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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxn!ihnp4!tellab1!etan
From: etan@tellab1.UUCP (Nate Stelton)
Newsgroups: net.flame
Subject: Re: Advice wanted for beginner
Message-ID: <504@tellab1.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 3-Jul-85 14:09:14 EDT
Article-I.D.: tellab1.504
Posted: Wed Jul  3 14:09:14 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 4-Jul-85 05:40:31 EDT
References: <869@mtgzz.UUCP> <1142@peora.UUCP>
Reply-To: etan@tellab1.UUCP (Nate Stelton)
Organization: Tellabs, Inc., Lisle, IL
Lines: 21
Summary: 

In article <1142@peora.UUCP> jer@peora.UUCP (J. Eric Roskos) writes:
>Well, I'll still vote for the PAIA, anytime, even if you just go and
>disregard my E-mail like that.  It's hard to beat a $400 build-it-yourself
>to find out (a) how it works and (b) whether you really want to do it or
>not, before you go out and spend $8000 on the real thing.

I strongly disagree.  As a long-time customer (or should I say sucker) of
PAIA's, I find their equipment shoddily designed and prone to frequent
de-calibration.  As a matter of fact, I've never heard any of the 4700-series
oscillators stay in tune for very long or even allow themselves to be tuned
for equal or selected tempering, making them musically useless.  Also, their
technology is so behind that their syns really don't give you much of an idea
what an $8000 machine can do.  I have to admit, however, that owning and
building PAIA syn kits was an educational experience in basic synthesis (if
nothing else).

I have seen Korg Poly-800's advertised for $499.  Now THERE'S a good beginner
machine.  If you want to go cheaper, get a used micro-moog for $250.


                              -etan