Synthfind

“Wendy Carlos’ Lieblingsspielzeug.
In der Mitte der 80er hat der Synergy Vintage Synthesizer mehr als 10.000 US$ gekostet. Er war einer der ersten, verfügbaren, digitalen Synthesizer und ist immer noch sehr schön anzuschauen. Dieser, hier Angebotene, befindet sich in hervorragendem Zustand.
Die Sounds sind speziell und glitzernd und erinnern an FM-Synthese.

Mitgeliefert werden vier Soundcartridges.

—–

Wendy Carlos’ favourite toy!
In the mid 80s cost more than 10.000 US$, it was one of the first digital synths availabled and is still a beauty too look at and in great condition.
The sounds are special and glistening. Think FM synthesis with an edge.

Included are four sound cartridges.” Link

” Rare DK Synergy 1 Synthesizer everything on it works except the joystick (pitch bend / mod) . Comes with 4 working cartridges. This Synergy was gigged and has some bumps & scrapes the tolex has some tears and the fiberboard has a couple large chips in the rear corners still this sounds absolutely amazing. There were not alot of these made There is some info on the web about these very unique synths. I have 1 extra cartridge that i will include that i had planned on having modded to accept the whole Synergy library ROM chips which can be obtained. I really hate to get rid of this but am moving in a different direction and need to fund other gear.” Link

“WHAT YOU GET IN THIS AUCTION

This auction includes:

The Synergy II+ synthesizer

Kaypro 2x computer

The last and most comprehensive version of the SYNHCS (Synergy Host Control System) software for programming the synthesizer, version 3.22 from 1984. Earlier versions of SYNHCS are missing many options: this one has them all.

RS-232 serial cable that connects the Kaypro to the Synergy II+

Synergy Audio Learning Manual put out by DKI in 1982 (in mp3 format: the original audio cassette isn’t in great shape anymore, and who wants to play a cassette?).

You also get a stack of documentation showing how to use the Synergy II+, including the original Synergy I manual, the addendum covering the Synergy II+, and a user’s guide to the SYNHCS.

Kaypro Technical Manual from 1984, with info like the pinouts on the serial and parallel ports and so on. I’ve also included a diagram of the pinout of the special serial cable you need just in case you ever need to make another one.

A CP/M manual covering issues like the syntax for PIP. On CP/M, you use PIP.COM to copy programs from one floppy disk to another. CP/M is different from DOS — you can’t use the COPY command the same way you can on DOS. You use SYSGEN to create a bootable Kaypro floppy disc, for example. The CP/M manual shows you how to do all this.

CP/M utilities disk for Kaypro 2. This lets you format new floppy discs on the Kaypro 2x and generate new bootable CP/M discs and control all the internet settings of the Kaypro 2x. Everyhing on the Kaypro 2x computer works perfectly, of course, so with 2 working floppy drives, you can make copies of all the floppy discs as backups after you get them.

Schematic circuit diagrams for the guts of the Synergy II+ in case you ever need them. I never have, but what the heck. You might as well get everything.

A quick-start cheat sheet I’ve written to get you up and running. This shows you how to get the Kaypro 2 and the Synergy II+ up and running together and running SYNHCS quickly, so you can start making music. I also show you how to copy the SYNHCS and Kaypro CP/M boot discs (which is the first thing you should do after you unpack everything).

Last but not least, this auction includes the complete Synergy voice library on 13 floppy discs, plus an extra floppy disc with all 3 of the Wendy Carlos voice banks. That gives you a total of 22 Synergy voice banks, each containing 24 timbres. That’s 524 timbres all told.

Each voice is editable and can serve as the starting point of a new timbre. You can modify the synthesizer architecture and see what alternatives sound like when you change the envelopes or the arrangement of the digital oscillators, or vary the aperiodic vibrato or change the settings of the interacting A and B filters. You can get radically new timbres just by changing the interpolating 16-point maximum and minimum amplitude and frequency envelopes without changing anything else in a Synergy patch.

You can get lost in this synthesizer. It has so many programmable parameters, with such unprecedented flexibility and subtlety, that it sometimes seems like there’s no end to it. For rock keyboardists used to twirling a knob to change a Moog synthesizer filter cutoff frequency, that was a problem in 1984 — to other people who care about subtlety and flexibility of synthesizer timbres, today, it’s a big advantage.

This Synergy II+ comes with 17 Kaypro floppy discs. It has the crucial Kaypro CP/M boot disc (multiple copies, of course — without the boot disc, the Kaypro won’t work, so the first thing you want to do when you get this system is make copies of the CP/M boot disc on the Kaypro). There’s also a disc of CP/M utilities, the SYNHCS 3.22 program disc, and Synergy Voice Library discs 1 through 13, Synergy Voice Cart discs 1 through 6, and Wendy Carlos voice banks 1, 2 and 3.

There’s a big thick stack of documentation to guide you through programming and tweaking the real-time performance controls on the Synergy II+. There’s the original Synergy synthesizer manual, of course, a big blue-covered book that was typeset at the Stanford AI laboratory in 1982 using the TeX program. Then there’s the 1983 PRELIMINARY GUIDE TO THE USING THE SYNERGY II+ WITH SYNHCS that shows you how to voice the synthesizer and store and call up timbres on the Kaypro floppy discs and send ‘em to the Synergy II+. There’s also the ADDENDUM TO THE SYNERGY MANUAL that covers all the additions and enhancements when the Synergy I got upgraded to the Synergy II+. I’ve also written a few pages of information that gets you up and running quickly. These cover shortcuts so you fire up the Kaypro fast and get SYNHCS running and talking to the Synergy II+ quickly and start exploring its sounds.

As the Addendum manual put out by DKI notes, the Synergy II+ substantially improves on the original Bell Labs digital synthesizer. It has all the flexibility of the original Alles digital synthesizer, but with the convenience of standard MIDI in and OUT and THRU ports (instead of the original RS-422 instrumentation interface). The Synergy II+ has dozens of adjustable front panel buttons and knobs to control parameters like the amplitude and frequency interpolation values and aperiodic vibrato. There’s even a joystick on the front of the Synergy II+ that can be programmed to control many different parameters in real time.

Like other synthesizers, the Synergy II+ can store performance presets, which are then written to Kaypro floppy disc. It also has a buit in sequencer and arpeggiator. (Today those functions are handled by MIDI, but when the Synergy I was originally designed, MDI didn’t exist.) It has standard jacks on the back for a sustain pedal.

What doesn’t the Synergy II+ have? Limitations. Unlike other digital synthesizer, the Synergy II+ lets you define its entire synthesis architecture anew every time you voice it. The Synergy is also not multi-timbral. While today multi-timbral capabilitiy is standard on digital synthesizers, back in 1981, when the Synergy II+ was designed, multi-timbral capability was unheard-of.

The Synergy II+ has two audio outputs on the back, but although they’re marked STEREO, the truth is that they’re both exactly the same. Like the other synthesizers of this era, the Synergy II+ has only a single output. It’s a full 16 bit D/A converter, which must have cost a staggering amount of money back in 1981, but it’s still only a single output. In fact, all digital synths have only a single output: “stereo” outs consist of a single mono output treated with a chorus or reverb or flanging effect, so you can get stereo effects on the Synergy II+ just like on today’s synthesizer by putting one of the Synergy II’s audio outs through an external reverb processor. (I’ve never used more than one of the Synergy II’s audio outs. Since both audio outputs sound exactly the same, there’s no point, and I don’t know why they even bothered with two audio outs. I just stick a single audio out from the Synergy II+ into an eternal reverb unit and I’m good to go.)

There’s also a slight yellowish discoloration on one of the keys of the Synergy II+. It doesn’t show up on the photos, and it’s barely visible, but under the right light, you can see it. It doesn’t affect the performance of the synthesizer in any way. There are no cracks or breaks or other defects in the black tolex casing of the Synergy II+. This synthesizer has been lovingly cared for in a cool dry non-smoking studio environment lo, these 27 years, since I bought the thing and had it shipped out from New York.” Link

“Description: This is an extremely rare synthesizer from the early 80’s. Its capabilities are quite incredible from what I’ve read and what my Dad used to tell me. This one is working and I’ve made some noise with it but I’m no expert on how to work it so I can make no guarantees that everything is 100%. Only 700-800 were made with only about 100 of those said to still be functioning.

They are often compared to a Yamaha DX-7 but much warmer and less harsh, plus with much more impressive sound capabilities.” Link

“Up for sale is one DK Synergy I Synthesizer. This mid-80s keyboard has 24 voices channels, 5 program channels, pitch modulation joystick, and a variety of other synth functions. 74 keys in great condition. Very minor scuffs on on the top of the casing, but other than that, this keyboard is in excellent shape. Included is an original Synergy cartridge, the Carlos Orch. Set “Orch-Plus” WC-1. Comes with flight case and sustain pedal. It does not have MIDI interface on the back, making it a Synergy I.” Link

“Up for sale is one DK Synergy Synthesizer. This mid-80s keyboard has 24 voices channels, 5 program channels, pitch modulation joystick, and a variety of other synth functions. 74 keys in great condition. Very minor scuffs on on the top of the casing, but other than that, this keyboard is in excellent shape. Included is an original Synergy cartridge, the Carlos Orch. Set “Orch-Plus” WC-1. Comes with flight case and sustain pedal. ” Link

“Vintage 1980′s DK Synergy Synthesizer. This Synthesizer has been tested and works properly. It is in good physical shape with some scratches and marks from moving and storing. ” Link

“~~ Original Early to Mid 80′s Synergy Synthesiser by Digital Keyboards! ~~
~ Great Condition~

Some of the features of this fantastic synthesiser:

* Quick changing of 24 sounds per cartridge
* Up to 4 sounds at the same time with programmable settings for EACH one
* Easy to use sequencer: record and overdub up to 4 tracks! ::One of the first keyboards ever to have this feature::
* *6* floating split zones – the keyboard tracks your individual hands up and down the keys!!
* Incredibly advanced for its time and a great looking vintage synth

*9* amazing voice cartridges included! :
1x TCART 1 – Processor and panel tests
1x TCART 2 – Oscillator and D/A tests
2x Voice Cartridge #1 (both version 2)
1x Voice Cartridge #2 (version 2)
2x Voice Cartridge #3 (both version 1)
2x Voice Cartridge #4 (both version 1)

In fantastic condition, just a few minor scratches and chips as seen in the pictures: as would be expected in the course of around 25 years!” Link

“Here we have one my favorite vintage synthesizers the DK Synergy. The Synergy is one of the earliest synthesizers to utilize something other than analog synthesis to generate it’s sounds. When I first heard about the Synergy, this was a very exciting idea to me. During the late 70′s and early 80′s new technology allowed keyboard manufactures to realize many of their creative visions and make sounds that had never been heard before. The instruments they created during that time inspired musicians to create the sounds/music that is most associated with the 80′s.

The sounds generated by the Synergy are complex and beautiful. It can sound like a synthetic angels harp or a dump truck driving though a nitroglycerin plant. Listen to Tangerine Dream on the Thief soundtrack or Wendy Carlos on Digital Moonscapes to hear some of sounds and get the “vibe”of the instrument. Of course the Synergy was used all over the place in the 80′s including Michael Jackson’s Thriller.

The sounds created by the Synergy sound very expensive and sit well in a mix. I think the key to the sounds of the Synergy still sounding fresh today is what the Synergy preservation page calls “a complex overtone structure that you just won’t get by filtering a sawtooth.” It has a very intimate and alive electronic sound.

This is the first version of the Synergy that was released so it lacks Midi or a serial port. I look at the first version as more of a real time performance instrument.
It comes with 24 editable internal patches and one cartridge designed by Wendy Carlos called “Bells and Whistles” that contains 24 unique voices. Each voice can be manipulated until it is unrecognizable with the front panel controls. You can deconstruct an internal string sound until it sounds like vintage computerized gibberish with JUST the front panel controls. You may hear you can only program a synergy with an external Kaypro computer and this is only partially true. If you would like to do in depth editing or create your own completely unique sounds then yes you will need to use the Kaypro but all the sounds are very tweakable using controls that are unique to the Synergy and can dramatically alter the sound to your needs. Also a series one is considerably less expensive than a series II or series II+ but you still get the same quality of sounds for whatever musical project you are working on at the moment.

As you can see from the photos the instrument is great shape with mild wear including a few light indentions and scratches and minor nicks in the tolex, but over all it looks great and has been very well taken care of. Everything works exactly like it should. I have a fantastic tech and I keep my gear in top condition. The keyboard action is fantastic with no issues. Every out put, knob, and joystick works EXACTLY like it should. ” Link