Korg 01/W - Sonic Character

Sonic Character

The 01/W is also known for its "warmth". It has been suggested the 01/W sounded richer than the Korg synths that came afterward. The two most probable reasons for that are:

1. The 01/W's samples were recorded at 16 bit 32 kHz. Subsequent Korg synths had their samples recorded at 16 bit 44.1 kHz. The sample rate of 32kHz led to a relative reduction in the high treble component of the audio signal.
2. More ROM memory was allocated to each sample than the synths following afterward (As an example, the 01/W used 6 MB of ROM to fit 254 compressed samples. The Korg X3 also used 6 MB to fit 334 compressed samples in its ROM)

The fact that the 01/W's samples were recorded at a slightly lower sampling rate, therefore reducing sample size, plus the advantage of having more ROM memory to actually store more of each sample meant that more of the nuance of the samples was heard. The 32 kHz frequency would give the illusion of a more acoustic instrument, because it made the samples sound "duller".