Korg M1R "noisy" presets

Hello,

I bought this module about a year ago but never really tested it until now. It has 100 presets, and so far most of them generate a background noise each time a key is pressed and for as long as the sound is sustained. The noise stops when the key is released. I wonder if the unit has a problem internally or if it's just the way it is. Thanks for your help.

I used to own a Korg M1 keyboard, and it did not make any background noise. I would suggest taking it to a Korg Service Center.

If you are in the U.S.:

http://www.korg.com/service/default.asp

Hi Martin,

Thank you for replying and providing the repair link. I appreciate that.

I recorded a single note with the M1R in this mp3. You will hear the noise I'm talking about [headphones must be used, with the volume up]. It can be heard during the sound of the patch and right after it when the key is released. I think this kind of noise is called "white noise" but I can't be sure.

Thanks again.

That's just some hiss...hard to tell where it's being generated. Try turning off all FX in the patch and see if there's less noise.

think the old fx unit that is built in there must be the cause...although the samples are noisy by nowdays standards too...

I'm not a tech, but my Casio CZ-1000 did something like that in the past, and I remember the tech who repaired it saying it was the AD/DA converters gone bad (if I remember correctly?)

I have an M1 page and an M1 piano soundcard page (recorded on two different M1 machines) and they don't seem to exhibit the floor noise you have in the sample - but it's hard to tell because you played the example (intentionally) at low volume, so this could be just floor noise inherent in the old technology of an old machine.

The Roland D-50 also is notoriously [relatively] noisy, but once the sounds are recorded in a mix, there is no problem at all - it's only when you listen to it through headphones, in a very quiet environment (at night) that one notices the background noise.

So the question is: is this noise noticeable when you play your M1 through speakers in a normal listening environment (say, your home studio at 4:00pm), or it's only when you listen with headphones at night that you notice this?

My examples are at

http://www.synthmania.com/m1.htm (recorded from an M1Rex module)

and

http://www.synthmania.com/msc-5s_piano.htm (recorded from a standard M1 workstation)

and try to replicate the listening environment of your machine

hope this helps.

---

Paolo,

Thank you for providing the links.

I always use my headphones to monitor/listen to my music as I'm recording it [Audio-Technica ATH-M40fs]. I have other synths [Yamaha S08 and Roland XV-5050] and the KORG is the only one that has that problem.

My other synth, a Yamaha SY77, which I use in conjunction with the KORG, is also noisy when the volume is turned all the way up [the patches don't have noise floor though].

I listened to the demos of your M1Rex and they sound perfectly clean. The note I recorded and uploaded was #63 on your list ["Voices"] and what a coincidence: the first note in your demo is only a few tones higher than mine, but yours is sustained into what follows, otherwise I'd have noticed whether or not it had noise [probably doesn't].

It is true that once sounds are recorded into a mix, the noise is less noticeable. The problem is why quiet passages [which are very frequent in my case due to the kind of music I compose]. The other problem is the doubling, tripling, quadrupling etc of the amount of noise when you mix down 2, 3, 4, and more audio tracks together using the same unit as sound source.

Thank you again for your help.

P.S: one recording you uploaded on the second link [#46 TyneVoices] is beautiful. You should turn that into a song.

LOL, good luck with THAT!

In regards to the M1, I've had only 3 occasions in which I used their "authorized" repair person, and all three were utter CRAP technicians.

Not to mention the extreme long wait time involved with getting any replacement parts.

But your mileage may vary these days

i am afraid that when you get it to service its the beginning of the end..btw hate service people too...

Hi Meatball,

I did what you said. There's still noise in it. The difference is that it took the effect off the noise.

That's why I once serviced my Yamaha SY77 myself. I know nothing about electronics etc, but I opened it and replaced its LCD [the one that came with it was not lit]. It took days [on and off] but it's fixed.