Alternate DX7 logo

[desmond]

So, for a long time I've had this image of seeing an early DX7 logo in a different form than appears on the regular DX7, but I've never been able to find another picture or reference to it to date.

The logo had the right hand side of the "D" as the left hand side of the "X", in DX7, joined together, as opposed to the final version which has the "D" and "X" as separate letters, as we all know, like this:



Well, I finally found an image of the early logo with the joined letters, to prove I wasn't going completely mad:



From http://www.kratzer.at, featuring the prototype CSDX, with the DX9 and DX7 logos in the style I remember.

Anyone know any more about this? Anyone have a prototype DX7 with the old logo? Anyone know if any ever made it to production, and why/when the logo design changed?

It's just something that always bugged me....

[RetroSynthAds]

Well, this is freaky!

I am currently writing blog posts about DX7 ads and point this older logo out as well.

I first noticed this older logo in the photo used in the DX7 "On Test" review found in the US/Canada edition of the October 1983 issue of International Musician and Recording World.

I haven't dug too deeply into this mystery yet. But here's the photo!

Any info definitely appreciated!

[adhmzaiusz]

My dx7 has neither of those logos..

[desmond]

Well, this is freaky!

Timing!

Thanks for the better pic (love your blog, BTW)

I first noticed this older logo in the photo used in the DX7 "On Test" review found in the US/Canada edition of the October 1983 issue of International Musician and Recording World.

I used to get International Musician back in the day (in the UK) - although 1983 is a bit before my time, I didn't really start getting into synths until a year or two later, and the DX7 was already well out by then. So I have no idea where I would have seen the older logo...

[8bit9bot]

My dx7 has neither of those logos..

is it a DX7 mk2 or DX7s? that'd explain why

[KevBKeys]

I notice the 5 jack sockets on that DX7 seem to protrude out the back. On the two mk1 DX7 I have used (both of which had the regular logo) the jack sockets were flush with the back panel.

Also, some of the front panel markings are different. There is no "Keyboard Level Scaling" graph for example.

[desmond]

My dx7 has neither of those logos..

is it a DX7 mk2 or DX7s? that'd explain why

Indeed - we're talking about the original 1983 DX7 logo, not the 1987 DX7 mark 2 (DX7S, DX7IID, DX7IIFD) which was updated in a different style...

I notice the 5 jack sockets on that DX7 seem to protrude out the back. On the two mk1 DX7 I have used (both of which had the regular logo) the jack sockets were flush with the back panel.

Also, some of the front panel markings are different. There is no "Keyboard Level Scaling" graph for example.

Good spots. On the production versions the algorithm graphics go up to the end of the main panel switches, with the two extra graphs occupying the rest of the right hand side of the panel. Here, the algorithms are bigger and extend past the panel switches.

So the likelihood is that these DX7s were indeed early prototypes, used in the first round of press stuff (and likely for voicing too) before the production lines started. Seeing as few have ever been seen in the wild (to my knowledge), I'm guessing they probably only had a few of these and the design was tweaked and finalised for the actual production run.

[KevBKeys]

I also notice the white strip (that says "play") under the memory select switches is missing. It was presumably added to production models so users could easily locate the modes where you select presets ...and therefore make this sophisticated hi-tech digital technology seem a little less daunting! For better or worse, I guess you could say it worked...