DW-8000-EX Programmable Digital Waveform Synthesizer

System MAME Musique 01/01/1985 0

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Description

Musical Instrument (Electronic) published 41 years ago:

DW-8000-EX Programmable Digital Waveform Synthesizer (c) 1985 Korg.

Released shortly after the original DW-8000 in the mid-1980s, the Korg DW-8000-EX was an expanded version of Korg’s hybrid digital-analog synthesizer, designed to offer a larger preset memory and additional factory sounds while retaining the same core architecture. Developed by Korg Inc., it combined digitally generated single-cycle waveforms with analog resonant filters, 8-voice polyphony, and built-in digital delay effects. The “EX” revision was aimed at users seeking a more complete factory sound set and improved usability without changing the underlying synthesis engine.

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The DW-8000-EX is not a fundamentally new synthesizer, but an expanded factory ROM version of the original DW-8000.

It retained the same hybrid architecture: digital waveform oscillators paired with analog low-pass filters.

The EX version typically included additional factory patches, expanding its usability for players who did not program sounds themselves.

Like the standard DW-8000, it was widely used for lush pads, digital-analog hybrid textures, and atmospheric sounds in 1980s productions.

It featured the same joystick-based modulation control system for real-time expressive performance.

The built-in digital delay remained a key part of its sonic identity, especially for ambient and spatial effects.

The EX designation reflects a common 1980s industry practice of releasing updated ROM or factory-set revisions without hardware redesign.

Today, it is generally treated as a variant of the DW-8000 rather than a separate model in most synth catalogs and archives.

- CONTRIBUTE -

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