Pick up a DX7 in good condition?

[SamuelBLupowitz]

A friend of mine is helping to sell off a late relative’s possessions and asked if I’d like to make an offer on a DX7 in good condition.

 

I’d love to have one for my studio, just to play around with, since it’s a classic. But the 60s and 70s axes are more my bread and butter so I don’t really know what I’m dealing with. A quick look online caught me off guard with what a reasonable offer might be — looks like a few hundred rather than the few thousand I was expecting? But I figure this forum is full of folks who lived through the original heyday of the DX7 and can let me know your thoughts. Thank you!

[timwat]

Like many, I had my 3-4 years with the DX7.

 

It had a wonderful, expressively playable key bed. It was a nice size and heft. 

 

It also had very limited MIDI implementation, and while I dabbled with programming a lot (a much more care-free season of my life with much fewer responsibilities), I never got to the point of actual competency - I ended up purchasing useful patches from a few of the many sources that enjoyed a new cottage industry. And the memory only held 32 patches, I think, but had a cartridge port like they did back in the day.

 

The membrane switches, I believe, can be a source of headache (the mark 2, which I never had a chance to play, replaced them with actual buttons), and the sound will be quite...sobering (no internal FX) compared to the many modern implementations of FM in the various current players.

 

It is certainly a classic, one of the 10 influential synths of all time (so says a recent thread inspiring influencer), but in terms of actual practical music usage beyond the nostalgia factor? I'd recommend you take it for a long test drive around several blocks before you part with your hard-earned to bring it home for keeps.

[Justin Havu]

I bought one used for around $200 at a thrift shop almost four years ago.  It was fully functioning, but the chassis was really beat up, so I found a mint one on Reverb for parts just for the chassis which was in great shape.  Spent $300 total on the project.

 

I still love it to this day.  One of the best keybeds of its kind, and very expressive.  Keep in mind, that the MIDI velocity only goes to 100, so it wouldn't make a good MIDI controller, unless you either tweak some settings on the other end, or get the SuperMax kit, which I eventually plan on doing.  

 

[Baldwin Funster]

If you want the sounds but not the aging hardware check out

 

Dexed  from kvr. Free dx7 emulator that's spot on.

[ProfD]

1 hour ago, SamuelBLupowitz said:

I’d love to have one for my studio, just to play around with, since it’s a classic. But the 60s and 70s axes are more my bread and butter so I don’t really know what I’m dealing with. 

I cannot type that the DX7 could be fun to play around with because beyond selecting presets and the keybed it doesn’t provide tactile instant gratification from a programming perspective. 

 

The DX7 could possibly complement the 60s/70s axes but again that's predicated on learning how to program it.

 

The good news is that DX7 shouldn't cost more than $200. 😎

[nursers]

I bought a DX7 around 2 years ago and love having it, but as everyone knows it sounds pretty thin without some effects, which are obviously not built in. 

[Doerfler]

True story :

When I worked at Washington Music Center back in the 1990's, every time NIN would come through town Trent Reznor would buy a DX7 for $100 bucks or so.

Then he would smash it to bits on stage that evening. Smart dude. 

[nursers]

19 minutes ago, Doerfler said:

True story :

When I worked at Washington Music Center back in the 1990's, every time NIN would come through town Trent Reznor would buy a DX7 for $100 bucks or so.

Then he would smash it to bits on stage that evening. Smart dude. 

 

Ok this story has made my week 😄

[Ed A.]

2 hours ago, Jr. Deluxe said:

If you want the sounds but not the aging hardware check out

 

Dexed  from kvr. Free dx7 emulator that's spot on.

Also Chipsynth OPS7. The developer painstakingly reverse engineered the Yamaha VLSI chips in the original DX7 and emulated them in software.

[MathOfInsects]

The cost threshold for me would be "free."

[lsj]

my only advice would be to immediately change the internal battery.  they are very cheap.  also, you will find thousands of free voices that you can download from the web.

[NosPup]

I still have my brown DX7 from the 80's.  I excitedly replaced the battery about 5 years ago when nostalgia set in.  Unfortunately, i have barely played it since.  The keys still play great, but i guess my ears no longer dig the sound.  That said, if you can grab it for $200, its probably worth having  a nice piece of history.

[KuruPrionz]

14 hours ago, Jr. Deluxe said:

If you want the sounds but not the aging hardware check out

 

Dexed  from kvr. Free dx7 emulator that's spot on.

I have this plugin, it sounds good. 

I've heard tons of DX7 in my life but I don't have it memorized. A friend has one for messing about, he almost never plays it but he's a drummer and a busy dad. 

[ABECK]

I had one in the 80s and had a book of patches that I would painstakingly enter into the DX using the buttons and slider.  It was laborious and and I never learned anything about what I was actually doing to sculpt the sound.  I'd love to have another try using some of the resources available today.  There's a wealth of info on youtube.  Def check out some tutorials on creating your own patches.  I assure you, the presets won't likely be very exciting.

 

DX7 Tutorial

[eric]

I still have a touch of nostalgia for the DX7. In HS, my main synth was the Roland JX-8P, though my friend had an original DX7 and I would often borrow it, which led me to getting the DX7IIFD when it first was released (I think that was 1987). Then I added the Korg M1R and I had kind of the later '80s dream rig with the 8P + DX + M1. 

 

I no longer have any DX7 in my life outside of the PLG-DX card in my Yamaha S90 and some FM samples in my Nords. At one point maybe 10-15 years ago, I picked up another DX7IIFD from eBay and that was the era of constantly flipping gear to buy the next thing...I still have my floppy disks from back then with tons of nostalgic sounds.

 

I've thought about trying to track down another one and maybe I'll refresh my search..

[ABECK]

The ability to layer with the IID made it a much more exciting board.  Current prices aren't outrageous, but, I'd prefer one of those $200 pawn shop finds or hell, even a free one.

[The Real MC]

16 hours ago, SamuelBLupowitz said:

A friend of mine is helping to sell off a late relative’s possessions and asked if I’d like to make an offer on a DX7 in good condition.

 

I’d love to have one for my studio, just to play around with, since it’s a classic. But the 60s and 70s axes are more my bread and butter so I don’t really know what I’m dealing with. A quick look online caught me off guard with what a reasonable offer might be — looks like a few hundred rather than the few thousand I was expecting? But I figure this forum is full of folks who lived through the original heyday of the DX7 and can let me know your thoughts. Thank you!

 

The instant gratification will be brief.  FM patches tend to be clangorous which may or may not be your cup of tea.  When you attempt to program your own sounds, you'll find it to be a daunting and frustrating task.  The sound design will be very unpredictable, FM synthesis will be very unintuitive (unless you love math), and the inc/dec buttons with sole data slider interface will be very very inefficient.  Third party editors aren't much help.  Like almost every other FM synth owner back then, resorting to third party FM libraries won't yield much better.

 

There's a reason why the "DX7 EP" patch shows up on every "synth sounds that MUST die" list.

 

The only good thing I liked was the keybed.  But a MIDI controller it is not.

 

I also liked my 60s/70s axes.  Keep them.  The DX7 started the "great analog dump" when it was introduced.  Back then almost every DX7 owner who sold their 60s/70s keyboards came to sorely regret it later.  I bought most of my analog synths for bargain prices back then.

[Morrissey]

I don't crave a DX7.  I get the nostalgia but, for me, the DX7 is just an obsolete digital board.  Same with the M1, the D50, etc.  Groundbreaking instruments but -- unlike vintage analog synths and electromechanical boards -- their time has passed. 

[ProfD]

Several years ago, I scratched the nostalgia itch by picking up a DX7mkII in excellent condition.   

 

Figuring how to program the DX wasn't too hard.  Using that data slider made it a bit cumbersome.

 

After 6 months, I realized I was mainly using the DX for one sound.  It was not the well-worn EP sound. 😁

 

Almost 2 years ago, I bought a Yamaha Reface DX. While it's a microkey version, the flavor is still there for $300 brand new.  

 

Today, I have Dexed on my computer.  If/when I need that sound for any reason, I can pull it up for free.😎

[allan_evett]

This brings back a lot of memories.  I had an original DX7, then added a TX-802 within a few years. So I have more affinity for the second generation of DX's; loved the DX7 II, though I never owned one.  Having an 8-OP FM engine in the MODX8 is great, and the programmability is amazing -  though I haven't gone too deep with that, yet... My YC88 does have a similar 8-OP FM engine, though there really isn't true FM programming - and the YC's programmability is a tad unusual, to begin with .

 

Sam, I think you'd have fun with the keyboard, especially if you run it through some cool multi-FX.

[16251]

My DX7 served its purpose around '86 when I said goodbye to the Rhodes. It was a bridge to my Roland MKS-20 and then my first weighted DP, Korg SG-1D. 

 

I was happy to sell it.

[Reezekeys]

You're gonna love that 12-bit D-to-A fuzz. Hey, it's "vintage" digital!

 

I see it a lot on this forum - the "rose colored" glasses looking back with nostalgia. Mention DX7 sounds in a thread here and you'll have 99% of the posters talking about how dated, shitty, etc. they are. That all changes when it's an actual hunk of hardware? As has been posted here, the keyboard is useless as a controller since velocities go to 100. The sounds? If that's what you dig, get the free Dexed plugin or FM8 from NI.

 

I speak as a musician, not a collector. I also speak as someone who owned one of these and shlepped all 30+ pounds (for a 61-key?) to many gigs, as someone who still uses the EP sound layered with my sampled rhodes, as someone who still thinks a breath controlled brass patch on an FM synth can be a killer sound. FM synthesis has its place and the DX7 was a groundbreaking instrument at the time. I don't remember what I did two days ago, but I remember when I first heard FM (a Yamaha GS-1 at Harrod's in London around 1982 or 1983) and the DX7 playing the SUPERBASS patch (synth whiz Jeff Bova blew me away playing it at a rehearsal studio in NYC).

 

I guess it boils down to what one's price is for "nostalgia." I'm the curmudgeon that looks more at the practical end of things. If it gives someone the warm & fuzzies to display this antique – or perhaps get it as an investment (assuming it appreciates in value at some point – doubtful imo), go for it – I can't argue against that! As a tool that has a place in today's world of music-making – speaking for myself, it would be a hard pass.

[JohnH]

Keep in mind once you change the battery you have to reload the factory sounds. There was no reset in 1983 the way there is now. These can be found online and then bulk dumped via sys ex and a USB midi cable.

[SamuelBLupowitz]

I'm loving all these suggestions and opinions! Y'all are brutal. 😆

 

The DX7 used to embody everything I hated about 80s keyboard sounds, but it's grown on me as I've become less cantankerous in my 30s (and it's started making a resurgence the way these things do). I like having instruments around the studio with some "ooh" factor, but space is limited and the gig money hasn't exactly been flowing for the last, um, six months? Two years?

 

The friend who offered the DX7 is the same one who gave me his grandfather's Gibson J101 combo organ on extended loan, speaking of instruments made largely irrelevant in the digital age... but I do love having it when I need a different vibe for a track, so, I'll keep thinking this over. In the meantime, please feel free to continue sharing your DX7 love and loathing!

[Doerfler]

I own Native Instruments FM 8 as part of the Komplete Kollection. I use it never. 

[johnchop]

FM can generate some really great pads and bell timbres, not just enamel-shredding hypercheese.

[Mr -G-]

I had both the DX7 and the DX7IID. I would buy it for $200 or so if in working order, but you should ask yourself if you are willing to dedicate time to learn FM programming. As mentioned above, FM is very unintuitive (no filter!), yet it can produce outstanding results, specially plucked instruments can be emulated way better than most analog synths. You will also need an editor to keep most parameters visible at the same time. Programming via the LCD is just too painful (you'll need to keep the whole architecture of the synth in your head to remember what you are doing!).

Cheesy sounds and all, the DX7 sounded very different to everything else at the time. Never got out of tune, had more polyphony than many other poly synths. On the other hand, the 4 operator relatives (to me) never sounded that good.

You also will find literally thousands of presets (although many are annoyingly repeated across banks). It might be worth getting the E! Grey Matter board if you can find one and a multi effects pedal.

 

[Reezekeys]

31 minutes ago, johnchop said:

FM can generate some really great pads and bell timbres, not just enamel-shredding hypercheese.

Indeed, some very "analog-ish" pads and horns that are very expressive when modulated with a breath controller.

 

I think folks forget that when the DX7 came out, the two big dogs of the programmable polyphonic synth world were the Oberheim OBXa and the Prophet 5 – both subtractive synths with price tags near, if not more than, $4000. The DX7 offered sounds completely unattainable by subtractive synthesis, along with velocity sensitivity, aftertouch and breath control (none of which were standard on the P5s & Obies) and was around half the price of those other synths. Is it any wonder it became so overused that a lot of folks now slag it for it's "cheezy" sounds?

[Konnector]

I've had a number of Yamaha FM synths and rack synths. FM still has it's place. Sounds great when stacked with an analog poly to create all kinds of wonderful goodness.

But, as already mentioned...Other than the keys & aftertouch, a DX7 doesn't make a good controller. That said, I used one ages ago with a TX81Z rack synth, a Korg EX8000 rack synth, and a multi-fx rack unit all slaved together as one instrument and it sounded awesome. 

 

Nothing you can't do easier these days with a daw. DEXED is good....and it's free. (No portamento unfortunately - that's about the only thing it's missing.) FM8 is good as well as it provides more options like morphing, fx, extra operators, etc. That's about all you need to feed an FM craving.

 

I'd pass on a DX7 as it's a bear to program peering through that tiny window. There's easier ways to tackle that now. If you just gotta have one, then go for a DX7- IID at least that allows you to stack two patches at a time, and has a bigger display.

[Al Quinn]

I loved my DX7 back in the day. Did hundreds of gigs with it. But for me, the sounds haven’t aged well.