Yamaha dx7 producing no sound: easy fix?

[Tiger Jackson]

In the city i'm in right now, there's a yamaha dx7 for $100 on craigslist, seller says it fully works besides producing no sound. Do you think it's worth it & how would it be fixed?

[fh991586]

That is very odd: how can he tell it's fully working if no sound is produced?!?

Many things must be questionned:
Can the unit be powered up?
Is the sound level up or down?
Are any of the outputs tested (headphone in front, or line out in the back)?
Is there anything in the memory of the synth? A cartridge is needed to load back the sound after the inside battery is not working anymore...

DX7 are not rare, so don't buy it unless you can squeeze a sound of it by yourself. If the seller doesn't know better that what you wrote, I wouldn't spend $20 on it...

[Pro5]

First thing to check in cases like this are always "is midi local ON/OFF set to ON" - this basically disables the keybed so you get no sound but it will transmit over MIDI.

Does it receive midi and make a sound?

Then check the sounds are actually on the synth - low batter or swapped battery, as said above, will wipe the sounds. And unless he's taken the time to manually program a new 'test' sound from scratch you'll probably hear nothing other than hissing.

These are quite hardy synths so unless there is mainboard damage it's usually something simple!

[Bitexion]

Another "solution" could be that this seller has no idea how a synth works, and that they don't all come with in-built speakers. Thus, there is "No sound" because he doesn't hear any sound when he turns it on.

People often sell off old stuff they found in the attic after some dead relative.

[wildpaws]

Another "solution" could be that this seller has no idea how a synth works, and that they don't all come with in-built speakers. Thus, there is "No sound" because he doesn't hear any sound when he turns it on.

People often sell off old stuff they found in the attic after some dead relative.

A friend of mine was on the road with his band, he liked to check out pawn shops in each city looking for good buys on synths. In one he found a Yamaha KX88, when he asked about it, the employee said "Oh, that one doesn't make any sound, must be broken", so my friend got it for $100. It was in perfect condition, the employees didn't know that controllers make no sound.
Clyde

[Tiger Jackson]

I actually left the city i was visting, so i'm out of the deal. but say if i were to test it out and the midi method you guys say was the answer, the thing was functional, i'd just be quite about it? Before he saw it's functional and jacks up the price in my face.

[Bitexion]

Well, that's the danger of craigslist. You never know what kind of people you end up visiting. He COULD just put a gun to your head and not let you out until you pay the price he wanted You never know.