dan@rna.UUCP (Dan Ts'o) (11/18/85)
x Sorry if this question has been covered before, what are the differences between a Yamaha DX-7 and a TX-7 ? Is a TX-7 really "a DX-7 in a box" ? what features of the DX-7 are missing from a TX-7 besides a keyboard - RAM cartridge slots ? controller inputs (pedals, etc.) ? front panel program- mability ? LCD display ? number of voices ? potential for split keyboards and voice layering ? Also what sort of third party programs and patches which have been produced for the DX-7 would be completely compatible with the TX-7 ? All sound patches ? synthesis aids ? sequencers ? Any programs that would potentially be not compatible ? Thanks. Cheers, Dan Ts'o Dept. Neurobiology Rockefeller Univ. 1230 York Ave. NY, NY 10021 212-570-7671 ...cmcl2!rna!dan rna!dan@cmcl2.arpa
ron@BRL.ARPA (Ron Natalie) (11/19/85)
I've had my TX-7 for some time now. A TX-7 is the DX-7 noise making device in a box. The TX-7 has no input other than MIDI, there is no pedal/controller inputs. This is OK, because it is designed to be used from either a DX-7 or from a midiboard which would have these inputs themselves. It has no cartridge slots. You can up/down load from the DX-7 or from a cassette tape interface which it does have. It has no capability to edit the voices (PURPLE button for you DX-7) users. You need to use either a DX or a DX-7 voice editor on some midi-interfaced computer. What you do get on the front panel is access to most of the performance functions (BROWN button on DX-7). It has a LCD display that is used much as it is in the DX-7. The tone generator is the same. 16 replications of the same voice are possible. All the purple button functions appear to be the same. In addition, it has the capability of only responding to a range of the DX-7 keyboard. This allows people using the DX-7's keyboard to play the TX, rather than a midiboard, to make better use of it. The MIDI specification for the two devices is nearly identical, and voices are interchangable between the two. The TX comes with two banks (32 each for a total 64) of patches. The idea is that you load up one bank into the DX and one into the TX. For instance #1 is two halves of an accoustic piano. #4 is a male choir in one bank and a female choir in the other. A computer talking to the TX over MIDI does notice the difference. The DX-PRO blows up on the TX unless you let it initiallize itself on a real DX and then plug the TX into it after it gets going. Things work OK after that. Other diffences/features: The thing uses a little histogram volume control with UP/DOWN buttons. It also has two levels you can preset and recall with presses of the LOW/HIGH buttons. The function specifcations are stored in 32 separate locations unlike the DX-7, and you can save/restore these to tape as well. The MASTER TUNE function runs from -99 to +99 so you can return yourself to some reference point after messing around with the tuning. The ranges on things like AFTER TOUCH, etc...are quantized into a few levels per choice (PITCH/AMPLITUDE/EG BIAS) than being 0-99 for each controller. The only real draw back to the TX is that to UP/DOWN load from the DX, you need to plug it so the DX midi out goes to the TX midi in and vice versa. If you only have the DX/TX combination, this is OK. If you use a midiboard like I do, you can't connect the midi board in in this configuration. This means you end up replugging things for TX<->DX communication and putting them back when playing via the midiboard. =Ron