View source for Akai AX80

{{Short description|Analogue synthesizer}}
{{Infobox synthesizer
| image  	= AKAI AX80.jpg
| image_caption = Akai AX80
| synth_name  	=  AX80
| synth_manufacturer = [[Akai]]
| synthesis_type = [[Analog synthesizer|Analogue]] [[Subtractive synthesis|subtractive]]
| polyphony  	= 8 voices
| timbrality  	= 1 sound
| oscillator  	= 2 DCOs plus sub-oscillator per voice<ref name="ServiceManuals1985-Section3"/>
| keyboard  	= 61 keys, velocity sensing
| filter  	= 24 dB/octave resonant lowpass; highpass
| lfo		= 4 (2 oscillator pitch, one filter, one pulse-width)
| left_control  = pitch & modulation wheels
| ext_control  	= [[MIDI]], sustain pedal, program footswitch
| dates  	= 1984
}}
[[File:AKAI AX80 (small).jpg|right|thumb|Akai AX80 synthesizer|300px]]
The '''AX80''' is a [[Polyphony (instrument)|polyphonic]] [[Analog synthesizer|analogue keyboard synthesizer]] manufactured by [[Akai#Akai Professional|Akai Professional]] in 1984.<ref name=akaipromi-prod>
{{cite web
 |title=Akai Professional / Akai Digital - Product History 
 |url=http://www.hollowsun.com/gagnon/about/prod_hist.html 
 |publisher=Akai Professional M.I. Corp. 
 |year=1999–2005 
 |url-status=dead 
 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120130202811/http://www.hollowsun.com/gagnon/about/prod_hist.html 
 |archivedate=2012-01-30 
}} (archived on HollowSun.com)</ref> It was Akai's first venture into the professional [[electronic musical instrument]] market. The AX80 used [[digitally controlled oscillator]]s (DCO)<ref name="ServiceManuals1985-Section3">
{{harvnb|Akai AX80 Service Manuals|1985}}
* AX80 CPU Block Diagram (No.2-1 850321A), p.[https://archive.org/stream/AkaiAX80ServiceManual/Akai%20AX80%20Service%20Manual#page/n34/mode/2up 2]
* AX80 CPU Schematic Diagram (No.6-5 850313A), p.[https://archive.org/stream/AkaiAX80ServiceManual/Akai%20AX80%20Service%20Manual#page/n46/mode/2up 12] — DCOs consisting of a master oscillator, octave dividers, frequency table ROM, and 16 set of programmable counters (for 2OSCs×8voices), are implemented on digital domain.
* AX80 Voice Block Diagram (No.2-2 850322A), p.[https://archive.org/stream/AkaiAX80ServiceManual/Akai%20AX80%20Service%20Manual#page/n35/mode/2up 3]
* AX80 Voice Schematic Diagram (No.6-6 850314A), p.[https://archive.org/stream/AkaiAX80ServiceManual/Akai%20AX80%20Service%20Manual#page/n43/mode/2up 14] — instead of VCOs, 16 set of Waveshapers with CV input (= charge voltage for controlling the slope of sawtooth waveshape) are implemented on analog domain.
</ref><ref name=akaipromi>
{{cite web
 |title=Akai Professional AX80
 |url=http://www.hollowsun.com/gagnon/products/archive/ax80/index.html
 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130728095650/http://www.hollowsun.com/gagnon/products/archive/ax80/index.html
 |url-status=dead
 |archive-date=2013-07-28
 |publisher=AKAI Professional M.I. Corp.
 |year=1999–2005
 |quote=The oscillators were analogue but were 'digitally controlled' for better pitch stability and tracking.}}<br/>
Note: [http://www.gordonreid.co.uk/vintage/akai_ax80.html Gordon Reid 1996] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002060119/http://www.gordonreid.co.uk/vintage/akai_ax80.html |date=2011-10-02 }} described it as "VCOs rather than DCOs", however, his estimation seems lacking evidence.
</ref><ref name=sounddoctorin>
{{cite web
 | title	= Akai AX80 -1984
 | url   	= http://sounddoctorin.com/synthtec/akai/ax80.htm
 | work   	= Global Synthesizer Tech assistance 
 | publisher  	= SoundDoctorin.com
 | quote	= Circuit Overview: ... exactly what those oscillators are...apparently DCO's as one would think with 16 of them. <!-- Synth museum says VCO's as do other sites. I only see a pair of transistors per voice...and they aren't thermally attached nor are their two pairs of them anyway as two real vco's would demand at least. --> ... OK UPDATE. Meant to long ago. lol. I got schematics a while back and indeed this is the same type of circuit as the [[Teisco#Synthesizers|SX-240]] etc. Programmable timers generating the base 'oscillations' in this one. Op amps are pulsed with the dco signal in cooperation with a CV signal from actual sample/hold cells that set the ramp rate of the analog circuit there that is generating the sawtooth waves. But of course the square part is digitally from start to finish.
}}</ref> and filter circuitry based on the [[Curtis Electromusic Specialties|Curtis Electromusic]] CEM 3372 [[integrated circuit]]. It was marketed as part of a line of [[project studio]] equipment called the Akai Music Studio System, which included the S612 digital [[Sampler (musical instrument)|sampler]] the MR16 drum machine, the MS08 sequencer, and the MG1212 [[multitrack tape recorder]].

==Features and cabinet==

This [[electronic keyboard]] is an 8-voice [[Polyphony (instrument)|polyphonic]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jun02/articles/retrozone0602.asp|title=The Return of the Ax-Man|work=Sound On Sound|date=June 2002|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150606114733/http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jun02/articles/retrozone0602.asp|archivedate=6 June 2015}}</ref> digitally controlled [[Analog synthesizer|analogue synthesizer]]. It has 64 memory locations for sounds ("[[Patch (synthesizer)|patches]]"), arranged in two banks of 32 each, plus a bank of 32 factory preset sounds. The instrument has basic [[MIDI]] implementation, but lacks the ability to save or restore sounds except by using [[Compact cassette|cassette]] tape.

===Front panel===
[[File:AKAI AX80 (fluorescent display).jpg|right|thumb|Figure 1. Fluorescent display of filter parameters|300px]]
The front panel has a [[loudness|volume]] knob, a master [[Musical tuning#Tuning practice|tuning]] knob, a data entry knob for programming [[Patch (synthesizer)|patches]], modulation and pitch wheels with knobs for the depth of the effect, and various buttons to switch on and off modulation destinations, enable chord memory, [[Transposition (music)|transpose]] the keyboard, or infinitely sustain notes. The case is black metal with fluorescent displays to indicate the status of different synthesis parameters (see Figure 1), and black rubberized end pieces. Other version, possible earlier may have gloss painted wood ends.

===Back panel===
The back panel is unusual in that it is tilted from vertical so that the connectors can be seen from the front of the instrument. There are quarter-inch jacks for recording data to [[Compact Cassette|cassette tape]], sustain and program change footpedal jacks, [[MIDI]] in, out and "thru" [[DIN connector]]s, a monaural quarter-inch audio output, a quarter-inch headphone jack, and memory protect and power switches. Some models have a voltage selection for the power supply on the underneath of the synth.

===Keyboard===
The keyboard is five [[octaves]] (61 notes, C to C) and is unweighted. It has velocity, but not [[aftertouch]], sensitivity. The output [[MIDI]] velocity values span the full range (up to 127), but only discrete "steps" are used (in other words, not every integer value from 1 to 127). It uses rubber keypad type membrane switches, rather than J-wires. A common issue can be keys not working. This can be due to contamination under these pads.

==Voice architecture and sound programming==

=== Voice architecture===
The synthesizer voices are somewhat similar to those found in the [[Roland JX-3P]] or [[Teisco#Synthesizers|Teisco SX-240]], in that there are two [[Voltage-controlled oscillator|oscillators]] (referred to as "OSC"s) per voice, with the option of sawtooth and/or square [[waveforms]].  These oscillators are controlled digitally with analog circuitry used only to create the sawtooth waveshape.<ref name=sounddoctorin/> OSC2 can be synchronized to OSC1, or the two oscillators can be cross-modulated. The OSCs can be separated by [[semitone]] intervals (up to four [[octaves]]) and [[Musical tuning#Tuning practice|detuned]] (to approximately a [[semitone]]). There is [[pulse-width modulation]] of the square wave of OSC1 (with a dedicated [[Low frequency oscillation|low-frequency oscillator]] (LFO) for this) and a square-wave sub-oscillator that is fixed at one [[octave]] lower. OSC2's pitch can be modulated by one of the two [[Envelope generator|ADSR envelope generators]], which are dedicated to [[Variable-gain amplifier|VCA]] [[Loudness|volume]] and [[Voltage-controlled filter|VCF]] [[cutoff frequency]]. The filter is a 24dB/octave (four-pole) resonant lowpass type, and there is also a separate 12 dB/octave highpass filter that is not envelope controlled.

Tracking of filter [[cutoff frequency]] with keyboard position is fully variable, allowing for sounds to become either "brighter" or "darker" as higher notes are played. Keyboard velocity can affect [[Loudness|volume]] and/or [[Cutoff frequency|filter cutoff]].

The modulation section of this synthesizer features four [[Low frequency oscillation|low-frequency oscillators]]. Three of these each have four available [[waveform]]s (sine, square, sawtooth and ramp), and these LFOs are dedicated to filter cutoff, and pitch of each of the two oscillators. These also have a programmable delay before their effect sets in. The fourth LFO is dedicated to [[pulse-width modulation]] of OSC1, and only its rate and depth are programmable.

There is also a programmable output level for each [[Patch (synthesizer)|patch]], to help balance loud and soft sounds. Notably missing from the voice architecture are [[white noise]] and [[Glissando#.27Continuous glissando.27 or portamento|portamento]].

===Performance controls===
The AX80 has knobs for master volume and [[Musical tuning#Tuning practice|tuning]], and a data entry knob that can be used to alter the currently selected parameter in real-time, although the value will jump to the knob's current position. There are various switches to select modulation destinations controlled by the modulation wheel ([[Voltage-controlled filter|filter]] and [[Pitch (music)|pitch]]), to enable chord memory or infinite sustain of notes, and to select or edit sounds. The pitch-bend and modulation wheels also have knobs governing the depth of the effect of each. Footswitches can control sustain or switch sounds by moving up one [[Patch (synthesizer)|patch]] at a time.

===MIDI implementation===
The AX80 has fairly standard [[MIDI]] implementation for an instrument of this vintage, with the ability to use any channel (1-16) for transmission or reception (these can be set separately). The instrument does not recognize the MIDI [[Musical tuning#Tuning practice|tuning]] request, nor does it allow for saving or loading sounds ([[Patch (synthesizer)|patches]]) to a computer via system-exclusive data dumps.

==Designer==
The AX80 was designed by Kazuo Morioka. He previously ran his own synthesizer company, Hillwood, also known as Firstman, from 1972 up until the early 1980s, with his synthesizers released by [[Multivox]] in North America, before joining Akai in the early 1980s. He also designed other Akai Music Studio System instruments in the early 1980s, such as the MG1212 multitrack tape recorder.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20050308154533/http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/Jul02/articles/retrozone0702.asp A TALE OF TWO STRING SYNTHS], ''[[Sound on Sound]]'', July 2002</ref>

== Accessories==
When it was released, Akai advertised various accessories for the AX80: a footswitch (PS-X80), the FC-X80 flight case,  HC-X80 hard case, SC-X80 soft case, and a vinyl dust cover (DC-X80).

==Use in recorded music==
An AX80 appears in the video for [[Kim Mitchell]]'s song "All We Are", played by [[Pye Dubois]], although the manufacturer's name is blacked out. Greek synth-pop duo [[Marsheaux]] and U.K alternative act [[Spacehotel]] are also said to use the AX80, as is '90s dance act Rodeo Jones and  [[Mark Bell (British musician)|Mark Bell]] of [[LFO (British band)|LFO]] on [[Björk]]'s [[Homogenic]] album. The Dutch band [[Digital Emotion(Dutch band)|Digital Emotion]] explicitly names the use of the AX80 and S612 on the label of their 1986 single “Jungle Beat”.

==Literature==
Full-page advertisements with the slogan "Simply...Awesome!" ran in [[Keyboard Magazine]] during the mid-1980s.<ref>[[Keyboard Magazine]], November 1984</ref> The AX80 also appears in the price lists at the end of both editions of Mark Vail's ''Vintage Synthesizers''.<ref>
{{harvnb|Vail|2000|p=260,300}}{{Verification needed|date=January 2015}}
</ref> The second edition contains a footnote: "If you can get around the interfaces on the Akai AX-series synths, Wes Taggart [of Analogics (Geneva, Ohio, USA)] reports that 'a good-sounding synth lies beneath'".<ref>
{{harvnb|Vail|2000|p=303}}{{Verification needed|date=January 2015}}
</ref> [[Jim Aikin]] reviewed the AX80 in [[Keyboard Magazine]] in January 1985, noting it has a "warm, full sound, and can deliver a full palette of musically useful tone colors.... an excellent first entry into the keyboard market, by a company that we're sure to be seeing more from."<ref>
{{cite magazine
 | last      = Aikin | first = Jim
 | authorlink= Jim Aikin
 | title     = (review)
 | magazine  = [[Keyboard Magazine]]
 | issue     = January 1985
 | pages     = 76–78
}}
</ref> [[Keyboard Magazine|Keyboard]] also printed a capsule summary in its new product profile "Spec Sheet" feature.<ref>
{{cite magazine
 | title     = (spec sheet)
 | magazine  = [[Keyboard Magazine]]
 | issue     = September 1985
 | page      = 88
}}
</ref> There is also a two-page review in ''Complete Guide to Synthesizers, Sequencers, and Drum Machines'', by Dean Friedman.<ref>
{{cite book
 | last      = Friedman | first = Dean
 | title     = Complete Guide to Synthesizers, Sequencers, and Drum Machines
 | year = 1985
 | url       = https://books.google.com/books?id=NdU5AQAAIAAJ
 | publisher = Music Sales Corp
 | publication-date = 1985
 | isbn      = 978-0-8256-2410-0
 | pages     = 16–17
}}
</ref>

== References==
<references/>

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book |ref={{sfnref|Akai AX80 Service Manuals|1985}}
   | chapter   = Section 3. Schematic Diagram and PC Boards
   | title     = Programmable Polyphonic Synthesizer Model AX80 [service manuals]
   | url       = https://archive.org/details/AkaiAX80ServiceManual
   | publisher = Akai Electric Co., Ltd. | location = Tokyo, Japan
   | publication-date = 1985
   | id        = Printed No. 850422-G1-1000 <!-- page      = [https://archive.org/stream/AkaiAX80ServiceManual/Akai%20AX80%20Service%20Manual#page/n33/mode/2up top of section 3] -->
  }}
* {{cite book | author    = Vail | first = Mark
   | title     = Vintage Synthesizers
   | year = 2000 | edition   = second
   | location  = San Francisco
   | publisher = Miller Freeman Books, 1993
   | publication-date = 2000
   | isbn      = 978-0-87930-603-8
  }}
* AX80 marketing brochure, Akai Electric Co., Ltd., [[Tokyo]], [[Japan]], circa 1984
* Akai Professional brochure, Akai Electric Co., Ltd., [[Tokyo]], [[Japan]], circa 1985
* Akai Micro Studio System fold-out brochure, Akai Electric Co., Ltd., [[Tokyo]], [[Japan]], circa 1984
* [http://manuals.fdiskc.com/flat/Akai%20AX80%20Owners%20Manual.pdf AX80 user's manual]

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20111002060119/http://www.gordonreid.co.uk/vintage/akai_ax80.html AX80 retrospective published in 1996] Akai AX80 review
*[http://www.polynominal.com/site/studio/gear/synth/akai_ax80/ Akai AX80 page] review, clips and free manual

{{Akai}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ax80}}
[[Category:Akai synthesizers]]