What's your experience with hardware FM synths?

The Lounge Other Gear
#62

Loving this thread!

I have an EssenceFM and really do enjoy it. 300 note polyphony, 16 part multi timbral and 8 outputs. Gnarly lofi is not its forte’ but you can sort of get there and I decided to embrace it for what it is. For about 3-4 months I used just the EFM and an OT. All the samples on the OT were from the EFM as well and I got some tunes out of it that I was quite pleased with. The fact that you can stack virtually as many patches as you like can make for some very complex sounds. The drums are fantastic. With pads its natural state is pretty ‘icy’ which I like, but found hard to avoid at first. Getting warmer sounds these days compared to the start.
I also find the FM engine in my M8 to be surprisingly good. Would love to try a MegaFM one day

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#63

I second the M8’s FM badassery. It’s a pretty vanilla 4op engine (of a modern variety where each op can choose from a number of wave shapes, not just sine). But the way modulation is assigned is just different enough to knock rust off of my traditional patching strategies and take me someplace new.

But the real gold mine is tables. A table-based tracker with control over FM mods is :chefskiss:

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#64

Not sure if that really counts as modern, given that Yamaha started doing it in 1987.

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#65

Iirc feedback on every op on the m8 is also a nice feature

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#66

I mean, you can draw the line wherever you like. It’s a pretty subjective thing. But for me, the TX81Z was the first FM of the modern era. No aliasing. True stereo. 16bit DAC. Waveshapes. Multitimbrality. Performance layers. That’s pretty much when they left the DX legacy behind and what all FM has been since. That they minted it in 1987 doesn’t make it less so.

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#67

Bought a brand new DX7 when they first came out. No one was dong original FM sounds back then. They were used mostly for that standard FM EP sound, plus covering sounds like sax, trumpet, etc… The sound was a compromise, having used a MemoryMoog, but the bonus was portability, velocity sensitive keys, and staying in tune. I created a few patches that were happy accidents, but back then there was no internet to teach anyone how to program FM patches. Sometime later I had a FS1r and it was nothing more than a preset machine. It was not until NI released a software version of the DX7 that I learned to program FM.

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#68

I hadn’t considered using tables to control FM mods! Great tip!

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#69

Yamaha FS1R 8ops is the top of the line

I was interested in the OPSix but missed the big sale when they were discounted, never liked the keyboard action on those Korgs

Ive been interested in the MegaFM but haven’t pulled the trigger on it due to it usually being sold out when I have the extra ca$h for one

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#70

Anyone who is bidding on an FS1r and expects it to be a pinnacle of FM will probably be sad not long after powering it on. It is fine as a collector’s item, and is much more attractive than an empty rack space. But as a synth, I found much to be desired.

I was fixated on the eight operators and formant sequencing. At the time, formant sequencing software wasn’t available, so I wasn’t able to get much out of the formants. Now there are formant editors available, so that part might be interesting. But it shouldn’t be too difficult to build a formant engine in Max/MSP.

The FM side was also a disappointment. It felt like the top 20% of the operators intensity when applied to carriers was cut off, rendering everything extremely mellow. That’s fine if you really want that sound but it severely limits what kind of sound design you can do.

A new Yamaha MoDX6+ sells for less than the lowest FS1r ask on Reverb.

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#71

what do you mean ‘vst in a box’? i’ve only heard good things about the power of the fs1r…

#72

I mean that the FS1r itself is a fully digital box, which is fine. But the front panel is primarily useful for changing presets. It can’t do much editing at all. You end up working with software editors on tablets or PCs. The converters aren’t anything special, there is no mojo of any kind in the FS1r. The OPSIX can also be replaced by a VST, but the faders and knobs are a joy to use. You can jam with an OPSIX on your couch. You can’t really jam with the FS1r at all.

But it does look nice!

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#73

I’m totally with you on it being a pivotal point in FM synthesis, I’m just not sure about the use of the word modern for something that has been around for 85% of the whole FM synth history timeline.

#74

Try this!
IMG_6716

#75

Virsyn has recently released a DX7 emulation add-on to it’s Tera Pro Syn. From what I’ve tried. Tera Pro is among the best sounding iOS synth so I bought the DX extension yesterday. Can batch import DX7 presets in zipped folders and has some a few extra features such as performance macros. Mark 1 or Hi Res modes, and accepts MPE for those interested. Tera Pro has two layers so you can load 2 patches in one instance for layering.

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#76

There is massive FS1R controller available https://youtu.be/fFcWGt21_Z8

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#77

Love seeing this
image
compared to the algorithm section of my beloved MEGAfm
image

You say available, is that actually possible to buy somewhere? Looks amazing though I’d prefer to see more rows of large faders tbh.

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#78

I think I read or heard somewhere these guys mainly used the FS1R

(no matter what they actually used, an interesting FM-based project, IMHO)

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#79

DX7 + Midi Bluetooth (WIDI Master) + Dixie App is great. The DX7 mirrors what Dixie does and the other way around. Though I want the iridium :slightly_smiling_face:

#80

Looks like advanced Tetris :joy:

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#81

Wow, it’s really nice, reminds me a little the album Composer by D/P/I

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