Korg DW-8000 8/19/2017

Playing the 1985 Korg DW-8000

[@MinimalWave1982]

This synth really shines with proper presets! These are factory sounds mostly which arent showing the real potencial of this VERY underrated synth!

[@Birchblaze]

Any resources for great 3rd party presets?

[@80ssynthfan48]

@@Birchblaze A few youtubers have made presets for this. Espen Kraft, Synth King, Analog Audio to name three.

[@thetexascaromclub8741]

@@80ssynthfan48 the synth kings patches sound amazing I have no idea how he makes those sounds with this machine

[@zeproo]

With every synth sound you are able to compose something on the spot, AMAZING !

[@madness8556]

I picked up a mint condition DW8000 in a wooden hard case for AUD$400 in the Trading Post in 1997 and absolutely loved using it in the studio and for gigging at the time. It is also a very nice looking keyboard and not too heavy despite being solidly built. I sold it a few years later for almost double the price to an emotional buyer who actually offered more for it than my asking price in the Trading Post! I loved its hybrid analog/digital sound and I also loved the EPs and organs as well as the big warm pads and phatt solo programs. Korg should really release a plug in version of this great heavily underrated instrument. It would be very popular. Thanks so much for your excellent demo.

[@sunburst3353]

Great demo of this classic. One of my favorite synths. Really regret selling it all those years ago.

[@SynthgodXXX]

How I miss my old DW-8000. It could really produce some killer dark drones & pads! A++++ Demo!

[@AndyVonal]

I always felt this synth was much better than the DX7. Digital and analogue, the first of the affordable hybrids I suppose. Tinkley bells and pianos if you want them but really great, lush, warm pads, leads and basses, all of which you show off to great effect here. Nice vid.

[@thebreathalyzer]

Good take, a little more range in terms of timbre. I've owned my DW8000 since I got it new around 1985

[@oupahens9219]

Yeah, yes and no. With two oscillators, which were quite limited though, it was more of a contender to the DX5, which had two complete total sounds comprising of 6 oscillators each. However, the DW8000 had already these filters with resonance incorporated. That was a bad omission on the M1, which followed. I do not miss my M1, but will like a DW8000 in person. Why? The iPad M1 is actually better than the original M1. That says a lot about the power of digital synths. These first ones can be "compressed" into a "Spoonful" of diamonds. I like the Full Bucket's of trying to get to that FB1999. Then the explosion took place to go to the Korg once again. I did. However, still searching, so many choices, so little time. Wat Eva

[@Shred_The_Weapon]

I so want to hear synth models like this one being used on pop records again - being played the way you do here, which is outstanding. I would get an 8000 myself, if I wasn't already fortunate to have these same sounds uploaded to the microKorg XL.

[@TH3_FURY]

Nice video as usual mr Synthmania ! This synth is really multi style ! And i really appreciate the moment of joy at 2.44 ;)

[@imaldon1]

I remember when I got mines back in 1986 at Palomba Music, Bronx, NY. I had for around 4 years and it was a blast to play.

[@5argetech56]

Welcome back.... Hope your vacation was everything you wanted it to be.... and more!!!😊😊😊

[@bobballard87]

I've owned several Moogs, Rolands, Korgs and Yamahas and the DW-8000 is my favorite of the bunch. It's so easy to get fat and complex sounds out of this thing if you're somewhat familiar with synthesizer terminology. Cheap-sounding, it's certainly not. A real classic, in my opinion.

[@theaudioeng]

My EX-8000 remains a stable keeper in one of my racks, as this sounds demo justifies. Fitted coin battery socket, soldered wires to motherboard as these old vintage synths used to have the memory multi-leg batteries soldered directly to PCB .... a pain and risk on leakage (fortunately mine's pristine both in & out !). Superb synth Paolo, right?!! 😎🎹👍🎶🍻

[@TheIldebrandoz]

Great Sounds!..That synth is held so well that it looks new!

[@JOCKATEO]

nice to see you back hope you had a nice holiday

[@AlainTesla]

Very nice demo and very nice sounds, thanks

[@buzzwolf6990]

That beginning melody! So good😊

[@thebreathalyzer]

Most excellent!!!! Thank you for sharing!

[@pizzagogo6151]

thanks for this, really like the Dw series, one of the very few old synth id still consider buying ( of course I wouldn't ever get it to sound anywhere near as good as synthmania can). Wish korg would reissue something like it, even a software version like the legacy collection would be good!

[@BboySalamon]

Last part was fantastic, different effects and cool 80's brass-)

[@nofretzDW]

Welcome back! 😀

[@onkelberra3166]

The thing I really love about this channel is that he plays the instrument to show its potiential. Most channels just hammer a key and play with cutoff, resonance and some special effects knobs specific for the synth. *thumbs up*

[@skyhigh4000]

awesome my brother - god bless you

[@geoffk777]

Wow, this sounds WAY better than a Poly-800. I guess it has a proper set of filters for each voice. You could easily fool people into thinking it's a Jupiter-8 or even an OB-X. Very nice and surprising,

[@geoffk777]

It's real strength is the resonant Analog filter. The later M1 had all of the same oscillator waveforms, an even better effects section, and was multi-timberal. But the M1 only had non-resonant digital filters, so some of the analog sounds of the DW-8000 are hard to reproduce. The iPad and VST versions of the M1 have resonant filters, so they can come much closer to this sound.

[@littlebritain64]

Yes, it has discrete analog cut off and resonance for each of its eight voices

[@horowizard]

I inherited one of these. Actually saved it from curbside trash pickup. It look like I'm going to have to start dragging yet another Keyboard to gigs now because this sounds too good!

[@M1ghty0m3ga]

I love synthesizers..

[@R---66---R]

@M1ghty0m3ga Here's another 1...

[@ola_rinta-koski]

Had one back in the day, loved the arpeggiator. Wish I hadn't sold it...

[@lardosian]

This sounds fantastic.

[@chieftp]

the DW8000 is one of the best kept secrets in synths. it has a wide range of usable sounds, it sounds fantastic and they're still dirt cheap. of course, minimoogs sold for $150 at one time.

[@ckdesert]

I'll never sell mine either! I learned how to play Van Halen's jump lead on this synth!

[@madness8556]

​@@ckdesert the DW8000 actually has one of the best Jump sounds out there once you modify one of the factory programs like I did back in the day when I owned one of these beasts!

[@christophergeee]

I heard many awesome styles from them days love it 👍🏻👍🏼👍🏽👍🏾👍🏿

[@summerlaverdure]

1:50 that sound and that bass line are sick

[@alexey7459]

Great sounds man 👍🏼

[@NelsonClick]

When MIDI 2.0 comes out I predict the DW8000 (and a couple other synths from the 80s) will have a resurgence in popularity and prices will go way up for their comparatively limited but retro allure. If you have one keep it and keep it clean.

[@jetpilot1971]

It was always more bang for the buck than the DX7. Had both, miss the DW!

[@TomCasey]

I want one of these so bad!

[@Eyepatchfilms]

I love the kiwi editor with these. Have a DW6000 and a EX8000. The Kiwi patch editor just makes it so much fun to build patches with both

[@dayglo98]

Have you ever also tried a BCR2000 on the DW8000 ? I am considering buying one for mine eventually.

[@Eyepatchfilms]

Fred Payette I haven't but it should be better than an iPad at least. Can work with a ton of other synths as well

[@dayglo98]

Yeah ! Must be amazing to have knobs on a DW synth. I had mapped most of the parameters of my DW6000 on a Roland A800 Pro controller,it was a pain in the ass though and some sysex didnt work. Sold the 6000 to get the 8000 and I couldn't be happier.

[@mrdali67]

Such a lovely synth. baught mine 2'nd hand and i absolutely loved it. Was never fan of Roland Juno series and this baby sounded 10x fatter than for those things its good at than the DX-7. just hear the Brass and Strings .. so much bigger than a DX-7. I had mine untill the M-1 came out and traded it in for a EW-8000 instead. But agreed as others have pointed out. The built in effects is what makes the difference. Most keyboard players of the 70'es - 80'es used various effect pedals to beefing up the sounds. If people know the M and T-series from Korg they will notice they had many of the DW waves braught over. just now with digital filters and evg's.

[@thebreathalyzer]

Well said. I love the M1 and DW8000 sounds, great all around synths to own!

[@madness8556]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that the M1 and T series have most of the DWGS waveforms in the DW8000 in their waveform ROM? The big difference is that the latter instruments don't have those phatt analog resonant filters that are in the DW8000 and it took Korg a whole decade to bring resonant filters back into their instruments with the release of the Prophecy and Trinity in 1995, 10 years after the release of the DW8000.

[@L77kim77l]

KZbin missed you... : ) WB

[@gullyfoyle6354]

Fantastic hybrid machine. :-)) with powerful resonant filters, digital delay, arpeggiator...

[@orientalflux]

Aw we can make most of all retro 80s here nice

[@adamalmuqtadir5810]

brother every thing you play sounds amazing. What's your signal chain? are you using pre amps and reverb?

[@rickygarcia7400]

so cool I just orderd one frome giutar center caint wait for it to arrive I was debating between this one and the poly 800.

[@vbarr67]

Thanks ! Your delay sounds great (on the mono lead sound), what is it ?

[@NikitaLiamzine]

Love! At 2:45 is that a riff from "Decades" by Joy Division?

[@DaveMcGarry]

Nikita Liamzine I noticed that too 🎹

[@krokodile63]

i wonder if this presets are factory one? Or third part?

[@richardwalley2862]

Will that 707 work with the dw8000 arpeggio?

[@blueeyedsoulman]

I have the Angel City version with split/layer, 8 banks of programs and way more functionality. All the difference in the world. When I layer programs it can get TOO fat lol. Best synth I ever owned because of reliability and size. My PPG was great when it worked. It was in the shop more than in the studio. Owned a Rev 2 Prophet 5 and absolutely hated it. Recently got the Sledge black edition and that is amazing. My current setup is Reason (running Fairlight sounds) Dw8000, Sledge and Kronos. (Also Hammond B3 and Kawai piano.)

[@horowizard]

Can you say more about the Angel City version? Is it a mod that can be done these days?

[@blueeyedsoulman]

@@horowizard That was 30 years ago, so no. I have another non-modded version for backup. Korg should have joined forces with Angel City.

[@GrijzePilion]

Dammit, I need me one of these. I like every sound I've heard here.

[@GrijzePilion]

I can barely afford to eat though....

[@cliffhill8300]

I bought one when they first came out. Loved it but thought I didn't need it anymore when I got an 01/W. Regretted selling it the first time I needed a fat synth sound. I finally bought another one a couple of weeks ago for $325. Its like being reunited with a long lost love. Trust me, if you find one at a reasonable price..buy it. Who needs food anyway?

[@GrijzePilion]

Well I'll keep it in mind but not eating for a couple of months might be a bit of an obstacle...

[@oriomenoni7651]

With a little chorus and reverb, it can sound grand!

[@MeAlexSenna]

Kim Diez Try 2 of those delays in tandem or independent on the DSS1 🙌

[@butcharmstrong9645]

I love this synth and always have, I never realized how handsome you are either.

[@subconscious.com_usa6691]

Hiya buddy, i just wondered if you could to a tutorial on the lead cat like bass sound in the song by human league the sound of the crowd :)

[@thespiritofdjordja]

The "mysterious digital sound" was used on dreyciyas "aqua warmhole" i think...

[@GiuliaManente]

How to create the sound of the piano?

[@blueeyedsoulman]

Where did you get these programs?

[@lars-fenin]

loved the delay and arpeggiator on this one.. bit hard to edit.. though

[@michel3105]

Amazing synth, but it was caught between Juno and Dx7.

[@atomkraftstudios]

The problem being...?

[@michel3105]

That it didn't get the attention and commercial success it deserved.

[@dayglo98]

at the same time, it would've made buying them secondhand much more expensive :p

[@Phoniq]

michel3105 I

[@cliffhill8300]

I had them both (DW8000 and DSS-1) Great combo. Sold the DW years ago but just bought another one. Good to have my old friend home again. Still have the DSS but its non-functional.

[@germanshepherdlover2613]

I've had two of these :)

[@richardwalley2862]

Are those stock patches?

[@mariusmitrea5462]

OUTSTANDING.....👍👍👍👍🤗🤗🤗🤗

[@mauridea839]

Great synth!

[@anders7317]

The DX bass reminds me of old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles filler tracks/cirty scene transitions. Classic indeed.

[@72ndHUMAN]

Supra cool sounds , reminds me of DX-7 FM

[@raidernationfullmoonrecord9516]

Cool vid

[@littlebritain64]

Yes touring in the early 90's had several of it and Obie Matrix1000. If it was good enough for the masters....

[@mallery7]

Owned two of these back in the day. Nice but there are better options.

[@Sonikbytes]

ESQ-1 next Plz

[@PaulBoos]

Just ran across this... I love my DW-6000; I hope to complement it with a DW-8000 at some point... and are you cheating with some delay on it sometimes (thought I heard it on the MonoLead). BTW, when you aren't programming it and only using the presets, that nice empty flat space is great for holding a Volca :-) BTW, that Emersonian sounds like teh same sound from Devo's Corporate Anthem! And love the Mondrian styled rug!

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Paul, the 8000 has extensive built-in DDL (digital delay line) effect on board, as opposed to the 6000's simpler chorus - it's one of the improvements over the 6000.

[@PaulBoos]

@@SynthManiaDotCom Ahhh now that you said it, I seemed to remember reading that.... Seems like a great addition and awesome for getting a great sound.

[@badATchaos]

Sounds like a MegaDrive

[@workingman00]

2:44 joy division's decades?

[@MrAlip7]

Does this have acoustic piano patches on it?

[@thebreathalyzer]

The piano sounds are not the most convincing. DW8000 had some nice electric pianos and there are some excellent organ patches out there. It's also good for mallet type sounds like vibraphone or marimba. Lush pads, great brass sounds, nice basses and leads... those are it's strengths. And fx sounds

[@cliffhill8300]

not good ones. Not many synths had good acoustic pianos back then. To get realistic sounding pianos in a reasonable sized package in the mid 80's you usually had to go with a dedicated sampled piano of some sort, like a Korg SG-1D. Remember, these were the days when most bands still lugged around those big Yamaha electric baby grands.

[@Luis_Stereo]

Play the Blade Runner opening titles with Roland Juno!

[@xnonsuchx]

DW-8000 (and DSS-1) still hold the top spot for me for least noise in outputs (esp. headphones) of any keyboards I've owned. Roland MT-32 the worst, BTW.

[@ashleygraham8781]

5:50 - ready made patch for Almost Medieval, for any fans of early Human League!

[@machiwoomiapoo]

Nice. :)

[@rahim4411]

I just bought this as a Reason Refill. The exact same sounds were cloned from this Machine and put into a refill that I can use in Reason, only payed $14.90 for it. LOL This is why I love Reason and this Korg sounds amazing. I had a hardware Trinity Korg and I loved that keyboard. But have all the Korg stuff in a Refill and don't have to spend tons of money.

[@jonunderscore]

Reason doesn't have analog filters

[@memriloc]

Judging by the sounds I'm tipping 2nd complete 80s?

[@Shred_The_Weapon]

Dom O'Leary, this model is from 1985. Does that help?

[@memriloc]

ShreadTheWeapon Yup. Thought so. Was listening on the bus and didn't hear the model number nor info about if so was a wild guess.

[@jackcimino8822]

Should I get a DW8000, a Prophet 08 Rev 2, or a DeepMind 12?

[@CockatooDude]

Depends on what you want.

[@jackcimino8822]

CockatooDude What I want? You mean the kinds of sounds that I want? I won't actually buy anything until after the Knobcon or after Winter NAMM 2018

[@104fingers]

The DW8000 had some cool sounds, but it was light on modulation options. The digital oscillators didn't hit with much low end. Good utility synth for the time, but there's nothing that you couldn't do today. I really see my CS6x as a DW 8000 killer. I would also think about Novation Circuit.

[@jackcimino8822]

Pernett Media I'm actually looking for a synth that can also do Isao Tomita-style sounds. It seems that the DW8000 has a very good self-oscillating filter.

[@willmich1]

REV2 hands down. You won’t be sorry!

[@erichkohl9317]

This was a hybrid synth? In what way?

[@ashleygraham8781]

16 digitally sampled waveforms and an analogue filter and envelope.

[@erichkohl9317]

thx

[@Momiyama808]

Flashlight!

[@BrendanMiranda]

4:20 Sounds like Forever Young

[@PierreRipplinger]

I have one I'd like to sell, but every time I see a video like this I give it second thoughts, but mostly, it needs repair as some keys are reluctant to give a _note on_ message, or a _note off_ , which is worse.

[@dayglo98]

Good luck with the repairs, and you should keep it ! Or not but anyways, its a great synth

[@Cr1st14n019]

Wow

[@babismousikos]

where is piano sound ?

[@deauvillevrienden]

Hahahaha....... fortunately there is none :-)))

[@cliffhill8300]

Well, they did make a few good sampled grands back in the day, but they were dedicated pianos and cost a fortune in comparison to the dw8000.

[@crimdolla3248]

In a word.... LUSH

[@andrsam3682]

Just keep playing...

[@Ceviche4K]

I'm planning on buying my first synth, but im torn between the microkorg or the novation minova. i'd like to do certain amounts of patching and live performing, which one would you recomend, Paolo? thanks beforehand, and great vid!

[@spectralknights2]

Customer Cassette. microkorg

[@AndyVonal]

I have a MicroKorg and Novation SuperNova... In truth, either of the sytnhs you suggest would do a great job but the MiniNova is more flexible. I think it has touch sensitive keys which the MicoKorg doesn't.

[@VTOLKits]

Microkorg sounds more analog.

[@johng.9130]

I heard flashlight for a sec

[@tawanthaibunkham5187]

I want to see you play Hammond organ please!

[@funkmachine6420]

I sold mine cos I hated programming it. Probs shoulda kept it for these 80s-tastic factory presets

[@issiewizzie]

A dx7 competitor

[@5882300rickroll]

This board reminds me of doogie howser

[@camporealeinvideo4809]

Hi to everbody. I have this sinth at my home only i am not a keybord's player. I want to sell my DW 8000. ask for pics or info if you are interested. Apologize my bad english, please.

[@axs203]

Like that rock organ

[@MeAlexSenna]

If only you could have capabilities to sample your own sounds or create your custom Waves and then Use those as oscillators and use all that Analog magic... 🤔💭 ENTER the DSS1 best kept secret, snatch one up before it skyrockets 💸 Great demo Thanks 😊

[@littlebritain64]

Always been of the same opinion! One guy on KZbin shows how he hacked it adding whole banks of custom waveforms. Not an easy thing to do, but amazing!

[@MeAlexSenna]

littlebritain64 I did a few myself a few months ago, another Idea I found is also drawing some of the formant waves from the Virus TI, they are on the manual. They sound extremely well and lush is like a speaking synth which those

[@littlebritain64]

@@MeAlexSenna Good for feeding samplers, both hardware and vst. I am trying to pick some from old 70s prog rock records. But stil turn my head and feel envy I can't put these waveforms on my DW8000...😄