wavestation ex freaks out

[rainy-taxi]

Hello all,

Last year, I bought a second hand wavestation ex to use for gigs as a midi keyboard and for some sounds (so that I didn't had to take a sr with me).
Now I have a problem with it. It freaks out a lot which isn't nice at all.

It reboots itself and gives pulses over the audio when doing so.
This guy has it too:
http://acapella.harmony-central.com/arc ... 66319.html

The pulses sound aweful and loud and well I can't use it on stage like that.

Does anyone have experienced this or does anyone here have a solution? I haven't opened it up yet. Can it be really that simple that an empty battery will be the cause (but all presets are still maintained when powered off so no empty battery I guess?)

Thanks,
Santi

[sonicNRG]

Wavestation A/D owner here.
I did have some 'odd behaviour' quite a while back.
Then I lost all the RAM data (patches).
Then I got a message saying "Internal battery low".

Back-up your patches.
Change the battery, not too hard to do.
I would then recommend an initialization:
http://danphillips.com/wavestation/ws_faq.htm

Tell us if it feels better....

[rainy-taxi]

I'll try changing the internal battery. I already did an initialisation but that didn't work for me. In fact, it made the problem worse.
As I replace the battery, I'll check the circuits to see if there is anything loose, corroded or if some components leaked.
Thanks for the help!

[pongwu]

I bought my wavestation when they first came out and stopped using it as it would freak randomly during gigs. did the battery change help? Any other info?

[rainy-taxi]

I'm sorry, i;ve been not here for a while.
I still haven't got the opportunity to pick up my WS from the rehearsal room but I will do that the first rehearsal we have (I rely on public transport and got my TX7 back home first as I offer that one for sale)

Im not sure when the next rehearsal/audition session will be (we are looking for a new drummer and new guitarist) but I guess it will be somewhere end november/beginning of december.

When I have it back home, I'll dismantle it and see what the culprit could be. I really want to use the EX again. The keys just play fantastic (instead of the horrible keyboards from the N5ex and karma).

I'll give an update when I have it back here.

[rainy-taxi]

got the wavestation back Time to dismantle it…

replaced the battery, checked all connectors. Everything seems to work so far.

[rainy-taxi]

got the wavestation back Time to dismantle it…

replaced the battery, checked all connectors. Everything seems to work so far.

Sadly it freaks out again. Though not as heavy as first. I get the occasional spikes and restart. So changing the battery is not the solution.

Anyone else have a good idea?

btw, I did the replacement and the initialisation too.

Checked the circuits but didn't see anything bad there (like broken components, stuff thats disconnected, blown transistors etc.)
Oh and my wavestation has that high pitched whining sound (its the backlight invertor I believe?)

[edit]
I posted my question elsewhere on the web on a dutch synthesizer forum. I got some interesting suggestions.

One person had exactly the same problem with his Roland W30. Roland replaced the LCD screen (including the circuit) and that solved the problem.

He also suggested that resoldering/reheating the cables on the powersupply could solve the problem.

Have to find my soldering iron first. After that, I'll try that one out. If that doesnt work then I can still try to find a new LCD. My Wavestation makes a terrible whining noise so good excuse to fix the backlight too.

[Goom]

Sorry I'm late in reading/replying to this. but I had the exact same problem with my Wavestation keyboard. It would make loud popping noises (through the audio outputs) and reboot/freeze. I bought one of the last WS power supplies from Korg and that solved the problem.

The other issue with Wavestation keyboards is that older operating systems can cause them to "freeze" if you send it a patch bank that references samples that are not in the latest OS (I think it maybe 3.19, but I'm not sure). The only way to "unfreeze" it is by taking the battery out to initialize the main processor board. The new OS came in the form of two ICs (PROMS) from Korg, but they no longer have them as far as I know...

[rainy-taxi]

Sorry for answering late.

I have my wavestation opened up now and bought a solderingstation on someones advise. I checked the powerboard and a component seems to have leaked. That might be the culprit. So changing the board/component might do the trick.

Someone have a good idea where I can get those boards (besides ebay where they are a rare find)?

[Quinn Dexter]

Hi, the problem you have may be related to a bad solder joint. Checking the powerboard is indeed a good idea specially the power plug.

Post some pix of the componant you think is bad. You don't need to replace all the board, just the componant. They are made of relatvily standard componant.

Check if the other plugs (jack/MIDI/pedal input) have good solders since its often a vulnerable point in any electronical device.

[Goom]

Sorry, I just re-visited this topic, and saw that I have an error in my previous post. The last paragraph should have read:


The other issue with Wavestation keyboards is that older operating systems can cause them to "freeze" if you send it a patch bank that references samples that are present in the EX upgrade.

The EX upgrade consisted of 4 ROM ICs with new samples, and it also had two ROMs which contained the latest OS, version 3.19.

[kuifje]

Hi,
I just found these posts since I have exactly the same problem >
"It reboots itself and gives pulses over the audio when doing so".

Although I see and read about various kind of possible causes and don't find any post about somebody who is been able to solve this problem. So I was wondering if somebody has been able to fix this problem with his/her Wavestation..
After like 6 years of having my Wavestation stored (not used) I start using it again. I changed the internal battery, did a init RAM etc. and checked on bad connections inside but could not find/see anything strange.

Anybody any experience in solving this issue? Would be great to hear back on it!

[synthjoe]

I think you should check the supply voltage. My first guess would be to replace the filter capacitors in the power supply.

[freekroffel]

I swapped a wavestation ex yesterday and the display did not do anything, no sound, no noise from the lcd backlight. Replacing the memory battery did not resolve the issue. After replacing the electrolytic capicitators from the power supply board (€8,15 the synth came back to life and is part of my rig now!