Many years ago I borrowed a friend's DX7s to sample the Pluck patch to use on my Alesis QS7, it didn't get much use after that so one of these days he's going to power it up and ask me to change the battery for him so I'm glad I saw your video. Thanks!.
The Japanese marking in the inside of the case says Showa 62 which means the 62nd year of the Showa period, It correspond to 1987. So your instrument is now 30 years old.
As a follow up, I finally was able to repair and replace my battery and did exactly what you did. My DX7s is now working perfectly. Thanks again for showing the way. All the best.
An engineer did my Mark 1 DX7 with a replaceable battery mod after I didn't have the guts to fit it myself. He also fitted the Adanced chip which adds a few features.
I still got my DX7S Mk2, still like new and not a mark on it. Also very low hours use. I didn’t use it much but loved it. I mod the display on it with a OLED one. Looks better for night view..
Oh man, if only you could open up a DX7 mk1 from the bottom. Nice that they recognized this and made it easy peasy to get into the S. I just did pitchbend maintenance on my mk1 and it took forever to get that sucker out.
Oh it certainly does for the most part! However it's a bit trickier to access the mod and pitch wheels - even after you open it up there's still a cover over them that you have to lift the left side up the keyboard up to get into. Not difficult by any means but I was just surprised to see you take off the bottom panel and there they were! Then there's the dreaded battery. Since the solder points are on the bottom of the mainboard, it requires taking the entire keyboard out, disconnecting everything from the mainboard and unseating it completely. This is where having access to the bottom would be tremendously convenient. Other than those two things, everything is very accessible and it does look rather cool when it's open haha. I just discovered your videos yesterday and the next thing I knew, I'd been watching for nearly two hours - excellent work! I'll definitely be tuning in from now on!!!
I think the battery is to keep power to the CPU memory ( where settings and firmware It's storaged ) when there it's not power supply by the cord (wallreceptacle). Keeping power with additional battery in parallel will achieve, keeping memory storage safe.
Excellent video, love your positivity when things go wrong. It's so easy to get disheartened when in fact it's as rewarding to maintain these instruments as it is to play them, nice one! Oh, and the snow - i love snow, it's natures magic! :)
I just wanna say thanks for making the video. I bought a sy77 with all the wheels being super wobbly and thought I was doomed. Either it was gonna cost a few hundred or it was broken. Luckily I saw your video and it's quite similar to my sy77. Anyhow I opened it up and was happy to discover all 3 wheels were loose bolts just like yours. Tightened them up and they are snappy and brand new feeling. For a kicker I scrubbed them wheels too since I had them off.
Great video Woody. Thanks! This weekend I'm opening my DX7 II to do an aftertouch adjustment and I was searching for a video on opening the unit when I found yours. Your video was very helpful and I might just do that battery mod while I'm in there. Great job, thanks again!
anyone having trouble loading SysEx into Dx7S , try this: press: Edit then button 14 , make sure your INT protect is off: then press: Edit, button 32 a bunch of times until you get the message : "Recv Block: 1-32 (or if you'd rather, you can import sysex to voices 33-64 instead. you have two options) *** BE AWARE THIS WILL DELETE ANY SAVED SOUNDS YOU HAVE ON ANY OF THOSE VOICE BANKS so be careful if you have any cherished patches on there. then with sysex librarian I load the patch bank I want. One thing to note is that once its finished the voice you are currently on wont change until you start selecting new voices. You have to press : Voice and make sure you are set to Int , then start browsing your newly imported presets. I'm using a Scarlette 18i8 as the interface for midi. (some people say the small midi to usb interface chords don't work as well sometimes so if you're using one of those and its not working try and get your hands on a quality audio interface that has midi in /out ) I'm not any kind of synth expert or anything, there might be a better way for all of this but it has worked out great for me. Cheers! (I should also note I recently had the battery replaced and it works perfectly now. I couldn't access anything in the internal memory at all before I replaced the battery.)
All those DX7 from 1980s passed through battery change like this one. I've got mine with remote battery holder as well, and also changed battery at least once. It was strange for Yamaha to design battery holder like this.
Not sure if anyone has said anything else about this, but I know loading my DX7II with MIDI from SysEx Librarian, I had to turn the transmit speed down to about 50% if I remember; it was just sending faster than the old synth could read it, but going slow, it’s worked perfectly every time! (I do need to replace my battery though, instead of loading banks every time I power it on lol)
Beautiful video. I should do a vid on DX7S and SysEx dumps. Those can be a bit quirky. As a rule of thumb play the SysEx files at half-speed. Works better. BTW if you load MKI banks into MKII it would nuke the performance settings. So Mod Wheel, Aftertouch, BC would all have to be turned up in the menus (per patch). That’s normal. I’ll go over that too.
Excellent video, I actually bought the Grey Matter E expansion board for my DX7 II FDAnd despite having the instructions for installing it, I'm quite concerned about damaging any of the IC chips as I'm currently not the best at soldering, I tried taking it to a Yamaha specialist and at first he didn't even want to attempt to do it due to Yamaha not supporting legacy gear anymore, eventually he said he'd do it for $150 but he could not reimburse me if any damages occurred, so I said no way, If it gets damaged I'd rather not loose $150 on the side lol
I just did this upgrade on my dx7IIFD, it’s very much worth it. The capabilities of the new system are amazing. I would take it to a competent technician, they will have no problem. It took me about 25 minutes.
Another great video Woody :-) Never had the mk II or S myself, but I know a couple of people who have and their batteries had failed at some point. Yet I'm amazed to say that my DX7 mk 1 *still* has its original factory -fitted battery in it !! Surely it is going to fail some day and like you, its not a repair I'm looking forward to.... But it just keeps going ! :-)
Great video thanks for posting. I have an original DX7 with battery still reading at 2.8. My problems are... 1) 'not ready! Insert cartridge' when any cartridge is inserted. Also unwanted pitch bends in sounds that are on board. Main problem is the inability to reset due to the cartridge not reading issue.
i wouldn't bother with cartridges anyway, load soundbanks via midi, i have a vid on it. do you mean unwanted vibrato? that usually means that the patch didn't load correctly, or something wrong with the preset, can happen with internet soundbanks.
Second hand DX7 parts can be easily found on ebay and new stuff pops up from time to time. Ive had a new battery since it kept losing all its patches and kept flickering. The legs have been rasied so it clears all the chips.
One think overlooked by many technicians is re-seating of socketed ROM chips. I always test, especially with keyboards or gear that they haven't wiggled loose due to heat expansion or movement of the unit. I've fixed many problems, just by gently pushing down and re-seating chips, as long as they appear clean, and free of oxidation...
Thanks for posting this - I'm buying a DX7S tomorrow! The seller mentioned that the factory patches were reloaded so maybe it's had a battery mod at home point. Good to know a bit about the insides too for future reference. :)
Congratulations on the video and information. I have an old Yamaha DX7 purchased but in very good condition, however, it is tuned to a lower pitch of 440, how can I bring the synthesizer in tone 440? currently it is impossible to use it with other tools. Thank you. Greetings.
You are lucky. I've got my DX7IID with many patch choice buttons out of work. I replaced all 36 tact buttons on the board. There is no sense to change only part of them even if you can identify which of them don't work. When I fixed first portion of broken buttons, assembled everything back, and then I found there is second random set of buttons don't work well. I replaced seconds set,..., I found there is third set of buttons that don't work. Sometimes I'm dumb to follow real life logic "don't fix if it is not broken" at first glance. This time I replaced the rest 22 tact buttons and got everything working as if it is new. So again: if some DX7II[s/d/ds] buttons fail to work reliably - replace them all on the board. Don't torment yourself.
Hi Woody Very usefull video! I need change the battery in my dx7s. One question, do you know if is possible install the e gray matter board in the dx7s? For the manual it seems that yes, it is possible but i can't found a dx7s with the board installed in any place. So i'm not sure . Thank you. Regards
Have the dx7s too that I think with same problem. Very weak font barely can't see it but the display is on and I think it's because of the battery. No sound tho, What do you think happened? Just trying to figuring out, cheers 🙏
Hi Woody, I have a DX7 which I bought second hand - did you manage to get sysex to transfer the voices to the internal voice storage? That is the issue that is a gotcha for me at the moment.
In a bit of time you'll see that you will not be stressed anymore at putting your hands in the insides of a synthesizer. It's only matter of making a bit of experience and to get used with the soldering iron. Just be careful and patient and nothing will go wrong :-)
i've got decent soldering equipment and I know how it should be done, but the final result never quite lives up to my expectations. but it worked anyway! thanks for the encouragement :)
HI Woody,, Just found your videos,, really enjoyed them. I'm working on my DX21 which I'm hoping only needs a Battery replacement,, After which I have to reload the Factory pre sets.. You were saying you did a video about doing this,, But I can't seem to find it.. Can you direct me to it's location.. Thank you..
Hey Woody, I don't know if you still respond to comments, but I got a question. Can you go into more detail on how you solder the header, and what header you used? Do you like use a single piece of header for each part? How exactly do you solder the wire to the header? I'm new to this and I'm completely lost rn. Sorry for all the questions.
Would you please be able to do a how-to on loading up the patches via Sysex? I just bought one of these, the "replace battery" message is still popping up even though the voltage is good, I'm getting sound, but can't seem to load via SysEx.
I also need to change the battery on my DX7... Maybe it's possible that I could solder it myself? Is there a lot of gear needed - a multimeter? Some sort of soldering kit?
buy a decent soldering iron, a solder-sucker, recommend you practice on some old junk electronics first, but sure it's doable if you have the tools and some practice.
Yes your video shows that it's doable and it shouldn't cost much I hope, it would be more expensive to have it repaired by someone else, so this would be a nice opportunity to learn a new thing.
Hi! i just want to know what is the problem with my dx7.. i loaded patches/sysex to it but after long time that it is off and i try to turn it on, all of the aounds are gone.. please help
Could you not solder another battery holder in parallel? You could put another battery in before removing the old flat one. This should preserve the memory that was lost when you disconnected the battery. May save you some headaches reloading perhaps?
yeah, sounds like a good idea, if a bit fiddly. you can dump the sounds to PC or cartridge before swapping the battery, that's what a service tech would do.
Hey woody, I happen to be in the same situation you were in. Negative terminal ( longer one ) broke off. I believe you edited this video and didn't really show what was done with the headers. How was that installed?
you just got to remove that broken pin and the solder that's holding it (use solder wick or solder sucker) then insert a header/piece of wire into the hole and solder it in.
I just picked up a DX7s and it’s showing a “change battery! “ screen . I’m wondering if you had trouble accessing and saving your own patches in the voice Init mode after you replaced the battery ? Thanks
just a follow up! I replaced the Battery in mine, the gibberish names were all still there until I created a new voice on that button or until I imported presets from sysex/ cartridge.
2 questions sir? 1}if i import from cartridge can i load the two banks that if ill play single i can select bank a or b? 2} i have a 28 volt in the batterry of my dx 7 fd 2 befor i bought it the seller told me that he replaced the batarry 4 yrs ago how mouch time is the batterry will last?
hello Woody the battery holder I can also use it for DX7 mark I and my old korg poly 61 and poly six and where to buy it ... thank you very much Paride :-)
Ah, that wonderful moment when you realize, "I didn't back it up before I disconnected the battery." Been there, did that, got t-shirt. I don't have any 1st-hand experience with the DX7s but according to the Vintage Synth Explorer write-up (which I have found to be an excellent source of info all-round) the 7s is just a single-timbre version of DX7II series. So, while it won't be compatible with original DX7 patches or sysex format, it should be compatible with DX7II/D/FD. The trick is finding a patch librarian that is both compatible with the particular synth *and* run-able on modern operating systems. Most sequencers will handle sysex dumps and loads - good enough for back-up/restore of your banks - but have no way to access the individual patches of each bank. www.vintagesynth.com/yamaha/dx7ii.php
i'll just be restoring to factory patches for now, had difficulty finding dx7s factory settings, but settled on dx7ii instead. the sounds are great, worthy of a new video i think :)
I also need to know if the kawai q80 and yahama ys200 also have one of these soldered ones in them or if they are socketed. Il probably have the same mod done to them as I did the tx7 and the fb01
cool, they are all fixed now. I also got a roland d550 and it had a socketed one. The kawai had some weired camera type batery and I just had a pc style socket soldered in that one and they are all working awesome.
Hi, i just recently got me a DX7 and it shows the "change battery" on the screen. When measuring the battery however i get a 3.2v readout. As a result, there aren't any sounds on the internal memory anymore. Strangely enough it looks like the original battery...should be empty like yours maybe? Any ideas what might be the problem and how to fix it? Cheers :D
Very poor design when it comes to user servicing the battery. Why did they do it like that? It's the same on my DX11. I also left the metal prongs on the board and soldered the new battery to those.
interesting that you chose the same strategy :) i'm thinking it's because the battery lasted very many years, and soldering is more secure than a holder. think of it as a pro feature, built for the road! and maybe yamaha didn't anticipate we'd still be using dx7 for 40 years... :)
Should have soldered x2 holders on leave one empty then when replacing in future you can put one in to maintain volts to not lose sounds ..your welcome..
Thanks for this video, you inspired me to tackle this modification myself and here's my experience: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-CfiSYB0YYDI.html you helped me get my synth back up and running. I have a strange noise / dirty sound on release on some patches, if anyone can shed light on it, that would be fantastic. Keep up the channel, I'm enjoying it.
thought about that. but the pins on a battery socket don't line up with pins on motherboard. plus it's advantageous get battery well away from pcb in case of leakage.
LOL you should use MidiOX as that is what everyone using SYSEX has to use !!!!. There is nothing out there like MIDIOX sadly. You ask anyone for SYSEX these days and they will punch you for asking to have sex with their sister "SIS SEX" LOL. All my older guitar FX units and Synths I use MIDIOX to load and backup the patches and system dumps with MIDI cables.
I just bought a DX7s and running the battery check it says 3.1v so that appears ok. But the only real problem i have is the characters on the LCD screen are very feint and difficult to read. The backlit screen itself is bright. Is the LCD screen related to the battery level? The reason i ask and for anybody to offer any input, is on this video of a screen problem on a DX100 a battery change solved it? ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE--dJtdKduSZk.html
Your battery replacement technique is terrible. Get some de-soldering braid and un-solder the battery from the board. Then enter the battery part number into the digikey website and get another one.
the idea here was to replace the soldered-on battery with a socket so that it can be easily replaced in the future, without needing to do further soldering on the mainboard. During my research I discovered that PCB-mount batteries with this pin layout are very hard to find and expensive. This is the way to go.
I found others (after watching your video) doing the same as you have of ripping out the coin cell, it just makes me cringe. Actually you just need to know where to look. www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/panasonic-bsg/BR-2325-HCN/P202-ND/45791 If you want the coin cell holder,with gold plated clips; www.digikey.ca/product-detail/en/mpd-memory-protection-devices/BH32T-C-G/BH32T-C-G-ND/2079906
