Hardware FM or FM8 softsynth?

[fmr]

However a lot of people feel fm is a bit 'played out' id be happy enough with some freeware vst for fm sounds. I just couldnt bring myself to pay 500 lids for an 80's fm synth.

The Sega mega drive could do Fm sounds not far of a dx7-

for 500 you could prob pick up a second hand Yamaha Cs6r and the Dx7 plug in card for it.

You can be read by people who undaerstands litle or nothing about this, so, IMO you should be alittle more careful when you say things like "Sega mega drive could do Fm sounds not far of a dx7". This will only be true if the DX7 is programmed lousy. Well programmed, the DX7 is a hell of a synth, even by nowadays standards (let aside the quality of the hardware). And I couldn't disagree more when someone says that FM is a bit "played out". Again, it depends on what you take out of it. It can do much more than basses and EPs, you know?

BTW - Why would anyone pay 500 dollars by an hardware synth second hand with a card, when they can have a much more powerful synth by a little more than a half of that (FM8, that is, but it can be even lower if they choose Image-Line Toxic III or Sytrus, or Big Tick Rhino, or Lin Plug Octopus)?

[Radek]

BTW - Why would anyone pay 500 dollars by an hardware synth second hand with a card, when they can have a much more powerful synth by a little more than a half of that (FM8, that is, but it can be even lower if they choose Image-Line Toxic III or Sytrus, or Big Tick Rhino, or Lin Plug Octopus)?

Because they sound different and some of them are unique (take FS1R). The same argument goes for choosing a plugin as well - which one?

[Shy]

And SY77/TG77/TG99, an FM fan's dream. No other company has a synth with 2 6op sections and such flexible routing possibilities. And it sounds amazing.

As for MegaDrive, it has a very nice Yamaha 4op FM chip that's a bit limited compared to some of their other 4op FM synths, but it's still flexible and sounds great.

[fmr]

BTW - Why would anyone pay 500 dollars by an hardware synth second hand with a card, when they can have a much more powerful synth by a little more than a half of that (FM8, that is, but it can be even lower if they choose Image-Line Toxic III or Sytrus, or Big Tick Rhino, or Lin Plug Octopus)?

Because they sound different and some of them are unique (take FS1R). The same argument goes for choosing a plugin as well - which one?

The synth in question here was the Yamaha CS6R with the DX7 expansion card, NOT the FS1R. I would agree about the FS1R, as I posted before. The same goes for the SY99 (IMO one of the best synths ever made, very underestimated nowadays). In no way would I go for something like a CS6R expanded with a card. That card will be hard (if not impossible) to program, which is the main point, if I'm not mistaken.

[fmr]

And SY77/TG77/TG99, an FM fan's dream. No other company has a synth with 2 6op sections and such flexible routing possibilities. And it sounds amazing.

As for MegaDrive, it has a very nice Yamaha 4op FM chip that's a bit limited compared to some of their other 4op FM synths, but it's still flexible and sounds great.

The DX7 has six operators. The DX7II has six operators x 2. The same goes for SY77/TG77/SY99 (these also added with a ROM wavetable that can interact with the FM elements, and the later one adds also the ability to load external samples). The FS1R has eight operators, and formant filters. Are you comparing these with a lousy 4op chip? Come on...

Even the 4op synths from Yamaha cannot be compared with any of the six operator synths. They simply are in a different platform.

[Shy]

What are you talking about? I haven't compared it to any 6op FM synth. And if you think that chip is lousy, good for you, I suppose you've never heard music on the MegaDrive.

[fmr]

What are you talking about? I haven't compared it to any 6op FM synth. And if you think that chip is lousy, good for you, I suppose you've never heard music on the MegaDrive.

No Does it play music