I have found a cheap, working Yamaha DX7 on Craigslist ; however, it doesn't come with any cartridges. I primarily make music on my Macs using various MIDI controllers in GarageBand and Logic so is that a problem? Can I download something in place of a cartridge?

CRAIGSLIST DESCRIPTION: $200 - "Good working condition. No cartridges. includes stand and soft case. Grey Matter E-board expansion, backlit display. Good cheap controller for studio."

This is my first analog synth so I don't know much about them. Thanks!

jump on it! The gray matter e expansion holds shedloads of sounds, more than any cartridge.

There are two types of cartridges, ROM carts that contain 64 sounds and can't be written to, and RAM carts that hold 32 patches (excluding crazy 3rd party ones which could hold more)

Two ROM carts came with the synth, the sounds on them can be found online and dumped into the synth, some classic (and some crap) sounds in there. You can download a sip file of these sounds (and 1000s more) from the internet and dump them into the synth via MIDI and tools like sendsx or sound diver.

A stock DX7 has 32 memories, not alot, and in that case, I'd recommend a cartridge or 2, or a new aftermarket memory expansion, but as you have E! Don't bother with carts, they're pretty little curios but you'll have lots of fun dumping 100's of sounds into the E! DX7.

normally you have 32 memory slots for patches without any cartridges
you can load patches from any cartridge to 32 internal slots

you can download sysex dumps from popular cartridges for free in many places

BUT with e-board you have additional hundreds slots for patches
you don't need any cartridges

I have e expansion too, it adds much more features than just more memory for patches

get this DX beast now!

Thanks, guys! I'm getting it for sure

Definitely jump on it immediately if it is in decent shape with the expansion board. That alone is worth as much as the keyboard. I have it in my DX7-IIFD.

Nice find!

It's cool, but it is definitely NOT analog.

The cartridges aren't needed. Go to Dave Benson's DX7 website and download the factory and third party voices in sysex format.

It isn't analogue but it's just as organic sounding when programmed to be so.

IMHO he probably meant to say "vintage" rather than "analog".

Definitely go for it! Great synth, great price, and the E! expansion makes it even better.

It's so easy to download so many patches online. I wouldn't worry.

SO Ive searched high and low. Got the patches, sysex librarian but I cant get anything over. Have all the right connections but rom wont clear or transfer anything!

Have you turned memory protect off and made sure sys info is available?

A little OT, but does anyone know of a good modern editor for the DX7? I used to use Galaxy back in the days of classic Mac OS, but it's been a long time since I've done any amount of DX7 tweaking. (Used to love making DX7 patches!) I have a DX7IIFD with E! board that has pretty much been relegated to controller duties, but I'd like to resurrect it as a playable instrument. I'll need to replace the motherboard battery first, but I'd like to have an easier way of programming it than the front panel!

By the way, the DX7 keyboard is probably my all-time favorite controller. Great feel, aftertouch, nice non-weighted synth action: what's not to love?

Yes, said "protected" and dont know sys info

Turn it to not protected (else nothing can be written) and make sure sys info is available, is it button 8? You have to manually turn ON sysex on the dx7, being it was the 1st or 2nd synth to have it

Thats just vol control for me

I think it is more like function 8 or 10. Im not in front of it. Also on mine, you have to send the sysex on ch 1.

+1 on the downloads. They work quite well.
Welcome to the DX7s club!

Didnt work

here's one: FM-Alive DXM4

yup, dx7 has great feel and great sound. i have a later fm synth but keep a tx7 around for when i want that grittier, original dx sound.

need for mac?

don't know of any offhand, but consider investing about US$100 for windows and $80 in Parallels or some other software that lets you run windows on a mac. for the same price as the $180 mac editor unisyn, you'll never have to ask "is there a version for mac?" ever again.

it's what i did.

hope that helps.

so dx7 patches only work on mac via windows? seems wrong.

sorry. thought you were seeking a mac dx7 editor. only ones i know of work under windows. well there's one i know of that works under OS9. but to transfer old dx7 sysex files to compatible synths, snoize sysex librarian works.

ok thank you. yes, for mac. so I'm in the main screen, loaded my samples in snoize -- then what? my rom is still protected, it has sent midi, but dunno where or what. My mac reads the dx7, but nothing re: patches. thanks agin.