I have been enjoying my music studio for years now, occasionally acquiring gear that comes across my path. Over time there are pieces that I no longer use and because I haven’t taken the time to recycle those items my sustainability karma has been diving. It’s that time, time to take the gear I’m not longer using and get it into other musician’s studios so they can be loved once more, and I can feel good about staying sustainable in my hobby.

Below is a list of gear I’m going to be parting with and its current condition. There are a couple items that may need a little maintenance and in those cases let’s talk about options as I likely can help out for a nominal fee or you can do it yourself.

I’m totally into trading gear. I’m mainly into synthesizers, drum machines and efx. Note that I don’t have anything priced, I figure for trades we can figure out what each other’s gear is generally worth and then come to a fair deal. For purchases my goal is to get you a good deal, something we both can feel good about. I prefer local transactions, but if the offer is good enough I will consider shipping. I’ll update this page when items are sold.

Here is the list, scroll down for details on each including pictures. Feel free to ask any questions, you probably got this link with my phone number; but if not then you can email dave@.

• Midas Venice F32 Console Mixer
• RME Fireface 800 computer interface
• Vintage Sequential Circuits Prophet VS synthesizer
• Aural Research Facilities unique modular synthesizer
• Roland Super JX-10 synthesizer with PG-800, M-64C, and Vecoven firmware upgrade
• Roland JX-8P synthesizer
• Vintage Korg X-911 Guitar pedal synthesizer with filter mod
• Vintage Roland OP-8 interface
• Yamaha DX7II-FD synthesizer
• Roland HS-60 Synth Plus aka “Juno-106 home model” synthesizer
• Korg TR-Rack synthesizer module
• Kawai K4 61-key digital synthesizer
• Yamaha CS-2X digital synthesizer
• Rane C4 analog compressor module
• Alesis S16 drum machine
• Kurzweil K2600 88-key synthesizer
• Behringer Virtualizer Pro module
• Behringer DDM4000 DJ mixer

Midas Venice F32 32-Channel/8-Group Console Mixer

This is the last line of console mixers that Midas created before Music Tribe purchased the company and changed them into the Behringer brand. It is an amazing mixer, likely one that I will regret getting rid of, I really love it! Quite simply it is too big for the new studio setup, I needed the desk space. My loss is your gain, but be warned I might cry. The EQs are lovely and very dynamic. I won’t go into all the features as others have done that well, here is a great Sound on Sound article on its features. https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/midas-venice-f32

The mixer is in perfect working condition and near new cosmetic condition. I bought it new and it has only been used in my non-smoking studio, with the included dust cover used while not in use. I will include a long firewire cable, and if you need the MacBook Thunderbolt Firewire Adapter (which are hard to find) I will include it. I have the original packaging and minimal manual.

RME Fireface 800 Audio Interface

What an amazing audio interface! It has served me very well both in my studio and taking it to friend’s houses where we could record our jams and sessions. It is in perfect functional condition and cosmetically is excellent as well, just a small amount of tape residue and some minor scratches on the top/bottom. It comes with a power cable, FW800 cable, rack ears/screws, original manual and CD. You can research all the details at RME’s website. https://archiv.rme-audio.de/en/products/fireface_800.php

Sequential Circuits Prophet VS

This is about as excellent condition of this American classic synthesizer as you will find. Vintage and cherry, fully functional, investment quality. I tested the velocity and aftertouch by recording into my DAW, and have included those results below too. What an amazing synth. I have an extra modern screen upgrade for it too, but it hasn’t been installed. I have it stored in a hard case which you are welcome to have with it. I definitely would welcome trades.

Here is a review of this classic vintage synth from Sound on Sound: https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/sequential-prophet-vs-retrozone

Aural Research Facilities. Ernie. One-of-a-kind Modular.

You’ll need to rewind your brain (if possible) to the days before the Eurorack modular renaissance to fully understand this synth. The story behind it was a DIY synth enthusiast from Winnipeg named Ric Miller decided to make his own modular synth company (note he since changed his name to Ryk Thekreator, which you can use to find him online). I knew of his company thru the Analogue Heaven mailing list community from the mid-90s. His company specialized in rack mount synth modules using the banana cable system. In 1998 he decided to sell his prototype modular synth called Ernie & Bert, there were two of us that were interested and he offered to split it between the two us. My half was “Ernie”.

I used this synth mainly for drones and some basslines. I hooked it between other modulars I had, the original Fenix, Steiner Synthasystem, Arp 2600, Korg MS series, etc. If sequenced, I’d use the Arp Sequencer. I have not used it in years, I’m currently going through it and verifying all modules are fully functional; note there are a couple modules, since this was a prototype, that are not fully functional and even one faceplate that is just a facade. If you’d like to go through the synth with me then I’m totally up for that.

Note this is a unique modular synth, hand-made and labelled, and has quite a character. The design was 19″ rackmount standard, with multiple U depth depending on the functionality. It uses banana jacks which was common for modulars of that era. Since it was a prototype, he often put several modules together on the same panel that would not have occurred in his official modules. The knobs are mostly on the left side of the panel with the jacks on the right; which made for clean patching. I have ample patch cords of various lengths that will come with the unit. I currently have the modular in two custom built 19″ boxes, which I’d like to keep but if you really want them we can negotiate them into the deal. Comes with email documentation between myself and Ric, details of the sale of Bert & Ernie as well as a 1992 price catalog.

In summary, Ernie includes the following 35+ modules:

• 3 VCOs
• White Noise
• 2 VCFs
• 5 VCAs
• 2 Audio Mixers, 3-Channel and 5-Channel
• Waveshaper
• Wavesplitter
• Timber Modulator
• Ring Modulator
• 3 ADSR
• 1 AR (for filter)
• 2 AD
• 3 LFO
• Retrig LFO
• VCLFO
• Dis Integrator
• 2 Portamento
• Comparater, Differencer, Rectifier
• Mults
• 4 PAiA BPF Drums
• Bass Drum
• Snare Drum

Here is my current arrangement of modules within two cabinets.

Here are the modules one by one. Many panels have multiple modules together. I tried to include information from the website and emails whenever I found them; likely there is more information I missed, and sometimes the version numbers didn’t match up so I wasn’t sure if his description was what in here, so I left some information out.

ARF VCO v6.20.3340 (Curtis CEM3340 chip) – Octave select switch; dual PW/PWM waveforms; Linear FM; +/- Sync; Positive and negative waveform halves, switching; Sine, Triangle, Saw and Pulse waveforms. SIZE 2U

ARF Dual-VCO v5.50.3340 (Curtis CEM3340 chips) – Saw, pulse & triangle waveforms; 1 CV In with amount control; 1CV In without; PWM amount control on one of the VCOs only. The other one is non-attenuated; SIZE 1U

ARF VCO Mixer v1.00 and VCA 2.00.1537 – 3-channel audio mixer with separate VCA

ARF Ring Modulator v1.00 with separate External Input Amplifier V1.20

ARF VC WaveSplitter v1.40 with Timber Modulator #1 v1.22 – I have some extra knobs that we can replace the 3 that are broken/missing.

Uses a Full Wave rectifier and inverter to split a waveform into Upper and Lower halves. Each half can then be used as is, or extracted for external processing and returned, to be rectified yet again, and extracted again and returned and mixed with the originally input signal for final output. Manual and VC Offset are the main effect. Makes Sine and Triangles very bright sounding. Very different from every other Timber Modulator that I’ve built. The Timber Modulator is used to VCably and manually control the amplitudes of the Positive and Negative halves of the input voltage. Sound really cool!

ARF Triple LFO v1.40 with Dis Integrator v2.02 (blue LEDs) – Variable waveshape control; separate square and triangle outputs. Frequency range is roughly 0.01hz to 30hz (as of Winter 1997).

ARF VCF v2.00.2044 (SSM2044) 4 Pole Low Pass Filter with VC Resonance

ARF VCF v3.02 Discrete 2 Pole LPF/HPF/BPF with AR Envelope Generator, Blue LED and Multiples

ARF Quad VCA v1.22 (two with banana, two with 1/4″ outputs) – I have an extra CV jack that we can use to replace the broken CV2 input. Note that Ric labelled this v1.40 on the module but v1.22 on Analogue Heaven posting. Note sure which it is, or what the difference would have been?

ARF ADSR Envelope Generator 1.40 (with blue LED)

ARF ADSR Envelope Generator 1.85 (with blue LED)

ARF ADSR Envelope Generator 1.45

ARF Dual AD Envelope Generator v1.22 (blue and green LEDs) – Added the 3K9 resistor between NOR gate output and 2 diodes, as recommended by Barry Klein. (This module was published in Bernie Hutchin’s Electronotes and Barry’s book, without this resistor). Adding this resistor STOPS the AD EG from hanging, after having received a repeated # of Triggers. Causes of this EG HANGING on Peak Voltage Output, are: 1) NOT having the 3K9 resistor between the NOR Gate Output and the 2 diodes or having a values LESS than 3K9 2) Feeding Negative Voltages as Triggers to the EG.

ARF VCLFO v4.00 – Triangle / Square LFO with 2 cv. This one should be tested, some of the documentation says it didn’t work as intended…which is… Triangle/Square LFO with 2 CV attenable inputs for controlling speed. Individual Triangle and Square outputs with attenuation, as well as manual control over waveshape.

ARF Sine to 1/2-Sine Waveshaper; Digital White Noise; Comparator / Differencer / Full Wave Rectifier – Full wave rectifier invers all negative portions of a waveform and places them in the positive selection as well as allowing the output voltage to be centered/uncentered with a manual offset voltage.

ARF Quad PAiA Drum; RLFO; 5 channel audio mixer – These are simple bandpass filters or “Drum Voices” from PAiA, that work REALLLY well when mixed with an SSM2044 filter, to produce various drum sounds. RLFO – Retriggerable LFO / AD Envelope Generator. Manual control of Attack and Decay times, and Retriggering, or Trigger input.

ARF Power Supply 1.5A

ARF Bass Drum / Snare Drum (with blue LED)

ARF Multiples – The ins are wired to the outs for each of the 9 columns.

ARF Dual Portamento and 1/8″ Multiples – note that the Keyboard Split module is not functional—all the wires are cut and no PCB exists for this part of the panel.

Roland Super JX-10 with PG-800 and Vecoven firmware update

A massive sound from the late 80s, the JX-10 was the flagship synth for Roland at this time. It was basically two JX-8Ps with some upgrades. This one is in great functional and near perfect cosmetic condition with the Vecoven firmware upgrade to provide many more features (see below). Included are the M-64C patches backup cart, two PG-800 connection cables, power cable and original manual.

Here are the details of the Vecoven firmware upgrade. I did not install the PWM mod as it was a significant amount of surgery to the synthesizer. I have a blog post for this upgrade that I did: https://davealex.com/howto/obliq-museum-roland-super-jx-10-restoration/

Here are the added features from the Vecoven website: https://www.vecoven.com/superjx/superjx.html

New features

In a nutshell, the rewrite provides :
New midi implementation

• each parameter is now OFF/RECV/SEND/ON, allowing fine control of what gets sent and what is filtered.
• sysex support : allow edition of patch, tone A and tone B individually. (No need for M64 cartridge)
• midi cc support : allow edition of all tone parameters (each tone separately or both tones) with midi cc.
• fast bulk dump/load : 4-5 seconds to dump everything. Can dump to/from cartridge and internal memory.
• edition of parameters (patch and tones) sends sysex, so all editions can be sequenced. PG800 is also supported here, so editions made from the PG800 can also be sequenced.
• copy from/to cartridge to create a full backup of the internal memory (all settings are now copied to the cartridge or restored from it)

Controls C1 and C2 enhancements

• any tone parameter (from tone-A, tone-B or both at the same time) can be assigned to C1 or C2
• any arpeggiator parameter can be assigned to C1 or C2
• C1 and C2 can be used, in tone edit mode, to modify upper/lower tone parameter. This allows quick editing of tones for those who don’t have a PG800.
• C1 or C2 ban be used to simulate aftertouch.

Arpeggiator (JX10 and now MKS70)

• 8 arpeggiators “patches”
• internal or external synchronization
• supports up, down up/down, played and random notes ordering
• various arpeggio types
• velocity setting (fixed or played)
• note duration (1-15 or legato)
• use lower split point to control which notes are arpeggiated
• Demo on youtube (beta version)

Chord mode

• On JX10, chord mode has been added.

PG800 and mini-PG800 support
New display options

• control whether updates from sysex, pg800 or controllers are displayed temporarily on-screen

Compatibility mode

• allows to disable new features for full compatibility with old software (for example, sysex changes made to tone A can be redirected to the currently selected tone, etc…)

Test modes

• test hardware controllers (voices, A/D controllers (aftertouch, bender, C1/C2), keyboard)
• test memory chips

Roland JX-8P Keyboard

The JX-8P is in good shape cosmetically and perfect functional shape. There is wear on the unit (see photos). Included is the original manual and power cable. I have tested the aftertouch by recording into my DAW and that looks great.

Korg X-911 Guitar Pedal Synthesizer with Filter Mod

Back in the 70’s guitarists got jealous of some of the utilities and features that synths had, so in 1980 Korg released the X-911 aimed at the creative guitarist adding stuff like envelope generators, analog filtering, portamento, distortion and general synth sounds!

The X-911 is divided into two general sections, the “Instrument” and “Synthe” with a balance slider used to mix the balance of the two. The Instrument section contained some traditional preset sounds like Electric Bass, Tuba, Trumpet, etc. The Synthe section had more traditional synthesizer sound creation tools such as waveforms, analog filter, and envelope generator.

Korg added many I/O control features as seen on the front and back of the unit, CV/Trigger input/output, FM input, VCF input, etc. Quite useful for interfacing with other gear.

This unit is fully functional and includes a modification that adds adjustable resonance to the analog low-pass filter. There are some scratches on the unit (some have been painted) but for 44+ years old is in good shape. See pictures. I have a photocopied manual that comes with it.

This is a fun vintage addition to your guitar rig. Or, you could use it to interface between guitars and other vintage synthesizers. Or, it does some crazy things when you pump a drum machine or other sound sources through it.

Roland OP-8 Vintage CV/Gate Input Module

This vintage Roland OP-8 from the early 1980s was used to connect the Jupiter 8 or Juno 60 into the MC-4 sequencer. This unit is in very good cosmetic condition. See pictures. There are a few fingernail looking scuffs on the front panel (see diagonal near CV In4-Gate In3-VCF CV jacks and above Transpose switch), there are two small screw holes on the left top faux wooden panel and some small scuffs on one side. There is a missing screw on the bottom and a very slight imbalance when placed on a flat surface (likely can be remedied by adding a washer under one of the feet). The power cord is not tight within the grommet.

Functionally, I don’t have a way to verify it works as intended, it is being sold as-is. I did some tests and I’m happy to answer your questions, if I can. I plugged in a Keystep keyboard’s Gate output into each of the Gate Inputs 1-8 and the red LED illuminated. For testing the multis, I again used the Keystep’s Gate output to thru each of the Multis to the Gate Input and verified the LEDs illuminated going thru the multis. That’s all I could figure out how to test.

Yamaha DX7II-FD synthesizer

Roland Synth Plus 60, the “Juno-106 home version” synthesizer

Roland sold a series of mid-80s analog synthesizers that had built in speakers intended for home use, for example learning how to play keyboards in school. The replaced the bright colors with a more monochromatic look and feel and added the internal speakers. Functionality was the same.

This synthesizer is in great condition. There is one functional issue, which I believe is common for this synth. I noticed why it was turned on for a while that there was a slightly audible crackle. Upon testing further it appears that at least of the oscillators is suffering from a well known issue with some ICs. For years these were hard to come by, but several manufacturers have recreated these chips and are selling them, so the fix is readily available and fairly inexpensive.

If you want, for a nominal fee I can help you obtain and then install those chips for you, it takes a couple of hours and some soldering on the board(s). The crackle sound may not bother you either, so you may decide not to get it repaired. The only other issues is Keyboard Kastle logo is screened on the front of the unit, they did a good job, it seems like it should be there. That was a music store out of Nebraska I believe.

Korg TR-Rack synthesizer module

The Korg Trinity is a wonderful pads synthesizer, among many other styles I’m sure, but I used it mainly for pads. This provided pads for many of our albums, and several of the presets are still in it for you to enjoy! This is my last Korg Trinity and we’re finally saying our farewells!

The unit is 100% functional and in very nice cosmetic condition, a few scratches on the top of the unit from racking. There is a slight bit of tape residue on the front and top/bottom of the unit that can be cleaned with some good ole elbow grease if it bothers you. Included is the power cable and manuals. I have some digital files of presets for the Trinity (assuming they work on the TR-Rack too?) if you are interested, you will need to provide the USB drive.

Kawai K4 61-Key Synthesizer

1989 Kawai K4 61-key polyphonic synthesizer with power supply.

All keys are working including velocity and aftertouch. All the buttons work, a couple require a harder press to engage. There are scratches on the plastic but generally the synth is in good condition.

The synth is full of usable presets and contains drums, or if you’re into sound design you can create some crazy sounds. It is light-weight yet sturdy and great for performance.

Yamaha CS-2X digital synthesizer

The synth came to me with all the knobs missing. It’s plastic has been repaired likely due to a drop. Everything is fully functional and I bought some knobs that look great, the main cosmetic issue is the cracks in the plastic that have been repaired.

Rane C4 Analog Compressor with Side Chain, EQ, Limiter

In great condition. Includes the power cable.

From the manufacturer’s brochure…
• Independent Compressor / Dynamic EQ / Limiter per channel.
• Relative-threshold Dynamic EQ remains calibrated for all levels.
• Auto mode for fast setup of Attack and Release.
• External side-chain with balanced / unbalanced ¼” TRS input.
• Side-chain includes a parametric EQ with Compress, Dynamic EQ
and Listen modes.
• Adjustable soft or hard knee compression.
• Independent Metering: Side-chain level, Threshold indicator,
Gain reduction and Limiter headroom.
• Stereo Link between channels 1 and 2 or 3 and 4.
• XLR and ¼” TRS input/output connectors.

Behringer Virtualize Pro DSP2024P Effects Processor

Nice sounding multi-effects rack unit, includes MIDI control for automation! The selector knob has been replaced from the original, continues to be fully functional.

Vintage PAiA 9205 Dual Compressor

PAiA was a DIY kit company from the 80s and 90s. This I believe was a kit from the early 1990s. Here is some information I found from an early 90s brochure on Archive.org. The power supply is included.

Dual Compressor 

A compressor is the most important, but most often overlooked tool 
in any studio. They're essential when recording real-world acoustic 
instruments, particularly human voice, where they guarantee the maxi- 
mum possible signal level to the tape without worrying about overloading. 

Our Dual Compressor is two independent compressor circuits in one package. Its 
specifications are as good as compressors get. Based on the SSM2120 Dynamic Range 
Processor IC, it features better than 90dB Signal to Noise ratio and an incredible lOOdB dynamic range with only .01% distortion at +10dB input. Requires +/- 15v @ 50mA power supply such as the BPS-15. 

Alesis SR-16 Drum Machine

16-bit digital drum machine. Includes box, manual and other documentation, and power supply.

Kurzweil K2600 Synthesizer

Behringer DDM4000 DJ Mixer

This is a full featured mixer with effects and MIDI sync capabilities. There was a sporadic issue with the crossfader and I aired and used contact cleaner on the crossfader and the issue has not come back; you may want to replace the crossfader if using in a professional setup. I have been using this for many years in my main listening room without an issue; I recently upgraded to a smaller, simpler mixer.

There is some tape residue along to top and right side of the mixer, if that bothers you it can be safely removed. Otherwise in great condition.