Voice architecture The AX60 uses voltage-controlled analogue oscillators and filter circuitry based on the Curtis Electromusic CEM 3394
integrated circuit. A feature of the filter section rarely available in an analog synthesizer is the ability to modulate the filter's cutoff frequency using the VCO signal, resulting in timbres ranging from a slightly growly character to sounds that can be similar to some of the metallic
FM sounds typically produced by the
Yamaha DX7, depending on the VCO waveform, the VCF cutoff frequency, and the amount of filter resonance. The AX-60's VCF's
cutoff frequency can be made to track the keyboard, allowing higher notes to sustain their harmonic content. The modulation section of this synthesizer features a
low-frequency oscillator with four available
waveforms (triangle, square, sawtooth and random) which can be routed to VCF cutoff, VCO pitch or VCA amplitude. These also have a programmable delay before their effect sets in. A second LFO is dedicated to
pulse-width modulation, and only its rate and depth are programmable. There is also a programmable output level for each
patch, to help balance loud and soft sounds, a multi-mode arpeggiator, a white noise generator, and a multi-mode chorus effect similar to the
Roland Juno series chorus. Notably missing from the voice architecture is
portamento.
Performance controls The AX-60 is bitimbral with 6 voice polyphony. The keyboard can be "split" to play two patches independently. The assignment of voices to each split side can be 0-6, 2-4, 4-2, or 6-0. Splits where no voices can be used for half of the keyboard are useful when the AX-60 is expanded with an Akai sampler. Each side of the split responds to a different MIDI channel. In addition to "split" mode, the AX-60 can be made to operate monophonically in Unison mode, where all 6 voices are "stacked" on each key, resulting in rich, powerful timbres. Also available: Sustain/foot pedal inputs, pitch bend wheel and modulation wheel with adjustable "depth." The pitch bend wheel can also be used to modulate the VCF cutoff frequency.
MIDI implementation The AX60 has relatively limited
MIDI implementation. It can send/receive data on 1 of 16 MIDI channels, with the ability to send/receive on two different channels simultaneously when the keyboard is "split." Aside from note data, the AX60 also sends/receives pitch bend wheel and modulation wheel input via midi CC. Although the front-panel controls can not be edited through CC, automating pitch bend and modulation amount can be useful. In addition, the pitch-bend wheel can be set to affect VCF Cutoff frequency rather than pitch, and in this way the VCF frequency can also be automated. ==Other information==