Akai AX-73

REVIEW OF AKAI AX73: LISTEN, THIS IS MY PERSONAL REVIEW OF THE AKAI AX 73.....WHO AM I? WELL IM BETWEEN AN INTERMEDIATE TO PRO SYNTH USER/PROGRAMMER WHO HAS OWNED PROBABLY BETWEEN 20 TO 25 SYNTHS OVER THE LAST 14 YEARS RANGING FROM A BASIC ROLAND MC 303 TO AN OVER COMPLICATED YAMAHA DX7 (SEE END OF REVIEW OF ALL SYNTHS IVE OWNED TO SAVE YOU FROM BORDEM AND CUT TO THE CHASE)
THE AKAI AX73 IN MY OPINION IS AS FOLLOWS:
I BOUGHT THIS SYNTH FROM EBAY, ADVERTISED AS UNTESTED FOR 36.00.
A CHANCE FOR THE MONEY YOU MIGHT HAVE GUESSED, SO DID I....
I DID MY HOME WORK BEFORE I BIDDED.
I READ FROM REVIEWS.........UNDERATED...ANALOGUE...OK...GOOD...
I COULD'NT WAIT FOR IT TO ARRIVE (YOU ALL KNOW THE FEELING)
IT ARRIVED ON A TUESDAY MORNING.
I PLUGGED IN IN, ANTISIPATING IT WOULD NOT POWER UP..........
BUT IT DID!
COOL
I PLUGGED IN MY EARPHONES...............
EXCELLENT...............
ALL GOOD.

IT TOOK ME ABOUT 5 MINUTES TO SUSS OUT THE THINKING BEHIND THIS MONSTER....
EASY!
LOGICAL
AS EASY AS ANY SYNTH OF ALL TIME!
ONLY A HANDFULL OF BUTTONS AND A FEW SLIDERS.

WOW

I LIKE THE BOTTOM END OF THIS SYNTH!

AS

I PLAYED WITH THE BASS PATCHES.

THIS IS A "WICKED" BIT OF GEAR FOR BASS I THOUGHT.
AND WICKED FOR THE LOWS IT REALLY IS...............
I FLEW THROUGH THE THE LOW END OF THIS UNDER ESTIMATED MONSTER AND FOUND THE KINDA MID RANGE SOUNDS OF THIS BEAST......
EXCELLENT IN THE MID RANGE TOO, I SMUGLY THOUGHT TO MYSELF HAVING SPENT 20 MINUTES PLAYING VAROIUS RIFFS.....

I FINALLY GOT TO THE HIGH END OF THIS SYTH AND ......WELL...A LITTLE DISSAPOINTED I SUPPOSE....
SOUNDS THIS END ARE A LITTLE ......HARSH SHALL WE SAY?
A BIT LIKE.......BUYING A REALLY NICE LOOKING SWEET COOKIE....ONLY TO FIND THE SUGAR IS IN FACT..................ARTIFICIAL!
YUK!
HORRID!
REALLY NICE FOUNDATION, REALLY NICE TO LOOK AT.....BUT REALLY HORRID IN THE SWEET END!
BUT!
THATS ONLY IN EATING TEARMS!
IN REAL TEAMS THIS SYNTH IS A HIDDEN GEM....ITS AN OBSCURE RESTURANT IN DOWN TOWN PARADISE!

ITS THE HIDDEN TREASURE INDIANA JONES WAS LOOKING FOR!
OK.....SO ITS NOT SWEET AT THE TOP[ END BUT MAN.......MID RANGE AND DOWN (LOW END AND BASS) ITS THE PLATINUM OF PRIZES TO BE FOUND!.

ITS RICH, STRONG AND CONSISTANT.......THROUGH AND THROUGH.....AND BEST OF ALL......ITS ANALOGUE!
ANALOGUE BASS! ANALOGUE MID RANGE!

THAT JUST ABOUT CONCLUDES MY OPINION OF THIS .......UNDISCOVERED BEAST....IT EXCELLS WHERE YOU NEED IT TO THE MOST (BASS AND MID RANGE), BUT FOR THE REST, BUY A DIGITAL SYNTH (THESE EXCELL AT HIGH MID TO HIGH RANGE)
ALL IN ALL..........HONESTY.......9 OUT OF 10 AT THE RANGE IVE DESCRIBED!"

IVE OWNED FOR THE RECORD..........
ROLAND MC 303
YAYAHA CS1X
AKAI S2000
ROLAND MC505
ROLAND JX8000
ROLAND JX8P
ROLAND R8
ROLAND R5
YAMAHA AN1X
AKAI S1000
YAMAHA DX7
YAMAHAS DX100
WALDORF PULSE
QUASIMIDI RAVEN
QUASIMIDI 309
QUASIMIDI SIRIUS
ROLAND MC 307
PLUS LOADS MORE...............

Editing is SURPRISINGLY easy. Whan you look at the machine it looks like thre is no way in HELL that editing could be even torelable... BUT... it is! It is easy to remember whitch number presents whitch parameter (and adjust it by slider) and it is really fast to operate settings when you ger to used to this machine. Of course knobs would be better, but also easier to broke and more expensive.

6 note polyphony (or 3 when using 2 VCO mode)

Routings and featured are pretty simple basic subtractive... Still you can get really wide range of sounds from it. Basic leads and stuff + lots of experimental soundefects and stuff.

I Like the keyboard.

Auto tuner is also very good thing with real VCO's

In board chorus is bit noisy when using sounds that are not so loud. When using louder sounds it works fine. Still... Anologue chorus... And it sound like one too... Not any digital crap.

Midi combined to good sounding vintage VCO's (No DCO's) is rare and good combination.

Basses ROCK. VCO's of this machine just work like hell. You can compare those VCO's to any 70's analogue monsters.

Higher pitched sounds are litty muddy and sharp ...not so angelic than best analogue vintage synths have.

Filter is an another thing. I can be overdriven, but unlike moog, it gives you very harsh and industrial sound. Something like analogue clippin. Metallic industrialist like me love it, but others might disagree. Other than that

Still working fine after all these years and lots of use.

When stolen I would cry because these do not show up too often. I Really would by another even with higher price. VERY underestimeted synth because it looks... But inside it is MONSTER. Mean and deep mahcine that cannot be mistaken as digital synth.

You really get used to creating sounds with it.

One of the Best synths for little money.

I have had this unit for over 15 years, and although alot has changed, it is still an important part of my studio. I run it as a single voice into my board to offer up that 80's sound when required. The presets are fine on their own, and changes are easily made. Can be used as a controller quite easily.

The AX-73 has 6 note polyphony, or 3 note using dual oscillators. It has no truly usable expansion capabilities, unless you use a tape deck or midi input function. (There is no card interface) It has many of the midi capabilities that newer units have, but is noticeably missing aftertouch. There is no on-board sequencer, but it was hot in its time.

I still use many of the preset sounds in the unit, but could do the same with a tone generator from the same time frame. Great for those Billy Idol cover bands! Its keyboard expressiveness ranks somewhere in the middle of the old and the new.

It has never given me a problem. I would feel comfortable playing live with this board along with my Korg 03R/W and Yamaha TG55 tone generators, as the sounds would not suffice.

I've never needed support (at least not yet), but I have looked online many times for info for these units and have found very little. I also own an Akai MG614 mixer, and would expect no support to be available for it either.

Back when I bought this board, I was a budding studio musician looking for some home gear. Atari was still a top of the line computer, and the cornerstone of most studios. It is used maybe 10% of the time in my current studio. It is still used for some Midi data entry and some filler sounds. Although it has been good for me, it is clearly outclassed by anything available today in the $1000 CAD or more category. I would recommend any Korg product over this now. I have an M1 (also over 10 years old) that has become the controller of the Midi portion of my studio, but they work well in tandem. If you can still pick one up for < $180 CAD, do so. It adds a similar element to a studio as a leslie or steel guitar would; that unexpected sample to add flavour to your music.

Presets are total crap... 100 presets and I mayby use few of them as they are and other few wiht little editing.

Editing is fairy sible. Editing capabilities are actually fairly good if you conmpare this to other "one slider and numberpad"-synths. Uoy quickly start to learn that editing sound is pretty fast with this one. Olf "one knob foe everything"-synths are better... nut this is quite good still. Much better that you would thoght when you see this.

Manual is sible but informative enough to learn everything.

6 note polyphony with one ocillator per voice. Sounds are amazingly good for one VCO sounds. Quite evolving basic sound. Full analoque oscillators (not DCO:s) are hearth of this unit. BUT when you decrease polyphony to 3 notes this baby really start to sing and start to sound as fat as real good bass-monsters. Many people say that this synth is thin for an analoque... It is not! You just have to tuon polyphony down to 3 notes, so every voice has 2 VCO:s.

Very poor MIDI.. No sysex, so you cannot edit parameter from computer. You can how ever store your sounds to computer or to tape with this one.

With 6 voice polyfony sound evolves like goon analoq and sound are quite good... Nut when you put 2 VCO:s per voice (3 note polufony) this beauty starts to sing. Electronic voices. Good Ambient or anything experimental... I thing everything electronic or electronic rock. Not very good for realistic instruments. You can get quite good flute out of it.

Oscillators are extreamly good. Very LIVE! ...filter is an another thing. Really nice for bass. Not very clean or sterile. Very analoq. resonance is quite dirty... Ever dirtier if you overdrive self oskillation (you can turn it over 100% of feedback). very analoque industrial distortion efect. Filter is a little bit "sharp" if you play it upper wight higer tones. With bass this is a beatiful machine but as universal lead syth this is not so perfect anymore. You can edit nice evolving and very anlogue sound on higher notes too, but possibilities are more limited there. Still... Oskillators of this baby are exreamly lively. There is no way that my Matrix 1000 can complete with this in bass sounds... but you cannot get silky eerie saund with thisone no matter how you try... Moaning SQEEEEKS... are hoe ever wery easy to get. Also wery good sible but analogically evolving ambient pads.

Seems to be a solid cube.

I woud cry, if this would be stolen. REALLY! Nothing sounds the same.

Great bass and good for ambient pads.

Never owning an analog synth before, I was afraid I'd not know how to get neat, or useful sounds out of it. But editing is easy via a system of variables in banks; with a little learning I can quickly modify a sound exactly as I want-- and as FAST or SLOW as I want, since every parameter is accessible via up/down buttons (one step at a time) or with a slider switch! This means you can immediatley turn a mellow violin note suddenly into a screeching wail using the VCF resolution or level--or warble a sustained organ note like a Leslie to an exact speed. Awesome capabilities!

6 note polyphony is interesting for one who learned on a piano-- stranger still if you use a sustain pedal, so all six voices stay on. You can-- and this is cool-- set all the VCOs to one note, for a huge monophonic sound (after realizing the quality of this sound, I resigned to not using any kind of amplifier besides a high-powered home-stereo reciever and beefy stereo speakers--louder than anything else!). The chorus settings are wimpy; real echo can be acheived through ADSR settings. You can control the modulation wheel nicely, including how much variation it adds. 100 presets are more than enough. I bought a S612 Sampler to use with this, but haven't obtained the cord to connect the two (you can send a variable level of the sampler's signal into the synth's VCOs); I've had enough fun sending both signals to a mixer at once. The keyboard, although plastic and light, is VERY touch sensitive, and can be responsive to both the VCA and the VCF.

Don't expect realism from the AX-73. It's capable of nice warm pads and screaming leads, choking industrial noise and quiet mellow tones.

Built like a tank. When I bought it for $90 at a flea market it was laying in the dirt, and it works wonderfully. Akai is the first electronics company I think I can trust--everything I've bought of theirs continues to work exactly as I bought it.

I downloaded the manual from thier website, but only gave a cursory summary of the actual parameters of each sound. What's most helpful is to experiment with each variable, determine for yourself what you can change about a tone. Once you have a general understanding of it, you'll fly through crazy sounds pretty quick.

If it were lost or stolen, I'd consider seeking out an AX-80, but only because it's got a cool digital display, but stupid membrane buttons, like on my Casio CZ-1000. I'm suprised the AX-73 doesn't sell for more on eBay; for a true analog synth equipped with MIDI brand new you'd pay thousands. Maybe it's the fact the AX-73 isn't overloaded with knobs and switches like a Juno 106, that the AX-73 is clean and pretty sparse looking, actually. But I love being able to slam down a chord and know I'll get a huge blast of sound, and yet be able to gently pluck the same keys and get a smoother, smaller tone--from the same preset. I use it, as I mentioned, with a 612 sampler, and a Yamaha DD-6 drum pad, sometimes mastering the synth onto stereo tracks in an Akai 4000DS 1/4" tape machine; sometimes I use a Fostex X-15 Multitrack. I use my Casio elsewhere--by nature, its subtractive FM synthesis is simpler, better on the road. Until I get a good case, the Akai stays home. Don't forget: there's beauty to be had in the interaction between an analog synth and analog tape!

I was makeing cool sounds in the store much cooler than the presets
but in the mid 80's trying to make acostic sounds was what people
wanted if what that is not for you its all analog no nobs or sliders
just a menu list not to hard but the up and down buttens a backwards
to all my other synths the manual is small and realy didnt need it .
dont know what the OS version is

the poly is not to importent for what ist good at 6 in poly 3 in dual
and 1 in unison but for bass and leads so what and its fat must fatter
than my Oberheim matrix-6R the only drawback is there is only one ocs
per voice but with dual/detune and the PWM it sounds full. The resonans
screams with the 24 db per oct filterand FM make some very cool sounds
73 key syth keyboard i like it the keys are stiffer than my ensoniq
esq1 and thy are velosity sensitive to

just the velosity mod and pitch wheel thats it. the chorus not bad
but a little noisy its good for techno trance D&B rap R&B industral
and others

just got it but if ist like my s2000 sampler and it still work after
16 years im not to whirred ist all metal heavy as crap to

never had to deal with them.

For what i do its cool iv got other syths and just like to buy the
older stuff there easy and there not a toys

i am not a keyboard player so i can't say if it's easy to play. it is fairly easy to set up and use for midi sequencing. editing sounds is a little more complicated until you become familiar with the layout. i bought it knowing nothing about synthesis. i was fresh out of community college midi class, looking for a usable controller. once i started experimenting with the sound, i was blown the fuck away. the lack of front panel controls necessitates more thoughtful experimentation. i was forced to find ways to make it expressive using velocity, lfo, and the wheels, rather than being able to randomly grab knobs. once you know its architecture, getting the sound you want is quite fast and easy. there is basically one edit page for every function that would have its own knob on another synth, and the pages are linear, vco-vcf-vca-lfo-midi. there is a data slider, so parameters can be adjusted in real time.

this synth is mono-timbral, something i didn't understand when i bought it. but then again, i thought i was buying a cheap digital synth. polyphony is 6, 3 or 1. keyboard action works well enough for me: i press them and sound comes out. it transmits and receives velocity, thankfully, as this is one of the most useful ways to control it's timbre. it doesn't do sysex, which may be a drawback to some. i've never had the patience to stop pounding the techno and learn about how to use it. there is a chorus effect, which i never use because it's so noisey. features i appreciate: vco eg, pulse width for every shape, extreme resonance, vcf eg, osc mod of vcf, high pass filter, vcf velocity, random lfo, pitch wheel is assignable to any mix of vco and vcf (midi recordable realtime filter control!). there is really a lot of sonic possibility in there. it has a sampler input for certain akais, but it's just a weird analog input. it's easy to modify a patch cord to work with any sound source. details are on the absolutely unofficial ax73 page.

the presets are dated and silly. there are a few of them that i've used with only slight modification. i've come up with very expressive sounds on my own. plasticky acid zipper sounds, huge reese basslines, booms, hums, electro stabs. techno it does. it also does really fierce earbreaking noises if you're not careful in your experimentation. i never feel the need to get as abrasive as the extreme settings allow. i wouldn't say the sound quality is "pristine" in terms of clarity, because there is a little bit of noise, but for the expressiveness it's a 10.

i haven't had a problem with it yet, except for one key which is just starting to get finicky, probably from dust. i've moved with it several times, without a case or anything. it's huge (73 keys), which is nice in a roomy studio, but i have very limited space and find it kind of in the way of my other gear sometimes. it does have a lot of blank space on its panel for drum machines, mousepads, etc.

akai still has manuals for it. but you might find a free one online. the manual doesn't say much that the edit pages don't anyway.

if it were lost or stolen i'd be devastated because it's my only controller and only synth apart from a tx81z (which i hardly ever have the patience for). this is my main thing, other than drum machines. i don't know what else could compare.

This was my second ever synth/sampler purchase, (after my s-50 sampler) , and I bought it without a manual, but I had no problems using it. You basicly, just scroll through the digital parameters and tweak the slider until something grabs your attention - like all analog synths I guess! But this ones got buttons and an single LED display. It's a pretty easy synth to use, there aren't that many parameters. Basicly like a 'knob-less' Roland Juno 106, and the abbreviated parameter names use basic analog terminology. I bought it second hand so, I'm not sure how many of the origianl presets were left, but there were some really nice bass and organ sounds.

Has one VCO per note - 6 notes in poly mode, 3 in Dual and 1 in unison mode( duck for cover! :) . Unfornately, unlike most mono-synths, in mono-unison mode it doesn't have retrigged or legato playing action. Keyboard is a nice 6 octave range, but its a bit soft in action. It has an average chorus effect, just 2 settings, not quite in the Roland league, but its good for stereo'ing and fattening pads. Midi is standard, responds to velocity, mod and pitchbend, but no sys-ex, so patches have to be saved to tape or you can sample it! Just hit a key to load it back ! :) it worked on my s-550 at 15khtz sampling mode! Velocity can modulate the filter env modulation and/or the Vca. Pitch wheel can control pitch and filter, modulation can control lfo depth. No after touch here. The synth structure is quite good and can generate virtually all the classic sounds associated with analog synths. Real VCO, VCF and VCAs here, plus a good range of waveorms that have continously variable pulse widths (yes all waveforms, including the sawtooth), which negate the single vco limitation. FM of the filter is a welcome feature, plus two ADSR envelopes, and healthy choice of LFO waveforms (saw, squear, triangle and random). There is a filter input for the Akai x-7000 sampler, which I'd like to get working, but the socket is just a bit uncommon. Midi in/out/thru sockets, tape in/out and pedals on the back.

If you want a synth that can generate a great number of analog sounds, look here! This synth has warmth and character, though it lacks Juno type bass responce. But its awesome resonance means, for dub or jungle type bass sounds this synth is the no. 1 choice, which nobody knows about!! The VCOs drift, which sound really good in dual and unison, and absoulutly massive when the detune is poured on, fortunately it has an auto-tune button :) The velocity responsivess allows a bit of expression, but the fact the sounds drift organiclly, means it sounds really 'expressive ' . You can even get a very good MinMoog sound in dual and unsion mode with saw waveform, especially with solo-portamento on. The variably pulse width on the sawtooth wave allows and amazing moog like sound! As I said earlier the resonace on this filter tears ear drums :) at 50%, its already screaming near oscillation, but wack it up to 75% it self-oscillates and up at 100% watch your bass cones! All this means, clean sounds don't come out of this baby, its got a thick valve-like warm sound with a mettalic industrial edge, but the filter seems slightly overdriven, with a 303'ish squelch to it. The glide sounds like a moog too! Its good for Oxygene type fx and clangey ring-modulation type sounds via the filter FM, even analog percussion can be patched here. Compared to my JUno 106 and Super Jupiter, it sounds more vintage - part Oberheim SEM, Moog like:) And for screaming leads that can blow a guitarist off the stage this synth delivers. A drak horse if there ever was one!
I luv IT!

My machine has dust problems, some of the buttons get a bit iffy from dust. But apart from that - decent enough

Don't know really - have't had to fix anything - but I don't count on AKAI - since all they do is samplers theses days :)

Its my second purchase, and I still have it after 10 years! DX100 , cz101s and tb303, tr-909 and 808s have come and gone (DAmn! I sold my 303 for $100!) But for me its like moog modular, since I only have a Juno106, Yamaha Tx416 ( four dx-7s in a rack) Korg wavestation and a roland s-550 sampler plus some software synths on my PC and AMiga. I'm really into synthesis, and this keyboard delivers, but its not a love at first type of synth, you gotta dig itno the nook and crannys

The interface is very inconvenient for an analog synth, but it is not hard to use. You select a parameter you want to edit with the numeric keypad and then edit it using a data entry slider using the small but backlit lcd. You don't really need a manual to figure it out, and I heard its only 15 pages anyway. A setback is that it uses a tape interface to store patches other then the 100 which you can store in internal memory. The standard patches are bad because they don't sound like what they are supposed to sound , but you can't expect an analog synth to make a good piano sound anyway. However, this synth makes surprisingly good organ and brass sounds.

This is a 73 key vco analog synth with 1 vco per voice. In poly mode you have 6 note polyphony. You can set it in dual mode which will give you 2 vco's per voice but that will cut the polyphony to 3, and there is a unison mode which gives all 6 vco's at once. There is also a 24db lowpass filter, and a nonresonant highpass filter. There is a noise generator and an input for an akai sampler up to an s950. You get a choice of 4 waveforms saw, tri, square and saw+tri together. You also get pulse width modulation on all waveforms with an lfo dedicated to pulse width modulation. There are 2 ADSRs which can be routed to vco,vcf,or vca. The Envelopes can be negated. There is also a main lfo with saw up, saw down, tri, square, and random waveforms. The lfo can be assigned to vco,vcf,or vca. The keyboard is velocity sensetive, and you can use velocity to control the vcf in addition to the vca. The keyboard action is not very good since the keys are too springy and very resistive. there is a chorus with 2 settings. One very unique feature is that you can use the VCOs instead of the LFO to modulate filter cuttof. This creates very interesting nasal and metallic sounds. Also the filter self oscilates and you can crossmodulate it with the VCO's for simple 2 oscilator fm synthesis. This synth also has midi in out and thru. Also there is a transpose "on the fly" button.

For an analog synth the range of sound is surprisingly huge. You get good analog pads very fat basses and exellent leads. But you also get metallic dx-7 like sounds, good brass sounds, good organ sounds and some of the strangest soundfx you ever heard. This synth could work for many tipes of music but it would be best suited for rock, dance and possibly techno. It can also be a good synth for ambient music. The onboard chorus is decent. The keyboard reacts well to velocity but not very well to my playing because the keys are stiff.

I've only had it for 2 months, and haven't had any problems so far. It seems extremely reliable being built like a tank and made 95% from metal.

N/A

Its worth well over what I paid, since its almoust like a modular synth in a box. I love the sheer veriety of settings you can edit, this makes the synth very versetile and powerful. The only thing that bothers me is the lack of knobs and that it is 1 vco per voice and in dual mode polyphony is only 3. Some of its sounds actualy sound just like my dx7, which demonstrates the potential of this synth. If this synth was 2 vco per voice and had lots of knobs and sliders it would have been one of the best synths around. It uses chips similar to the Oberheims, sequential and memorymoog synths so you know it has great sound, and its oscilators do drift so it doesn't sound static like the dco synths. In my opinion it is an underrated undiscovered synth. I would buy it again, and I don't regret getting it instead of a juno 60 or korg polysix.