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Arp omni 2 synth

PostPosted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 11:14 am
by rick
in my travels the other night i found a guy with 3 of these things in his junk / i should sell these one day pile
anybody want them ...?
anybody know anything about them ..?

i guess i would put this in the "dont know if they work , spare parts / wow guess what i found and they cleaned up fine list"

PostPosted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 12:12 pm
by Thirteen
They would need some re-capping as they have over 200 tantalum caps in them and they would all need replacing, just like any ARP, if the machine is to be at all reliable. The Omni uses a couple for each key, plus power supply decoupling.

PostPosted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 12:23 pm
by rick
ouch , but are they are machine worth having ..?

PostPosted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 12:32 pm
by rachelp
rick wrote:ouch , but are they are machine worth having ..?


If they are all sort of working then it is probably worth getting them all done. Otherwise could 3 be cannibalised to make 1 or 2 good ones?
Sounds like a lot of parts have to be replaced, in any case....

I haven't actually played an Omni, but they do have a string sound that is quite popular. Does that make it worth doing?


rachel

PostPosted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 12:50 pm
by Thirteen
They do have the classic solina-ish string sound, with a token polysynth section, so they are a good 1 trick pony. The downside is that the machine is not truly polyphonic, in that it only has 1 filter and 1 envelope generator for the whole machine, so it is more like an organ. You have to select either single or multiple triggering, so you can't play it in the same way as say a JP-8 or prophet. Basically you could hold down every key on the machine and they would all play, but all through 1 VCF and envelope. The Korg Poly800 was the same.

PostPosted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 12:56 pm
by rachelp
Thirteen wrote:They do have the classic solina-ish string sound, with a token polysynth section, so they are a good 1 trick pony. The downside is that the machine is not truly polyphonic, in that it only has 1 filter and 1 envelope generator for the whole machine, so it is more like an organ. You have to select either single or multiple triggering, so you can't play it in the same way as say a JP-8 or prophet. Basically you could hold down every key on the machine and they would all play, but all through 1 VCF and envelope. The Korg Poly800 was the same.


And the VP-330, too. It annoys me - I get a nice string line going and then the envelope retriggers and sounds glitchy. I've learnt to hold down
a key all the time and only let it retrigger when I want it too. But I like that sound.

I have always liked the Solina sounds too, but always put off getting one since every Solina
I have seen seems to have been made from some sort of rotten cardboard type compound. I missed out on someone's Solina once, that was fitted into
a new Jarrah case. If that one ever comes by again...... Does the Omni match the Solina in terms of string sounds?


rachel

PostPosted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 1:03 pm
by Thirteen
It is quite close sonically, and I agree with you about the Solina, you have to take a broom with you everywhere you take the synth to clean up the MDF flakes.

PostPosted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 1:05 pm
by rachelp
Just been doing some googling (supposed to be working, but I am a good multi-tasker)
but the Omni seems to have a pretty good track record, in spite of
it's shortcomings. People seem to love them, in spite of the reliability.
They do not appear to go for vast amounts of money, though.


rachel