What's the worst synth ever made?

RealitySage · Post by **RealitySage** » Sat Dec 09, 2006 8:59 pm

I had a very cheesy synth made in Parma Italy called a Davalisant. I'm not sure whether I got the spelling right on that one. It had two voices and a very cheap plastic maybe 2 and a half octave keyboard. Plus it had maybe 8 big white plastic two way plastic presets that changed octaves and wave forms, and also a strange slider on the left you could only use to bend notes up with. The sound was extreamely thin and very primitive. It didn't sound too bad plugged into an Echoplex and phase shifter and would growl when you turned up the volume. Does anyone else know anything about this keyboard? I sold it for $50 in 1980. I paid $150 for it in 1977 used.

Analog Freak · Post by **Analog Freak** » Sat Dec 09, 2006 9:40 pm

RealitySage wrote:I had a very cheesy synth made in Parma Italy called a Davalisant. I'm not sure whether I got the spelling right on that one. It had two voices and a very cheap plastic maybe 2 and a half octave keyboard. Plus it had maybe 8 big white plastic two way plastic presets that changed octaves and wave forms, and also a strange slider on the left you could only use to bend notes up with. The sound was extreamely thin and very primitive. It didn't sound too bad plugged into an Echoplex and phase shifter and would growl when you turned up the volume. Does anyone else know anything about this keyboard? I sold it for $50 in 1980. I paid $150 for it in 1977 used.

You mean this thing? http://www.synthmania.com/davolisint.htm Man, I want one, nothing does that 'lucky man' lead better besides a real moog modular.

technomonster · Post by **technomonster** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 6:50 am

JUPITER 11.

without a doubt

monk_volcano · Post by **monk_volcano** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 10:47 am

alesis ION...

wait- MicroKorg..

arg i can't decide which i hate more.. should i start a poll?

Altitude · Post by **Altitude** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 3:54 pm

burns46824 wrote:I mean, look at the thing. Look at it! http://www.vintagesynth.com/yamaha/tx7.shtml

This is the kind of thing some grade school music teacher might buy in the late 80s. "They say it can make them e-lectronic piano sounds." I mean, you basically had to have a DX7 just to controll it anyway!

Well, the TX was never designed to be a standalone synth (hence expander) nor was it designed to be programmed by itself but it was still a full fledged DX. I actually think it was a VERY important device technology wise since it was one of the first (if not first) that made extensive use of SYSEX as a programing and patch transmitting protocol. Remember, this is 1984 we are talking about here, no internet, computers in their infancy, midi is a year old and using cassette tapes is the standard way of backing up and transmitting patches

Roland_Dude_1983 · Post by **Roland_Dude_1983** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 6:53 pm

The Oberheim OBX-A. Nah Im only joking. But seriously how bad is the Yamaha DX-7? I mean what the h**l is the point of having a synthesizer which sounds like a fricken xylophone(im not dissing xylophones by the way, theyre well good). Why don't you just get a xylophone instead of a DX-7? Seriously, what were Yamaha smoking back in '83?

JUGEL · Post by **JUGEL** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 6:58 pm

???????????

burnt toast · Post by **burnt toast** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 7:00 pm

Roland_Dude_1983 wrote:The Oberheim OBX-A. Nah Im only joking. But seriously how bad is the Yamaha DX-7? I mean what the h**l is the point of having a synthesizer which sounds like a fricken xylophone(im not dissing xylophones by the way, theyre well good). Why don't you just get a xylophone instead of a DX-7? Seriously, what were Yamaha smoking back in '83?

i'm pretty sure FM synthesis can do more than a xylophone...!

groove104 · Post by **groove104** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 7:16 pm

monk_volcano wrote:alesis ION...

wait- MicroKorg..

arg i can't decide which i hate more.. should i start a poll?

What's wrong with the MicroKorg? Great sounds and even greater vocoder.

Dr. Sound · Post by **Dr. Sound** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 7:25 pm

OLEAN aka synthetic fat..

yikes, pass the TP....

worst synth ever.

elmosexwhistle · Post by **elmosexwhistle** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 7:28 pm

yeah, the microkorg is a great little cheap synth for beginners - and specifically, beginners who wanna buy something new and not delve into the 2nd hand market, so yeah, i don't think its bad at all...i don't like anything by quasimidi, i'm guessing thats a taste thing though...oh and the less said about korg's latest repackaged dope crunk beatz machine the better

on a slightly more serious note, i don't think i've ever played a synth that i can't get at least one useful sound out of, even the casio vl has it's fantasy patch :p x

Post by **tunedLow** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 7:52 pm

Elmo, I have to say I agree with you. Well, I don't know about the quasimidi part, not sure what you mean by that. But the microKorg really impressed me in that synth sample post. I picked it as one of my favorites without knowing what it was. And I think you're right about every synth having at least one useful sound. No whether or not that makes them keepers is another issue.

Shleed · Post by **Shleed** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 8:04 pm

People poop over the Mk because of it's tiny keyboard. I love the synth, It can make very unexpected sounds (eg. the results when you crossmod and ringsync osc 1 and 2)

pop · Post by **pop** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 8:19 pm

elmosexwhistle wrote:i don't like anything by quasimidi, i'm guessing thats a taste thing though...

hey, the rave-o-lution 309 is a very nice sounding drum machine. As you said, it's a matter of taste, but you should give a try to the 309

OriginalJambo · Post by **OriginalJambo** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 8:26 pm

Roland_Dude_1983 wrote:I mean what the h**l is the point of having a synthesizer which sounds like a fricken xylophone(im not dissing xylophones by the way, theyre well good). Why don't you just get a xylophone instead of a DX-7? Seriously, what were Yamaha smoking back in '83?

Well, what if you want a passable xylophone sound but can't afford a xylophone? Or can't play one very well? Plenty of reasons. That's like saying why have analogue bass when you can have a real bass guitar? I mean, they both roughly take up the same audio spectrum.

The point the programmers were trying to make is that you could finally get different sounds thanks to FM - you were free from the constraints of subtractive synthesis. How come the harmonica part in Tina Turner's "What's love (got to do with it)" is a DX7 preset and not a real harmonica? I don't know myself but whoever produced the song must have thought the DX7 fit the bill perfectly.

What's the worst synth ever made?

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