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Mr. Funktone
Joined: 19 Feb 2014 Posts: 12 Location: Macclesfield, Cheshire
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Posted: Thu Feb 20, 2014 11:11 am Post subject: Korg Volca Beats Snare |
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Is it just me or is the Snare possibly the worst most distorted analogue snare you've ever heard. The rest of the unit is fantastic but the Snare is just terrible. I have seen a video on you tube of an Aussie guy called Darren modding his snare and wow you've got an 808 snare drum! Please can someone please help me with this. Why on earth did Korg make the snare so distorted? It's been done on purpose and could have sounded so much better. I don't know anything about modding and won't invalidate my warranty as I know I'll just brake the thing. I love the volca beats but its snare really let's it down |
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Sclr Junior Member
Joined: 14 Jul 2012 Posts: 50
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gabrielstigmatic
Joined: 20 Feb 2014 Posts: 11
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Posted: Thu Feb 20, 2014 5:08 pm Post subject: Meh |
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The snare isn't that bad if you just do a tiny bit of EQ. I most definitely see the pros of modding these. I just think that it's not worth it with the stability that I've seen in the products so far. For something that could fail at any moment, I think it's best to not void the warranty. |
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Sclr Junior Member
Joined: 14 Jul 2012 Posts: 50
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Posted: Thu Feb 20, 2014 5:15 pm Post subject: If you take no risks you get no reward |
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Its not too hard. |
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Mr. Funktone
Joined: 19 Feb 2014 Posts: 12 Location: Macclesfield, Cheshire
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Posted: Thu Feb 20, 2014 6:06 pm Post subject: |
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Gabriel - yes the snare IS that bad. Do you think I haven't spent hrs 'eqing' the snare to at least get it to sound less crap.....of course I have!?
Sclr - thankyou for the links I'm going to investigate and your right it can't be that hard. I'm a fairly handy guy so I'm sure ill nail it. Cheers |
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darenager Junior Member
Joined: 30 Sep 2013 Posts: 64 Location: UK
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Posted: Fri Feb 21, 2014 4:46 pm Post subject: |
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I did mine, well worth doing but very tricky even with the right tools, so weigh up the cost of the gear (unless you have it already)
You will need:
A illuminated magnifier (I got mine from maplins for about £6)
A very fine point soldering iron, I use a soldering station with a 0.5mm tip, even that is quite big when dealing with surface mount parts this tiny.
Some blutac or similar to hold the parts in place while you solder.
Decent solder, I used leaded 60/40 multicore brand, DO NOT USE cheap lead free solder, it is crap and you will probably mess up your Volca, go for the thinnest you can find, I used 0.8mm
Take your time and have plenty of space to work, make sure the Volca PCB is secure so that it does not move whilst you are working. _________________ My Monotribe Only Album
My MonotribeMod blog |
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Re-Member Platinum Member
Joined: 15 Feb 2008 Posts: 657
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Posted: Fri Feb 21, 2014 6:32 pm Post subject: |
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The snare only sounds distorted when you the Snappy knob all the way up. As for it being "terrible," that's just a matter of taste. It reminds me of the CR-78 or something you'd hear from a vintage home organ rhythm section. I actually like it a lot, but I do weird minimal synth and industrial music, so it's probably not suited for everything. _________________ Roland Juno-60, SH-101, TR-606, MC-505, Casio CZ-101, Yamaha DX100, DX11, Kawai R-50e // Korg R3, microSTATION, Monotribe, MS-20 Mini, SQ-1, minilogue, electribe sampler, Volca series: Bass, Keys, Beats, Sample, FM, Kick, Moog Theremin |
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CleverConQueso Junior Member
Joined: 05 Mar 2012 Posts: 96
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Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2014 1:50 am Post subject: Ditto Darenager |
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It's do-able and sounds better after, but don't start if you don't have the right tools. For reals. I could add that we did two and the mod didn't have a very noticeable effect on the second one so we put a second identical cap across the first mod (effectively doubling it) and it did the trick. _________________ KP3, KO2, ESX-1, MS-20mini
https://soundcloud.com/allthatsgone |
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Vxster
Joined: 11 Apr 2014 Posts: 2
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Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2014 4:45 pm Post subject: |
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I got the Volca bass a month or so ago and loved it, then got the keys and beats last week. The snare seems fairly bad and it's a shame because everything else about the series is great! |
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kypjedi
Joined: 08 Oct 2013 Posts: 10
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Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2014 12:39 pm Post subject: |
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i just turn snap down and use it as a third tom |
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tux2
Joined: 03 Oct 2012 Posts: 40
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Posted: Fri May 16, 2014 1:29 am Post subject: |
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A Gearslutz forum user has discovered that the Volca Beats snare sounds so horrible due to a manufacturing error. A capacitor has been left out by mistake.
See also this post on Gearslutz with detailed info:
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/10075185-post1.html
So what I'm wondering is what is Korg planning to do about this.
Will Korg fix the snare sound by installing the missing capacitor under warranty for customers who request this?
Will there be further production runs of Volca Beats without this manufacturing error?
I had planned to buy a Volca Beats but now after knowing about this manufacturing error I will only go ahead with my purchase after an answer from Korg to these two questions. |
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haj
Joined: 03 Feb 2007 Posts: 21
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tux2
Joined: 03 Oct 2012 Posts: 40
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Posted: Fri May 16, 2014 3:24 am Post subject: |
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Well since this is an actual manufacturing error that results in a defect I would expect that if someone who owns a Volca Beats does a warranty claim with Korg to get this repaired Korg would need to do this under warranty.
It seems absurd to me that the owners have to fix this themselves and consequently void the warranty.
I seem to remember that this forum is monitored by Korg staff so I do hope that we get an official answer to the two questions in my previous post.
Just to clarify: I'm not talking about the various mods, I'm purely talking about the capacitor that was mistakenly left out due to a manufacturing error and that is required for the snare to sound as intended. |
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twointhethink
Joined: 09 Sep 2017 Posts: 2
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Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2017 3:42 pm Post subject: Capacitors and Resistors |
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I'm looking to buy a capacitor to do this mod, and it seems like there is a lot of variability within the "104" code (high-voltage, low-voltage, size, shape). Can someone link a capacitor that will work that I can order in the US or the UK?
Also, has anyone tried the 2,2k resistor in 013 mod as described here?
https://hackaday.io/project/9863/instructions |
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Weirdofromouterspace
Joined: 04 May 2015 Posts: 33 Location: Germany
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Posted: Tue Sep 12, 2017 12:18 pm Post subject: Re: Capacitors and Resistors |
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twointhethink wrote: | I'm looking to buy a capacitor to do this mod, and it seems like there is a lot of variability within the "104" code (high-voltage, low-voltage, size, shape). Can someone link a capacitor that will work that I can order in the US or the UK? |
You can use any out-of-the-box 100 nF cap you have lying around. The little ceramic capacitors usually can deal with at least 50 Volts, and that's sufficient by far. You can use an SMD cap, or just a common THT one soldered to the pads.
... and yes, I know what I'm talking about, having done the C78 mod on my Volca Beats myself - using a THT cap I had lying around anyway . _________________ Korg: Poly-800 | microKORG | microSAMPLER | SQ-1 | Volca Beats | Volca Bass
Yamaha: DX7IID | DX21
Arturia: Minibrute
Kawai: K1
Roland: JX-03
DIY: MFOS Sound Lab Mini Synth Plus | MFOS Sound Lab Ultimate & Expander | MFOS 12-Band Vocoder | TTSH | Jasper | ARP 1601 Sequencer |
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