Is it worth getting a DX7 Mk1?

[gcoudert]

Oddly enough, I used to dislike the DX7 back in the 80s. The sounds really didn’t impress me. When my Juno 60 and JX3P were stolen, our live sound engineer lent me his DX7 Mk 1 for a gig, which I layered with a hastily-purchased second-hand JX8P. I was reluctant to use that DX at first but that new rig totally redefined my sound and my appoach to song arranging. I couldn’t afford one at the time so I settled for the recently-released TX81Z. As somebody else said, there’s always a place for FM.

[blueknob]

I notice the cats are not too impressed. They seem to have found some food maybe that's the distraction.

I had a DX7s, did lots of gigs with it, kept it for years, eventually sold it to.. The Stranglers! (yes them!)

[Jabberwalky]

^ That's awesome! Did you get to chat with Dave Greenfield?

[Peopleunderthesun]

Get the Supermax! Completely changed the way I felt about my Mk1.

[DX21]

http://www.burnkit2600.com/manuals/fm_t ... ations.pdf

This book, written by the guy who invented FM Synthesis, gives an outright mathematical look on how an X Piano does it's thing...very good book, going to print it on some nice parchment and keep it in me gig bag for some light reading.

[monkeykong1]

Get it.

I recently brought a DX7 and a Korg Minilogue. The sound of the DX7 is amazing fat and dirty. Allthough programming is difficult you can download the patchs.

The brass and strings are so good! In comparison I dislike the sound of the minilogue.

[Kenneth]

It's interesting that you should bring up the Sega Genesis sound comparison. Interesting, in that the Sega Genesis actually had built in Yamaha FM synthesizer chips to handle all in-game music and sound effects! I think they were YM3812 chips though, so only 2 operators per voice as opposed to the 6 in the DX7. Quite rudimentary. But still, there is a tangible reason why the DX7 brings back memories of early 90s gaming...

[commodorejohn]

The sound chip in the Genesis was a YM2612, so 4-operator, but yes, pretty rudimentary by comparison to the DX7. Still got that distinctive FM sound, though.

[Kenneth]

The sound chip in the Genesis was a YM2612, so 4-operator, but yes, pretty rudimentary by comparison to the DX7. Still got that distinctive FM sound, though.

Ah! Thanks for the correction. I didn't realize the Genesis had 4operator FM capabilities! Was that the same chip used in the DX100 then?

[commodorejohn]

Nope, that was the YM2164. The four-operator design was Yamaha's go-to solution for FM sound sources, so they had a wide variety of them, differing primarily in polyphony and miscellaneous additional features like SSG/PSG compatibility for home computers/consoles or even sampled drums.

[princefan3]

NO.

[Bitexion]

No. But if you can get the DX7S, it's basically the exact same synth, but they remade the menu system into something ALOT more sensible (you don't have to skip pages to change EG stages for instance).

It's alot alot sturdier since they replaced the flimsy plastic/membrane button with DX7-II buttons. Usually on old DX7's the plastic around the edges of the membrane buttons is cracked, which looks like s**t.
Or, if you want the DX engine but turned up to 11 and a filter, get a SY77. On that you can use more waveforms than just sine waves.

Look at the sleek beauty.

[commodorejohn]

Isn't the DX7s just a monotimbral DX7-II under the hood, though?

[desmond]

Isn't the DX7s just a monotimbral DX7-II under the hood, though?

Yes. Which makes it equivalent to the original DX7 but with the more modern engine.

[commodorejohn]

But without the That Sound factor of the Mk.1, no?