time) and it seems you rather have a calibration problem. Mine Kordyssey is a bit off too, but it doesn't bother me. However only the designer knows what are the real tolerances for the circuit, so I would ask Korg about the issue.

At some point any analog synth may require calibration. It is not common but some manufacturers provide calibration information for free, for example Studio Electronics. I think this is a good practice and it would be nice of Korg to do the same.

As for the MIDI - the results should be the same with any external keyboard. If you want you can connect the synth via usb to a computer and check it with any midi keyboard emulator software.

Regards
Michał

[Fluent]

Here you will find interesting discussions regarding oscillator tuning:
https://www.muffwiggler.com/forum/viewt ... 619f25678a
http://www.muffwiggler.com/forum/viewto ... e96e2a7e76

I assume you understand that analog might not be perfect when it comes to tuning and you actually hear it and not only see it on the digital tuner.

You should not expect the reissue to be much different when it comes to tuning stability and accuracy, as this might affect the sound. Arp's oscillators are considered quite stable (they don't drift over time) and it seems you rather have a calibration problem. Mine Kordyssey is a bit off too, but it doesn't bother me. However only the designer knows what are the real tolerances for the circuit, so I would ask Korg about the issue.

At some point any analog synth may require calibration. It is not common but some manufacturers provide calibration information for free, for example Studio Electronics. I think this is a good practice and it would be nice of Korg to do the same.

As for the MIDI - the results should be the same with any external keyboard. If you want you can connect the synth via usb to a computer and check it with any midi keyboard emulator software.

Regards
Michał

Thanks Michal.

I ended up returning that Odyssey and getting a replacement. The replacement tracks pitch quite a bit better, still not perfect but I know about analog synths, I've collected tons of them in the past 15 years (had the original Odyssey, a couple Axxes, a JX-8P, some Moog monosynths and more.) The pitch tracking is now decent enough that it's not a major issue.

BUT, I have a new issue with this replacement that I didn't have with the other one, and that is the osscillator drift. I posted about it but deleted it, but basically the oscillators drift and cause a "zipper" sound in a cycle. It sounds as though I have an LFO sweeping the sound or I am playing the sound through a rotary speaker. It is especially noticeable in the lower ranges, i.e. bass notes, where it actually sounds as though a sample & hold is applied on the filter per key press (and when the sound "zippers" out, all the bass frequency disappears too.) I forwarded that audio demo to KORG to hear what they have to say about it. Weird thing is the Odyssey I sent back didn't have that issue. I guess they really are true analog beasts we're dealing with here.

Thanks again for the response. I'm enjoying the synth a lot again. I hope they remake the Little Brother or Axxe too.

[MarilynAyers]

I always went to a professional with a problem like this! This synthesizer has several features that I liked! Because of these features, I am now tracking the delivery of this synthesizer https://www.sendungsverfolgungpost.de/de/. Ordered it yesterday! An additional feature of the ARP Odyssey sampling and storage module is the ability to change the module's " photos " using the synthesizer's keyboard triggers! This modulation will allow you to create interesting rhythmic textures, which are especially nice to control with a MIDI sequencer. The target of the sample and hold module can be the height of an oscillator or the filter's cutoff frequency. The perfect instrument for the musician!

[SeedyLee]

There’s a reason DCOs became common in the 1980s: keeping everything in tune on a VCO-based synth is problematic! Modern VCO synths like the Moogs and Sequentials use microprocessor-based controllers that can correct pitch-tracking issues through an onboard calibration routine. The ARP Odyssey and it’s reissues poses no such functionality.

You will probably need to recalibrate it, which is easily done with the trimpots accessible under the small rubber caps in the Oscillator 1 and 2 sections. There’s some guides online on how to do this. Keep in mind that it’s likely to be impossible to get it to track perfectly over the entire key range, so it’s a matter of getting it close enough (to make it perfect across the entire key range would essentially require many more adjustment points).

Hope that helps!