could be applied using the single LFO which could either modulate oscillators to produce vibrato effect, the filter, or even both at the same time should such be desired. A significant creative limitation of the DW-8000 architecture was that the user could not control the LFO depth with respect to each oscillator, as they were both modulated in common. Digital delay effects The final key part of the architecture was the digital delay section, which provided an effect unit that could be applied to the sound. As the rest of the synthesizer architecture up to this point in the sound chain was analogue, the signal had to be converted back to a digital signal so that it could have the effect applied. This fact is evident in the increased noise when using the delay effect. Despite this, it was a flexible digital delay that gave times ranging from 2 to 512 milliseconds in length. Delay effects are similar to reverb. Added to this was a modulation depth parameter so the user could create chorus and flanging effects as well as delay. Arpeggiator section While contemporary synthesizers with built-in sequencing facilities were quite rare in 1985, the DW-8000 included a 64-note arpeggiator with an optional latch function and an "assignable" mode which allowed the user to cumulatively add up to 64 notes to the arpeggiator's input. The arpeggiator also includes options to span multiple octaves and an adjustable tempocontrol slider. Historical assessment While DW-8000 may not have represented a great leap in synthesis, the hybrid architecture of digital waveforms through analog filters was to become an important approach used in Korg keyboards during the second half of the 1980s. Other manufacturers were developing instruments using similar ingredients of samples and effects, though still using traditional subtractive synthesis with better technology. The Korg DW-8000 was monotimbral and had trouble competing with the Roland D-50 and MT-32 introduced two years later, which used samples of real attack transients to synthesize increasingly realistic acoustic instrument sounds. The MT-32 also introduced multitimbral capabilities, with relatively high quality onboard effects. Korg took longer to develop a competitive synthesizer, but by the end of the decade achieved considerable success with their M1 workstation keyboard which included 14 of the 16 DWGS waves from the DW-8000. References External links Vintage Synth Explorer DW-8000.COM Korg DW-8000 Central: FAQ, HOWTOs, Manuals, and Patches Midimetric UniSynth : DW/EX-8000 Windows Editor New