The Kiwitechnics Patch Editor has been designed to add hardware controls for live use to vintage synths that were skimpy in the knob department.
Supported synths include:
Korg DW-6000(1), DW-8000/EX-8000, M1KiwiTechnics 3P Upgrade, Roland JX-3P(2)Juno 1, 2, 106, MKS-7, MKS-50, MKS-70Updated(3)Roland MKS-80Updated, JX-8P(4), JX-10(5)MKS-80 patch now supports all the controls of the MPG-80Sequential Circuits SixTrak, Max(6), Cheetah MS6(7)Oberheim Matrix 1000(8), Waldorf Pulse, Q/Q+Moog Slim & Little Phatty, MidiCC to Sysex translation
Patching a synth through a menu-based system kept the cost of these synths down, but is cumbersome and a barrier to live use.
The Kiwitechnics Patch Editor is priced at NZ $450 (around US $350, as of this post). See the Kiwitechnics site for details.
This is an interesting alternative to software-based custom MIDI controllers for touchscreen controllers and vintage dedicated patch controllers.
If you’ve used the Kiwitechnics Patch Editor, leave a comment with your impressions of it!
This could be great with my slim phatty, as it can just sit in it’s rack now. Now I need a wireless midi system…
Purty neat idea. I can see its uses. However, it’s a bit pricey.
For the same $$$, could could take a Objective C or iOS programming class at your local community college and learn how to write yourself a midi app to your own tastes, then sell it on iTunes…
I am an original owner of a Juno-1, and I’ve owned several (!) JX8P’s and MKS-70s.
It’s neat to condense all of these various PG controllers into one box. But with each of these synths, I barely used the PG boxes, and sold them for a tidy profit; especially with a number of AUs that allow midi control of the same parameters.
I wish them luck in their endeavors with this little unit, but it seems to me their target market is kinda small and excessively specialized. Hope this is a side business for those involved.
Nice to see companies still knocking up some hardware for old school gear. Also original owner of Juno-2. Picked up a PG-300 combo years later to get that “real-time” tweaking satisfaction.
Very nice product, drop the price a tad and would definitely consider picking this up.
Can they configure it to work with the DSI Tetr4? That would be sweet.