KVR Audio

pschelfh · Post by **pschelfh** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 10:40 am

I saw a Microwave XT (black ltd edition €500) and a Yamaha FS1R (€420)on a S/H website, but I can't make up my mind which one to get.

Read some reviews and they're both very high rated soundwise.

Can anyone who has one of these 2 (or both) give me some advice?

Thanks,

Peter.

Richard Lichten · Post by **Richard Lichten** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 1:05 pm

I'd go for the F1SR - as i will soon also

. Small, cute and mighty, IMO one of the best synths ever - can do everything, punchy clear sound, great filters atop the fm engine, most likely amzing fx (its a Yamaha) and those vocal capabilities - it really can produce haunting sounds.
Hard to tame probably - but there is free editor software.

Cheers, Richard

Radek · Post by **Radek** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 1:17 pm

I have FS1R - it's much more than DX7/FM synth. You can use it just like VA too, its formant sequences gives some great synthetic choirs and organs are superb. On board it has 384 performances and 1536 presets... You WILL need software editor for it but using it as preset machine is sane enough.

Uncle E · Post by **Uncle E** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 1:22 pm

I've owned several of both and the Microwave XT is a warmer sounding, more inspiring and playable synth, IMO. That said, I've got a defective FS1R that I'd sell for $200, it seems to work fine but all the presets have been wiped and I don't know if it'll save new presets.

pschelfh · Post by **pschelfh** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 1:58 pm

Leaning towards the FS1R. Just contacted the seller so I shouldn't be too excited yet!

Uncle E, sorry, but I definately need the presets with this one, too hard to program from scratch!

Peter.

blaster78 · Post by **blaster78** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 2:08 pm

i've got 2 microwave xt's (one at work, one at home) and i wouldn't part with them for ANYTHING.

i've tried an FS1R recently (nearly an hour in a shop, so not the most extensive demo but enough to get a feel) and it was nice, but i could take it or leave it (obviously with an unlimited budget i'd take it

)

personal opinion obviously but i would recommend the xt.

steve.

Uncle E · Post by **Uncle E** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 4:51 pm

pschelfh wrote:Uncle E, sorry, but I definately need the presets with this one, too hard to program from scratch!

I totally agree, yet another reason why it isn't in the same league as the MWXT.

Jace-BeOS · Post by **Jace-BeOS** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 5:01 pm

i've been hunting for an FS1R via eBay for years now... doesn't come up often and usually costs more than i'm willing to spend since i already put out for FM7, FM8 and (before those) a used Yamaha TX-802 (which had all of its presets wiped out and i cannot find them on the internet, plus the editors i've located are all rather... horrible and i refuse to use the front panel more than i MUST). The FS1R seems to have been the best FM hardware synth ever released, but the stupid social misunderstanding of what FM synthesis could do at the time really flunked it (the dawn of the OPL/3 on Sound Blasters, i think).

psychematic · Post by **psychematic** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 5:14 pm

Yeah, I've had the FS1R on my eBay favorites search flag all year and they've been selling around $500. One seems to come up every month or so. It seems like the free software editor is workable enough, but I have no idea how it performs in real-time (do you change a setting and hit "send" or something?).

But dang, that MicrowaveXT looks great. How does it perform compared to today's software wavetable synths? Lemme guess: the hardware blows away the software, right?

kuniklo · Post by **kuniklo** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 5:23 pm

I like hardware because of the knobs. The FS1R looks like a total nightmare to edit without a software editor.

On the other hand, you have a Virus TI, right? There's a fair amount of overlap between the TI and the XT, whereas the FS1R is a whole different thing, perhaps the most powerful FM synth ever.

I sure wish somebody would make a modern, knobby FM synth. It'll never happen.

Uncle E · Post by **Uncle E** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 5:47 pm

kuniklo wrote:I sure wish somebody would make a modern, knobby FM synth. It'll never happen.

The DX200, Yamaha's FM take on the Electribe:

http://www.vintagesynth.com/yamaha/dx200.shtml

H.86 · Post by **H.86** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 5:52 pm

i had the exact same question 8 years ago. I ultimately chose the microwave xt (30 voice version) just for the ease of editing a patch with 44 knobs. the fs1r is a really deep synth and it is a bitch to edit just with the front panel alone.

kuniklo · Post by **kuniklo** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 6:01 pm

Uncle E wrote: The DX200, Yamaha's FM take on the Electribe:

http://www.vintagesynth.com/yamaha/dx200.shtml

I've considered this but from what I've read you need an old, unsupported, windows-only software editor to get to a lot of the parameters. Otherwise seems like a good bet.

pschelfh · Post by **pschelfh** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 6:01 pm

kuniklo wrote:On the other hand, you have a Virus TI, right? There's a fair amount of overlap between the TI and the XT, whereas the FS1R is a whole different thing, perhaps the most powerful FM synth ever.

Yes, you mean the wave sequencing on the Ti. Didn't quite explore that yet though.

I also have some overlap between my TG77 and the FS1R. But I really like the sound quality of the FS1R from the mp3 demos I heard, especialy the pads. Also, the basses seem punchier than on the TG77.

Anyway, I've contacted both the sellers now, so I'll wait first to see if it's still available before I start dreaming.

Peter.

kuniklo · Post by **kuniklo** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 6:04 pm

pschelfh wrote: Yes, you mean the wave sequencing on the Ti. Didn't quite explore that yet though.

!!!

That's the most interesting part of the TI, particularly with the new granular modes.

I do have to admit that I personally don't really like wavetable sounds that much.

I also have some overlap between my TG77 and the FS1R. But I really like the sound quality of the FS1R from the mp3 demos I heard, especialy the pads. Also, the basses seem punchier than on the TG77.

I've heard some amazing FS1R pads. The vocal stuff seems to help a lot here.

Microwave XT or Yamaha FS1R, can't make up my mind!