Hi !
I have the DX7 and I bought The volca FM for replacing my DX7 when I tour or play live because the DX7 is way too large and heavy.

The Volca FM has an excellent workflow but the buttons are too small and I dont like the sound : it's too cristalline, just highs and subs, and it sounds a bit sterile.

Night and day with the DX7. I've also tested the DX200 and it sounds similar to the volca FM.

TX7 sounds the same as DX7... could be a solution but there's no membrane and sounds are not editable from the front panel, and I don't want another controller onstage, I already have too much stuff ...

I'm looking for membranes or pressing buttons to edit sounds, like on the DX7 or the PSS x80 series (4-5-6-780).

don't like the Preen FM sounds (same kind of sound as the volca ... sounds too digital ...) I like the TX81z sound , the FB01, and the PSS x80 series sound : sounds nearly "analog", fat, dirty, bold ...

Do you have any idea ? It has to be a rack or lighter than 6 kilos or a small synth

Sounds Like I have to build my own FM synth ... but how can I have this 12 bit DX7 MKI converters sound ?

To sum up things: here are the FM synth I dislike the sound
- Volca FM
- DX200
- Preen FM
- Yamaha Montage
...

Sound I want
12 bit FM sound like TX7, DX7, FB01, TX81z, Yamaha PSS x80 series ...

In the context of playing live is the audience ever going to appreciate the difference between the DX7 converters?

DX7 DAC is not the difference, it’s the lower quality interpolation of sines when computing frequency modulation. Converters are next to negligible.

As such, the only way to get that sound is a mk1 DX7 or a plug-in that computes the sine waves in a specific way.

Yamaha V50 is a TX81Z with keys. Yamaha DX21 is a FB01 with keys (fullsize version of the now-overpriced DX100 - has nice chorus, too)

Looks to me like you've got the choice of giving up the Mk1 sound and picking amongst the alternatives, or giving up the control aspect and going with the TX7. Perhaps you could use your main controller for limited control on the TX7?

DEXED
Click PARM button, switch the engine mode to "Mark I".
Use a spectrum analyzer with an EQ to tweak out any remaining differences.

I was going to suggest Dexed too. Since it’s free and open source (as in you can find the original DX libraries online for free).

The DX11 is the TX81Z with keys. The V50 is more like a workstation with a built in fx and drum sounds. The DX27 is the full sized version of the DX100. The DX21 is slightly more powerful than the 27/100 with the ability to split or layer sounds, and also has a weak and noisy on board chorus.

The FB-01 is 8 part multi timbral, using a later iteration of the FM chip used in the DX21/27/100.

For the OP, if the TX7 and some pre-gig midi sys ex and controller keyboard wrangling to get your sounds and patch changes isn't acceptable, you haven't got many options for compact mk1 DX7 sounds. A TX816 isn't exactly portable or easy to find.

If you can live with the slightly smoother sound of the mk2, the a TX802 would do the job (still quite bulky though). The TX81Z is only four op, but is still worth considering. Dexed probably gets you closest to that original character if you're gigging with a laptop.

Thanks for all your informations ! I use Dexed ... but I don't want to use any laptop when playing live...

Samplers maybe then ?

Why not the Yamaha reface?

FS1r?

Two compromise suggestions:

• Korg 707, which is an FB01 disguised as an easy-to-program 2-osc synth. 5 kg, battery-operated, 49 keys with guitar pegs so you can wear it as a keytar if you want. Probably bigger than you want. Like an FB01, it allows only one parameter to be edited at a time.
• TX81z and Remote SL25, a 25-key controller that comes with a TX81z template. But you don't want another controller on stage. Also may be smaller than you want, but if you can settle for an extra controller with more keys, you might be able to find the rare SL37.

I don't know about the Volca FM (I can test it if anyone is willing to make a recording), but the converters and output circuits would account for the majority of the difference in sound between the original DX7 and the DX200 (and also the DX7 II, TX802, SY77, etc.). The way the sines are generated in these models is very similar if not exactly identical.

But in general I agree; I don't think the converter makes a big difference in this case. It's only contributing a very minor amount of distortion which isn't really audible unless you're explicitly looking for it. The effect of the converters is more significant in the 4 operator models (except the DX9) and PSS models (especially the ones with onboard DACs like the PSS-380, 680, etc.). In the DX7 it's not worth obsessing over.

I don't know why the original DX7 is supposed to have the "classic sound" that later models lack. For dirty sounding FM, use a DX21 or PSS-680 or whatever. The DX7 is actually one of the cleaner sounding ones.

Cool thread OP. I'm in a similar boat, also looking for a small alternative to my DX7 mk 1 and preferably something simpler to program. The reason is basically my room space, as I'm trying to downsize. I had actually thought of the Volca FM but the OP's post made me reconsider.

I just downloaded the Dexed. It's nice, but unfortunately it lacks the bigness, bite and 3Dness of the real DX7. It made me remember why I haven't used a softsynth in years.

Based on the web demos the Volca FM sounds like something between the Dexed and the DX7.

I think the best option to replace a DX7 would be the TX7. But for gigs you'd have to pre program it. Though the TX7 is not that small either. And the keybed and build quality of the original DX7 are something that I would sorely miss.

Use the dx7 to program your sounds and then dump them to a tx7 and take that out live.
It can be played from the controller you currently use.

Enter the 21st century already, if huge acts can use laptops with Mainstage or whatever, why couldn't you? Dexed is probably the closest you can get to DX7 mkI sound, and it's FREE... You already have MIDI controller(s), so that's most of the trouble sorted out.

And that right there is bullcrap. It is doing FM in exactly the same way as DX7 is, calculating sines in exactly the same way, envelopes work in exactly the same way... The only thing it doesn't have is DAC from DX7, but as above mentioned, it's nearly negligible of a difference. It won't give you the "bigness, bite and 3Dness" just because DX7 DAC isn't there. Sounds to me like you didn't set it to mkI mode, so it sounded different for you.

Same ****, same sound as volca FM plus ... buttons acts progressively, and its not "push to +1 or -1 coarse" for each example ... you have to maintain the button to raise or lower the frequencies of each OP ... unless If someone found a solution to do exaclty the same way as the DX7 ?

WOW thanks you, nice answer !

For some people 1+1 on a handheld calculator is different from 1+1 on a software calculator running on a computer.

Ignorance is bliss.

Anyone not half deaf would hear the difference - I wouldn't be surprised if you haven't even heard a real DX7 next to the software. People express these strong opinions ignoring relevant factors. The DX7 is not just software and DAC. It is full of electronic components that affect the sound, not least the psu. This topic (DX7 vs FM8 etc.) has been discussed endlessly here already.

TOTALLY AGREE !
you've never done the comparison between Dexed and the real DX7 MK1 ... if you've done it, well ... you'll have to clean your ears ... sound is clearly more sterile. .. even with the MK1 options in Dexed ... same problem for Reface, volca etc ...

The tiny difference is very easy to fix with a simple parametric EQ.

Yeah PSU definitely influences how the math is carried out in those chips. That's a good one!

Went for the old "misparaphrase the other" trick, eh?

How about you then prove how the PSU affects the sound in a synthesis system that is NOT voltage controlled?

On the Reface, if you tap the top arrow, you increase the setting by 1. Touch the bottom arrow and you decrease the setting by 1. I prefer a DX7 slider to the Reface virtual slider, but it's awesome that the Reface gives you 4 that you can move at the same time (as you play one-handed on the keyboard) to do things not even the DX7II could do.

I would never use a Volca FM to replace a Yamaha FM synth. The Volca is a playable sequencer with an FM synth attached not an FM synth with a sequencer attached. That's why it has only 3 voices and uses a slider to adjust velocity (so you can control modulators' brightness like opening and closing a subtractive filter).

I would never use a Reface to replace an older Yamaha FM synth. The Reface is its own animal. Its feedback circuit is pre-envelope, unlike all the others, and it has tons of other tricks that allow it to achieve sounds that no other DX-style Yamaha can ever hope to achieve, especially when used with a controller or better yet a sequencer that sends CCs. When used with the Octatrack, the Reface becomes one of my favorite FM synths ever, and I love the SY77 like it's my other wife.

And to me, Dexed sounds so close to a TX7 in a mix in a live show that the only reason I wouldn't use it is that I wouldn't want a laptop on stage. As I type this I'm comparing Dexed in MK1 mode to a TX7 and I'm like "Whatever. Let's make music."

My thoughts only. Feel free to ignore. Make the choices that sound and feel best to you and don't worry about defending your decisions to internet strangers like me. Just go make music.

Have you heard the difference next to a mk1 dx7? I programmed a sound on both DEXED and my mk1 side by side and I was impressed at how close the sound was. It would take a braver man than me to try to pick it out in a blind test. Even the way the waves phase against each other sounds absolutely right to me.
Guess I must be half deaf then!

As said I have heard the difference - I just played my DX7 and then downloaded the Dexed. It's the DX7s amp section that makes all the difference (you know, the heavy weighing stuff the digitally generated sound needs to flow through in order to come out of the output at line level).

Similarly, a CD player will sound different through a 100 eur integrated amplifier and through a 4000 eur integrated with same watts and same speakers. At least to a lot of us.

I think this discussion boils down to the fact that two persons tend to be interested in and tend to focus on different aspects of the same sound. I might focus on the bottom end, bite etc. you might focus on how the higher end rings etc. We care less about the other aspects of the sound. Not realising this - that our ears focus on different aspects of the sounds - results in endless disputes on analogue vs digital, hardware vs software, this converter vs that converter etc.

To me this video demonstrates quite well how thin and 2D the Dexed sounds compared to the DX7. I hear this even more clearly when comparing my DX7 to the plugin in my home studio. It's not only that the Dexed is less bassy; it just sounds less musical. I serioulsy doubt an eq could fix that difference.

The Arturia version does sound impressively close to the real thing, though.

I think he meant the last part of the signal flow.
But i don't agree that it affects it in a human ears detectable amount.