Obscure vintage Sony synth - info wanted

[Nils]

Anyone know anything about this synth?

[sneakthief]

Sony DMS-320?

[Nils]

That's the one. But apart from that image on tumblr/instagram I could not find a single bit on info on google.

Looks like an early digital monster in the vein of Con Brio / Copeland / Levyier..

[ppg_wavecomputer]

Your image link doesn't work.

Stephen

[Weirdofromouterspace]

It does if you copy it into your browser address bar .

It is the same pic as the one linked by sneakthief, however.

[madtheory]

Now that's obscure. Prototype?

[max badwan]

digital was cool, then.

[nvining]

Ten bucks says HideawayStudio restores it next month.

[RetroSynthAds]

Here's an image of the full photo. DSM stands for Digital Musical Synthesizer.



The photo comes from an October 1981 article in the SMPTE Journal by Toshi Doi and Heitaro Nakajima titled "Digital Audio Formats for Recording and Digital Communication".

Unfortunately, the article doesn't go into any detail on the DSM-320 - but it does say its "already developed" - so it may have been a prototype, but it seems to have been actively used in the lab by 1981. Other than that, it just uses the keyboard as an example of a digital synthesizer at the beginning of the digital audio recording chain.

According to Wikipedia, both authors look to have been highly involved in the development of digital audio and the compact disc. Toshi Doi was also apparently responsible for Aibo. Kinda nifty.

Will keep doing research.

[Nils]

Awesome, thanks.

Big fan of your blog btw!

[ppg_wavecomputer]

Here's an image of the full photo. DSM stands for Digital Musical Synthesizer.



The photo comes from an October 1981 article in the SMPTE Journal by Toshi Doi and Heitaro Nakajima titled "Digital Audio Formats for Recording and Digital Communication".

Unfortunately, the article doesn't go into any detail on the DSM-320 - but it does say its "already developed" - so it may have been a prototype, but it seems to have been actively used in the lab by 1981. Other than that, it just uses the keyboard as an example of a digital synthesizer at the beginning of the digital audio recording chain.

According to Wikipedia, both authors look to have been highly involved in the development of digital audio and the compact disc. Toshi Doi was also apparently responsible for Aibo. Kinda nifty.

Will keep doing research.

Looks a bit like the design Sony later used for their digital multitrack recorders (PCM3348 in DASH Format) and peripherals.

I'd be surprised if this project has ever come to fruition.

Stephen

[tim gueguen]

Perhaps the DX7 killed it. I can imagine Sony developing the machine, coming up with a rather high price tag, then seeing that the DX7 was priced at a fraction of what they could sell it for.

[philip]

Almost sure there was nothing inside. Seems it was just a fake for that digital chain presentation.

[ItsMeOnly]

Almost sure there was nothing inside. Seems it was just a fake for that digital chain presentation.

I'd say Sony wanted to take a market cake of Fairlight and Synclavier, so it might be an early 16-bit PCM sampling synth/integrated workstation. Judging by the timeframe, it was rather killed by EMU and Akai than the DX.

[Automatic Gainsay]

Ten bucks says HideawayStudio restores it next month.

HA HA HA HA

And hey, RetroSynthAds... you are cooler than cool. I have a lot of the magazines that you scan, but I very... VERY frequently go to your site to check stuff. Thank you for being such a great resource on the Internet.