Vintage Synth Explorer Forums

hey everybody

have a question about the yamaha TX-7 ( >> http://www.sequencer.de/syns/yamaha/TX7.html ) i hope someone can help. i just bought this thing very spontaneous on ebay. it was quite cheap.
i dont own a yamaha dx7... now i read a lot in the internet..can i only use the tx7 in connection with the dx7... ???
or can i also use it with other synthesizers (from other mark.. korg etc.)
can i use the tx-7 independent without any other instruments? because the tx7 has no keys?

i think you recognize i dont have much knowledge about synthesizers. just bought this thing very offhanded..

thanks a lot,

a.

You can use the TX7 with any MIDI controller (keyboard, elec. drums, sequencer, etc.).

The TX7 is merely the sound engine of a DX7 to be used as an expander sound module to your MIDI rig.

Z wrote:You can use the TX7 with any MIDI controller (keyboard, elec. drums, sequencer, etc.).

The TX7 is merely the sound engine of a DX7 to be used as an expander sound module to your MIDI rig.

ok. thanks a lot for your answer..
and can i use only the tx7 alone? without anything else?

The TX7 will not output sound without infomation fed to it via MIDI.

Z wrote:The TX7 will not output sound without infomation fed to it via MIDI.

ok..only midi??

Well, you'll need to feed midi messages into the TX7, to tell it what notes to play, what patch to select, etc. The TX7 doesn't have a keyboard, so notes have to be fed to it via midi. You can use a controller keyboard, or another keyboard synth that has a midi out, or a computer w/a midi interface and a sequencer, etc. Do you already have a keyboard/synth or two?

And you'll need to connect the output of the TX7 into an amp, headphones, or powered monitors(speakers) to hear the result, but you might know that already.

Now, editing the sounds is another story. To edit them, you'll either need a DX7 or a software editor (and once again, a computer with a midi interface to run the software on). There are also thousands of ready-made DX7 patches on the web you can download and load into the TX7 using your computer and a sysex dump program such as Midi-OX.

Think of a TX7 as a DX7 minus the keyboard and most of the buttons used for editing.

thanks synthaholic!

i have a korg poly-800 here with a midi in/output... can i use this??
i just was wondering if i only can use the DX7 or a other yamaha key/synth...

Yes, your Poly 800 will work as a controller for the TX7. Plug a MIDI cable into the P800's MIDI OUT and the TX7's MID IN and make sue the transmit channel on the P800 is the same at the TX7's receive channel (if in poly mode, any channel will suffice in OMNI mode).