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Products, documents and service tips for the PPG Wave Synthesizers

Of course, we offer more than you can see here. If you have any further questions, please contact us.

  • System V8.3: PPG Wave 2.2, Wave 2.3 and EVU

    This operating system improves your PPG!

    PPG V8.3 V8.3 is the consistent development by Hermann Seib of his successful V8.0. Like V8.0 the new V8.3 system offers comprehensive SysEx support which allows saving your own sounds via MIDI to an external computer device. Formerly this was only possible with an expensive Waveterm computer device. Via MIDI SysEx datagrams the PPG synthesizer will communicate with an external MIDI library, like the Emagic SoundDiver.

    Additionally our current V8.3 system convinces with many new and helpful functions, removes annoying problems of the old PPG system V6.0 and offers an improved MIDI timing.

    Performance features of V8.3 - the evolution from V6.0 / V8.0

    • Comfortable handling of the extensive V8.0 SysEx functions directly accessable form the PPG panel
    • Accelerated MIDI timing due of improved MIDI code
    • ANALOG-panel shows the value of the modulation wheel; essential for sound programming experts
    • Extended V8.0 SysEx implementation for storing sounds on an external computer device
    • PPG bus emulation over the MIDI interface; for PPG extremists and future applications
    • During the boot process the display shows the version and serial number
    • Extended user´s manual with new "quick start guide"


    Additionally V8.3 improves the program code of the old official PPG release V6.0 and removes engraving software bugs:

    • Arpeggiator bug of Wave 2.3 solved
    • Initialisation problem of the Upper Wavetable solved
    • Correction of the defective waveforms in Wavetable 13
    • Several minor bug fixes (Sequencer quantization, arpeggiator mode, etc.)


    Scope of supply

    This kit consists of an easy understandable user-manual (english or german version) and 4 new chips. The original EPROMs in your Wave or EVU will be replaced by the new ones.

    Requirements for OS V8.0

    Wave 2.2:  Factory installed* MIDI interface and OS 4.5, V5 or V6
    Wave 2.3:  Factory installed* MIDI interface and OS V4.5, V5 or V6
    EVU:           Factory installed* MIDI interface and OS V3

    * If your PPG synthesizer doesn´t have the original PPG Interface installed, you can also use the interface which is described at Hermann Seib´s web pageand which is a perfect replica. The Virtual Music MIDI Interface for the PPG Wave 2.x does work, too. Interfaces by Kenton, EES, etc. don´t work with the SysEx features of V8.3 and are not suitable!

    PPG OS V8.3 in a complex PPG system (Waveterm + PPG Wave + EVU...)

    Each device in the PPG system bus has an unique ID. The Wave has standard ID # 0 and the EVU has standard ID # 2. We have an alternative option of V8.3  for the Wave, which contains the ID # 1 and another one for the EVU which contains the ID # 3. With this you can operate 2 Waves and 2 EVUs on the same PPG system bus at once. Please note that this alternative version of V8.3 is not on stock but will be produced on demand.

    For ordering please specify your Wave-Type (2.2, 2.3, EVU) and the requested ID:

       Code:      PPG OS V8.3 (ID 0 or 1; for Wave 2.2, Wave 2.3 or EVU)
       Price:      92,- Euro net / 110,40 Euro gross

    For ordering please send us your completed product order form or send us an e-mail to Open contact page (no Javascript).

  • Sounds and patches for PPG OS V8.X Users

    These files are intended for the PPG Synthesizer Wave 2.2, Wave 2.3 and EVU with an installed operating system OS V8.3. This ZIP-Archive contains some interesting files:

    • Factory Sounds for PPG Wave 2.2
    • Factory Sounds for PPG Wave 2.3
    • 12 alternative Soundbanks
    • Danger in Dream Soundbank (used for the album "Entrance")
    • Reset- and Query-Commands
  • Spareparts for PPG Wave and Waveterm

    Original potentiometer caps for the regulators of the PPG Wave series.
    5 pcs. per set
    PPG Caps
       Code:       PPG-Caps 5 pcs.
       Price:       4,91 Euro net / 5,89 Euro gross

    Big original PPG knob for the PPG Wave series. This knob is used for the regulators of the Analog Control Panel.
    PPG Knob large
       Code:       PPG Knob large
       Price:       3,18 Euro net / 3,82 Euro gross

     

    Small original PPG knob for the PPG Wave series. This knob is used as a contrast or volume control at the Wave 2. X, EVU and Waveterm.
    PPG Knob small
       Code:
           PPG Knob small
       Price:       2,61 Euro net / 3,13 Euro gross

    For ordering please send us your completed product order form or send us an e-mail to Open contact page (no Javascript).

  • PPG Wave 2.3: Defective Proz-, I/O- or Voice Board

    Component repair for Wave 2.2, Wave 2.3 and EVU

    There is no reason for worrying

    If one voice voice is detuned, some sounds are distorted or if your PPG suffers from system crashes, then there will be no reason for worrying. We have long term experience with PPG equipment and we can solve your problems quickly and efficiently. In the very most cases there isn´t any need for you to send the whole instrument. We need only the particular defective board which will be checked and repaired in our test system.

    About the architecture of the PPG Wave 2.2 / Wave 2.3 synthesizers

    Inside the PPG Wave 2.2 and the PPG Wave 2.3 there are four cards, which are involved in the sound creation: The Proz-Board (= processor board), the I/O-Board and two Voice-Boards. These four cards are plugged uprightly in the Motherboard. If you tell us about your PPG´s symptoms we are able to determine which board may cause the problem. It is sufficient if you send us the particular board.

    PPG Wave 2.2/2.3/EVU IO Board The Prozessor-Board contains the electronics for computing the waveforms, the oscillator´s pitch and is responsible for the communication to the Waveterm or the PRK. If this board has got a problem then the symptoms will look like:

    • Truncated samples or crackling waveforms
    • Detuned voices (half tones as well as cents)
    • Distorted sounds or exaggerated aliasing


    PPG Wave 2.2/2.3/EVU Proc Board The I/O-Board contains the complete computer part of the PPG (like storage RAM, operating system, etc.), the conversion of the analogue panel and the calculation of the control voltages for the filters and amplifiers (VCFs, VCAs). If this board has got a problem then the symptoms will look like:

    • Your PPG remains quiet, suffers from system crashes or shows absolutely no function (blank display or strange characters)
    • Waveforms sound distorted
    • The filters sound static or don´t change although the cutoff or resonance parameters are changed


    PPG Wave 2.2/2.3/EVU Voice Board Both Voice Boards are responsible for converting the computer data (calculated by the Prozessor-Board) into analogue waveforms. These waveforms are processed by voltage controlled filters and amplifiers (VCFs, VCAs). Each card contains the electronic for four voices. If one of these boards has got a problem then the symptoms will look like:

    • A particular voice is muted or distorted
    • A particular voice can always be heard although no key is pressed
    • One voice crackles or do strange noises

    Finding and solving the problem

    The easy way is to contact us and tell us about the problems or the symptoms of your PPG.Just write an e-mail to Open contact page (no Javascript). We will perform some test with you, like "please enter following parameter; what will happen?". With this procedure we will find out where the problem lies and which card we would need here in Vienna to cure your PPG Wave.

    Removing the defective board

    Power down the synthesizer and disconnect the power cable. Remove the four big screws (2 on the left side and 2 on the right side) and lose the two backside screws to open the panel like a car´s engine bonnet. Gently pull out the faulty board and remove the flat cable connectors by lifting them out gently and straight with a flat screwdriver. Take care not to bend or break the pins! Also, you should label the connectors and sketch their positions.

    After removing the respective card, wrap it into antistatic foil first. Please do NOT use any alloy foil since this will shortcut the battery of the I/O board. If you need technical assistance or support, please contact us. The PPG Wave is a very complex and sensitive device and should be treated with respect.

    Service order

    If you want us to repair your PPG items, please get in contact with us before sending any equipment. Simply send us an E-Mail to Open contact page (no Javascript). After clarifying all details you will receive an E-Mail with all necessary instructions.

    Other problems with your PPG Wave?

    Of course we can repair other defects fast and effectively, too. If you have any problem with your synthesizer, please contact us. We are happy to help you!

  • PPG Wave 2: Broken I/O-, memory-, mother- or voice-board

    Component repair for Wave 2.2, Wave 2.3 and EVU

    There is no reason for worrying

    If one voice voice is detuned, some sounds are distorted or if your PPG suffers from system crashes, then there is absolutely no reason for worrying. We have long term experience with PPG equipment and we can solve your problems quickly and efficiently. In the very most cases there isn´t any need for you to send the whole instrument. We need only the particular defective board which will be checked and repaired in our test system.

    About the architecture of the PPG Wave 2.0 synthesizer

    The electronic concept of the Wave 2.0 is different compared to the later Wave 2.2 / 2.3 in many ways. As an example the processor board is missed but the function is spread over several cards. Or the master oscillator is an analogue controlled high frequency VCO and each voice "divides" the master frequency to the audio frequency (=pitch) needed.

    PPG Wave 2 I/O Board The I/O Board contains the electronics for controlling all input and output operations like reading the knobs, pushbuttons, the keyboard or wheels. Additionally the board controls the display, the LEDs and the voice cards, including the digital pitch and waveform information as well as the analogue control voltages for filters and amplifiers. Typical symptoms of a fishy I/O board are:

    • Moving values in the ANALOG display although any kob is beeing untouched
    • Occasional system crashes
    • Strange characters in the display
    • Static filters or bleeding VCAs on all 8 voices


    PPG Wave 2 Memory Board The Memory-Board contains - as the name tells - the memory: The ROM with the operating system and the raw data for the waveforms (last issue: 1.2), the RAM for the actually used wavetable and the battery powered RAM containing the user presets and sequences. Typical symptoms of a broken memory-board are:

    • Wave 2 stops booting or does not show any function.
    • All voices sound distorted or stutter (all voices, all waveforms, all wavetables)
    • Presets are lost immediately after power down


    PPG Wave 2 Voice Board The  remaining four Voice Boards are responsible for the reproduction of the waveforms and the analogue sound creation of the sound. Each board contains the electronic for two independent voices. Typical symptoms of a problem in these boards are:

    • One particular voice is silent or distorted
    • One particular voice is always sounding or bleeding
    • One voice crackles at a particular setting of the VCF, VCA or resonance
    • One voice has a strange envelope behaviour (Zap, Zap, Zaaaaaaaap, Zap....)
    • One voice is detuned


    Finding and solving the problem

    The easy way is to send us an e-mail to Open contact page (no Javascript) and tell us about the problems or the symptoms of your PPG Wave 2. We will perform some test with you, like "please enter following parameter; what will happen?". With this procedure we will find out where the problem is caused and which card we would need here in Vienna to cure your PPG Wave.

    Removing the defective board

    Power down the synthesizer and disconnect the power cable. Remove the four big screws (2 on the left side and 2 on the right side) and lose the two backside screws to open the panel like a car´s engine bonnet. Gently pull out the faulty board and remove the flat cable connectors by lifting them out gently and straight with a flat screwdriver. Take care not to bend or break the pins! Also, you should label the connectors and sketch their positions.

    After removing the respective card, wrap it into antistatic foil first. Please do NOT use any alloy foil since this will shortcut the battery of the memory board. If you need technical assistance or support, please contact us. The PPG Wave 2 is a very complex and sensitive device and should be treated with respect.

    Service order

    If you want us to repair your defective PPG Wave 2 components please get in contact with us before sending any equipment. Simply send us an E-Mail to Open contact page (no Javascript). After clarifying all details you will receive an E-Mail with all necessary instructions.

    Other problems with your PPG Wave 2?

    Of course we can repair other defects fast and effectively, too. If you have any problem with your synthesizer, please contact us. We are happy to help you!

  • PPG Wave 2.2 and Wave 2.3: Abbrevations

    We have written a document which is useful for all PPG users. This document describes all shortcuts which can be found in the several display-modes. This little document is a good alternative to the big user manual.

    Here you can download this PDF-document

  • PPG Wave 2.2 / 2.3: How to solve the unknown filter-bug

    Almost all Wave 2.2 and all EVUs and Wave 2.3 have a bug in the voice board - and it can be cured very easily.

    The bug

    Because of a small bug in the voice board´s hardware design 2 of the 8 voices suffer from an incomplete control of the filter´s cut-off frequency. Actually the flaw is audible only in extreme situations and it won´t be very disturbing in the daily studio life. Anyway we´d like to present a solution.

    Listen to the filter bug:

    If you program the following sound and if you press the same key several times then you will hear the typical percussion sound:  "zapp, zapp, wooouup, zapp, zapp, zapp, wooouup..." Many parameters are meaningless (like the number of the wavetable, etc.) so only the essential parameters are listed:

    • DIGITAL: all parameter to "00" except:
      • SW:3 (second oscillator muted)
      • KF:3 (Keyfollow controls filter cut-off)
      • KL:4 (Keyfollow controls volume)
    • TUNING: all parameter to "00"
    • ANALOG: all parameter to "00" except:
      • ENVELOPE 1 A1: 04
      • ENVELOPE 2 S2: 63
      • VCF-EMPHASIS:63
      • ENVELOPE 1 > VCF: 63
      • ENVELOPE 2 > LOUDN.: 63

    Background information for nerds like us :-)

    All control voltages for VCF-cut-off, VCF-resonance and VCA-amount are generated by the I/O board - in a time-division-multiplexing technique. They are distributed to the two voice boards and each voice "picks out" the particular part of the control voltage with it´s own demultiplexer. Quick changes of the envelopes should sound "puchy" and slow changes should be "smooth" - any hearable step (caused by the digital-to-analogue convertion process) must be avoided. Therefore the control-voltages are filtered dynamically - that´s the theory so far.

    Unfortunately there is a little flaw in the voice board´s hardware design which causes that one voice in each voice board suffers from a wrong filter smoothing circuit.

    Finding and solving the problem

    Power down the synthesizer and disconnect the power cable. Remove the four big screws (2 on the left side and 2 on the right side) and lose open the panel like a car´s engine bonnet. Gently pull out the two voice boards (the small boards). Take care not to bend or break the pins! If you need technical assistance or support, please contact us. The PPG Wave is a very complex and sensitive device and should be treated with respect.
    PPG Wave 2.x/EVU Filterbug
    Put both voicecards in front of you (parts look down), as you can see it in the in the right hand picture. Locate the particular track and cut it with a sharp knife so there is no electrical connection anymore (see the red mark in the round picture). It´s OK if it causes little notch in the board. Please be careful not to cut or harm any other track. Now take a small piece of wire and solder the bypass shown in the picture. Please mind not to shortcut any neighbour pins. Now all filters work as they initially should.

    Please mind that you only should perform this operation if you have knowledge in electronics. If you need any help, please contact us, we are glad to help. Additionally we are happy to do the modification for you.

    Needless to say that Virtual Music´s automatically performs this modification on each PPG voice board which is under service / repair in our workshop.

  • PPG Wave 2.3 in a 19" Chassis

    Not really a service Hint but nevertheless interesting. Imitation at own risk ;-)

    We would like to present a nice curiosity from our everyday´s life. In August 2003 we got the order to repair a PPG Wave 2.3. This is not a sensation, because it is routine. But it was surprising when the forwarding agency delivered a little box which didn't correspond to the size of a PPG keyboard. So, what happened?

    What did the forwarding agency deliver?

    After opening the box we recognized that it was a PPG Wave 2.3, but it was built in in a beautiful 19" housing! We were completely enthusiastic about that fact. Now we know what the customer meant with the little word "modified" ;-)

    This 19" PPG belongs to the successful electronic project "Tanga" from Berlin (Germany). You can hear Tanga´s music in the TV spot for the Hugo Boss perfume "Intense". Thanks to Tanga for the allowance to put publish these photos!

    Details

    This device was modified by the engineer Mr. Helmut Fischbach from Dusseldorf/Germany. He is a professional tool mechanic and the right man for 19" modifications. He did a lot of work for Kraftwerk´s Kling Klang studio.

    Here you can find several detail photos of the 19" PPG.


    The operation devices (Analogue panel; digital panel; display board) were separated out of the original PPG case (with a precision circular saw) and mounted onto a new 19" case (manufactured by RS-components). It is interesting how Fischbach put a board into a 19" compatible shape even this board is 20". The board was cut off precisely and reassembled in a 90° angle. The track conductors were "prolonged" exactly with little wire pieces. The same method was used to fit the digital panel board.

    Conclusion

    Maybe this modification seems brutal to you. But in detail Mr. Fischbach did this modification very properly. Everything was done professionally and with respect to this fantastic synthesizer.

    By the way, the need for servicing this PPG was not caused by the 19" modification. It was necessary because of the age of this synthesizer.

  • PPG paint

    Scratched instruments are also refreshed visually. Here is a little help to do it yourself:

    The picture below shows the restoration of a PPG Wave 2.3. The extra mixed color is dabbed with a fine brush, the writing was first limited by adhesive tape. After drying the white letters have been completed with white paint. The original scratches are barely perceptible and the instrument looks like new again.

    Paint for PPG Wave
    For repairing scrathces we like to use paint from model plane building. Especially the small paint pots by the "Revell" company give excellent results. The colors are then mixed as needed, compared with the original color and then possibly adjusted for a perfect fit:

    PPG Wave 2.3 blau: Revell 50 and 51 in the ratio 1:3 or 1:4 (both blue colours)
    PPG Wave 2.3 weiß: Revell 301 (white) and a little bit of 12 (yellow)
    PPG Wave 2.3 schwarz: Revell 302 (Silk black) + 7 + 8 in the ratio of 1:1:1

    For the older Wave 2 and 2.2 models you need slightly darker shades, details will follow shortly.

    The recoating requires both optical and mechanical sensitivity. With a little practice, you can quickly get fine results which makes you happy then.

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