I'm sorry to say the author of these mods is pretty busy and unable to answer email or comments so I doubt he's available to respond to donations. Here are some alternative mods for anybody trying to get the best sound out of your Volca Beats, hit me up for any help. I recommend Kick and Clear noise Snare. Kick: Lower pitch: 15n in parallell with the capacitor closest to the upper left of D19. Second component from the writing on the board. Snare: Clean noise: C78 should be between 470n to 1uF Lower pitch: 10n in parallell with both C101 and the capacitor to the rigth of it (sits in 90 degree angle of C101) Louder snare: Change R200 to 2-3k. Original is 8k2. Hihat: Less ringmod: Change R130 and R132 to 10k (or put 10k in parallell). Original is 100k. Cleaner sound: Change R145 to 6k (or put 10k in parallell). Original is 15k. Louder hihat: Change R111 to around 4k. Original is 10k. PCM: Lower R135 from 10k to around 3k for higher filter frequency on pcm voices. (more noise will occur.)
The kick (and previous snare) mods are excellent! Unfortunately, I can't really hear any differences with the PCM filter stuff in this video because that snare is hogging the high frequencies.
hi B Leo you will hear a significant difference/improvement in headphones or your speakers. UA-cam audio has never had high frequencies as its strong point.
Hi Darren (Blackout!!??!) Are you still doing this paypal thing? I'm interested in the Toms Mod but also wondered if you found a better spot for the individual snare out? Could i also ask If i used the resister on the snare would it increase the snare output on the individual out or is that further down the chain? Thank for all your mods im about to start on the journey as of tomorrow with the 104cap !! anyhow cheers anyway :)
Joni perhaps watch the video completely to the end. All who donate have been receiving the video showing the full instructions on how to do these mods!
Hello Darren, I have some serious problems with the PCM volume. I tried to remove the filter of the PCM sounds but I dont know how I ve accindetally broke it and now they just dont work But if I move the filter with some tweezers as you did the PCM works, but they work only if I keep to press hard on the filter. Is there any solution to my problem? Thanks for your attention!
thank you very much, darren, for showing us what is possible with the volcas! wouldn't be surprised when you get a call by the developer-team of korg volca :-)
I can't remove the knobs from the stutter and delay pots. I think I will need to do this before unscrewing the board. It is necesary to apply some force?
hi Mice, yes. you will need to remove. slide a normal chisel screwdriver underneath and twist them up. they came off very easily for me...without a screwdriver
Can we send a unit to you to get mods? Or fairly easy ? I'm new to synths so opening would be pushing it lol. I may get one if it sounds like your mod! Love that clean sound
Cool further mods to come? im intrested in the beat/snare mod.... how much do i have to pay? will you send the whole information what to buy and where exactly to solder? i see the board but in the vid i cant see which points exactly are to solder... is there a way to make the kick longer(sustain)? like its intended to? oh and will you update the solder point for the snare cap? thank you :D
hi, I have demonstrated a snare "fix". I don't know about any "beat" mod, sorry. You can find the "how to" for the snare fix here: Korg Volca Beats Hack- Snare Mod Demo plus "how to" full instructions!!!
Hi. This looks very interesting, but I couldn't figure out what the Kick Mod is doing, is it extending the range of the pitch so that it goes higher? Because I would love for the kick to go lower as well, pitch range is too limited by default.
yes it makes the kick pitch go higher essentially. which makes the kick more knocky and punchy at the far right extreme of the pot. no mod at this stage for going lower however. i did not think it needed to go lower actually ! hehe
hello darren could you be so kind to tell me how to remove the pots in the stutter zone? Are they glued? I opened the KVB remove the screws from the back, but cannot reach the front of the pcb. Is there any trick or I just need to pull?
Lucio Moschella Hi Lucio, NEVER just pull on anything. why do you want to remove these pots? you would need to desolder them. it would be tricky.or just cut off their legs and ruin the pots, they are cheap. keep in mind it is a multi-layer sandwich board so pulling out things like pots can easily damage any layer internally....
+Darren Glen I think he wants to remove the knobs. Just try to pull it, if you can't remove them by only pulling, try with a flat screwdriver very gently! They're not glued, but remember, it's a cheap drum machine from cheap componens, very easy to break something.
+Nyári Péter oh I see thanks Nyari, (he said pots not knobs!) The way to remove knobs that are stubborn is to take a cheese screwdriver that is quite wide, and put electrical tape across the tip, so that it helps to make it softer (so the metal does not touch your unit face) , and then to use the screwdriver tip to twist underneath the knobs and lift them up. go slowly and gently. Mine came up just by pulling with my fingers so it will not be hard. Hope this helps!
Hi Darren. Great work. Seriously fiddly beast isn't it. Think I'm gonna need glasses if I have to do too much more of this. A client of mine want the Tom mod doing. Can I get instructions from you? Happy to donate etc. (Just need details) Cheers
I'm really interesetd in the kick mod but this guy went silent (not answering emails so I assume he's not answering donations anymore) anybody got any info on these or similar mods?
probably because not all the beans are spilled this time in this vid unlike the snare mods video that i posted last time. oh well you cant please everyone
never too late to do a night class at your local university! you might even have a second career afterwards thrown in for good measure! i remember studying a lot of maths tho when i did my engineering degree. most electronics of the modding kind is trial and error more than anything else, and instinct. i certainly havent pulled out a calculator in a long time!
Darren Glen I guess I will just keep on improving my empirical electronics applied to music gizmos and try to achieve my first career as an musician… :-)
bertram D music is my first career as well bertram. which is why i cannot do these mods for other ppl for their units. because i would never have time to make music! ;)
Hi. I want to make the kick mod, but I don't have a PayPal account. If I register & donate you some money, cold you send me some instructions to the kick mod please? Sounds awesome & I want to make that mod. Pls. reply!
I can´t really hear any diference or improvement with the PCM "filter off" mod, as a matter of fact I think it makes it worse, since it adds a humming noise...Thumbs up for the rest of the mods!!
LEANDROID14 hi, the PCM filter off mod does not affect the low end where hum might be. it removes a filter from the top end, which brightens up the clap. you might hear a small extra amount of aliasing in the clap sample, but personally it adds a bit of bitcompression punch and dirt to the clap whilst making it certainly clearer. The mod does not affect the bottom end so not sure what youre hearing there but cheers.
Yeah that works OK, but even with a large pot (1Meg) you have the filter range crammed up on between 95% to 100% pots rotation, and you can´t shut the white noise completely on some settings (and some pot´s positions produce full white noise as well), basically losing the original tom sounds on some particular knob positions, best case scenario you hear the noise very low as a kind of aliasing effect. The ideal will be to use both a switch to engage the noise and a pot to control the "filter/mix" of a low value so you get better range across the whole pot rotation (but there is little space available inside the volca, yup have to be super careful when positioning them and drilling the holes). Or just put a switch to activavte the noise, I think that you have enough variation with the toms´decay and pitch already, obviosuly you get a little bit different flavors with the added pot to control the mix/filtering effect, I believe is a give/take situation for each one of the options I´ve mentioned, but if you want to keep your original tom sound, I think a switch to disconnect the noise link is mandatory...Try them and decide what you like better. and what do you want to compromise...
thanks for this. Is there any way to mod things using software? Like by modifying the WAV file on the firmware update. i.korg.com/SupportPage.aspx?productid=674
hi Mint, cheers man yeah it sounds really thumping now without distortion, just a clean but more pronounced front on the kick. The kick circuit in the Volca Beats is very primitive though, and adding noise just destroys the sub in the kick. it sounds messy. i tried it. would take a lot more circuitry to stabilize it and filters for the noise. this mod gives the kick a whole new world of sonic possiblity already tho and its probably as far as you can go without making a mess of it really
I'm sorry to say the author of these mods is pretty busy and unable to answer email or comments so I doubt he's available to respond to donations.
Here are some alternative mods for anybody trying to get the best sound out of your Volca Beats, hit me up for any help.
I recommend Kick and Clear noise Snare.
Kick:
Lower pitch: 15n in parallell with the capacitor closest to the upper left of D19. Second component from the writing on the board.
Snare:
Clean noise: C78 should be between 470n to 1uF
Lower pitch: 10n in parallell with both C101 and the capacitor to the rigth of it (sits in 90 degree angle of C101)
Louder snare: Change R200 to 2-3k. Original is 8k2.
Hihat:
Less ringmod: Change R130 and R132 to 10k (or put 10k in parallell). Original is 100k.
Cleaner sound: Change R145 to 6k (or put 10k in parallell). Original is 15k.
Louder hihat: Change R111 to around 4k. Original is 10k.
PCM:
Lower R135 from 10k to around 3k for higher filter frequency on pcm voices. (more noise will occur.)
Good stuff man
Eternal thanks Comment God
Thank you 👍😆
That tom mod is amazing. Keep it up!!
Any chance to share specifics for replicating your mods? I like the toms-white noise thing :)
The kick (and previous snare) mods are excellent! Unfortunately, I can't really hear any differences with the PCM filter stuff in this video because that snare is hogging the high frequencies.
hi B Leo you will hear a significant difference/improvement in headphones or your speakers. UA-cam audio has never had high frequencies as its strong point.
Cool! Great great work, sire!
Hi Darren (Blackout!!??!) Are you still doing this paypal thing? I'm interested in the Toms Mod but also wondered if you found a better spot for the individual snare out? Could i also ask If i used the resister on the snare would it increase the snare output on the individual out or is that further down the chain? Thank for all your mods im about to start on the journey as of tomorrow with the 104cap !! anyhow cheers anyway :)
the tom mod is really something-- wow.
Joni perhaps watch the video completely to the end. All who donate have been receiving the video showing the full instructions on how to do these mods!
Is there a mod to increase volume of the volca beats snare & hats?
sounds so damn good... the volca beats is its own beast...
A bit late but... How much is this donation thing if you still got the video? I'd like to do the kick mod specially
Hello Darren, I have some serious problems with the PCM volume.
I tried to remove the filter of the PCM sounds but I dont know how I ve accindetally broke it and now they just dont work
But if I move the filter with some tweezers as you did the PCM works, but they work only if I keep to press hard on the filter.
Is there any solution to my problem? Thanks for your attention!
thank you very much, darren,
for showing us what is possible with the volcas!
wouldn't be surprised when you get a call by the developer-team of korg volca :-)
only call im likely to get from Korg man is to take down the videos showing mods of their product hehe. hopefully not.
This is awesome! Not sure I understand the removing the filter part exactly… do you just need to loosen / dislodge that spot on the PCB?
hi Sub, i will be sending a video of "how to" do these 3 mods to those who have donated to the paypal at the end of the video, in the next few days.
I can't remove the knobs from the stutter and delay pots. I think I will need to do this before unscrewing the board. It is necesary to apply some force?
hi Mice, yes. you will need to remove. slide a normal chisel screwdriver underneath and twist them up.
they came off very easily for me...without a screwdriver
Thanks Darren, you´re the best!
Can we send a unit to you to get mods? Or fairly easy ? I'm new to synths so opening would be pushing it lol. I may get one if it sounds like your mod! Love that clean sound
hi arun. you will need to do the mod yourself unfortunately.
Wow, that sounds killer.
Cool further mods to come? im intrested in the beat/snare mod....
how much do i have to pay? will you send the whole information what to buy and where exactly to solder? i see the board but in the vid i cant see which points exactly are to solder...
is there a way to make the kick longer(sustain)? like its intended to?
oh and will you update the solder point for the snare cap?
thank you :D
hi, I have demonstrated a snare "fix". I don't know about any "beat" mod, sorry. You can find the "how to" for the snare fix here: Korg Volca Beats Hack- Snare Mod Demo plus "how to" full instructions!!!
Hi Darren, is it still possible to donate and receive the "How To" video??Thanks
Hi. This looks very interesting, but I couldn't figure out what the Kick Mod is doing, is it extending the range of the pitch so that it goes higher? Because I would love for the kick to go lower as well, pitch range is too limited by default.
yes it makes the kick pitch go higher essentially. which makes the kick more knocky and punchy at the far right extreme of the pot. no mod at this stage for going lower however. i did not think it needed to go lower actually ! hehe
hello darren could you be so kind to tell me how to remove the pots in the stutter zone? Are they glued? I opened the KVB remove the screws from the back, but cannot reach the front of the pcb. Is there any trick or I just need to pull?
Lucio Moschella Hi Lucio, NEVER just pull on anything. why do you want to remove these pots? you would need to desolder them. it would be tricky.or just cut off their legs and ruin the pots, they are cheap. keep in mind it is a multi-layer sandwich board so pulling out things like pots can easily damage any layer internally....
+Darren Glen I think he wants to remove the knobs. Just try to pull it, if you can't remove them by only pulling, try with a flat screwdriver very gently! They're not glued, but remember, it's a cheap drum machine from cheap componens, very easy to break something.
+Nyári Péter oh I see thanks Nyari, (he said pots not knobs!) The way to remove knobs that are stubborn is to take a cheese screwdriver that is quite wide, and put electrical tape across the tip, so that it helps to make it softer (so the metal does not touch your unit face) , and then to use the screwdriver tip to twist underneath the knobs and lift them up. go slowly and gently. Mine came up just by pulling with my fingers so it will not be hard. Hope this helps!
Hi Darren.
Great work. Seriously fiddly beast isn't it. Think I'm gonna need glasses if I have to do too much more of this.
A client of mine want the Tom mod doing.
Can I get instructions from you? Happy to donate etc. (Just need details)
Cheers
Bob Stewart
Oops. Hadn't seem the DONATE bit at the end of the vid. Just donated.
Thanks
I'm really interesetd in the kick mod but this guy went silent (not answering emails so I assume he's not answering donations anymore) anybody got any info on these or similar mods?
not silent just busy!! working on new stuff...
Glad to know your still working hard, I'm interested in the kick mod, is it any different to soldering a 15n to D19? If so, I'll bite
Please answer
@@DarrenGlen is the donation-instructions still going? how much? thank you.
@@jingerroot hi there....it has been a while, i will just send you the link, no need to donate. All the best
is the donation for instructions still a thing?
Why would anyone vote this down? Great stuff.thanks for sharing
probably because not all the beans are spilled this time in this vid unlike the snare mods video that i posted last time. oh well you cant please everyone
brilliant… seeing this (and listening) I'm wondering if I will have the strength to learn electronics from scratch when I'm over 45…
never too late to do a night class at your local university! you might even have a second career afterwards thrown in for good measure! i remember studying a lot of maths tho when i did my engineering degree. most electronics of the modding kind is trial and error more than anything else, and instinct. i certainly havent pulled out a calculator in a long time!
Darren Glen I guess I will just keep on improving my empirical electronics applied to music gizmos and try to achieve my first career as an musician… :-)
bertram D music is my first career as well bertram. which is why i cannot do these mods for other ppl for their units. because i would never have time to make music! ;)
Hi daren.new here.i just dont know how the donate thing goes.how much does it cost amd where should i pay?
Hi. I want to make the kick mod, but I don't have a PayPal account. If I register & donate you some money, cold you send me some instructions to the kick mod please? Sounds awesome & I want to make that mod. Pls. reply!
Nice getting a more 909 style kick from it.
I can´t really hear any diference or improvement with the PCM "filter off" mod, as a matter of fact I think it makes it worse, since it adds a humming noise...Thumbs up for the rest of the mods!!
LEANDROID14 hi, the PCM filter off mod does not affect the low end where hum might be. it removes a filter from the top end, which brightens up the clap. you might hear a small extra amount of aliasing in the clap sample, but personally it adds a bit of bitcompression punch and dirt to the clap whilst making it certainly clearer. The mod does not affect the bottom end so not sure what youre hearing there but cheers.
so...a pot from the white noise point to the toms central point.... cool
Yeah that works OK, but even with a large pot (1Meg) you have the filter range crammed up on between 95% to 100% pots rotation, and you can´t shut the white noise completely on some settings (and some pot´s positions produce full white noise as well), basically losing the original tom sounds on some particular knob positions, best case scenario you hear the noise very low as a kind of aliasing effect. The ideal will be to use both a switch to engage the noise and a pot to control the "filter/mix" of a low value so you get better range across the whole pot rotation (but there is little space available inside the volca, yup have to be super careful when positioning them and drilling the holes). Or just put a switch to activavte the noise, I think that you have enough variation with the toms´decay and pitch already, obviosuly you get a little bit different flavors with the added pot to control the mix/filtering effect, I believe is a give/take situation for each one of the options I´ve mentioned, but if you want to keep your original tom sound, I think a switch to disconnect the noise link is mandatory...Try them and decide what you like better. and what do you want to compromise...
Don't have Paypal :( - Want to mod mine like yours...
answer = get paypal Pixel? how are you surviving on the internet without Paypal ? hehe
But now the whole thing is buzzing in your video...
Brett Larson the volca does not buzz any more (or less) due to the mods.
thanks for this. Is there any way to mod things using software? Like by modifying the WAV file on the firmware update. i.korg.com/SupportPage.aspx?productid=674
Holy shit thats starting to sound 909ish it just needs some noise in!
hi Mint, cheers man yeah it sounds really thumping now without distortion, just a clean but more pronounced front on the kick. The kick circuit in the Volca Beats is very primitive though, and adding noise just destroys the sub in the kick. it sounds messy. i tried it. would take a lot more circuitry to stabilize it and filters for the noise. this mod gives the kick a whole new world of sonic possiblity already tho and its probably as far as you can go without making a mess of it really
yeah, thats true! this is a great mod already though. if the noise would work it'd be great but if it just makes it messy this is fine to!
The kick, that is :)
Why don't you sell the directions through instructables? or, if you make these sorts of things more regularly, patreon?
bien hecho!!!! para el bombo soldar la pata 1 con la 2 y listo es un exito!!!
nice one :) mods around the world!