Helpful ReplyYamaha DX7 VSTi?

Hi there
 
Do any of you know if there exists a good Yamaha DX7 VSTi out there? Have been toying with the idea of getting a hardware one or a DX7IID.
 
However, my home is bursting at the seams with gear and I should really seek a software solution.
 
Any thoughts
 
Stewart

The venerable Native Instruments FM8 copies the sound and functionality closely (but lacks the green buttons). It's a cool sound but hard to program...

FM7 and FM8 are great synths that will actually read DX7 patches but hey don't really sound the same.  Another option in the freebie category is a freebie called Hexter.  i doubt it's still being developed and the interface was hideous.  It did however give a decent emuklation for a freebie

I am someone who had a room full of hardware and slowly converted it all to VST's. (I do still have 6 external racks though) It can be done and it sounds excellent and not only that the VST's that are coming out now are very interesting compared to the older synths and can do a lot more and sound incredible in the process.

I had several DX's and the TX816 rack which has 8 DX7's installed and that believe me sounds pretty amazing. I have got Native FM7 but it is FM8 right now. It sounds excellent and it can open and read my existing DX library which has got over 7500 sounds in it. I am happy to give anyone the library. It took me 18 months to catalogue. The VST can go into unison mode and build a sound with 8 DX patches on the one note all detuned and panned. Very fat now. You can set a higher voice count for doing massive layers playing slow evolving patches with slow attack and long release times.

If you like the standard DX sounds you will love FM8 sounds because there are more possibilities with the FM programming and the sounds are bigger and better. If you have an understanding of DX programming you won't have any problems with FM8 but even if you are not into it, there are many presets to choose from and edit. And good news, FM8 makes it easy to edit a DX sound and make more broad overall changes like filter cutoff etc even thought there is no actual filter in a DX. Very easy access to ADSR settings in both amplitude and filter areas. All essential synth parameters are on the Easy Edit page. The Easy edit concept kills the original DX programming. Took much longer to change a few things, not now though.

FM8 will take the concept further than a standard DX. Most VST equivalent plugins of your hardware synths will. I had both the DX VST and the DX hardware along side for a while and believe me FM8 sounds fantastic and exactly like the real thing. (Sorry but I don't agree with dubdisciple above. They are exactly the same, I had no problems getting a perfect match and AB switching was very very difficult! Remember a DX is only software running around digitally and converted to an analog signal right at the end. The is no reason a computer can't do the same. With different D to A as well I find now I can get some Dx sounds to actaully sound nicer.) I have always been a DX fan and now you can continue to be if you want. My patches are amazing too. I got involved with Yamaha at one point and got the library from one of their demonstrators. Many DX sounds or patches that came out much later after the synth was born sound amazing and very lush!  Even for one DX sound at a time! It is an incredible instrument.

http://forum.cakewalk.com/tm.aspx?m=2582136 ?

"good-sounding DX7", isn't that an oxymoron?

Jokes aside, the NI product mentioned earlier seems to be the standard to which all others are compared.

fwrend


http://forum.cakewalk.com/tm.aspx?m=2582136 ?

I tried this one, not bad.

What I wish for with all my little pea pickin heart is that all the synth, rompler makers would port everything to VST.  I'd dearly love to have a full Motif, for instance, like I do my beloved M1 and Wavestation.

Jeff Evans

Sorry but I don't agree with dubdisciple above. They are exactly the same,

+1


I have a DX7II and it matched my patches exactly or at least close enough so that with an A/B test you couldn't identify a difference.

I have a non-working DX7 if'n you wanna buy it.

I have a non-working DX7 if'n you wanna buy it.

And it's the best-sounding DX7 on the planet! Sorry, but I never liked that instrument, even back when it was a required piece of gear for every top-40 band. Today it makes me think of big hair, leisure suits and legwarmers.

Wow thanks everyone. You guys are ALL great.
 
I reckon I was sold the FM8 by Jeff and a few other. Great extended breakdown Jeff. FM8 it's gonna be! After watching some youtube clips, I'm even more sold by the idea.
 
I actually looked at Hexter by the way and you're right...it's off putting by sight. I though it was linux for some reason. I couldn't have read the page properly.
 
Laughs at Timidi and Bitflipper. 1980s tackiness is exactly the reason I want it. I want to stand playing my keyboard while wearing a polyester suit with the sleeves rolled up and a piano tie. Yikes !!!
 
Thanks again guys
 
Stewart
 
 

I want to stand playing my keyboard while wearing a polyester suit with the sleeves rolled up and a piano tie.

Oh, well it makes perfect sense now!


Come to think of it, I have a couple piano ties in the closet...one of them is sparkly. I should wear one of those next time I play the VFW.

getcha a prophet V instead!

I was into using the DX sounds more in a soundtrack capacity than creating 80's type sounds. It can sound very good in certain situations. I like the percussive quality it took on and if you spent time programming a lot of expression in terms of how your playing relates directly to the sound, it can sound incredibly real.

The TX 816 rack made a real difference too. Having 8 modules locked onto the one patch is pretty serious. You can pan and detune them and you end up with a very huge and lush sounding patch which was also very wide too. You really need a separate 8 channel mixer to mix the rack too. I had one with EQ and sends to a nice reverb for each module. The initial flaw with the synth was that it could not sound like that marvelous 2 oscillator slightly detuned sound that analog synths could. But the rack changes all that though.

Patches got better later and I have got some that even on one DX synth or module they sound amazingly detuned and very analog sounding. I have got some great Oberhiem sounds would you believe in DX format.

The black DX 7 II was meant to solve that issue . It had 2 DX engines on board and could be layered, detuned and panned. Live, I ran a single DX sound through a Boss Chorus Ensemble pedal. That adds a real analog and gentle chorus effect to the patches too. But I like it in its percussion mode. Like log drums etc. The amount of control over the tone and volume of a sound can be very precise from the velocity touch response and with a wide dynamic range. It can be a very expressive instrument. It can do deep complex textures too. The rack can go into multi timbral mode as well when in that mode. The rack sounds good doing a whole orchestral string section, ie violins, violas, cellos and double basses. Still got two modules per string section for a fat sound.

But the VST is every bit as good I believe anyway. And things get interesting too when you start layering original DX 7 patches with the newer FM8 patches. Some interesting sounds result that way too. There are more options with programming a DX type sound too in FM8 compared to the original instrument.

For those wanting a copy of my library yes I think just PM me with an email address and I can send it to you. I just need to zip it up and maybe include a list of the patches too. I have cut the library down to a more powerful set of sounds under my initial 7500 patches. But still plenty though. They will unzip to a bunch of sysex files. FM7 and FM8 can just import the banks in lots of 32 into the VST. You can then resave in its own native format if you want to. I have put all the sounds under 15 categories.

bitflipper

I have a non-working DX7 if'n you wanna buy it.

And it's the best-sounding DX7 on the planet! Sorry, but I never liked that instrument, even back when it was a required piece of gear for every top-40 band. Today it makes me think of big hair, leisure suits and legwarmers.

Yea, I tend to agree. Except for that ONE 'rhodesy' sound... You know the one:)
I never did get the hang of programming the dang thing. I have that and a Juno 106, and both are not faring too well.
I leave them leaned against walls when clients come over.

I'm going to chime in to agree with Jeff... the FM7 & FM8 are far closer to their hardware cousins than pretty much any emulation I've tried! I still have a pair of TX-81Zs in the rack, I like the way they react to guitar controllers. It requires some effort, but you can import the TX-81Z patches into FM7/8.
Some of the Korg digital emulations are pretty cool, Wavestation is one of my favorites.
I love the NI Prophet, but it does not sound like any P5 I played. Same goes for the Korg MS-20, I still have that hardware, and still use it. The thing about the software MS-20 is that it'll do things the hardware can't.
The Wayoutware Arp 2600 emulation comes as close as anything to the original hardware - and that's a much more difficult feat than emulating something that started out as software - Jeff's point about the DX7 being software is very important!
Bitflipper is right to a point, the poor DX7 was over-used, over-exposed even. It came along with a feature set that really was unbeatable. Thus everyone had to have one (I used to pride myself on never owning a 'real' DX7, right up until I bought a TX7, and later a TX816<G>). But in spite of the ubiquitous patches overrunning the airwaves, it can do a whole lot more.

And Jeff, that's a very generous offer, look for a PM!

I just wish they would come along with a real VST solution for the Yamaha FS1R, I've got one and LOVE the sound, but I refuse to go to the trouble of using outboard instruments anymore. Shoot, I really don't even like recording vocalists, lol

bitflipper


And it's the best-sounding DX7 on the planet! Sorry, but I never liked that instrument, even back when it was a required piece of gear for every top-40 band. Today it makes me think of big hair, leisure suits and legwarmers.

and really bad power ballads.

Thank guys

Jeff...Funny you should say that....Everytime I hear the DX7 on youtube clips, it reminds me of soundtracks of the era, among other things. The FM8 looks cooler in its functionality the more I research it. Oh...expect a PM from too regarding your generous offer   :)

Batsbrew...I already have a Prophet (Arturia). It's great. I just love tinkering away at all things synthy just now. It's like a new hobby.

Thanks to everyone who chimed in here. Much appreciated.


Stewart

Hi to all who have PMed me. Please be patient. I am rather busy right now and also I use three computers here and one has lost its monitor. It is the one with the DX sounds on it. I need to get a new monitor first before I can do anything. But it will be pretty soon as I use it a fair bit.

I don't have any FM7/FM8 patches other than the standard factory sounds so I won't be including those.

But I do have a rather large TX 81Z library that I will track down and include in the zip file for those who are still using the 4 op synth. 

Thank you Jeff. Very nice of you to do this. Regards, Stewart

Just as well I held off on my FM8 purchase. It went on sale for half price today. Offer lasts until 24th June. Whoooohoo. :)

I got mine when I bought Komplete and really like it. FM synthesis is still a pain for me but I love the clean nature of the sounds in their keys and percussion. I don't use it for pads or really lush squishy sounds but it definately has a place. I could cover a lot of territory with the DX7 and Alpha Juno 1. If you like the real deal, you'll love FM8.

Cheers Ampfixer...I was going to have to wait until next month to buy it but the 50% off justified me getting it earlier. Therefore, I bought it 30 mins ago.

Just a quick update. I have got a new monitor so I can see all my DX sounds now! Also I am finishing a very full teaching load. I tend to jump on the work when it comes. It has been hard to actually get in there and sit down and organise it.

I will track down a TX 81Z 4 op library and put that in as well. I have got most of your email addresses so I will just send you an email with a zip file attached. It should just unzip into everything.

Thanks all for being patient. I think I have a list of all the actual presets and if there is any way I can get that into a word doc or something I will try to do it because it has helped me a lot in terms of finding sounds by their names. There are many banks and they are just labelled Bass A, Bass B etc There are 32 sounds in every bank.

Thanks Jeff. Awfully nice of you mate. Stewart

Hi I have a Yamaha DX7 not know if anyone of you know fm, I want to recreate the bass in this song /watch?v=q_6x3EW3FC0, say it with reverb and vibrato! but not how to program the bass # 2, if anyone knows please tell me that I will be attentive to your answers, thank you greetings!

I also have a huge library of tens of thousands of DX sounds - pretty much the full compliment of all the Yamaha sounds that were released, if anyone wants them - FM7 and FM8 can read them directly.
 
Just shoot me a PM with an email address - I have sent these out a couple times in the past to whomever wished them, and unless I truly get flooded with requests, I would be happy to send them out - they would come in a series of emails, with compressed folders - I think about 6 or 7 emails, if memory serves.
 
I would also include some instructions for using them.
 
Hope they help someone, 
 
Bob Bone
 

Bob
Do your sounds work with a real DX7? If yes I would love them - I really don't use my DX7 as much as I should so it would help greatly if they work
Cheers
Nigel
 
 

If anyone is looking for the DX7 Rhodes sound only, check out http://fmtines.com/.  Yeah it may sound cheesy to some but it IS a classic sound!

Poor thread, in deep slumber, but since it's anyway already up. This is a nice "newish" DX7 clone some might not have heard about:
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSs1-020nNY
https://github.com/asb2m10/dexed
 
I have NI FM8 and still find a place for this one. Really stable even though it's at 0.8.

Bajan Blue
Bob
Do your sounds work with a real DX7? If yes I would love them - I really don't use my DX7 as much as I should so it would help greatly if they work
Cheers
Nigel
 
 

I would think so.  FM7 and FM8 can read native DX banks.  The contents of my folders for these include mostly syx and bnk, and some of the TX banks may have some different formats.  But I would think any of the sysx files would work.
 
Shoot me a PM with an email address and I will send you a folder for testing, and if that works for you then I could send you the rest.
 
Bob Bone
 

beltrom
Poor thread, in deep slumber, but since it's anyway already up. This is a nice "newish" DX7 clone some might not have heard about:
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSs1-020nNY
https://github.com/asb2m10/dexed
 
I have NI FM8 and still find a place for this one. Really stable even though it's at 0.8.

Thanks for this link.  I downloaded Dexed and was really blown away!  Great DX7 sound and you can't beat the price! Thanks again!

I have download and installed DEXED and yes it is a fine synth. But nothing like FM7/8 though. It still has a very singular oscillator sound to it and it won't give you massive wide fat analog sounding textures. There are many sounds for it and I hope everyone realises you can click on that CART symbol down lower left and open up a huge number of banks of sounds. Very cool.
 
FM7/8 can do massive unison layers per key and detune and widen them the same way I could do all that on the TX816 rack in the past. Now that is a serious fat sounding DX machine. All modules on one sound but detune and pan them all though, it can sound incredible that way. I can get a very similar sound with FM7 as well. It replicates a single DX7 patch perfectly but it can take on the sound of the rack too which is pretty cool.
 
DEXED sounds good running into something cool like ERS 'Dimension D' plugin. You can get some rich, wide, liquid sounding patches then.

Bob
thanks I'll PM you now
Cheers
Nigel
 

Jeff Evans
I have download and installed DEXED and yes it is a fine synth. But nothing like FM7/8 though. It still has a very singular oscillator sound to it and it won't give you massive wide fat analog sounding textures. There are many sounds for it and I hope everyone realises you can click on that CART symbol down lower left and open up a huge number of banks of sounds. Very cool.
 
FM7/8 can do massive unison layers per key and detune and widen them the same way I could do all that on the TX816 rack in the past. Now that is a serious fat sounding DX machine. All modules on one sound but detune and pan them all though, it can sound incredible that way. I can get a very similar sound with FM7 as well. It replicates a single DX7 patch perfectly but it can take on the sound of the rack too which is pretty cool.
 
DEXED sounds good running into something cool like ERS 'Dimension D' plugin. You can get some rich, wide, liquid sounding patches then.

Jeff your reply makes me regret not having pocked up FM8 during NI's sale before the holidays! Until next year, I guess I'll have to stick with Dexed! 😊

To those who sent me a PM asking for the DX presets in SYX format, I have sent emails with attached folders containing the presets, to the supplied email addresses in the PM's.
 
I also have a boatload of DX and TX presets converted for use in Native Instruments FM8, if anyone wants those, just send a PM.
 
Bob Bone
 

Hi Daniel and others.  I have an update.  Despite FM7/8 being good I am very pleased to report that after spending some time playing with DEXED I really like it a lot.
 
It has an excellent sound overall and I could even go as far as to say it sounds slightly different to FM7. perhaps a slightly warmer sounding version of DX 7 patches.  It's sounds are good but when I started opening my existing DX 7 library I could really hear how nice it sounds.
 
I was able to pull some serious fat analog patches with DEXED by first starting with a great fat analog patch from the DX 7 library.  Later programming got into some nice detuned sounds and beating etc.. Then insert two instances of DEXED.  Put the analog patch on both but edit one of them slightly.  I followed each one with an instance of Dimension D creating a nice wide gentle chorus effect.  (each Dimension D being set slightly different)  It sounds killer.  It seems to be light on CPU so multiple instances don't seem to be an issue.  Process each one with FX slightly differently in a multiple instance for an even more lush effect.
 
I like how it opens and plays my existing DX7 library a lot.  The built in layering concept in FM7/8 is good as are the delay lines too for added dimension etc.  But very satisfying results can be pulled easily from DEXED for sure.  Especially if you get creative with effects after the fact.  This is an excellent DX7 emulation VST.
 

Bob, can you send me your syx dx7 patches? I am unable to PM you. I am a new member. If you are unable to obtain my email address, is it possible to send it to you another way? Thanks in advance. :-)

97teledlx
Bob, can you send me your syx dx7 patches? I am unable to PM you. I am a new member. If you are unable to obtain my email address, is it possible to send it to you another way? Thanks in advance. :-)

I am happy to send you the whole lot of them (close to 20,000, I think), BUT it is a big unwise thing to do to post one's phone or email on any public forum, such as this.
 
The key to your being able to send and receive Private Messages (and to post links in thread posts), is to get your posting count up above certain levels.
 
Just go through maybe the Coffee House and find some threads with banter you might want to join in on, and put out about 25 posts or so in various threads, and somewhere along in there is the threshold for when the forum software will start to allow you to send and receive private messages.  Out of respect for the folks and for their threads, please do post meaningful content to threads you find - there are some pretty long running and often funny threads there, as well as serious discussion and such - check it out.
 
So, once you DO get to where you CAN, please then shoot me a private message with your contact information, and I will send you a series of emails with attached zipped folders to get the whole set of them to you.  Instructions for what to do with them and where to put them will be included in the emails, as I regularly send folks these libraries.
 
SO - happy to help you, sorry I don't recall what that threshold IS, but I believe it is certainly less than 50 - so I would try after maybe 25 posts, or even 15-20, and if that doesn't work, get yourself up to 50, which I would believe would certainly be a high enough post count.
 
Bob Bone
 

I still have my DX7IIFD. Jeff Evans is 100% correct. The Native Instructions FM8 sounds exactly the same.
 

robert_e_bone

97teledlx
Bob, can you send me your syx dx7 patches? I am unable to PM you. I am a new member. If you are unable to obtain my email address, is it possible to send it to you another way? Thanks in advance. :-)

I am happy to send you the whole lot of them (close to 20,000, I think), BUT it is a big unwise thing to do to post one's phone or email on any public forum, such as this.
 .......
Bob Bone
 

 
You can use Dropbox for this: https://www.dropbox.com/
 
Put subfolder in your public folder, put the DX files there, copy the address then put that address here.  After he DLs it delete the subfolder.  I use this technique when exchanging large files with other musicians. 

The one thing I noticed about FM8 is I can't get the patches from DX7 to sound as lush in it.

beltrom
This is a nice "newish" DX7 clone some might not have heard about:
https://github.com/asb2m10/dexed

 
Thanks for this.  I didn't expect much for a free synth, but I really like it.  Haven't done much more than play with the presets, but can see myself putting it to good use.
 

Bob, I received the collection of files you have sent. Thanks for your patience with me in ironing out the email situation of which I was at fault . I am looking forward to unzipping all these treasures. Ttyl :-)

Bob is da man!

Thanks, Bob! I got it as well. Went to my spam box for some reason :D

I must say, this is an excellent collection. It should keep me busy for decades to come! Thanks Bob!