Saturday, February 25, 2023

Korg SQ-1

The Korg SQ-1 is often recommended to mix-in with a Eurorack system.  I'd say, that's not too bad of a recommendation.

It has one serious problem.  The two gate outputs are outside of spec.  The manual says they are 10V, but after testing mine and confirming with another SQ-1 owner, they run hot, at close to 14V, which is outside of the Eurorack safe range.

I'm going to patch mine using a couple of zener diodes and resistors to fix this, and I'll post the results here when I do.

2023-03-06  Update:

I determined that there is enough resistance already to solve the problem by just adding the diodes.  I recommend this mod to everyone to bring the Korg SQ-1 into a Eurorack-safe voltage range.  Just solder two 8.2V Zener diodes from the top to the bottom contact of the jack, with the stripe facing towards the center of the circuit board.



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3 comments:

  1. Asleep at the MoviesFebruary 25, 2023 at 12:14 AM

    I'm curious how the internal pitch quantization of the device will be affected by dropping the voltage, if at all.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jeff DayFebruary 25, 2023 at 12:19 AM

      The problem is with the gate outs, not the CV outs. I don't think it will impact the CV outs at all.

      Delete
    2. Asleep at the MoviesFebruary 25, 2023 at 12:28 AM

      Oh shoot, of course. There's me being sleep deprived in public again.

      Delete

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