Keep Yamaha FS1R or change to a Digitone or other FM poly

All, I am on the fence here. I love Elektron equipment and I love FM Synthesis. I currently own a Yamaha FS1R that I connect to an Octatrack. Since its a pain to program I mostly use the presets. It has thousands of them. That said, the Digitone looks like a tone of fun. These days if I buy something new then something has to go. What are your thoughts?

Yes! As a former FS1R owner I can say that more isnā€™t always more.

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I think youā€™d regret it. As fun and immediate as DN is itā€™s simply not near some of the stuff a FS1r can do.

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In the same boat here but I I would say no way! FS1R is incredible 8 operator FM with 4 outputsā€¦ and capable of sounds you canā€™t get on DN. FSEdit is the way to programme it, you can set up all kinds of parameters to be accessible over midi CCsā€¦ and that opens the box up to external sequencing and modulation beautifully.

DN sounds to me (from the videos) to be very nice if more aimed at simple synth sounds. I would consider a DN in addition to my FS1R if we see some action on the overbridge/firmware.

Just my 2p!

If you can buy a Digitone from a shop with a decent returns policy ( full refund in the first 30 days) then you could try it. Thereā€™s been quite a few defective units reported out there so you could get lucky.

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Donā€™t own either, but if I had the FS1R, Iā€™d be inclined to keep it, as the Digitone is still in its early days, and might take a while for the OS to stabilize and be free of various bugs that have been reported so far.

A new FS1R editor has just been released for the PatchBase iPad app, which may or may not take some of the sting out of tweaking your own sounds. I see there are also editor apps for desktop computers.

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Please define simple synth soundsā€¦yesterday i did some amazing Bladerunner-esque athmos on my DNā€¦and i was just playing with three fingers, but it sounded very complex and much more than just one ā€œsimple synth soundā€ā€¦donĀ“t underestimate the depths of the DN synthesis engine.

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Hey, not doubting what DN can do with 4 FM operators. Elektron themselves said that DN was aimed at synth sounds and not emulation of real instruments, and this was one reason why it has 4 operators and not more.

As I said, it sounds very nice, Iā€™ve heard some awesome demos, including some with great pads that remind me of some of the Yamaha FM synths that are a little crunchier than FS1R, TX81 for example. In this respect I think it could be very complimentary to FS1R and it could be ace to have both.

But I would not expect the completely amazing emulations of tonewheel organs, tubular bells, accordions, electric pianos and other things that FS1R does.

I am more into synth sounds than all that stuff anyway. Of course FS1R has amazing power here too, with decent filters and FX before you even think of the formant stuff it can do.

I have FS1R and FM-8, as well as some analogue FM options and would love to try out DN at some point. Itā€™s the first hardware FM synth I can think of where I feel like the display would actually support me editing sounds in a productive way. Would love to hear some if you are going to share some of your experiments, by the way!

In my opinion, this would come down to a few things.

  1. Do YOU need software to create the kinds of sounds you want on the FS1R?

If yes, then why not just use software in the first place, since this is a digital process?

  1. Is the FS1R Fun for you to use?

If yes, then maybe you donā€™t need to look elsewhere. If no, then the Digitone might be just the thing to get close to this sort of sound, but have a lot more fun doing it. (This is subjective of course, so only you can answer for you.)

  1. You need to ask yourself which interface you find more inspiring to work with.

For me, I know what Iā€™d choose. Iā€™d choose the 4-op of the Digitone over the 8-op of just about any other hardware FM/PM synthesizer, because while itā€™s been focused, limited in some ways, etc. Itā€™s focused on exactly what I want to be doing with those types of sounds. Also, if Iā€™m going to create more complex FM patches, Iā€™d just go to a software implementation where everything can be laid out logically on a large screen.

IMO the UI of the Digitone is pretty spot-on for what itā€™s trying to achieve with phase modulation synthesis.

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Ooo. Part of me really wants to trade straight across. Partially just as that would get the FS1R into a more affordable range for me. For some damn reason, FS1R has climbed high on my ā€˜wantā€™ list, and I realized I could have bought one instead of the Digitone and Modor NF-1m purchases I recently did.

But when I think a little more rationally, I do think that I should be happy with what I have and finding ways to push those further. Itā€™s enough of a slog to edit the much simpler Yamaha TG-33.

Thanks for the heads-up on this!

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Maybe about 5 years ago the FS1R would have been a good value pickup. But due to the resurgence in FM interest or whatever, theyā€™re going for $900 or more now. I could have sworn seeing them on eBay for like $500 or less a couple of years ago.

Those of you who already have one are lucky and might want to hang on to them at least for another year or two.

I agree, itā€™s price reflects itā€™s relative rarity and itā€™s position at the top of the Yamaha FM tree (to dateā€¦ we can always hope).

But compared with other Yamaha FM synths, itā€™s not a great 2nd hand deal any more. And some people prefer the other synths anyway, for a number of reasons.

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I saw one 3 years back in my local Cash Converter.

It was Ā£160. I tried to buy it and completely blanked when putting my PIN number in (card used for emergencies) Got my card blocked and missed out on the FS1R.

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Now that is galling! Those places usually are pretty good at spotting gear prices usually, I really feel for you on this one.
I paid Ā£580, I waited a long time to get one for that price tbh. Not totally rational (could most likely have had TX81+DX7+D-50 for around that price), but I had wanted it since release and the opportunity came up.

It was a bit odd. But then I did have one of their buyers tell me that they could sell Korg Wavedrums for 50p.

FS1R isnā€™t that hard to program - using a pc editor for a while you get a much clearer mental image of the framework and can click and dial around the hardware much faster.

Zeeedit or sajuraā€™s editors are pretty good.

What I like most about the FS1R is the sheer expanse of the possibilities, I feel like it is near endless and will take me a few more years to explore fully after a few years already tinkering with it. I like having synths that take work and reward you after effort.

It is quite a different proposition to the Digitone which is much more focused on being a simplified FM groovebox but with a lot of range.

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Absolutely nothing wrong with that! Itā€™s been a little while since I had one, but I was still finding cool new ways to do things with my XTs and XTks after owning them for years. On the other side of that though, itā€™s nice when you can just sit down, and instantly start working on something. If you can do both with the same synth, even better.

FS1R makes the digitone look like a toy in terms of synthesis power.
This is both a blessing and a curse when comparing both products

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The best answer, depending how into FM/PM synthesis someone is, might be to have both. Do some heavy sound design on one, and get more immediate results with the other. Though, personally, if I was going for an 8-op synth, Iā€™d still rather use software I think. I donā€™t have much experience using the FS1R though, so maybe it grows on you after a while when not using an editor.

Personally, I think if there was an FSR1 desktop style with a headphone jack, Iā€™d be more apt to have one, and dig deeper. I really canā€™t bring myself to do heavy editing in front of a rack as much as something I can haul off to the couch for a while. :slight_smile:

(Yes, the FS1F has a headphone jack, so I guess it COULD be hauled off to the couchā€¦ though I think another form factor would make that more enjoyable)

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