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AM Odyssey 500 - Analog Monosynth
Overview The ARP Odyssey is a classic analog synhesizer, with a great sound and a unique design. However 30 years on it has some weaknesses. There is no MIDI, the keyboard is
hopeless and the VCA as noisy as hell. The sliders are stiff and irreplaceble. I bought my Mark 3 model in 1985 and I loved its sound, but hated its downsides. So rather than modernise it I sold it to the UK's leading Gary Numan "replica"
band and started work on the ultimate Odyssey - the Model 500.
Key Features The Odyssey 500 is an expanded replica of the original but with some new features to make it look and sound amazing!
- The VCO's from the Mark 3 are stable and work well - we will try and replicate them but if this fails (hard to find transistors in here) we will use Oakley VCO's
- The low pass VCF's are really good, and there are 3 different versions to choose from - so let's have them all!
- ARP4023 (12dB LPF)
- ARP4035 (24dB Moog LPF)
- ARP4075 (24dB ARP LPF)
- The High Pass filter is a bit of a joke, so lets leave it out
- The single LFO is rather underpowered, with just two waveforms, so lets have a new one with more waveforms to choose from
- The Noise Source is rather weedy too - so lets build a better one
- The Sample and Hold is cool, but let's use the one from the Roland SH09
- The ADSR and AR envelopes are a tad slow with 4ms attack times, so lets have two fast ADSR's using 2xCEM3310's which can get down to 1ms
- The CA3080 based VCA is really noisy, so lets have a modern design from Oakley or maybe the Polyfusion or Pro-One VCA
- Let's add MIDI with aftertouch, velocity and modulation busses
- Sliders are hard to use and mount, so lets use high quality BOURNS rotary pots
- New ARP2500 knobs in blue, green, red, gold and silver will make it look really cool
- The slider switches are okay, but toggle switches are easier to mount
- The Odyssey panel graphics and layout are very good , so lets re-use them and make sure we have enough blank panel space to include the module names, boxes and the signal
lines
- The colour scheme could be either 2500 silver panels with black lettering, or 2820 black panels with orange lettering - not sure until I do a test panel or two
- Maple wood cabinet
- 4-octave MIDI keyboard with velocity
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* Schematics for modifications