MATRIXSYNTH: YAMAHA DX1 FM Synthesizer with Original Hardcover Owners Manual


Sunday, January 03, 2016

YAMAHA DX1 FM Synthesizer with Original Hardcover Owners Manual

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via this auction

Some fun history via the seller:

"I purchased this DX-1 in a music store 25 years ago in 1991. I had gone into the shop to sell a guitar to have money for Christmas presents, saw the DX and flipped out. Weeks later I went back and was able to put it on layaway. Every week I would go in to make a payment and play with it for an hour or so. I called Yamaha for a manual and the lady on the phone said, “You have a what!!!??? Do you have any idea what this originally sold for?” I was a sheepish 24yo w/o a clue; she told me $13,900 and sent me a photocopied user manual for free. I reprinted it on parchment at Kinko’s, had it hard bound, and embossed with the DX logo in gold leaf. This was $130 (the book is pictured and included in the sale) as well as a new power cord (thank you eBay) and the original custom Anvil. (I re-foamed the case years ago and it is still in great condition)...

A little blurb about the DX1...

The DX-1, designed in 1983, has 5 microprocessors and 13 circuit boards. The wooden, full weighted-action keyboard assembly is immense, taking up about 65% of the space inside the enclosure. Underneath the keyboard are seven circuit boards that comprise the polyphonic aftertouch system managed by one of the processors. The aftertouch data is sent to the dual-DX voice engine where it modifies specific operator attributes according to the settings in the edit menu.

The DX-1 is bi-timbral: it has two 6-operator DX voice engines, each controlled by its own dedicated CPU. This is equivalent to two DX-7’s with the added capabilities of the performance-pair settings. The DX engines use the same OP-S and EG-S custom chipset, a 12-bit DAC and 4-BIT DAC reference voltage prescaler. Each DX engine has its own front panel volume expression pedals controls, as well as a 5th-order low pass filter to remove digital waveform clock noise.

The DX-1 is built in a manner that is rarely seen in synthesizers today. It is literally built like a tank from a heavy-gauge steel chassis, rosewood enclosure, custom frame pieces, heavy duty power supply and about 8,000 electronic components. It weighs 112.5 lbs and close to 200 lbs in its flight case."


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