Technics WSA-1R

The weird third cousin of the synthesizer world! Mark this one off as a damn shame that Technics combined so many good ideas and quality with some really bone-headed ideas and implementation. I have the keyboard and rack-mount versions, which are identical except for the keyboard and a few of the performance controllers. SW version was the last released and is the same on both units (I bought both used from very different owners/locations). The pre-sets vary, as usual, from some surprisingly good to what-were-they-thinking gawdawful. As usual, a little bit of time and tweaking can really improve the lame pre-sets into something quite wonderful. As has been noted elsewhere, the drums are very good, the pianos MUST be tweaked, the organs are OK (but you probably have better elsewhere), and the brass and wind stuff can sound great - if slightly odd/unique - with tweaking. The pre-set pads, leads and bass only hint at the possibilities, and a little elbow work will give you great results. It will never go head to head with analog, VA or serious sample playback units, but it will give you sound timbres that are difficult or impossible on anything else. The beautiful - and large - blue LCD makes editing easy, once you get used to their logic flow. The only thing I couldn't immediately grasp was some of the midi features, so it was off to the manual, which is no better than some but beats the heck out of the usual Roland gibberish.

Polyphony is average, but I cannot conceive of anyone wanting to use this as a standalone or workstation, but for basic playing and sequencing I have not had any problems with note stealing, etc. The on-board effects are mediocre but serviceable, but the reverbs do suck. It sits well in a mix though, but does have some trouble cutting through dense (e.g., 5000 guitar tracks) mixes. For pads and backing material, it fits in very politely and sweetly, but leads and solos must be tweaked (and even helped by tweaking the mix) for them to cut through. It theoretically has a couple of expansion cards ( a dance/techno soundcard and one with more outputs), but these are rarer than an honest politician. The midi implementation is standard quality, with a few bonuses thrown in here or there. I have encountered a couple of bugs when fed dense midi streams (it locks up) but at least it craps out rather than slogs down like so many of the under-powered crap being pawned off on kiddies these days. I can't comment on the on-board sequencer since I use SW based systems for that chore.

OK. This is a truely unique synthesizer/rompler unit - there simply isn't anything that can match some of the WSA's sonic output due to its peculiar compromises between sample playback, synthesis, and a strange approch to physical modeling. The latter allows one to mix n match different "physically modeled" resonators to the on-board sample set. This is its greatest strength and most frustrating feature due to incomplete and poorly-thought out implementation. First strike: the basic sample set stinks by even Mirage or ESQ-1 standards, and Technics really missed a major opportunity by not allowing the user to sample or import samples into this beast! This feature alone would have vastly expanded the market for this unit. Second strike: the resonators "Physical modeling" is apparently simply a set of cleverly arranged delay lines with feedback. They work well for what they do, but the user has limited capability to tweak their inner workings. Despite these two serious shortcomings, you can get some nice stuff out of these limitations, but it could have been so much better with just a few more parts and a little more thought! Add a better fx section and Technics would have had the winner they dreamed of, and you'd probably already own....

Some of the pre-sets can be startlingly realistic. The Bandoleon fooled a pro accordion player, and the drums are very tastey. The pianos need some tweaking, but will give good results in a mix, but - as usual - would not suffice for solo performance stuff. I play in a band with an eclectic mix of rock, alternative and progressive rock, and the WSA1R gets limited recording duties. But it has exceled at atmospheric duties, and the drums and percussion have found their way onto my solo ambient and prog stuff. I don't see the WSA1R of use to the dance/house/techno/etc. crowd as it's just too digital and polite. I generally don't use the on-board fx much anymore as I have much better outboard (Lexicon) and SW fx to treat the WSA's output. Unfortunately, the racked unit is too far away to make any use of the rollerball controller (which was kinda a strange thing to put on the front of a rack unit anyway!), but it responds well to the Yamaha W-5 I use as a controller.

One sound area I love this box for it etherial pads. By playing with matches between the samples and the resonators, one can get a lot of very filmy, breathy, and tuned noise -like sonic tapestries that sound great. I can get close to the WSA1R pads with my Korg Z1 (osc=comb or cross-mod), but there is a special sheen out of the WSA - sometimes can be both digital and warm at the same time!

Built like a tank. I have used the keyboard version without backup live (it was replaced by a Kawai K5000S). I'll leave both WSAs back in the studio for now given their age, difficulty of replacing, and absolute zero support from Technics.

None whatsoever. Technics will barely even admit they ever heard of it! There's a few user web sites out there that are useful, but you're prety much on your own here. It's a total shame Technics simply ran and hid after their experience with trying to enter the pro market with the WSA, rather than learn their lessons, take their lumps, and then come out with a next generation version (that can sample and allow resonator advanced tweaking plus mosulation of everything!). They'd be a player then rather than a niche supplier they are now.....

I don't know if I'd bother replacing the WSA1R if stolen. While a neat little orphan with unique (if half-assed) sound-generating capabilities, I can do most of the pad stuff with the Z1 and most everything else has great drum sounds these days. I'd probably keep an eye out for the rare occurance one pops up on the For Sale sites (seems to be a lot of them coming out of Canada) for a replacement, but it would be lower priority.

I have been playing ~20 years, mostly rock, prog rock, etc. My live rig is a Yamaha EX-5 and W-5, with the K5000S and Z1. My classic studio gear stuff includes a lot of older Yamaha (SK & CS series), Korg (800DV & M500SP), Memorymoog and Ensoniq (TS-12) keyboards, plus a bunch of Emu and Yamaha rack units. One of my hobbies is restoring and modifying older synthesizers, and I am currently designing the mother of all analog modular synths to build "someday".

The WSA1 & WSA1R are frustrating in implementation, yet quite solid in operation, and can serve up both polite bread n butter sounds that sets well in the mix, and unique whispery, throaty, etherial sounds on command. It is a lot of fun to tweak, and not nearly as difficult as any FM or additive synthesizer (or even my Z1). It is an orphan, and this is more than most people want to deal with - you are quite on your own unless you tie into the few users out there on the web (many seem to be in Germany).

If you get a chance to play with one of these, try it out. It will surprise you...

The display is great to use and seems to be standing up to use better than I expected. Generally the editing is... "weird", not always intuitive by any means (but not as bad as a DX7). Some of the parameters are badly scaled - doing nothing over most of their range, then making enormous changes in a few steps. The editing experience is not too traumatic but there are some weird inconsistencies in the way the software goes about similar operations in different contexts.

The manual is adequate, could be a lot better, but I've seen worse. The presets sound average, but the instrument is capable of so much more that this means the presets are actually terrible (see later).

The WSA was very expensive when originally released, due to giving 64 note polyphonic "acoustic modelling". In that context it's quality is quite disappointing in some ways - probably because it was Technics first foray into hi-tech.

In particular the reverbs are disgusting - had I paid full price it would have been shipped straight back for that alone. And for a module which claims to model organs the Leslie effect is unconvincing. The range of effects is OK, though, with plenty of control parameters. I now use a Quadraverb 2 for the reverb, using the auxilliary outputs of the WSA as a send.

The voice editing capabilities are wonderful in general, with a few really annoying limitations.

The WSA gets some criticism for not being true physical modelling. Whilst it is not as "true" as my Korg Prophecy it IS 64 note polyphonic AND allows much more creative use of modelling: matching up different drivers and resonators.

This is why the preset sounds are such a disappointment - they don't make full use of these creative capabilities. Take the piano preset: edit it to have three strings per note and it *really* comes to life - and still manages 21 note polyphony. I made a great Mellotron string patch using Plate resonators.

There are also plenty of opportunites for introducing motion and expression into the sounds. It's the only machine I've used which comes close to my Korg Wavestation for interesting ambient patches - and it's so much easier to edit! Some sounds suffer in quality over certain pitch ranges and you have to learn to avoid them, but I've yet to find an instrument where that isn't true. The overall sound is clear but tends not to have the warmth of, say, the Wavestation - but that's what makes them such great partners, for my purposes.

There are certain bugs in the software which cause it to hang - like trying to change drawbar settings in the organ model whilst holding a note (as you would!). These bugs are few and predictable and you just learn to avoid them. Apart from that I've heard the timing can be a bit iffy on complex rhythmic tracks, but as that's not how I use the WSA I can't comment. Physically it seems to be better-made than I originally expected, but not as bomb-proof as the original asking price would have led me to expect.

Customer support: none. Zip. Zero. Nada. Nuttin'. Bugger all.

I would hate to lose my WSA. There is nothing else which allows you to mix and match different acoustic model elements in such a creative way. And the display is a great help for editing - which is just as well as there are no PC editors, that I know of.

I just wish it had been made by Korg - better support, better manuals, better effects. Did I mention I like Korg?

Manual is fairly useless. Best just leave it in the box and start playing.
The Menus lack consistancy and sometimes the same menu item appears on
two screens. My main complaint is that in Multi mode you can only edit
the program that is assigned to the lowest channel. Quite annoying if like me, you
like to tweak your sounds while the sequence is running. On the plus side, huge screen
that lights up the whole studio and lotsa buttons to press!

No seq on the rack. Superb tweakable effects though, plus a bonus IN/OUT/THRU.
Lots of expantion options. Cant imagine where one could buy them though.

Superb "real" sounds, like brass, piano. It has a hammond style "drawbar" menu
for organ sounds. Highly adictive. Abstract sounds can be layered with
4 "oscilators" each with its own filter setting. Personally I think the
sounds are incredible/lots of character, but tends to sound digital at the
low end of the sound spectrum.

A couple of software glitches rear their ugly heads very very occasionally.
I have had stuck notes once in a while, and once or twice the patches have changed
for no particular reason.
Generaly no problems though.

Muhahahah
Technics:- We don't support that anymore.

If it were stolen, I would learn to live without it just cos there aint that many about. I have played for 10 years now.
I love the flexibility, sounds and the effects. I hate the software, it looks like
30 different people were given a menu each to write.
I have a Korg Karma, and a EMU ESI32 Sampler. Pretty minimal these days..
It provides fantastic pads, textures and fillers, with a QUALITY feel to them.

For 400 Notes can't complain. Thats about 1/2 as much as a Jupiter6...
and how much can THAT do!!!

First I thought without a PC editor it would be horror to edit the sounds, but that's wrong. The very well layed out menu structure and the display make sounddesign easy and real fun. Only thing I never found out is why the rotary effect speed does not care about the setting, but maybe that's a bug. Manual? Never used it, this synth is pretty selfexplaining.

The strong point is the sample-based physical modelling. The "realtime controller" dial allows to tweak 4 parameters of the sound at once, cool. Effects, hmm, standard I'd say. But they can be very effectively used to form the sound, not just in the common way of using effects. The filters are brave but useful still.

Generally the WSA sounds everything but warm. In fact it sounds *very* digital, cold and thin. But I like the pianos, guitars and percussions, combined with the physcial modelling stuff they sound either (somewhat) realistic or totally weird and interesting. Great evolving pads are no problem either. I bought this synth because it's said to be able to produce unusual sounds never heard of another synth. And that's true. That's why I rate 9 here. I didn't rate 10 because of the poor audio quality of the samples. Very short (and audible) loops mostly, many samples sound like if been taken from the 2 MB GM set of my old AWE64. That's why you *have* to tweak the sounds and the strong point of the WSA are weird sounds. A must for industrialists.

Everything works fine, bought mine 2nd hand 2 months ago.

No contact yet.

I'm in love with this synth. It's kind of a weird synth because with "normal" sounds it may sound like crap but it shines at unusual sounds and noises. Inspiring. It's an endless goldmine, totally underestimated. If I'd have to give a lesson at sound design with a ROMpler I'd choose the WSA - editing is sooo straight forward and everything is where you expect it to be. Yes, I'd buy it again.
I whish the damn jog dial could be used to browse through the sounds instead of entering a sound group and then choosing the sound in a second step. The display makes it an eyecatcher.

Very large LCD display helps alot. Very easy to view and edit your envelopes. Not many modulation sources or destinations are available. The numeric keys on the right hand side don't seem to do anything. The dial is big and easy to use. Many parameters available in the effects section. Can be a bit confusing at first, but relatively easy to use.

The Wsa1r is a 3U rackmount finished in studio black. It can be used as a typical workstation with 64 note polyphony, 32 midi channels. This alone makes it perfect for people who like to use general midi to make demos for cakewalk. However that is by no means why I bought it. I bought it because it uses a unique form of synthesis which Technics calls Acoustic modeling synthesis. It uses a very basic sampled waveform as its driver, and then uses a modeling algorithm to simulate the characteristics of acoustic resonators. Its' effects section is decent, although the reverbs are just slightly better than garbage. There is an output, as well as a waveform expansion board. I've found the output expansion but it is much to expensive. The waveform expansion is nowhere to be found though.

Expresiveness is where the Wsa1r shines! Nothing really sounds like the real instrument but rather weird hybrids. You can change the resonator properties to simulate that of strings, cones, flares, plates and drums. The plates, drums, and cones are the most interesting as they can turn any instrument into wacky percussion. It's a really cool way of getting those John Cage prepared piano sounds. All the source samples are weak, but in most cases its the resonators that make the sound. Had their been a way to import your own samples, even some minor amount like one mb, then this would truly be a monster of a synth. This machine doesn't sound analog, or FM, or like traditional sampling instruments. It's sound is quite unique and only sounds "good" if you just experiment and screw around with it. Great for weird sounds.

Had it for a year, only a couple glitches.

I've never personaly dealt with Technics, but they seem to deny the Wsa1r's existence. They have no support for it whatsoever. I guess it's the price you pay for such a powerful instrument at such a reduced price.

On a couple impulsive occasions, I have considered selling this machine, only because I wanted to buy something bigger and more powerful, like a Kurzweil. But whenever I sat back down and programmed something, I realized it was still capable of intricate, interesting sounds. It fits in nicely with my other synths, which are a Korg Prophecy, and a Yamaha TG 77. It compliments both of these synths, and there is no redundency or overlap of sounds between the three. I would never had bought the Wsa1r for it's original price, which was about four times more than I paid. For the money it's a good synth, with lots of polyphony, and a capability for interesting variations of the bread and butter sounds.

I bought this rack mounted module when the price in the UK was slashed to less than a third of the original price.
Editing voices is not easy. It is not always clear how to go 'back' in the menu structure. Navigation is not consistent. The manual explains only the most basic operations.

Even if the machine is somewhat limited in its strengths (see below), the 64-voice polyphony will come in handy.
Most of the built-in effects are good, but the reverb sounds thin and cheap, although some editing will improve this somewhat.
The machine can be expanded with an optional voice board, but I haven't seen this anywhere. Are they still available?

This is an odd beast. Synth pads are great - I consider keeping this instrument as a dedicated synth strings unit! Most acoustic sounds are ok. The pianos are quite embarrassing.
The synthesis engine is sample based. These samples are fed through 'resonaters'. The effect is that you can supposedly change the size and shape of the body, and fitting of strings or mouthpiece of the simulated acoustic instrument. The bad news is that in practice, this form of 'acoustic modeling' is not very convincing. The good news is that it allows you to create some strange unearthly noises which are quite unique to this form of synthesis.
Filters are good as far as digital filters go.
Note: there is no portamento!

Still working.

Never got a reply to my email asking about the portamento feature.

I was expecting a lot more from a machine which entered the market at around 2000 UKP ($3000).
Although this machine is marketed as a 'workstation' I would not recommend to buy this if it is going to be the central instrument in your set-up. As a 'fill-in' instrument, a source of additional polyphony, and at this price level, it is good.
I don't think I would buy it again.