tubesockor has announced a new project that promises to bring new superpowers to the Korg DW-8000, which was originally introduced 40 years ago, in 1985:
“I reverse engineered the OS (firmware) of the Korg DW-8000 from 1985, and have started to add some new features. Bringing some new life to a 40 year old synth!
First up, as a proof-of-concept, is an additional waveform for the LFO.”
There’s no word yet on what this will look like in terms of a commercial product. But, if you’ve got a Korg DW-8000, you can leave your wish list for new features on tubesockor’s Youtube post.
TubeSockor is a great guy. He designed the Chiptune synth for the Elektron Analog Rytm as well. I don’t have a DW-8000 but this is incredible stuff. I hope Korg supports him.
I had a pair of these at one time. They were huge when layered, but still sweet alone. All of those waves and more are now standard in half of Korg’s synths, seems like. I loved them and wouldn’t blame anyone who wanted to amp them up. I held out for more voices until the 01W appeared with 32. That was enough to make the sequencer worthwhile. Full Bucket offers a nice freebie of the DW as a module, so you can land one if you like.
Yeah, shout out to Full Bucket. They do great work.
The DW-8000 is one of the few synths that I actually regret getting rid of. It’s wonderful to see people tinkering with the software of this fantastic synthesizer.