My opinion on the DX7MKII FD.....
 

Ok, well ive had the DX7 for about 4 months now and Id like to give you the lowdown on FM synthesis and my thoughts on the DX7 in general...

First off, the DX7MKII FD is a well built machine. The key action is very good and rivals most current VA's. All the buttons have a great feel to them and the sliders are great. The backlit LCD display is very good an displays just about enough information.....all in all, they look sexy and are very nice to wank over...

FM SYNTHESIS

One of the first things to hit me when I bought the DX was just how expansive the programming possibilities were/are. Now I know why Brian Eno swears by them.....and only uses DX's.

Conceptually I understand how FM works. What I dont understand is just how the various algorithm configurations are supposed to influence the overall tone. Hmmm....I fundemental limitation you might ask....well in fact no....its not.

Selecting the algorithm is one of the last things I do when finalising a patch. True...organs sound best when using algorithm 32....and leads sound best when using either 5, 27 or 29. For the most part....any algorithm can be used for any sound.

I start by swithing on all the operators and making sure their outputs are all set at maximum. Contrary to programming guildlines....the manual and other sources will tell you to program each operator/modulator one at a time. But, where dealing with additive synthesis here as well as FM. How are you supposed to imagine hypothetical harmonics?

Next, I think of a basic lead, bass, FX or pad envelope....and adjust accordingly. You have to do this for each operator and there 8 stage envelopes. The 'copy' function makes quick work of this. Only when your wishing to make wavetable type sounds would you then want to make subtle tweaks to each operators envelope.

Now comes the fun part. Tuning the operators. This is where it either goes brilliantly or horribly wrong. When first starting out, Id recommend you use ratio tunings of 1.00 - 12.00. If one of your modulators is set to 12.00....then its usually best to set all others as 1.00. Only when you become more comfortable should you then start experimenting with more extravagent ranges and fine tunings. A point about the fine tuneing of 6 operators. As you can imagine, on sabtractive synths, detuning 1 or two oscilators from the fundemental is doable and good. But when you effectively have 6 'oscilators' some of which are acting as modulators of a carrier...you can seriosly get into f*$% up (and sometimes interesting) territory..... :lol:

Next comes the 8 stage pitch envelope. I recommend you stay away from these unless you ARE making guitar patches or some weird FX. The practicality of using pitch generators is limited for most synth sounds....and I only tend to use small amounts of inverted pitch on basses and leads. In addition to this, I know some of you have asked for pitch generators to be included on the virus. In my opinion....pitch generators are going to have little practical application for subtractive 'analog' sounds.....perhaps with the wavetables they'd be quite interesting. But until you've actually mastered how to pitch generators....I wouldnt bother Access to implement them :wink:

OK, so now you have your operators activated, tuned and envelop'ed! Next is to set the individual outputs for each operator. THIS MAKES A MASSIVE difference to the overall color/tone of your sound. Making subtle tweaks here and there can bring out really beautiful ENO style timbres....

And thats about it folks. Making basses, leads, bells, metallic drones and *outthere* fx.....is actually pretty easy. Its not as hard as people make out. Granted, the FM guitars and space FX are hardcore.....but in terms of simple, evolving FM sounds.....its quite a breeze to do yourself.

The bottom line is; if any of you are seriosuly looking for alternative sounds then check out a DX7. Its one of the most versatile synths ever made.....and definitely one of my best purchases ever.

DS

i think i'l stick with my beloved NI FM7.

you had a chance to do an A\B test between them yet?

Great review :)

Nice work DS....

Would love to pick up a DX7 or D50 soon!

The guy who sold me the DX7...demo'ed it in comparison to the hardware. He was using Good speakers....and there was a sublte difference. The software sounding a little thinner....and a bit less presence. One must conlcude then that the hardware must colour the sound slightly as the output stage?

Id take the hardware version over the software...purely because i want a DX7....no emulation....

DS

I love fm7 sounds ,put it in my music,put it in my salad and put it on the grill. i'l have it! :D

i only wish yahama could have put a decent multimode analog filter insted of... NO filter at all 8O but i guess they wanted to keep it budget and analog components would have made it expensive.

say you tried runing it thru some analog synths yet? (which ones do you\your mate got left ? do you still have the Pro1? )

Prophet 5, Pro-One, Mono-Poly, Casio CZ3000.....and yes there is another DX7MKiiFD....lol. 2 DX7's.....just aswell because some of the patches ive made do use unison.....and having more than 4 voices for thick pads comes in handy....this is why ENO has two....

Sadly the Jupiter 8 went to Duran Duran....but once im out of uni ill prioritise money to get one. Its my favourite synth of all time. THey cannot be faulted

Actually, this weekend im going over to my m8's so 'ill prob run some of my new DX7 sounds through the Pro-One filter and see what happens. Ill try and make some mp3's if anyones interested...

DS

Nice review :D I?ve been thinking about getting a DX7 but a haven?t got any room for it at the moment. Maybe i?ll get one when i some day move to a bigger place :roll:

I do like the FM sounds too. I see so many DX7s here, so one day I may grab one - dunno though as there is a fair chunk of gear on my list.

By the way DS...

I watched those movies of that guy demo-ing the ins and outs of Midi (pun intended). Pretty funny. :D

HC

Yeah they're funny............especially the trouble shooting one :lol:

Glad you linked them. If anyone else wants to view them....grab the 7 videos here >> http://qotile.net/videos.html

Grab them whilst you can....one day they might be gone!

DS