This month on Preservation Sound Radio: nine side-filling tracks from 1970 thru 1986, all from…
This month's show airs Tuesday 2.20.24 at 8:30PM -11:25PM EST on WPKN 89.5 FM in…
The first Preservation Sound Radio program of 2024 will air Tuesday January 16 at 8:30PM…
As aired 8:30PM-11:30PM 12.19.23 on WPKN 89.5 FM Bridgeport. Enjoy. PSR DEC2023 sequence 1. Click…
Tonight 11.21.23 8:30 PM EST: special advance broadcast of the P/S Winter 2024 Mixtape. Catch…
Here's the tracklist for the 2023 Preservation Sound Summer Mixtape, to be broadcast 8:30PM EST…
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I owned an Akai AX-80! I might have been one of the first people in the Bay Area to have one, since my shop was the area Akai dealer and I got mine from the first shipment. Quite a nice synth, very bright and thick sounding. Sounded a lot like an Oberhiem or an ARP, comparing favorably to the Rhodes Chroma (yes I actually heard and played a Chroma, an early unit that actually said "ARP" on it, before they sold the design to Fender.) This isn't surprising, as it was built on Curtis VCF and VCA chipsets, as ARP was. The oscillators were an interesting digital/analog hybrid. It didn't have the weighted keyboard like the Chroma, but it was nice. Very solidly built. I even created a 3rd party sound set stored on data cassette (which I offered to customers who bought the keyboard), which I sadly don't have anymore.
Sound Doctorin' has some tech descriptions and service tips.
http://sounddoctorin.com/synthtec/akai/ax80.htm#akaiprodesc
This is a great synth you can pick up for a decent price used, since it doesn't have the cache' and street cred of a Juno or Prophet.