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New Keyboard Day... becomes New (Pre-Broken) Synth Day. Now New (Pre-Broken) Synth (pt. II)


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Purchased a K&M stacker & table adaptor..

Moderately expensive,  but properly heavyweight.

 

Was expecting a box of bits. Came nearly fully assembled.

Hardest part was positioning the feet upon which the keyboards rest so as to properly support them. 

 

Delivered as promised by Thomann.

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  • 1 month later...

And...

 

The Argon8 has gone south.  And not just for the winter.

 

I've completely lost the Arpeggiator and Sequencer. Neither will function in spite of a full power down, disconnect/reconnect and factory reset.

Not only am I cursed, but I am done with these things. 

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And I thought I had bad luck with kit. 

 

Can you let me know where you live and when you travel so I can be as far away as possible please? 

 

Theres a song in here somewhere...

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So are you saying the K&M  Stacker &Table Adaptor has collapsed all of a sudden ?  I could have misunderstood , but you did say  gone south . 
 

Sorry to hear about your latest woes . 
 

I don't know what could be done to sort out the issue . If it's the stand , would Thomann give a refund ( probably I'd imagine ) or further compensation ??  ( Cost of repair etc ) 

 

If unmarked , would you  be dishonest enough to contact the sellers of the Argon8 claiming  a fault with hopefully getting it fixed / replaced under warranty ??  Not advocating anything , and of course you could pay for repair if you wanted to . 
 

Please keep us updated . 
 

Things like this are really infuriating and have happened to many of us here and elsewhere . This is a downside of having a niche hobby I guess. 
 

The trouble these days is mass production , poor quality control and all things China, Indonesia and Vietnam seemingly.

 

Hopefully you don't pack it in on the synth front .  There are always apps 🫢😁

 

Is Behringher a route you'd consider , once you've calmed down ? At least their stuff isn't that expnsive in the scheme of things ,and wouldn't burn a hole so deep in the pockets . A lot of people despise Behringher due to ethical reasons . 

 

Also there's the sound you prefer . Probably not moogs . Also, could you get something more compact that you could use with your computer instead of needing a keyboard system .? 
 

FWIW, I have a coffee table that I purchased with my computer desk . I'm finding it a pita to find something that I can  get to raise to put my moog grandmother synth on. It's just too low . The joys of music as a hobby ..😊

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On 10/06/2024 at 12:47, RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE said:

Just re read this thread. It seems like you should just send the Argon 8 back , and hopefully get a refund / exchange for something of better quality . 
 

I am interested in the K&M stand though . 

The K&M stand is expensive for what it is, and heavy. 

BUT it has been bomb-proof in use. The whole set-up hasn't shifted an inch and doesn't move at all, even if your playing is heavy-handed.

 

I do think it's too heavy to play live with. Not really collapsible, and very weighty. 

 

Shame the keyboard/synth that live on it aren't as good.

 

The GK61 is ok, but too limiting in terms of functionality. It has been reliable, and sounds good in a mix. Just lacks adjustability.

 

The synths have been a nightmare. On the face of it, well-made, but seem prone to malfunction in all sorts of ways. Because of their inherent complexity, fault-finding is a real issue.

Worse still, the Argon8's manual was plainly written by a code monkey whose first language was Cobol. It assumes WAY too much knowledge on the part of the user.

Criticism of this elsewhere elicited very different responses. One that the Argon/Cobalt manuals were superb (they're not) and another which was a link to the original 1971 version of the ARP 2600 manual.

 

It's a huge manual,  but explains EVERYTHING and assumes nothing. I was using it as a reference document until the A8x folded.

 

At time of writing,  it doesn't look like Modal Electronics are a functioning entity. Their main page, support and sounds library are almost permanently down, and the merch page pops up now and again.

In spite of this, there's supposedly a Carbon8 in the works. Hopefully that won't lose its sparkle, but I won't be the one that finds out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Thanks for the input regarding the  stands . Good to know . 
I think I'll stick to what I have . 
 

I take it you're sending , or have sent the Aragon back to the retailer for refund . Hopefully you'll get something else , and not be put off entirely . For me, I don't like anything complicated. I stick with moogs ( grandmother, minitaur dfam ) , plus Waldorf streichfett and rocket . The streichfett is cheap and cheerful ...if you like the sounds . The only pita for me , is the size of the grandmother . 
I often think about trading it for a sirin which is expensive and discontinued , but it's just a minitaur but an octave higher, 

Not much menu diving for me 😬 I plug iPad into GarageBand when using other apps . 

 

Maybe Modal Electronics have gone the same way as Moog 🤔 

 

Even Bass guitars , and multifx go wrong .  Keep us posted 

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2 hours ago, Lfalex v1.1 said:

[...] there's supposedly a Carbon8 in the works. Hopefully that won't lose its sparkle [...]

Lovely bit of business there 🫡

 

Man, you are having no luck with your synths :( Any issues with dirty power, perhaps?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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7 hours ago, Lfalex v1.1 said:

Worse still, the Argon8's manual was plainly written by a code monkey whose first language was Cobol. It assumes WAY too much knowledge on the part of the user.

 

Oi! I resent that! I always wrote documentation as if I was going to have to use it, and I have a memory like a thing with holes in it so I assume that everything from the basics up needs to be documented. I think you mean a C programmer.

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