ARP Odyssey

Features

• Switchable between sawtooth, square, and pulse waveforms with oscillator sync, a ring modulator, and pink or white noise.
• Pulse-width can be modulated manually or with the LFO or the ADSR envelope generator. There is a (static) high-pass filter, as well as a voltage controlled low-pass self-oscillating filter.
• The filter can be controlled by either of the two envelope generators, an ADSR (attack, decay, sustain, release) and a simple AR (attack, release) and modulated by the LFO, sample-and-hold, the keyboard, or a separate CV (pedal) input on the back panel.
• The Sample/Hold input mixer can be used to route the output of the VCOs to the FM input of VCO 2 and the VCF, enabling audio frequency FM.

Odyssey Mk I (Model 2800)

ARP Odyssey Mark I

ARP Odysseys produced between 1972^[4] and 1975, referred to as Mark I, were white-faced Odysseys that used a 2-pole voltage-controlled filter, which were similar to Oberheim SEM modules. Some late models used a black and gold color scheme and include CV/gate jacks like the later Mark II's. These earlier units contained a greater number of internal adjustments and were slightly more difficult to calibrate.

Odyssey Mk II (Model 2810-5)

ARP Odyssey Mark II

Odyssey Mark II's were produced between 1975 and 1978. They are largely similar to Mark I's; the main differences are the use of the black and gold color scheme and the inclusion of CV/gate in all models. These models also use a four-pole VCF, which were similar in design to Moog's four-pole filter. Subsequent models, however, use a different four-pole low-pass filter designed by ARP, the 4075 filter. A later filter with a similar design, the 4072, was used in the 2600, Omni, Axxe, Solus, and other ARP instruments.

Odyssey Mk III (Model 2820-2823)

The Mark III was introduced in 1978. Mark III's are also the most common models of the Odyssey. The Mark III used ARP's four-pole "4075" filter.

While earlier models had used a simple rotary knob to control pitch bend, The Mark III introduced proportional pitch control (PPC). PPC used pressure-sensitive buttons to control bend up, bend down, and vibrato. ARP included PPC on other instruments, and also offered a kit to add PPC to earlier Odyssey synthesizers.

Mark III Odysseys also have unbalanced XLR outputs, in addition to unbalanced 1/4" outputs.

The Mark III was cosmetically overhauled to feature a redesigned chassis and orange and black color scheme, which was consistent with other contemporary ARP instruments.

Production of the Odyssey Mark III ceased when ARP Instruments declared bankruptcy in 1981.

Korg ARP Odyssey

ARP Odyssey reissued by Korg^[1] in 2015

The ARP Odyssey was reissued by Korg in 2015. The new Odyssey's analog signal path is similar to the original, with some additional modern features:

• MIDI input and USB MIDI connectivity
• a separate headphone output and balanced XLR output
• a new "drive" switch to add distortion to the voltage-controlled amplifier.
• includes the three filter circuits from the original Odyssey models, with the ability to switch between them
• Ability to switch between two portamento behaviors from the original models.

The color scheme is similar to the Mark III, although Mark I and II styles were available in limited editions. All of Korg's reissues use the PPC.

The Korg ARP Odyssey is 86% of the size of the original ARP models. The keyboard is similarly reduced in size, and referred to as “Slim Keys” by Korg.

Korg ARP Odyssey Module

Similar in size to the panel of Korg’s reissued Odyssey keyboard. Includes minor MIDI implementation improvements.

Korg ARP Odyssey FS

A limited edition, full-size reproduction of the original Odyssey, available in all three classic ARP colour schemes.

ARP Odyssei

On Nov 1, 2016 Korg announced the Arp Odyssei for iOS.