Free(ish) kit?

[rowan]

I know there's a gear acquisition thread but this forum doesn't see much action as it is & the last post there was over 2 years back.

After many years, I think I've accepted I'm never going to have a significant interest in this field again.
The question I've been pondering for some of that time is "what to do with old kit?" I could just sling it in a skip and forget about it but that would be rather sad.

Would anyone have any interest in any of the following?
* Korg Z1 synth
* Yamaha An1x synth
* Roland XP-80 workstation
* Yamaha 01V mixer
* PMC TB1 monitors

I have a few other bits + bobs but the above are the main items.
I am aware shipping may be rather pricey although I mayyyy be able to get a much better rate through work's courier contract.

Reply or PM me if you want further information / details.

[Dio]

FYI the XP-80s are going for about £400 on ebay with £15 shipping. So I think the 'skip' route is a terrible move .

[rowan]

Minor update:

Synths appear to be basically working.
I have owned all from brand new except the Z1 which I picked up 2nd hand.

* XP-80 disk drive no longer appears to talk to the rest of it but that's probably not a big deal for most
* An1x appears to be working well [thought the ribbon may have crapped out but seems pretty responsive still]
* Korg Z1 has some "noisy" pots and a few buttons that need pressing hard to work
* TB1 speakers needed new foam several years back. I should add they have Bryston PP60 amps on the back [those amps are something like twice the cost of the speakers themselves]. I also have floor stands for them [think industrial weight metal]

[The Caffeine Kid]

I don't have a musical bone in my body I'm afraid and I'm a leftie too which compounds the problem. I hope this stuff goes to a good home. I've looked on youtube to get an idea of the sound from these bad boys and they seem to sound amazing.

[rowan]

More detailed update:

* XP-80 disk drive no longer appears to talk to the rest of it but that's probably not a big deal for most
Boxed in original packaging with manuals
Bass & Drum expansion board fitted
Techno expansion board fitted
2 MIDI cables [6 metres but 1 of them is a Frankenstein extended one]
2 * 5.5 metre quality audio cables
2 * 3.8 metre quality audio cables
1 hold pedal [simple on/off, aka MIDI CC 64]
1 spare rotary encoder [I had to replace it once and they sold them in packs of 2...]

* An1x appears to be working well [thought the ribbon may have crapped out but seems pretty responsive still]
Boxed in original packaging with manuals
2 MIDI cables
2 * 5.5 metre quality audio cables

* Korg Z1 has some "noisy" pots and a few buttons that need pressing hard to work
Manual only
2 MIDI cables
2 * 6 metre cables [bought these. They do have Neutrik connectors but probably they're only single core + screen for signal/ground]

* TB1 speakers needed new foam several years back
Boxed in original packaging
Bryston PP60 mono amps on the back [those amps are something like twice the cost of the speakers themselves, complete with hand written test certificates]
2 * 6 metre balanced cables
I also have floor stands for them [think industrial weight metal]


The "quality audio cables" I made up myself: Neutrik connectors, twin cores of mic cable for signal/ground with outer screen for shielding connected at 1 end only to minimise ground loops. Should be "about as good as it gets for an unbalanced connection"


Personal thoughts:
The active speakers were probably the most prized item of all.

An1x is an analogue physical modelling synth. I had the most fun with that and it's full of patches I made [you can overwrite them with factory from the built-in ROM]

XP-80 I had a love/hate relationship with. It sounded great and I needed something besides the blips + bloops but programming the thing requires nerves of steel. In fact it is fucking torture. For goat only knows reason it has NO RECALL facility [means if you accidentally shift out of editing mode, you lose everything since you last saved]. Now to make that worse, as you edit, you need to navigate up & down through great hierarchies of menus. And the very buttons you use to do this, at the "top level menu" they change from setting parameters, to changing patch. I MEAN, WHY!!!!????? FFFFS WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS? The fact this machine is in 1 piece is a miracle itself because the number of times I lost 15-20mins+ of work and wanted to launch it through the window is significant.
Consequently there are very few patches I made.
What I would say is this is well geared to live work, there are a lot of HW buttons and features that at first seemed bizarre until I realised it was designed as a kind of performance instrument as much as a studio one.

Z1 is some kind of physical modelling wonder synth. Unless you're Einstein forget programming it though. Sooooo complicated. But wow, it is an impressive piece of engineering.
This was the flagship Korg modelling synth back in the day - I remember picking my jaw off the floor when I collected my An1x from the shop, green with envy as I could no way afford one but spent a good half hour messing about on it. That said, as you've just read, in the end it was not a very usable machine.
It's kind of sad though, I always wondered why it never seemed to go anywhere after that until I read later that there was 1 guy who was the main brain behind it all and really shortly after it was released, he died and I believe no-one else really took the MOSS technology any further.

[WiteWulf]

I'd love to take you up on the offer of some of that kit (and I'm nearby!) but, honestly, it's all way above my skill set and I could never do any of it justice, with the exception of the speakers.

Please don't skip any of it, it's quality gear and someone's bound to be interested. Even if you stick it all on eBay as a job lot, buyer collects, at least it'll go to a good home.

[Dio]

I'm genuinely gnawing my hand off not to say yes to the XP-80 or the Korg here.

[toxibunny]

There’s a local facebook group you can flog it on, or some community yoof thing you can donate them to, surely? Google the nearest school and give the music teacher a ring or something...

[rowan]

Cheers toxi, that is a good idea. I won't be doing anything on facebook but yeah I could probably find a local music teacher or similar cause.

update:
Speakers confirmed working fine [only ran them for about 10 mins though]. They should do, although it's expired now, they did have a 20yr warranty.
And when I said they needed new foam years ago, I mean they need it even more today.

Actually they are the 1 thing I am dithering a bit over hanging on to. What puts me off is I'd be looking to hook them up to HiFi but that would require additional kit [passive volume control, some kind of input selector for CD/phono] as I'm not putting a mixer in the living room just to drive them. I'm also slightly nervous that the classic vinyl I have would sound loads worse rather than better through them They are ... quite revealing.

[OochyKoochy]

Rowan

Reverb might be a good place to sell your kit...bit more in the know than Ebay

https://reverb.com/

[rowan]

Cheers for the tip, may explore if necessary.

[OochyKoochy]

Those speakers are interesting, if you do sell them I'm interested and do visit family in Nottingham from time to time. I currently own a 70s pair of audiomaster connected to a Cambridge audio dac which I do like the sound but they fail at high volume.

[rowan]

Those speakers are interesting, if you do sell them I'm interested and do visit family in Nottingham from time to time. I currently own a 70s pair of audiomaster connected to a Cambridge audio dac which I do like the sound but they fail at high volume.

Sorry to say at this point, everything is taken [if not yet at its final location].

[OochyKoochy]

Oh great. Will have gone to a good home. Thanks for letting me know.

[Deckard]

Bump - anyone interested in a Mark 1 Novation 61 Key semi-weighted keyboard ? USB or adaptor or battery powered (which can be handy)

All stuff works, faders and knobs etc.... Any good ish offer accepted before it heads to fleabay and FB.



https://www.musicradar.com/reviews/tech ... l-61-22254

Only going as got the latest model....