THE (OTHER) REAL CAUSE OF BUGS

[♔Chello]

THE (OTHER) REAL CAUSE OF BUGS

There is a lot of talk about bugs and the reason why they occur.

There has always been an over-focus on the user and what is done, and that bugs that occur are a result of the user's way of using the device.

This is only partially correct.

There are countless examples of multiple users with the same device making exactly the same edits experiencing very different results and bugs - how can this be explained ?

I myself have experienced very different results for styles and other things I have made for the Pa3X several times - the styles I made for one of the early versions worked very differently (and poorly) on later versions of the same keyboard.

Some did not work at all..!
The same has happened with styles I have made for the Roland BK-7m, Tyros 4 and Audya 76.
I have had these models several times, and they have all behaved a little differently.

A very crucial and influential factor is the OS used - when this changes, a lot of parameters also change. Styles I have made for Pa5X with earlier OS work differently with later OS, and some sound terrible.

This also goes deeper than the OS, because some components in one and the same model are not 100% identical throughout a production period.

One extreme example is an earlier Audya 76 I had, which did not have an expansion port for RAM, and the motherboard had a look that no one else had.

The manual says that the motherboard can be upgraded from 64MB to 256MB, but this is physically impossible, because the port is missing..!
Pure fraud..?

Anyway: Think of all the components in a circuit - they all have +/- values; if e.g. 10 components are used somewhere that are stated with the same value, these will give variables if measured separately.

Variables have consequences for the final function of the circuit, and over time some of them will be more stressed than others, and eventually cause a breakdown.

The same thing happens with the cylinders and pistons of a fuel engine - 3 of the cylinders/pistons have almost identical values, while the fourth has either a little lower or higher.
Consequence: One pair is more stressed and wears out and breaks down faster than the others.
This applies even with 1000th part precision adjustments. 
I have worked with this for many years, so I have experienced it.

Mass-produced cars are subject to a certain variation and lack of manufacturing accuracy, while exclusive models are meticulously customized, which is a very expensive process, because you have to select matching cylinders/pistons from hundreds, and find 4 that fit together absolutely perfectly.

Who would think that keyboards are made this way ?

To put it this way:
If Korg had been manufactured exclusively in Japan, the number of bugs and problems would have been significantly reduced, simply because Korg Japan has much stricter production control than Korg Italy.
The Pa5X's many problems should be proof enough.

So be aware that the Pa5X you buy today may be very different from the previous one, because Korg Italy, due to parts shortages, is forced to develop new ones, with "equivalent" values and durability.
This is a well-known problem in mass production of the same product over time, but most people tend to think of mass-produced products as static, which they are not.