[A6] A6 current status...

[Chad Gould]

On 31 May 2006 at 19:42, Mike Schultz wrote:
> I take it you folks have never had a mix go corrupt on you during a  
> set, ie
> - not remembering the active channel (and hence who the front panel  
> knobs are for) after mix (not patch) store
> - having a mix channel inexplicably transpose itself a fourth during  
> a tune
> - mix channel filter frequency or res values inexplicably self-update  
> to new values, creating joyous new timbres.

Nope, never had that one. For all I know the knobs are getting finicky and go into ghost-
writing mode. I've heard that has happened to others, not sure what the solution is.

> Or, say
> - bandmate pulls the power during some function at sound or line  
> check and causes infinite looping bootup problem

The A6, at least the newer ones, seem to really hate being turned off and turned on again 
instantly. The infinite loop bootup means you have to turn the synth off 10 or so secs and turn 
back on. Eh, I've seen worse.

> - left A6 powered up for too long before gig, requires hard reset and  
> lengthy init on stage.  Don't forget to re-touch all of of your  
> GLOBAL params, like MIDI CLOCK SYNC and MIX PC, or you are HOSED  
> during the set.

Never had a problem with that. The main problem I've had with the A6 is remembering to 
tune between sets. :) I have had a power-on / power-off cycle wipe out my memory card one 
practice, which forced me to carry around a backup card. Not a bad idea anyways.

> - my personal fave, you left mod wheel up or ribbon hold and went  
> into a mix where those panel controls are disabled.  Just try to get  
> out of that one gracefully.

That's an annoying one, I mentioned it on the list a while back. Basically the mod wheel and 
ribbon hold values are "remembered" switching between mixes. This is normally fine, but the 
big deal comes when you go into a mode like program mode, and turn off your ribbon hold or 
lower the mod wheel. When you switch back to mix mode, the new values aren't re-read for 
some reason. No idea why. A quick reset of the controls fixes it, but it's the number one mix  
gotcha I've found.

> - hey, can we rehearse the sequence from the middle?  Nope.  We need  
> a PLAY START to sync anything.  Sorry guitar players.

Heh. :) I don't use the sequencer. Oddly enough, the A6 allows you to compose a sound on 
the fly quite easily, so this helps prevent guitar players from getting annoyed during patch-
programming sessions. :)

I will say that the A6 is not as rock solid as many of your basic PCM synths. I've had much 
worse experiences with other synthesizers, but I've had much better. Nonetheless, if you 
want a synth with *no* quirks, the A6 is not one. :)