Akai VX-90

As far as I know, the software version is standard throughout the whole production run and was never updated officially by Akai.
Editing is a piece of cake: you find the parameter you need and then
either use the up/down buttons or the value slider. The manual is
quite thin and gives very little away. It expects you to know something of analogue programming.

It's a 6-voice job with 6-note polyphony in Poly mode, 3-note in
Dual mode and monophonic in Unison mode, the latter of which has
to be heard to be believed! It has a basic chorus unit which
helps the overall sound.

The MIDI side is quite basic but then it was released in 1985 when
MIDI itself was still finding its feet. In, Out and Thru ports are
provided.

Like I said, it's easy to programme so you get to what you want quite
quickly. It's also able to sound like other 'classic' analogues like
Prophet 5s and even the odd Minimoog impression. It has a good deal
of characteristic warmth. I'd say it would be suited to mostly
electronic musics including dance and electronic pop.

I've used it on both of these musics and even on more ambient stuff
and it sits well in the mix. It's a pretty good all-rounder. It
can handle velocity etc over MIDI with a good master keyboard.

I've had mine for nearly eighteen years from new and only had to
replace the internal battery once in that time. It's developed
a slight high-pitched whine so careful monitoring is important.

It's great at both really short, blippy sounds and more sustained
ambient pads and moods. It also has an unpredictable quality and
the detailed filter allows you to really accentuate certain frequancies to get close to the sound in your head.

The blippy sounds react well to being swept by the LFO so you can
get those sixteenths sequencer or arpeggiator lines: this is a great
synth if you're planning to do I Feel Love!

I've never gigged mine. That said, it's as tough as old boots.
In the days before I had a proper rackbox for my rack gear, I
had several units piled on top of the VX and, as it's made of
solid steel, it was well up to the job of holding its mates up!

It had a processor fault quite early in its life but since that
was replaced, it has worked superbly.

I gather that Akia UK are no more or rather their tech support department aren't around anymore but I always found them to be
helpful. It developed a processor fault about a year after I
had bought it but they duly turned it around in a few days.

If it were nicked, I would try to get another one but they're pretty
rare now! It has more than repaid the #200 I paid for it all those
years ago. At the time I had a very basic analogue setup including
a Korg Poly 800 mk 1, a Roland SH-101 and a Moog Rogue. The VX90
layered superbly with the Poly 800: they complement each other well.

With 100 memories aboard and no ROM presets, you've loads of room
to build up a library. Indeed, I've programmed mine to death over
eighteen years and still haven't filled up the memory!

It also layers well with my digital Kawai K4R. The VX is a very
analogue synth but is capable of huge versatility. By the way,
the oscillator has a reverse ramp waveform ( \ as opposed to / )
and this has the effect of 'triggering' itself so it runs like a
sequencer playing sixteenths when a key is pressed!

If you see one and it's in good condition, buy it.

Dunno what version I am using. The factory presets will give you a good laugh. A piano patch on a 6-voice analog machine...ultra cheezy. Editing is a breeze, altough there is only 1 data slider. The operating system is extremely clear, on the [for the time] rather large display. The manual is clear, but explains nothing about subtractive synthesis at all. If you know your basics it's a good reference.

Polyphony is 6, or 3 in dual mode [warm] and 1 in unisono mode [extremely fat!]. It is one of the earliest midi-modules, and it is equipped with midi-in, tru and out. The midi out is only used to send a 'tune-request'! The VX needs to be tuned [with a push on the auto-tune button] after power-up. This is a real analog synth, not a digitally controlled one! The built in chorus is quite noisy and not very useful. No further effects. The machine has 100 patch memories, so it doesn't need to be expanded :-) Well, you can also use an old AKAI sampler as a basic waveform! The VX90 responds to velocity, pitch bend and modulation. The pitchbender can also be used to control filter cutoff in realtime. Clever and useful. Patches cannot be edited via MIDI, but they can be backed-up to a tape recorder.

The sound of this one is hard to describe. It can be extremely fat in unisono mode, screaming leads, heavy basses..In Dual and Poly mode it's distinctive sound gets to the surface. It can be slightly metallic [fm-ish], and agressive but in a nice way! I'd say this is not the ideal dance-synth. It is more suited for rock and 80s stuff. Synth-brass and lead sounds are it's definite speciality. This one needs to be played, not sequenced!

Built like a rock. Heavy. Made entirely of steel! The buttons have a plasticky but convincing feel. Knobs are big and solid. These guys know what you need on stage and in a rack, you can plug in the output, and tape-in/out on the front also. Even the LCD-screen has its own 'contrast' button!

I sent an email to AKAI about the internal memory battery. Got one back within 15 minutes. Useful, and friendly. And that for a machine from 1986!

This is a machine with limitations. That is not a bad thing. If you like classic synth sounds, and it's not your only synth, you get loads of character for little money. It works easy, it sounds mean or sweet depending on how you program it. But six voices are six voices. You get what you pay for!

for a module it is easy as you have the parameters written on the
lighted Yellow LCD screen.
The cool feature here are the "Bank" knob that lets you enter t0 the 6 banks of
parameter editing.
If there were sliders though, I would give it a 10 !!!

Ok,
This is where the VX-90 made me say WOW !
It is a 6 voice REAL VCO's.

No Digital DCO or any other VA type of waveform but the real deal.

6 awsome drifting wet psycadelic warm acidic analog VCO's.

It has 2 ADSR's enevelopes for VCA and VCF with velocity,
Key track and modulation.

LFO section with 5 waveform including Randum,
that can drive almost anything on this synth ( VCO,VCA,VCF )

The filter VCF is so Grainy and Kinky that i had to scratch my head
few timed to realy believe it.
It can scream and shout almost crying when you push it to self oscilation.
Beatiful Sounding filter with a filter input for other synths.

The Synth has the ability to play with Dynamics from Midi,
and right there it kick the AX-60 to the corner...
I sold my AX-60 and kept the AX-80 after getting this synth.

If you own AX-60,
The VX-90 is by far an upgrade of the cool AX-60.

Wow again,
I realy thought that the Akai analog synth are nothing
till i actualy played with them.

The VX-90 is a Classic analog synth.
The sounds are realy up to you.
Since I own a very larg set-up with
all the Roland Jupiters/Oberheim/Moog/Korg/Yamaha etc
I can realy say that the VX-90 is a unique synth and I love
the "Grungy" sound it produce.
The fact that you can take any sound and use the "Dual" mode for
a 3 note poly but with a programmable detuning amount -
Makes it a superb acid machine.

If I had to play with it 10-15 years ago...
I would not be impressed by it's sound, as in the old days( 80's)
We realy wanted something different...Digital!
Well, Now that i have over 20 years experience with all kind of synths
I can realy appriciate the hidden power of this Gem.

I got anything from lush strings to a killer Bass
and it is only few days since I got it.

I love the difference of sound between the VX-90 and the AX-80.
They realy do complete each other, but this is another story.

The buit in presets are OK but you should realy use them as a starting point for editing.

Built like a tank.

N/A

Don't compare it to a Juno-106 at all.
I have the Juno and the Jupiters and I love them very much.
I realy hate when people compare them and using the "juno-killer"
statement.
The VX-90 is closer to the parameters of the JP-6 but it sounds different.
It has much more parameters than the Juno-106 such as:
2- ADSR's ,Velocity, VCO vs DCO, better modulation matrix.

The VX-90 is standing on it's own and with all the right arguments.

It is by far one of the coolest analog synth out there and came out in the wrong time
because it is analog it should have been released Today or in the early 80's !

I will never sell it as this is a true classic analog 3with a filter in
( I have few extra spare plugs that fit in the Filter input if you need ! )

The Vx-90 is number 1 on my list for the
"Hidden Poly Analog synth"

people just don't know the true value of this Gem !!!

If you find one ( they are realy rare) Buy it.