DX7 Pt1 - Saving the synth that killed the electric piano.

This video shows my first impressions of a Yamaha DX7 I maybe shouldn't have bought. It has so much work required, though I am really excited to get this playable to see if this synth really is a legend?
One of the first issues I found was a faulty power switch capacitor - to be honest I don't understand why it is required as it is designed to fail open - so once it fails it will act like it is not there. The user will not know that is has failed - though I can see it prolonging the power switch of spark erosion.
I really love the music of the 70s and the sounds of electric pianos. Though after a decade of musicians giving themselves hernias from lifting their own weight. That era had to end.
In the 1980s keyboards and synths became much more popular due to the lightweight, increased reliability and huge range of possible sounds. Oh did I mention that these had effect built into the synth also?
In 1983 Yamaha released the DX7 this showed off FM synthesis. To be honest I don't understand how FMS works, but I do understand that previous synths used subtractive synthesis. FMS created these brand new glassly bright sounds - similar to the bright brightness of an electric piano.
In 1984 it is estimated that approximately half the top 40 songs that year featured a DX7. The unit was sold unit 1989 and is one of the best selling synthesizers of all time if not the best.
Now when technology is this old, does it still serve a purpose today? It has a 16 note polyphony, after touch, 61 full sized keys - Yes absolutely. It is crazy to think a computer this old would still be useful compared to todays computers.
Though there is a free VST based on the DX7, so dont feel left out if you cant get your hands on a unit, you still can have a play with this synth.
asb2m10.github...
The sounds - well any synth after so much use will be called cheesy. And is did have so much use 80s pop synth music. I think enough time has passed that these sounds are now nostalgic - combined with new recording techniques really gives this synth a new lease of life.
This year was the 40th anniversary of the DX7 release and there was a talk about it at Synth Fest 2023 (Sheffield, UK).
• SFUK 2023 - From DX7 t...

[@TheJstewart2010]

Looking forward to seeing this resurrected. It's a good thing that I'm space-limited because I would be grabbing up old synths as well for projects.

[@dathyr1]

I owned a DX7 II keyboard many years ago and enjoyed it quite a bit. Then I went into the Yamaha SY series. I still have a SY99 keyboard but the keys themselves have lost their lively-ness to them. Especially the middle keys most played. Just sitting around collecting dust now. Would cost to much too repair and FM sounds are not worth it anymore with all the great sampled keyboards.
Thanks for the video of the past keyboard.