Yamaha FS1R

With the FS1r you are forced to use you concentration and spend some time to get completely into the menu-setup and to understand the complexity of its synth-engine. But when you get there, you will certainly be pleased, coz it has a pretty good interface.
An computer-editor is easily found on the net, so if you find is hard to bite over - just get the editor.
The manual is ok and will come in handy in the beginning.
If you are not interestet in deep-programming I recommend you to buy something else.

With 32 polyphony you have plenty of capacity for big stringpad with long release times, but the FS1r cut 16 note away if you decide to use the onboard filter(a very good one). Actually I don't mind this coz 16 note polyphony is still more than most ofher "real" synth deliver. Talking about "real" synths - this is one of that kind. No samples - pure synthesis.
The heart of the FS1r is a very expanded DX/TX structure. The old DX-7 mark II or TX802 had a 6 (sinuswaves) x 16 operators(16 polyphony) voice structure.
The FS1r is with its 16 x 32 operators(32 polyphony) by far the most advanced FM synth you can get. In fact the 8 of the 16 oscillators in the algorithm can produce Sawtooth, Square, Reso and Formant waveforms
and the other unvoiced operators(as yamaha call them) can produce sinus waves and be noise generators. Now thats what I call insane!!
Every oscillator(operator) has its own AMP Envelope, pitchcontrols, keyscale, formantshaper, and so on - infact ist easier to say that FS1r is a giga-versatile modular synth.
Now if you think this is a FM synth well then you thought right, but with the new waveform-addition you actually has a analogsynth aswell.
There are 2 LFOs - LFO 1 is for Amp,Pitch,Freq, Filter-modulation.
LFO 2 is only for Filter-modulation.
Yamaha's FM-synth has never really harboured effect-units. But that was until FS1r's release.
It has 3 effectsprocessors - one especially for reverbs and delays. The two ofther effects has all kind of modulationeffect such as; chorus, flanger, symphonic (a genuine solina-type ensemble), phaser(super programmable smallstone phaser)distortion, rotary speaker and many more, plus even reverbs and delays too. outstanding!!
Well, this is some of the features found i FS1r - you really need to see it for youself - it rocks!

FS1r is a "real" synthesizer that produces its sounds all the way. Not at sample-playback-synth, which means that you woun't get a steinway out of it (though you might get a desent piano if you put in some programming time)- but it is possible to created realism and even true sounding acoustic instruments.
In the huge preset libary you will find a lot of the old DX-7, DX-7 II and TX802 presets which is welcomming cool stuff to have access to.

Now what can FS1r do; complete DX-series, TX-series and TX81z, super analog emulations with analog-like effects too(and more polyphony than most Analog-Modelling synths), a new breed of beautiful digital sound, Talking Formant with sampledumps-options(really cool new feature), Human Choirs and Choirs like Roland VP-330(but more versatile). Best of all - its processor is snappy like the AN1x(no sloppy envelopes) and it sounds wonderful, powerful, mysterious and everything else I can think of.

like a light tank.

There is a lot of editors and sampledump programmes on the net.
And FS1r reads DX-7 sysex.

Sometimes it happens that a synthcompany goes bananas - and that exatly what happend here. I mean all that extra power for less than the cost of an original priced DX-7 II or TX802.
If you own a DX-7 II or TX802 and buy a FS1r then remember not to sell you old DX/TX. Coz even though they are from the same FM family, things really never sound quite the same.

Awful. This thing has too many variable, and without a fair knowledge of FM synthesis is really difficult to obtain something useful. Going random is of no use. Using a computer based editor is a must, but do not resolve all. Presets are average, with some (expecially choir) really good, but this synth is capable of muc more.

Not bad. Formant Sequence is rarely used, so it's value isn't so high as publicized, but even using only the FM would give you grat sounds. The effect section is made by a reverb unit (also do delays), two multi effect (one to use as insert) and an EQ. Quality is quite good. Midi responds to the usual controller, incluse breath and aftertouch. An entire bank of presets (bank C) is projected to use with a midi guitar.

Here we are! This little thing sounds amazing. His force is in the choirs, evolving pads and strange FX. Quite good even the organs and the E-pianos, basses and bells have the usual FM punch. Real instruments, like acoustic pianos, brasses and strings are out of his capabilities. Mind me, this is a synth, not a rompler, so if you settle for a, say, synth brass, you're ok, but if you want a real orchestra, go buy a sampler. Sound quality is great. Use it as a complementary module, paired with a sampler or a high end rompler and you will have a firs class combo.

I have this for two months only, so I really don't know, but it's seems solid. Only the button feels is quite cheapy.
I probably use it in my next gig, with no backup (but with other synth in the line-up).

I didn't have to call Yamaha for the FS1R, but I have a Fazer, and the Yamaha Motors support is quite good. ;-)
The manual is worthless, 80ish stupid pages where should be 800 only for the FM synthesis...

Yeah, I will search another unit. I have wonderful computer based choirs, but I will not dare to use a PC on a gig, so the Yamaha will be my choir machine on stage.
Paired with my old JV-1080 and Proteus, the FS1R will buid up a really good sound texture. My genre is progressive rock, but this synth is good also fore more modern electronic stuff.

Presets are very good. Editing patches is very difficult. It will take me some years to really know this beast, but it will be worth the time.

Manual is Yamaha-like, what should one say ?

Polyphony enough. Very good built in effects. No samples. Pure FM.

One of the best synths ever built. Surprising fat basses, leads and also pads. Sounds very clean. It works especially for electronic music. Very good onboard effects.

One of the best synths I own. I am glad I could purchase one for ? 350. If you can find one, get it !!!!!!!

Solid built. Like a tank.

I don't know.

I would dfinately buy another one if I could find one.Iam playing for 30 Years. I did not expect that I would find a synth nowadays that fascinates me that much. It is a real treasure.

My gear:

Nord electro 61 ( I love it)+ Hammond Leslie + Reu?enzehn preamp
Yamaha S 30
Wavestation SR
Roland MVS 1
Waldorf Microwave 1
Korg MS 2000 R
Roland JX 10
Korg DW 8000
Lexicon LXP 5

I am using a PC editor for programming the FS1R. If you are familiar with FM synthesis, it is not that difficult diving into it. It's an 8 operator (+8 unvoiced operators) FM synthesizer with 4 voices.

I haven't read any manual and was away with it within 10 min. Without a PC editor, it's almost impossible programming it in an efficient way.

So the FS1R is one of the most advanced FM synthesizers. The possibilities are almost unlimited. Plus you get an extra filter and effect to play with.

The formant sequence stuff is just a gimmick to me. The real power lays in the expanded synthesis.

I don't think it was a smart move to start using formant all over the place. Why didn't yamaha just stick with operators/carrier/...?

The sounds in this synthesizer are unmatched. At least when you start programming it yourself. The presets are mediocre (off course except the EP's).

Very dependable. Althought the buttons feel cheap. But I never touch the buttons. Everything is done via the PC editor.

I wouldn't want any other FM synth. I compared it to a DX7, but there is just so much more power in a FS1R.

I'm child of vst world so having hardware synthesiser was something new to me. I don't have clear opinion on ease of using fs1r. Just let me say the thing is reasonable yet because of its vast capabilites better find externall editor. For preset browsing and making few changes it is ok.

Many said enough, unfortunately fs1r starts showing its age. No usb, no spdif, only four parts (when using in "perfomances" typically only one) and only one insert effect. For 1998 it was great perhaps, today it isn't sufficient. Using fs1r for more parts will need bouncing or... more fs1rs.

We have 2005 year now and on its synth merits fs1r is awesome. I was using many soft synths before and fs1r is superior to most of them. This is not a "rompler" and if you want realistic acoustic pianos, drums and the like better look everywere.

So for what fs1r is good? Choirs, organs and pads. For them this synth is very hard to beat especialy for choirs as its formant capabilities allows even to recreate human speech. I found also basses and leads to be strong point of fs1r. Other sounds are also intriguing, I liked especialy guitars, flutes and synth drums.

I'm talking here about factory presets. Because fs1r is a synthesiser its sonic palette can be extended. There are inside 88 algoritmhs for fm plus formants sequences so capabilites are vast.

Metal casting, nothing to worry however audio connectors are plastic.

I bought fs1r because I needed a hardware sound module. For reharsals, for practicing in the morning, for just having something different. I wasn't disappointed. Fs1r can sound totally awesome especially using perfomance as "combi" when up to four timbres can be used to make composite sound.

So what are the cons?

- only midi connectors for computer connection
- not enough multitimbrality
- not enough memory for user presets (especially using formant sequences)

I don't know if I would buy fs1r again. Perhaps "rompler" like motif rack could be serve me better. However having the fs1r for some time now I found myself using it more and more. It's pity that Yamaha didn't take concept of fs1r further.

My guess is that Yamaha's patent lawyers wanted something (anything!) with FM in it a few years ago to hold on to the patents. They went to Engineering who said hell yeah we can come up with an updated FM synth module. Luckily, no one went to Marketing and got their almost always wrong opinion. And thus the FS1R was dumped into the stores with no fanfare, no support, and an absolutely brilliant sound generation capability. Of course, this being Yamaha, they just had to throw in several what-the hell? design features to maintain their record of near-misses! This is one of the finest REAL synthesizer modules to be released in the last decade. No crappy VA, no soon-to-be-obsolete samples, just an FM synthesizer that we all wanted back in the eighties updated to 2020! The presets are - of course - presets, the usual mixed bag of crap and beauty that were designed to hint at the sonic possibilities. Forget the FS1R Formant stuff, it is mostly just another weird effect in practice (run it thru a vocoder instead). However, editing patches on this little beast has three strikes against it: (1) FM synthesis is not the easiest or most intuitive synthesis method, (2) the usual rack-mount tiny screen with high data density to puzzle over, and (3) the Yamaha manual which is long on what each function does but not what to do with it. Screw that and get an editor program. If you are impressed at all by the presets, wait until you play with the editing....

Features listed elsewhere in these reviews by people with more time than I. The ployphony cut in half by using the filter is one of those classic Yamaha weird design issues that no one else on the planet would ever have considered and made me nervous about whether Yamaha under-designed the CPU for this thing (a la the EX-5). So far, it seems to do just fine with or without the filter kicked in (and you will want it in!), but it is one of several units I make music on, so I am not stressing it with dense midi streams on every channel. The additional Algorhtyms, the main filter and the somewhat cheesey effects (reminds me sometimes of my old REX-50 or SPX-90 units)are still very welcome additions to the traditional FM architecture, and the additional midi control capabilities is outright wonderful to a guy who spent years hunched over a DX-7 display trying to get some life into it's mono sound! There's supposed to be some software out there to cobble up your own formants for the FS1R, but I really don't think much of this feature, but that's about it when it comes to expansion capabilities. But of course you have access to tens of thousands of high (to very low!) quality DX-7 patches on the Internet that can be used by the FS1R. And isn't more/new sounds the purpose of most expansion features? Note the DX-7 patches will sound a bit different coming out of an FS1R due to much cleaner electronics, stereo outs, fx, etc, etc. I have ponged patches between my crusty old DX-7, a TX-802 module and the FS1R evaluating the sonic differences. I'll take the FS1R, thank you!

Anyone seeking acoustic emulations on the FS1R either is too young to remember FM synthesis (which owned the airways back in the eighties) or too brain-damaged to recall that FM - while theoretically able to come close to some acoutic instrumentation waveforms - is best at percussive, bass and metallic timbres. Regardless, go for it! Just don't expect an all-in-one-box or that perfect grand piano sound! I prefer to layer FM with analog (and sometimes samples) to get composite sounds that are breath-taking. The FM adds bite to attacks, odd texture, and fascinating intermodulations to the mix. An example is string ensembles with FM providing the rosiny bite in the attack, samples providing the basic framework of the sound, and analog adding the background meat to the tone. FM descended originally into too many samey e-piano and bass tones, but the FS1R gives the necessary up-dates (e.g., the filter) to blow that limitation wide open.

My FS1R is in the home studio between sibling TG-77 and TG-500 modules and will stay there. To be honest, I wouldn't recommend gigging with this thing as it does seem a bit flimsey, particularly for a Yamaha product which are usually real reliable. Inparticular the front panel knobs seem quite fragile and could be easily snapped off. However, it is a Yamaha so it should last longer than me.

Well, Yamaha support is better than some and worse than some. If it isn't the latest thing, it gets forgotten about quickly. I've not had to deal with Yamaha about the FS1R but have had many dealings with them in the past. Recommend you ignore the nitwits that answer the phones (if you get a human!) who only know what they were couched about the latest big thing, and get to the real technical people or storeroom folks - they do know what they're talking about!

This is one I'd have to replace if lost - it is just too sweet! As it is now long discontinued, I'd have to prowl the Usual Suspects for a replacement, and not a lot of these come up used!

Yes, the Yamaha's manual could be better, but thats the case with every Yamaha product I've bought - and most of my studio is Yamaha based because they really know how to build musical instruments. The fact is, its easy to use FS1R;s huge and unusual bank of Presets. This alone makes it worth the money. If you want to edit them, get the fantastic shareware available on the internet. If all the talk about operators and formants boggles your mind, start with something easy....eg the simplest algorithms can be thought of as a 4 oscillator analogue synth.

Nothing touches this for versatility, it can do anything that could be expected of a sound module and loads you would never expect.

Awesome all round. Some beautiful presets, good quality FX to tweak, responds to all manner of midi controllers and has 4 assignable controllers waiting for you on the front panel. Being FM, midi can create staggering morphs in the FS1R, you'll never want to be seen sweeping your sampler's cutoff after this.

Built like a battleship

Never had support on the FS1R so I can't give it a 10, but Ive found Yamaha UK very helpful for other stuff so 8. Make sense ?

My main source of stock sounds is a (Yamaha) S+S master keyboard, the S80 which I like very much. But for inspiration, wierdness, distinctive sounds and the downright unexpected I always play around with the FS1R if there is an excuse. Well priced #270 ($400) just because its unique and will probably never be repeated, but throw in all the above and its a must have. Get one now! I would try to replace mine if it was stolen (can't imagine it ever breaking).

A little bit difficult instrument, however you can overcome this problem with sounddiver software or you can use free Fs1r Editing software from internet. Also, simply doing knob works are not impossible to make ur imaginable sounds.

Well built unit. Big screen. Knob-feel is good. Output is damm good. Don't think that this is the latest version of DX-7. This is a quite advanced FM machine with 32 voice polyphnies.

SOUNDS r GREAT!
Now, I can understand why many users of FS1r are so pumped with THIS!
VERY CLEAN, FAT, MELTING, CRYSTAL, METALLIC, QUIET, etc.
You can create any sounds what you want with FS1R. FORMANT function is unique function which enable to create Human voice. I bet FS1R will be one of the best Vintage gear in a few year. (Already? maybe..)

LIVE GIG, RECORDING, etc..
Any use possible.

I believe YAMAHA is the most professional company which support world wide customer servie. I've never problem with FS1R, so I don't know how they work for customer yet. However, you can get free Sounddiver program for FS1R by contact to YAMAHA.

I strongly recommend GET THIS if you want to be a professional and Creative musician. That's all.

I don't know if ease of use could apply. There's too much power here for it to really be easy, unless you use this as a preset machine. You can, because it ships with about 2000 presets (1000 of which are DX7 banks). The manual is poor: it goes through the features and says "it does this and this", but doesn't explain anything about how to do this and this. That's bad when we're talking about a new and undocumented type of synthesis. It's not like we have our experience with Moogs to fall back on, this is very different. There's an incredible amount of power in this thing, and manipulating that with a dozen or so buttons is not for the faint of hearted, so be comfortable with that up front. The interface of this thing really isn't bad, it just isn't enough. Sound Diver helps. I get the impression that executives decided they'd spent enough money and weren't going to provide amenities like more front-panel controls or software editors.

Polyphony: 32 voices, cuts to 16 in certain situations. Well, that's fine, because this is anything but a workstation. This is for basses, pads, solo sounds, basically flavoring. It has a pretty useful, even imaginative, array of effects. There's an input for a wind controller, and an entire bank of patches designed to take advantage of that. I always like to see some kind of external storage for patches; here it's called "sysex". That's really not bad, though; since it's completely backward-compatible with the DX-family, there are thousands of patches out there. And you'll never need a ROM card to take advantage of them. When it comes to features, the bottom line is that this synth is the feature.

Think of this as an FM synth on steroids. It does everything they did, adding a new type of synthesis of its own, with better outputs. This thing is freaking huge. It can imitate natural instruments convincingly, it can make pads from outer space, it can make basses like volcanoes. It goes way beyond what the DXs could do. This is one of those instruments that can really give you an individual and unique voice.

Haven't gigged with it, but it feels very solid.

My only contact was to ask for a copy of Sound Diver. Their response was, "What is your address?". Very friendly, I thought, but doesn't necessarily say how helpful they might be if there really were a problem. What the hell- these things are long out of warranty, anyway.

If this were stolen? There's nothing else like this and I've got to have it.

This thing IS easy to use if you have a little patience and a little knowledge. The key is experimenting with ONE variable at a time. Use the manual to try and get a grasp of how the parameters relate to what you are adjusting and then star tweaking. If you start with a basic sound you will easily be able to tell how it is being affected, then you can apply and build on this. The interface is a little intimidating at first but once you use it for a couple of hours it becomes second nature. The menu system kind of reminds me current cell phone/pda interfaces. This synth really rewards you for spending time with it. Where other synths reveal there shallowness after repeated use, this one just starts opening up to you. All of sudden you are using this as an INSTRUMENT, not a tone bank and thats when you start to get really inspired.

As has already been said this synth has a powerful architecture, you just have to power through the interface.

one word.......bass

no problems

customer what? FS1who?

In order to pay for school I sold all my equipment over the course of several months (sniff sniff)

sherman filterbank
sp-808
mc-505
quasimidi sirius
tr-909
tb-303 w/ devilfish mod
fs1r
yam a3000
rm1x
ens dp4

The fs1r was the LAST thing to go...and it will be the first thing I will buy when I start putting together another studio.