YAMAHA reface DX Demo & Review 

+musictrackjp are* I love you though.

Thank you! 🙏

Thank You very much. I love your channel

I used to smoke a joint and spend hours nitpicking over each parameter on the original DX7. It was fun!

@@creamydistortionafter 37 years, I still pull what little hair I have left programming my DX7S. This looks more user friendly.

Unfortunately not everyone is going to have the space or means to do so. Especially considering the demographic this is aiming at.

Sound test room channel has a nice demo of reface DX where he connects a midi cc knob box to the keyboard and adjusts multiple parameters while playing pads. Sounds good.

Infra Violet great interface

+CheekyDoubleDee The DX7 is cheaper lol

+kuffertjan No it is not.

Joshua Leeman You're not looking hard enough. With a bit of patience you should be able to grab one on craigslist or ebay for about $200-300. The dx7II is a bit more, but can still be found for under $400. You're getting ripped off if you pay more

I saw a DX7 on eBay go for £130 recently, but you're buying in to old kit... with no warranty..

i'm over it i got an korg r3 instead $275 from guitarcenter. later mate

+L77kim77l True dear sir

+L77kim77l This is the most baffling to me since they already had "modernized" the DX7 to one PCB in the PLG150-DX/DX200, it even ate DX7 sysex. Why is this a worse machine more than a decade later, and not cheap!

+soupforare Because the Reface DX is a $499 entry level hobbyist synth, not a $2000 pro synthesizer like the DX7 was. Not so baffling really. It may also mean that Yamaha is planning a higher end FM synth in the near future and they didn't want to cannibalize their synth lineup before it has hit the market. I played this DX and the CP earlier this evening at Sam Ash and they are nicer than you probably think.

To that end it's more comparable to the DX100 or DX9.

+Desmaad Well, having feedback on ALL operators (as opposed to one, like all other DX series synths) really helps make up for only having 4 operators. And the fact is, you can do a lot with four. Even the presets on the Reface DX show that. For anyone wondering, the keyboard actually does feel good and I typically DESPISE mini keys. I really talked myself out of the Reface because I have a DX7 mk1, but the Reface is really a blast. Also noteworthy, the built in effects are stunning.

買いましたよーw物凄く最高に良いですよーwさすが、世界のヤマハＯ(≧∇≦)Ｏ

$2,500

+Troy Gagnon Maybe, but I would be happy without the desperately underwhelming CS model, just the other three in one please. I'll be snapping these up like candy when they start coming out cheap second hand in a few years. Until then I'll stick to what I've got (which is plenty anyway). I love the YC and CP models the best.

davedagreat69 i am happy with my reface dx. OLED!!!

The official site says its a 128x64 LCD specifically lol

Well Spring of Synth knowledge in one comment. It's beautiful. These guys go for around 300-350 nowadays though, that's definitely not too bad.

Disagree. The reface DX is MUCH Easier to program than the original DX line.

+James Reeno Only if you're aiming for simple sounds. But then again, why bother with FM?

+Paolo Pizzi I have a dx-100 and it doesn't have a very wide variety of sounds in my opinion. Even the basses, leads, and key sounds all have a similar sound to them.

Get a librarian for your computer. There are literally hundreds of thousands of patches for Yamaha 4-op FM synths downloadable for free. They're all compatible with your DX100 and yet they're not compatible with the Reface DX. Which is another valid argument to get an old 4-op.

they are still available & the cheapest from the reface series. hope u can find one.

Anni LittleBeast use midi

set it to translate - it's hilarious

flyingpan954 Available very soon ;)

+Sean Hornibrook Algae Rock!

I know a bit old comment, but I think it's just improvisation. He's just playing some jazzy sounding chords. You have probably heard a similar progression a million times since it's following pretty basic principles of functional harmony. It's in the key of C and he's playing a G chord, followed by E7/G# Am Dm and G. I see the progression starting at 0:42 where he plays a C/E and F and then the chords that I just mentioned. Now, all of these chords have some added extensions to make them sound a bit more "jazzy", but the basic functions of the chords are the same that you can hear in countless pop songs.

I got used to it in 20 min.

Perhaps more like a DX-11 (more or less - feedback on all operators vs a few non-sine wave patterns) in a 3/4 length DX-100 body. It's also got effects and better digital to analog converters than a noisy 80s unit. (as well as a velocity sensitive keyboard which the DX-100, nor -27, -21, never had) This would have felt like less of a mixed bag if they would have put a DX-11 with effects and upgraded DACs into a DX-100 size 4 octave body - made it patch compatible with *some* classic gear or other, but with upgrades in the keys and post-processing effects.

DX100 had the vocoder!

The MO-DX is much more capable. And much more expensive :-( ($300 vs $1200 or more?)

True, but the MODX is worth the money and not so expensive for such a powerful keyboard. It nearly does everything that a $4000 Yamaha Montage does. If you're really strapped for cash, then you can get Dexed for free. Even this is more powerful than the Reface.

geoffk777 Yep. Got Dexed on my laptop and KQ Dixie on my iPad Mini. Both read DX7 sysex files. Plus KQ Dixie is an iOS audio unit which makes it easy to put into a host program with an effects chain and/or layers. Of course now I need to hook it to a controller vs just 1 piece of gear, but it’s cheap and quite serviceable. Well, cheap if you already have an iPad - I picked up an older model on Amazon a few years ago for just over $200. Otherwise, the new iPads start around the same price as a Reface (and then go up towards the price of a MO-DX for the high end iOS devices!?!)

+Seany06 It has a Pitch shifter stick, on the far left of the keyboard.

+joonk S Yeah but that doesn't have anything to do with this, it's either part of the preset(?) or the sound of the engine.. or a fault?

+Seany06 The patch is detuned to sound chorused and fatter.

The DX7 has a pitch envelope generator that can raise or lower the pitch of notes at the beginning or during the sustain. Not sure that was the cause of what you heard, but DXs do have the PEG.

I would have got microkorgS but 4 note polyphony was a killer for me . they both have speakers and battery powered witch is dope ! Korg has better speakers but CMON man 4 note poly whyyyyy

DX wins the portaboard market for me atm unless im missing another speaker having battery powered , 8 + polyphony

Reface series has the power of play > spec. What is perfect about them is the immediacy and the appeal to creation. You'll see this echoed by everyone from here, across to Andertons in the UK and over to America too with a host of other companies and creators. Whilst there are competitors with greater range; they also often come with a greater size or lack of efficacy in play/composition. Fighting the size, as with the complaints about key size and amount, defeat the purpose. I'd place it similar to the underappreciated keytars and otherwise - no its not a piano. No its not a full size board. But it IS a professional quality instrument with a very specific purpose. And if that purpose IS your purpose then there is nothing better than it. For this price point, what a great piece of kit it really is. The CP model for another example even has pianists praising it. Not as a Piano but as something of high quality and function. Rare praise for a crowd that generally loathe electronic counterparts and keyboards.

Anzu Riki ... the reason they sound organic is they in landfills. They're cheap cuz no one fucking wants them.

indeed

correct

Umm. Do u see the interface on this?? The original dx synths were a NIGHTMARE in this regard.

Well, I think the little Reface sounds better than the DX7. Maybe it was the reverb, but overall, the little brother sounds better in this video. And it's probably much easier to use and interface with a PC. But for the keys, I agree a real one would be better if you don't have another keyboard.

Don't compare vst's to actual hardware.

Why ? Not ALL hardware needs to exist.

+Johnny synth i don't care much for vst. I love hardware.

I believe, and it is only my opinion, that the difference in sound (if there is one) is negligible between hardware and equivalent software that is exactly what the hardware has inside anyway. When it comes down to making music, these are differences that should never come into play. When worrying about how a sound is produced over whether it is useful to you musically, to me, just doesn't justify the high gear prices today. Don't get me wrong, I bought the Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 when it was new. Then, there wasn't a choice. Recently, I found a Korg ES-50, (also known as the Lambda) at a yard sale for $25. It all seems to come around.

+KUPHSER the reface has a better interface!!!

Paul Davidson interface is FANTASTIC!!!

There's a pitch wheel and many modulation effects the original lacks,not to mention,size wise,sound wise,feature wise the DX reface is just superior in any way.Look to the future with the reface,leave the nostalgic behind and move on.There are better options like the REFEACE.And always will be.

T.I.N Mateus I have no doubt that the build and sound quality are superior but I use my DX only for live talkbox performance and real-time modulation at my control and not modulation via patch parameters. Trust me, I would have bought this straight away otherwise, it looks great!

Use your soul better than YOUR brain, next time...

you should use both

o c fantastic interface!!

I at less have one... Although, really, both are one. So i have a bit of one, and you a bit of none... xD enfin... do more music a critish less... with ANYTHING...

o c are you joking? The dx7 has always been digital from the start, how could they do an anolgue replica of a digital synth? To be honest, the reface dx seems to sound better then the original.