DX7 - Dexed 25th Anniversary_KUJASHI Soundbanks

[Sounddigger]

Hello Mr Sounddigger,

Ha, I might have been blind or I didn´t recognised it, as I´ve been poking around
the "DEXED"-thread - I´ve tried the MKI-mode on DEXED now.
Yes, some patches come closer now, but it doesn´t sounds the same.

There is also the "OPL" mode. I have almost no idea what these different mode emulate precisely, but there is always one of them that will get a preset to sound cool. So I suggest you try them and hear for yourself...

For example, this "Indian-yelling (so called by me)" effect on this "Atmo5" patch
is there, but very quiet.

OK, I've now found time to check out a few more things.

Here's what I'm finding. To get my TX802 to sound more or less the same as the FM8 version I have to lower velocity by -16%. Then the "indian yelling" (the high "trrrr" sound) is slightly less loud then on the FM8 version, and then its pitch (of the "yelling/trrrr") is slightly different (but gives overall the most similar impression).

When played on Dexed in "Mark I" mode, with lower velocity by -16%, "Atmo5" sounds slightly different than the TX802 version, but overall very similar. In this way, the "indian yelling" is actually quite loud, louder then on the TX802, and about as loud as the FM8 version.

I tested this with a recorded MIDI note, played in exactly the same way for all three options.

When I play "Atmo5" as a pad sound, I tend to prefer the Dexed version.

Make of it what you want... 

You´re right, it needs some fiddling with the velocity.

As a recap: in fact, FM8 seems to play the original DX7 SysEx sounds with about 15% lower velocity. This will actually improve many sounds, as for some reason in my experience many of them are actually a bit over-sensitive when played on DX7/TX802/816. Generally, Dexed emulates this very close, but there are cases where lowering the velocity even more will give nicer results.

But some sounds - for best example - "SynthX" are really different.
On this patch it lacks this special "digital shine" on C3 downwards.
You can´t hear anything on the DEXED, but when playing this patch
on FM7 or FM8, you can hear that effect strong.

OK, I've now also found time to check this preset, and again got quite different results.

I find the FM8 rendition overly "bright" ("sizzling" in an unpleasant way, actually), especially compared to how it sounds on the TX802, no matter what I fiddle with velocity. The TX802 version sounds very tame in comparison.

From my experience, presets played on the TX802 should not be different to that degree, compared to as played on a DX7 or TX816. But maybe this is some odd exception.

When I play "SynthX" on Dexed in "Mark I" mode, it sounds a bit brighter than when played on the TX802. And it sounds just fine below C3. I don't understand how you get no sound at all :o

The FM8 rendition does sound a bit heavier below C3 than the Dexed rendition, but when played on the TX802 the notes below C3 are even less loud than when played on Dexed (and therefore a lot less loud than on FM8).

In this case, to my taste, the Dexed version would be the most usable of them all, although the FM8 version could in some cases be an interesting option.

I don't really understand why FM8 would sound so different from the TX802 version. Will have to check a few things related to resolution and such.

There should be no difference between FM8 and FM7, right?

In any case, all that matters is what option will fit best for the track(s) you're working on. Each one of them sounds great when used for the right occasion. Use the differences to your advantage.

Forgive me for not actually providing sound samples of all these differences. After all, in the end, what matters is what works for you

But ok, as you´ve said, DEXED might be a emulation more on the TX802,
than DX7, but I don´t know of the differences between the DX synthesizers
themselves in their special engines.

Whatever you end up using, I would suggest you get your hands on a DX7 for a few days, and check out the things we've detailed here, and more, and see how that works out. Maybe your memory is playing tricks on you. The differences with how a TX802 sounds might (and should) not be as great as what you seem to believe. I do seem to recall that in some cases the DX7 can sound a little bit brighter than the TX802 and TX816. But overall the difference should not be very great.

Then again, maybe I got it all wrong. The only thing I can be 100% certain about at this time and after all these years, is how things sound on the TX802.

I´ve read in the KVR-DEXED-thread, there are some big differences in the
"Breakpoint-section" - this may the cause of some varieties in sound too.

Maybe that could be it. I don't know. It will have to be checked.

Tim Conrady was a good designer, but IMO also the "Aminet", "SteveSims",
"Narfman" or "BoTomlyn" banks are worth trying out....

Thanks for pointing these out, I will check them out. It will save time, although these are still quite a lot of sounds to go through...  s

I have compared some other banks of my collection with DEXED
(in the MKI-mode) now.

Be sure to also check OPL and Modern modes. You never really know in advance which will be best.

If you want to check some more, here is a good example of how some sounds really don't work in FM8.

Find the attachment called "Glassman". It's a full bank exported from Dexed 0.8.0. Find the preset called ... "glassman". Load it in Dexed and check if it's in mode "Mark I". Now load it in FM8/FM7 and play some notes around C2. Compare what you get.

The difference should be obvious. FM8 renders some of the operators out of tune (or something else is going on) which makes the sound completely fall apart.

The Dexed version is indistinguishable from the TX802 rendition.

Think, it would be worth for everyone to look into DEXED for programming.
DEXED has a "open" interface and that makes it easier for patching....

Isn't the GUI nice? For the first time I found it fairly doable to tweak stuff and get the results I wanted with almost no frustration. Awesome. But I still find it quite tough to set up a sound from scratch. Maybe one day I'll get it down, who knows...  8)

Schuss!