I asked a similar question on the AB forum when KQ Dixie came out, because I don’t feel like going through 30,000 or however many there are DX7 patches and finding that 29,900 are electric piano or something equally overplayed… Somebody finally posted this useful-looking link:
http://bobbyblues.recup.ch/yamaha_dx7/dx7_soundbanks.html
Apparently the Suzanne Ciani patches live up to Ciani’s reputation as a top synthesist.
oh damn I need to check this out
Ah I love Suzanne Ciani, thank you!
Anyone here own a Volca FM before? I’ve never used an FM synth but am intrigued after hearing the Digitone. After watching some videos online, the Volca FM sounds good to me and seems noobie-friendly like the Digitone probably is. I already have an Octatrack for sequencing and p-locking the Volca. A Digitone would be almost $600 more. With the Digitone, I get effects, four tracks, and some other things but curious if those of you have owned the Volca FM like it enough to recommend it.
I had a volca fm for a long time and really enjoyed it. I ended up selling it to a friend and I do miss it. The major drawback for me as far as midi sequencing was it doesn’t respond to program changes. So you can’t change patches via midi. Easy enough to just turn a knob or select a new pattern (patches are saved with each pattern), but I would have liked to have patches recalled based on the Digitakt pattern I was using to sequence it. At the end of the day, it’s a dynamite little box!
Buy a DX-11. Seriously.
I would but am restricted on space and am looking for something small like a Volca or Digitone. But if I have a lot of space in the future, I’ll look at the Yamahas.
Octatrack plus Volca FM is a great combo. I made some odd sounds on the Volca FM, sequenced and sampled them into Octatrack, and then added spatializer and/or comb filter effects to the sound and got some really really cool sounds out of it.
It’s only 5 octaves! 
You are crazy! I would love some gear with that kind of magic in it
These are not that hard to find in good condition since they were built like a tank. It is by far the easiest to program and most fully-featured original DX synth from Yamaha and you should be able to get one for around €150-€175 pretty easily.
Here’s mine; the keys haven’t really yellowed much at all:
What is hard to find is one of those Yamaha breath controllers that plug into that socket on the bottom left…
Sure sounds good here - this vid is particularly good in that he explains how to compensate for the Volca FM’s lack of velocity response by mapping MIDI CC from the Octatrack. Also, plenty of examples of lively, responsive percussion sounds that FM - as opposed to analog - excels at:
Every time I hear the Volca FM doing harder / bass / kick-like sounds, it sounds so very crisp and punchy. I wonder, is this well-defined, punchy and crystalline presence attributed to its flexibility / range (6 operators, 32 algorithms), or are these characteristics possible with the Digitone, with its more ‘streamlined’ FM functionality? I only ask because many demos of the DN sound somewhat warmer and soft-edged. Is the Volca FM better-equipped (complex envelopes etc.) for dry, punchy, woody sounds?
The Digitone - to some people - is “limited” because it “only has 4-op”. This Yamaha DX-21 video demonstrates that lively percussion is certainly possible on 4-op FM - unfortunately, there’s hardly any kick sounds in the vid, though once in a while he plays a low, woody sounding note that sounds promising.
If of course you develop into a 4-op FM patching god and really need 6-op power, the Volca FM is a low-cost addition to anyone’s rig, and takes little space - so that’s nice. There’s also the Preen FM as another option.
Anyone tried to program a BCR2000 for more hands on control instead of only the CC functionality? Looks like there is some fun to be done.
volca_fm_MIDIImp.txt (24.7 KB)
Decided to “splurge” on one. Impression after the first five minutes: Wow! This is instant love for me. Hard to believe it’s only $170. It’s a keeper for sure. This and my Monologue are gonna be so nice together. Also got a used Minilogue (only $250) arriving today, so it’s gonna be a fun night. I liked the sound of the Minilogue in the store, so hopefully it’s a keeper after I get to really play with it.
I’ve been having trouble saving my Volca FM patches to other patches in the machine. The manual states clearly;
When not in EDIT mode, this button saves the FM sound engine parameters.
Press the SAVE/EXPORT button, and then use the PROGRAM knob to select the
save location for the program. Press the SAVE/EXPORT button again to begin
saving. To cancel the save operation, press the EDIT button before pressing the
SAVE/EXPORT button
When I hit SAVE when not in edit mode it just saves the patch where it is (I need to make a few copies with variations. Anyone having this issue?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
I’d double check your firmware version (hold record while powering up). I believe the original firmware did not allow you to save patches to new locations but they did add that functionality on 1.02 or 1.03.
You were spot on with this, thank you so much!
I admit I’ve put off listening to this particular vid of Cuckoo’s because it’s really, really long, but the length is because he demos just about every patch himself. Some good stuff in there - eg. really nice metallic percussion (C Metlion). He’s nicely provided direct links to each patch in the vid.
Between his patches, Suzanne Ciani’s,etc - I got some work ahead to sort through it all ;).
