I had a DX21 on the eighties and realized that I was wrong. A DX7 was a much better choice in spite of its price at that time. You can better program your sounds with DX21 and obtain better results than preset sounds, which are really poor.
One of my fav synths just for it's crappy sound. Want to buy a DX21 then you'd better start experimenting with Turbo FM Music Maker / VGM Music Maker since these tools has pretty much the same synth as the Yamaha DX100. It'll take you thru the worst steps since it gives pretty much a good overview of the synth.
Sure its a noisy synth...but it is a classic.....who needs everything to sound pristine cold and digital.....I LOVE hearing the DX sounds breathe when you listen to them on cd or (sigh) vinyl........
I think it is great synth. If youre looking for workstation - it's not your synth. But if youre in lo fi or electronic music it can be your fave synth. Recommend it, seriously!
A lot of classy techno records was made with this cutie!
I find my DX 21 is the same as the 27. Its sounds are just too brittle for my likes. I guess if your into industrial it would be a good synth as most of the sounds are harsh. Its pretty heavy too and probably not worth the space it take up in a studio. It is easy to program though given a little trial and error so I recommend it for people starting out.
Hi there Some one gave me an old Yamaha DX21 And I don't know how to program Piano,Electric Key and all that basic stuff...It came with A1;FMSOTOOTH...i guess its for a voice box
I'm currently using the DX-21 along with a Korg Poly 800, Roland XP-10, Yamaha P-70, and a Yamaha V-50. Total investment $560. They all have their good and bad points. The DX 21 is a lead synth. If it is your only unit, you are going to sound limited or crappy! My main instrument is guitar, But I've been picking up on Keys during the last 45 years of playing in bands. Guitarist are a dime a dozen, but Keys are harder to find. Under $300 for the DX-21, I paid $100 and I like it.
Hello, GOOD JOB. Can you help me? I have DX21 too, but is really dificult to programinng sounds. How you make sound like piano? Can you send me your preset or some information? If is possible? best regard subo0@azet.sk and big thanks **I´m beginer :-)**
@subo0 I recommend to search for the following book (very rare and hard to find these days): "Yamaha Easy DX100/27: A Complete Guide to the DX Synthesizer", ISBN-13: 978-0881884425
@benanderson88 DX9/21/27/100 don't have velocity (but I guess they respond to velocity information via midi). DX11, YS100/200, B200, DS55, V50 have velocity.
well no iwouldn't recommend it it's very bad quality components will be heard everywhere in a mix. lots of noise and alias...i paid mine 15 pounds. i wold get a dx11 or dx7 instead tbh.
@Ciaran55 Alias is an unfortunate side effect of cheap digital synth , for example you can hear high pitch noise while playing a deep bass on the dx 21 / 11 / 100 etc range of synths ,but rather not see this on a dx7 ,or not as exposed anyway.
@alphacode909 oh right... well perhaps it's just the cable that's bad, but I lean something against the jack that goes into my speakers and it reduces the 'noise' greatly
@alphacode909 THis might be a very stupid question but I'm look at this for a midi controller, are the keys velocity sensitive? Like a piano of course.. Or should I be looking at something else
@alphacode909 I have to mention here that because of the 12bit digital to analogue converters this thing sounds quite gritty. The TX81z and DX11 are cleaner sounding. Some prefer the gritty sound others prefer the cleaner sound. It's a matter of preference.
yay I'm getting this synth! I'm into drum n' bass and wanted to get a hardware synthesizer ... I paid £77 for this, is that a good price, and would you recommend this keyboard?
This keyboard makes for a good doorstop and I curse the DX7 for starting the trend of making synths hard to program. I bought into the hype in the eighties and bought one it wasn't until I got a korg ms2k that experienced what fun it could be to program a synth.
Well buying a synth is not all ,one have to have the skills to program it. DX7 is tricky to program but after 2 or 3 days and a quick tutorial on FM it's not that difficult to get some great sounds out of them.
If the dx7 had a hardware controller like the roland PG series then you would found it much easier , it;s the diving thru menus that is really annoying not the synthesis itself.
@creamydistortion I think more like high-school algebra. It's hard at first, but once you can get into it and realize how it all works it's damn nice.
I had one in high school , and I've used many keyboards, but nothing I have tried so far has better effects than this. They are always trying to copy each other with their "new" keyboards, or it will have the same effects, just a different setup or coloration. It gets way too repetitive.
This keyboard even offered one to write their own effects, something most do not offer anymore. Messing with the algorithms was fun too! It truely is the best and most advanced keyboard I have ever used.
i believe that you refer to EFX sounds one can create as for the effects in it there is just a chorus and you can't create any effect beside this on/off unusable really ''effect'' , well you certainly never played a dx7 II or Dx11 as they had far much better capabilities .
I have not tried the ones you speak of, but from my experience, this keyboard was the best of any OTHERS I've tried. The parameters were fun to fool around with, making an effect sound completely different.
The DX series is certainly a lot better than any modern keyboards on the market today, more advanced.
I'll hopefully look into the later DX series after I can find the DX21 first. I had much fun with it in high school, and never came close to discovering all of the functions it had.
when you say :The DX series is certainly a lot better than any modern keyboards on the market today, more advanced.i m not sure if you really know synths much,look at a nord lead for ex it can do all a dx21 and 10x more , if you look around every one will confirm that this is just a simple fm synth and can't do much with it. 25$ is the only reason i got it, but again everybody has it's own preference.
Not exactly so. Many people have confirmed this to be one of the best synths out there, including myself, gazdagpeter and hugoalfa. Simple, yes, but still one of the best for sound quality!
"can't do much with it.". Seems you haven't explored this synth too much. BTW, you can create your own effects with this keyboard, either from a preset or from scratch. It also has the best presets I've ever heard on a keyboard.
"i m not sure if you really know synths" I've explored a lot of keyboards.
Nice demo! I had a DX21 some years ago, made a lot of cool patches with it. Easy to program, for FM anyway. Chorus is not bad either. All in all I feel it was more versatile than the TX7 I had.
True. It is one of the best synths out there, and has the best presets I've ever heard. Algorithms were fun to fool around with, and the capability to create your own effect makes it one of the best out of any modern keyboard I've tested.
Hi there, awesome synth, How do you make the rever in some of those like piano sounds? Are all of those presets?. And, my synth, have like a problem in the volume slider, still, does it affects when I use it as a midi controller for recording??? Sorry about all that
could you do a video with atmosphere sounds with synth like this ?
Cutrexxx 1 day ago
I had a DX21 on the eighties and realized that I was wrong. A DX7 was a much better choice in spite of its price at that time. You can better program your sounds with DX21 and obtain better results than preset sounds, which are really poor.
wirenumber5 1 week ago
One of my fav synths just for it's crappy sound. Want to buy a DX21 then you'd better start experimenting with Turbo FM Music Maker / VGM Music Maker since these tools has pretty much the same synth as the Yamaha DX100. It'll take you thru the worst steps since it gives pretty much a good overview of the synth.
vstman 1 month ago
Sure its a noisy synth...but it is a classic.....who needs everything to sound pristine cold and digital.....I LOVE hearing the DX sounds breathe when you listen to them on cd or (sigh) vinyl........
seanwallacegunn 1 month ago
hoe much would you guys recomend one of these is worth? i was thinking of selling one in my local area
DRstaszak 4 months ago
my god this is awesome man! great playing as well
deathmetalben 5 months ago
I think it is great synth. If youre looking for workstation - it's not your synth. But if youre in lo fi or electronic music it can be your fave synth. Recommend it, seriously!
A lot of classy techno records was made with this cutie!
kryakrya99 5 months ago
YAMAHA DX 21 ARE CLAVIATURA MAI BUNA DECÂT DX 11 SAU-V50 DX 21 NR 1
NICOLA1141 5 months ago
GO BUY A KORG X5D :D IT'S BETTER
bambipaza 5 months ago
Do you have pedal sustain ?
daviddg14 5 months ago
I find my DX 21 is the same as the 27. Its sounds are just too brittle for my likes. I guess if your into industrial it would be a good synth as most of the sounds are harsh. Its pretty heavy too and probably not worth the space it take up in a studio. It is easy to program though given a little trial and error so I recommend it for people starting out.
silversynth 6 months ago
Nice sounds. Did you use a special Yamaha external sound tape device or did you simply program the sounds your playing in the video?
mishmoshable 6 months ago
Hi there Some one gave me an old Yamaha DX21 And I don't know how to program Piano,Electric Key and all that basic stuff...It came with A1;FMSOTOOTH...i guess its for a voice box
Can you help?
matbal1 8 months ago
is this a factory preset in 4:36 ? Any idea where I could find this patch for my DX7s?
pipboy81 8 months ago
I'm currently using the DX-21 along with a Korg Poly 800, Roland XP-10, Yamaha P-70, and a Yamaha V-50. Total investment $560. They all have their good and bad points. The DX 21 is a lead synth. If it is your only unit, you are going to sound limited or crappy! My main instrument is guitar, But I've been picking up on Keys during the last 45 years of playing in bands. Guitarist are a dime a dozen, but Keys are harder to find. Under $300 for the DX-21, I paid $100 and I like it.
Wardell43 8 months ago
The DX-21 sounds very OPL-3 like. Could it be they just used the same chip for the Ad Lib/Sound Blaster and cheap entry-level synths?
Stoney3K 1 year ago
@Stoney3K It's similar, still four-operator synthesis but with a different set of features. It's the OPM chip (YM2151).
gordonjcp 1 year ago
i like this keyboard but it gives alot of noize when you press a key! thats no good.. anyone here knows how to stop that?
shufflephunk 1 year ago
Sega Genesis in a keyboard!
ShaneDignan 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
What are you, a gay fag?
sniffcoff 1 year ago
that sounds so cool! i have the same exact one and i cant do those sounds haha
siliconesaline24 1 year ago
Hello, GOOD JOB. Can you help me? I have DX21 too, but is really dificult to programinng sounds. How you make sound like piano? Can you send me your preset or some information? If is possible? best regard subo0@azet.sk and big thanks **I´m beginer :-)**
subo0 1 year ago
@subo0 I recommend to search for the following book (very rare and hard to find these days): "Yamaha Easy DX100/27: A Complete Guide to the DX Synthesizer", ISBN-13: 978-0881884425
sauermusicDE 1 year ago
Japan....
It is a good old synthesizer.
nhmatrix 1 year ago
02:04 and 04:50 sound familiar, what songs are they from?
gmaildotcom 1 year ago
これって、X68000に積んでた音源と一緒ですよね?
OPM・・・だったかな？
今聴くと、ものすごくFM音源くさくて逆に新鮮です(^-^)v
nhmatrix 1 year ago
I have one of these. I actually like the noisy D/A converters. I think its kinda cool. In fact I dont spend enough time with this synth
OIOcellOIO 1 year ago
@benanderson88 DX9/21/27/100 don't have velocity (but I guess they respond to velocity information via midi). DX11, YS100/200, B200, DS55, V50 have velocity.
sauermusicDE 1 year ago
....i bought one of these DX21's a few years back and have tried to get better, fatter sounds out of it, to no avail.
....any advice?
....is there a way to load newer sound banks?
I know that back in the old days a cassette with digital info was used to import sounds.
marcump 1 year ago
My god, all these people going about the programming, it's piece a cake!
Have had this synth in a few months, after watching a tutorial and then experimenting by myself, It's not hard at all.
Beautyful patches btw.
343kaka 1 year ago
well no iwouldn't recommend it it's very bad quality components will be heard everywhere in a mix. lots of noise and alias...i paid mine 15 pounds. i wold get a dx11 or dx7 instead tbh.
alphacode909 1 year ago
@alphacode909 what is alias?
Ciaran55 1 year ago
@Ciaran55 Alias is an unfortunate side effect of cheap digital synth , for example you can hear high pitch noise while playing a deep bass on the dx 21 / 11 / 100 etc range of synths ,but rather not see this on a dx7 ,or not as exposed anyway.
alphacode909 1 year ago
@alphacode909 oh right... well perhaps it's just the cable that's bad, but I lean something against the jack that goes into my speakers and it reduces the 'noise' greatly
UnknownJunglist 1 year ago
@alphacode909 THis might be a very stupid question but I'm look at this for a midi controller, are the keys velocity sensitive? Like a piano of course.. Or should I be looking at something else
MrJackanthony 10 months ago
@MrJackanthony Nope keyboard does not send velocity and its cheap ,you want a controller get a controller :) this is a cheap keyboard.
alphacode909 10 months ago
@alphacode909 yeah that annoys me about this synth, I made some crazy kick drum sounds but in the mix they sound terrible due to all the noise
camm909 1 year ago
@alphacode909 I have to mention here that because of the 12bit digital to analogue converters this thing sounds quite gritty. The TX81z and DX11 are cleaner sounding. Some prefer the gritty sound others prefer the cleaner sound. It's a matter of preference.
MaynoDolphin 7 months ago
@alphacode909 I kinda like the alias and noise. It's what gives it charm.
VincentsVideoVisions 6 months ago
anyway - thanks for making this demo!
Ciaran55 1 year ago
yay I'm getting this synth! I'm into drum n' bass and wanted to get a hardware synthesizer ... I paid £77 for this, is that a good price, and would you recommend this keyboard?
Ciaran55 1 year ago
That last patch was kind of nice.
djnamelessmix 1 year ago
you need to post your settings bro, these are really good patches!
stubs13 2 years ago
I just got this synth the other day, sounds pretty cool.
soulseekpenguin 2 years ago
you know the preset @ 3:06 ? let me know if you can remember plz :)
richiboy5632 2 years ago
is 100 a good price?
BastHockey 2 years ago
@BastHockeyyes.
343kaka 1 year ago
This keyboard makes for a good doorstop and I curse the DX7 for starting the trend of making synths hard to program. I bought into the hype in the eighties and bought one it wasn't until I got a korg ms2k that experienced what fun it could be to program a synth.
koriki69 2 years ago
Well buying a synth is not all ,one have to have the skills to program it. DX7 is tricky to program but after 2 or 3 days and a quick tutorial on FM it's not that difficult to get some great sounds out of them.
If the dx7 had a hardware controller like the roland PG series then you would found it much easier , it;s the diving thru menus that is really annoying not the synthesis itself.
alphacode909 2 years ago 3
Man, I think the DX's are easy to program. Like, real easy.... It's not like trigonomatry for god sake (or spelling either).
creamydistortion 2 years ago
@creamydistortion I think more like high-school algebra. It's hard at first, but once you can get into it and realize how it all works it's damn nice.
NightSprinter 1 year ago
nice sounds.
Are they presets?
depechetosco 2 years ago
I gotta get myself one of these. I love hardware, and the smoooth/incredibly naughty sounds they give.
F0nkyNinja 2 years ago
I had one in high school , and I've used many keyboards, but nothing I have tried so far has better effects than this. They are always trying to copy each other with their "new" keyboards, or it will have the same effects, just a different setup or coloration. It gets way too repetitive.
This keyboard even offered one to write their own effects, something most do not offer anymore. Messing with the algorithms was fun too! It truely is the best and most advanced keyboard I have ever used.
sp00k00psthealien 2 years ago
i believe that you refer to EFX sounds one can create as for the effects in it there is just a chorus and you can't create any effect beside this on/off unusable really ''effect'' , well you certainly never played a dx7 II or Dx11 as they had far much better capabilities .
alphacode909 2 years ago
I have not tried the ones you speak of, but from my experience, this keyboard was the best of any OTHERS I've tried. The parameters were fun to fool around with, making an effect sound completely different.
The DX series is certainly a lot better than any modern keyboards on the market today, more advanced.
I'll hopefully look into the later DX series after I can find the DX21 first. I had much fun with it in high school, and never came close to discovering all of the functions it had.
sp00k00psthealien 2 years ago
when you say :The DX series is certainly a lot better than any modern keyboards on the market today, more advanced.i m not sure if you really know synths much,look at a nord lead for ex it can do all a dx21 and 10x more , if you look around every one will confirm that this is just a simple fm synth and can't do much with it. 25$ is the only reason i got it, but again everybody has it's own preference.
alphacode909 2 years ago
Not exactly so. Many people have confirmed this to be one of the best synths out there, including myself, gazdagpeter and hugoalfa. Simple, yes, but still one of the best for sound quality!
"can't do much with it.". Seems you haven't explored this synth too much. BTW, you can create your own effects with this keyboard, either from a preset or from scratch. It also has the best presets I've ever heard on a keyboard.
"i m not sure if you really know synths" I've explored a lot of keyboards.
sp00k00psthealien 2 years ago 3
imho it *sounds* better than any new-school synth. It's like a perfect cross between fat and clean.
creamydistortion 2 years ago
heh ok :) if you like it it's cool but please you must know that a lot of what you just wrote made me smile a lot lol :) .
alphacode909 2 years ago
@sp00k00psthealien Cool Keyboard. The sounds are awesome. Maybe I'll get one.
Dan08444 2 years ago
Nice demo! I had a DX21 some years ago, made a lot of cool patches with it. Easy to program, for FM anyway. Chorus is not bad either. All in all I feel it was more versatile than the TX7 I had.
wizard86 2 years ago 7
True. It is one of the best synths out there, and has the best presets I've ever heard. Algorithms were fun to fool around with, and the capability to create your own effect makes it one of the best out of any modern keyboard I've tested.
sp00k00psthealien 2 years ago
hahaham sorry ,Its because I have got one of those a few days ago.
hugoalfa 2 years ago
Hi there, awesome synth, How do you make the rever in some of those like piano sounds? Are all of those presets?. And, my synth, have like a problem in the volume slider, still, does it affects when I use it as a midi controller for recording??? Sorry about all that
hugoalfa 2 years ago
Good video! I love this synth!
gazdagpeter 2 years ago 8