Yamaha FS1R

I bought this over a year ago, despite reading on the Net about how hard it was to program. Yes, it does go to oceanic depths as far as creating new sounds but just tweaking the existing ones (and there are loads) is easy. Time consuming for sure because it is all button pushes and so on, but even before you get involved in the depths of the sound mangling menus system you can still come up with some pretty radical stuff. So, it's easier than you might have been led to believe to edit, but to get to grips with its full potential is a different story

I'm not even sure about the polyphony or multi-timbrailty and it isn't an issue because I have other gear and anyone buying it would obviously be of the same view? It is discontinued so expansion is nil. The FX section is excellent. I also have a Waldorf XT and the FX on that are shocking in comparison. The FX here can make a great difference to the end result and I haven't made a patch yet that doesn't employ them. I'm not saying that they are up there with top of the range outboard gear but they are still a powerful tool in the sound shaping capabilities of this thing. Overall the features are too numerous to mention. I've had this thing for over a year and still haven't got halfway to exploring its full depth. You can layer up to four sounds, each of which you can mess around with to a ridiculous degree. You don't have to be a mathematical genius to realise the potential this allows

The 80's synth sounds seem to be coming back into fashion so you are sorted there without even editing the hundreds of presets, but that would be a criminal waste of your time and money. Excellent FM style basses are a cinch. Classic DX style organs and bells ditto, but once you layer sounds and get into the editing you can come up with some incredible stuff. It depends on your skill and/or patience. Don't wory too much with the formant business that this thing was "sold" on because that isn't it's great strength. I haven't even got into the real guts of it's sound manipulation possibilities yet but have still come up with some fantastic pads, silky strings, thumping basses, and all manner of weird synth noises. The potential is enormous. It just depend son how much time you have to spare, bearing in mind that it involves a lot of button pushing and diving in and out of menus. Overall it seems sonically immense but bear in mind that it will always sound digital. This is no bad thing it's just that you may want some analogue warmth to go with it, depending on what sort of music you are creating. It works for anyone doing dance music, downbeat, ambient or experimental music for sure.

I use it for home studio only so I can't say what it would be like on the road. Yamaha seem pretty solid. Enough people ride their bikes at breakneck speed so I assume their synths are pretty roadworthy too. The unit itself seems sturdy enough.

Couldn't tell you. I haven't exactly punished it in the time it has been in my possesion.

If it was stolen and my insurance money came back with the dollar then I probably would get another one. It is a pain to program but I strongly suspect that no other current synths could come up with the sort of sounds this thing can. I also have a Waldorf XT. I'm not trying to compare them but I have got a greater variety of sounds out of this thing. I'd say that if you get hold of one, then dedicate some time to play around with it and create the sounds you want. If you are in the middle of a sequence and want a quick sound to add to your song that isn't already there, then forget it because by the time you get something you may well have lost the flow of whatever you were working on. But if you have already got that sound onboard then chances are it will be a beauty. What do I wish it had? Lots of knobs and sliders of course! But it doesn't. It's still great though. I don't have a great deal of free time to play around with it right now. Anyone who does is in for a treat.

I bought the FS1R about a month after it came out, excited about the prospect of making FM sounds again. I had previous experience with the TX-802, so again, the thought of transfering my patches into a newer, cleaner sounding machine was very appealing. Little did I know I'd have to do this one patch (voice) at a time... When the evening was over, I'd ported everything over, but nothing sounded quite the same; for one, the FS1-R converted 6-op FM voices to 8-op, which is an improvement, but my performance settings (microtonal etc.) on the TX-802 had made a big difference which did not transfer well to the FS1-R. Still, being able to add 8 noise operators and formant filtering to dry voices made this problem insignificant.
Editing the FS1-R is a convoluted process which is almost impossible to achieve without a software editor. Being a PC user, I had to live with the unit's tiny backlit display for months before the option became available, and by then I'd gotten pretty cosy with the machine.
Once you strip away the performance parameters (Stacked voices + various controllers), the filters (LPF, BPF, HPF) and the effects (2 post, 1 insert + extra EQ, you're left with the nucleus, a dry 8-op FM voice. This where you get into familiar territory, with the added formant parameters and the eight noise operators.
You also get a generous set of (88) algorithms which if you're like me and like to hear how a patch sounds with every algorithm, should make for some interesting evenings spent clicking through the various possibilities. I didn't spend as much time with the actual manual as I did looking over the very complete MIDI implementation "booklet" included with it, as I was writing my own FS1-R patch editor for the Doepfer Regelwerk.
I decide to abandon the task after having saved 28 banks of 24 faders, basically the equivalent of rebuilding the front panel interface of the FS1-R with a machine featuring an even smaller display.

I was also quite annoyed at the fact that you can't get rid of some the presets. How about more RAM and less ROM next time...
Also frustrating was the limited number of user locations for homemade formant sequences, the fact that you NEED a software editor
to make your own. The onboard sequences are IMHO passable at best, not finding much use for the ridiculous "Shoobee-doowaa" and "Brand New from Yamaha" FS. However, a bit of clever tweaking can disguise such sonic monstrosities (sorry about the rant) and yield interesting results. I really enjoy the fact that you can sychronize the FS to various MIDI clock divisions.

THE Polyphony on this unit falls prey to its complexity, meaning the more you tax the machines processor, the less voices you get. A filtered "Performance" has only 16 notes, whereas a non-filtered one has 32. The unit is only 4 part multi-timbral, but doing so thins out the units rich sound. This is clearly an instrument designed to be played or sequenced one sound at a time.
As usual, Yamaha have given the user a comprehensive array of MIDI control sources and destinations. As I stated before, a complete Sysex booklet is provided along with the manual, making it easy to
create an editor or whatever else you may want to do with this top-secret information...

The onboard effects sections, which I briefly mentioned earlier is nothing short of amazing. I own a Yamaha 01v mixer and its effects don't even begin to touch what can be done within the FS1-R. The amp simulators and incredible Phasers (12 stage etc.) have real depth and the reverbs are lush and free of metallic overtones. I do wish you could sync the lot to MIDI, but I guess that would be asking a wee bit much, considering the strain the dsp chip(s) must be under to deliver the said lushness of the reverb, or am I wrong in my assumptions?

This unit, despite its convoluted interface and strange limitations, does offer some of the best synth sounds I have hear this side of analogue modulars. If the FS1-R were a modular system, it would occupy several walls of the studio, so we'll forget about the shortcomings and get on with the praise.
Having been a fan of "Detune" since the Korg DW8000 came out, I was greatly surprised at how amazingly warped and weepy I could make my pads sound, and the effects allowed me to recreate analogue like dirt on sounds I would have otherwise had to tweak for hours.
Being a fan of the Korg PS-31oo triple bandpass filters (later made available on the MAM RS-3 Resonator), I was impressed by the possibility of stacking several bandpass filters to create the voice like timbres I'd been experimenting with on weaker systems for years.
I also got a kick out of tweaking the unit's four control knobs; opening and closing filters on a DX-7 voice within the unit itself without the use of hardware controllers or external processing being a rewarding experience for anyone having had to "disguise" FM instruments for the past decade.
I recommend this instrument to anyone interested in the science of sound, and to anyone interested in creating sounds that make shivers run down your spine. You needn't have 32 voices of polyphony when you can change the composition of the earth's atmosphere with only one note.

Like all Yamaha products, the FS1-R is very solidly built. I would like to recommend you bolt down the pots for the four control knobs though, just to be on the safe side, beacuse you're likely to tweak the hell out of this machine.

I've never daelt with Yamaha directly, and I doubt I ever will for two reasons:
1- When something breaks at my house, I replace it because I have no time to wait for repairs.
2-Yamaha units are very reliable. I have never had one fail on me yet.

If someone stole my FS1-R, I would be heartbroken. If it were broken, I'd replace it, or maybe buy something more powerful... Wait, I don't think there is yet... Not on the hardware front anyway...
You can hear the FS1-R (shameless plug) on my "Sawdust, Sinedust, Squaredust" album, by visiting http://www.davidkristian.com

This is tough category to answer. If you just want to plug it in, and play the presets, then it's very easy to use, but you'll be missing the point and the best part of this machine. The presets sound fantastic. Full, clean, complex and interesting sounds with a lot of movement in them. Editing from the front panel without a patch editor is about 10 times worse than on the original DX series, so you now how bad that is. The patch editors by both Sound Diver and MIDI Quest are both quite good for this unit. The manual is about par for Yamaha.

See detailed reviews below.

The sounds on this instruments are fantastic. The presets showcase some of the things that FM excels at such as EPs, bells, percussive sounds, etc. WHat I didn't expect were great, warm pads, or evolving textures. It blends and complements my other keyboards (Nord Lead 2, Roland JP-8080, Roland D-50, Yamaha P-200, Hammond B-3) very well. The true power of this machine is in its capability for new sound creation. I used to have a Yamaha TX-802, and despite patch editors with random patch generators, etc., I always felt all the sounds sounded alike. The thing I like about this machine is that it can make sounds I've not heard on the other typical synths out there, and each sound had a unique quality (personality) to it. I never was a big fan of FM synthesis, but this unit has certainly changed my mind.

It's a Yamaha, and outside of the CS series, I never had one crash.

For a big company they've been great. Maybe I've been lucky, but try to reach Roland. I believe all their employees have been replaced by cyborgs.

This is one synth that will remain in my rack for a very long time. I have a feeling that this will become a very sought after synth in the near future. Check out the web support for this unit!

This is a heavy-duty, real synthesizer, with no samples, that is for serious synth users only. The presets on the FS1R are on the whole quite good, I'd say. They pretty much run the gamut from stellar electric pianos to analog-style synth leads and washes, to atrocious, though still cool, emulations of acoustic instruments (like FM trumpets and saxes). There are some spectacular evolving pads that flutter in and out with shimmering harmonic overtones, thumping FM basses, and unbelievably complex and sinister noises that come out of this thing, and the unit responds to all kinds of realtime controllers.

There is a tremendous learning curve to overcome, especially if you've never used an FM synthesizer er "tone generator" before, and the formant shaping capabilities only exacerbate the curve. Generally, the OS is pretty clumsy; it can be very difficult to find what you are specifically looking for without wading through dozens of screens. Some functions are pretty straightforward, such as the effects system, but others are incredibly, incredibly complex. The manual is much too sparse and provides a lot of detail on some elements of the synth's operation while barely providing others with so much as a brief mention. The bottom line is unless you already know FM synthesis or are of the hardcore techie type (reluctantly I place myself in the latter category I suppose), you may find this module the most difficult to learn machine that's out there. It's easily one of the deepest synths ever made, and if you can figure it out, it will become your favorite very quickly.
Overall Rating: 6

-32 note polyphony, (if the filter is used, this number drops to 16-- (it would take a long time to describe why this is the case)
-4 part multitimbral
-4 outputs
-the effects: The effects are superb IMHO in both sound quality, flexibility, and power. The effects system consists of send/return-based reverb and variation, an insert processor, and a dedicated 4 band EQ. There are about 15 reverb effects, including delays, 40-some variation effects, and a similar number of insert effects. The reverbs are surprisingly good (they are much better than those on my Yamaha A3000 sampler, strangely), and offer more parameters to tweak than most standalone reverb units; the delays are ok to my ears, but don't sound "dry" enough to my ears but offer outstanding parameter control (delay times of up to about 1300ms are supported); the other effects are almost universally very good, particularly the distortion and overdrive effects.
-no expansion capabilities
-multimode resonant filters (1 per voice--lowpass 12dB/oct, 18dB, 24db/oct, bandpass, highpass, and band eliminate)
-the FS1R's midi implementation is absolutely fantastic, with a very complex and powerful modulation matrix. By default, many parameters are already mapped to MIDI CCs; the four knobs on the front panel can function as assignable midi controllers and send data out the MIDI OUT port.

Just remember, this synth was not designed to emulate acoustic instruments. It's obviously great for techno, trance, breakbeat, ambient, and sound design/whatever, but rock musicians might dig it for its electric pianos.

The sound quality is simply outstanding IMHO, with a very nice clarity and sparkle to the high-end. It definitely does not sound analog though; it's definitely very digital-sounding. Based on comments on the FS1R mailing list, the D/A converters are at least 20 bit, and possibly 24 bit.

As I said before the onboard effects are some of the best I've ever used on any synth or sampler.

The FS1R responds very well to any kind of midi controller you can throw at it, and you can have a great time tweaking the preset sounds with midi CCs. The filters are surprisingly good, but they're not spectacular by any means; still you can manage some pretty convincing analog emulations.

The FS1R is very well constructed; even the four controller knobs seem to be solid, parting from Yamaha's 1990s tradition of crappy, cheap-feeling knobs and sliders (e.g. A3000, 01V, etc.). Nevertheless, Yamaha has the best reliability record in the business, so I would definitely go without a backup. That said, the FS1R does get very hot after it has been left on for a short time, so if you plan to leave yours on for a long time it might be a good idea to leave some space in your rack underneath it.

The FS1R was discontinued in early 2000 (when I bought mine new in July, they were very hard to find in the U.S.) and Yamaha does not offer much support at all for discontinued products. The FS1R is in some ways an unfinished product though, because it is impossible to edit formant sequences on the module itself. From what I understand, they promised an OS update but it never came, which seems to be typcial of Yamaha's incomplete late 90s products (especially the EX series).

This is a very unique piece of gear, and prices seem to be heading north on the used market. There's never been a synth that sounds remotely like it, and it's an excellent 2nd or 3rd synth. It is definitely not intended to be a do-everything machine like a Roland Super JV of course. It's incredibly powerful, difficult to use, but great-sounding module. It would be nice to be able to edit formant sequences on the module itself, but apparently it may be possible to do this from computer editing software . . . If it were stolen I would definitely buy another one, but it might be hard to find another one though. It's very inspirational, some say one of the most ever, and definitely should be checked out. I feel sorry for the suckers who paid $1000 for this thing though when it first came out, b/c it was blown out for $399 in March. By the time I found a new one, prices were starting to rise though as mentioned above.

Difficult to use, Editing patches is also hard, editor is easier, prests are a matter of personal taste, manual short and bad.
And this comes from a DX7 user of 15 years standing.
There are to many unnescessary editing levels.

Polyphony is 32, 16 if you use the filter, I will say that the effects are very good in variety and qaulity, espescially reverbs, all are easy to edit, no expanssion capabillity, exellent midi spec all the ussual plus more, no sequencer.

This is not an imitative synth, this could be used in any situation,
effects are good, lots of dynamic control, modulation matrix is wonderfull for realtime control of virtually any parameter.

Usual Yamaha build, on board transformer, IEC lead.

Yamaha are very good here in England, Good old Dusty!

The only thing about this thing, is the fact that it has a very digital sound, transfering my DX7 sounds into it results in a colder sound, the DX7 is much dirtier and hence warmer, what is this obssession with high sampling rates etc, 16 is more than enough and more often sound worse. I am used to analogue synths but got fed up giving hundreds of pounds to ripoff repair companys so have replaced most of them with current synths, Ok they are not going to give you exacly the same sound, but the reliability is worth it, the FS1R is suited to the ambient/experimental music that I am involved in, it can produce sounds that are very unique, and can breath new life into my DX sounds, I can do with this module what it took a rack full of gear to acheive before I brought it, the sound is the only thing, maybe I will get used to it, the on-board EQ helps here though, I am going to buy a TX816, I will see how much I use the FS1R after I get it, That will determine if I keep it or not. Long live FM.

I wholeheartedly agree with whomever said that the manual sucks like a new hoover. Does Yamaha find the most out of touch people they can find to write their manuals or what??? Seriously, I think this one was written in the dark... It does, however, have four nice assignable knobs and a rather large LCD screen. The four knobs work in three different modes - the first two of which control predetermined parameters like attack and formant amount, and the third is freely assignable. Also, I would've rather seen a two-unit module with more knobs and bigger buttons... and a jog wheel!!! Yes, a jog wheel!!!!

32 note polyphony (halved with filters), 4-part multitimbral, effects, responds to control data, julienne's fries... everything I look for in a synthy-weck, my brothers. An excellent purchase for the adventurous synthesist, provided one has a computer handy to edit the thing. It's quite a shame that it can't be edited from the front panel because the sounds are quite incredible if properly manipulated.

The sounds are absolutely stunning. Perfect for otherwordly pads and leads, and it is not lacking in the bottom end either. The effects are equally nice, some of the best I've heard onboard a synth. Just layering multiple voices together and tweaking the front panel gives excellent results, but, as I said before, its true power is only realized when edited extensively. There are immense possibilities within the synthesis architecture, possibilities far beyond the realm of the purely subtractive currently in vogue. Take FM and the tonal qualities of the formant, add fseq's and other modulators, and wrap it in some modeled filters and effects and you're out there, seriously. Which is why I believe it's best suited for those within the experimental or ambient/dance genres, although I could easily see a few of the sounds (those preset DX ep's - yuck, imho) used in r&b or jazz/fusion. You've been warned.

Yamaha has an impeccable reputation in this area. The thing feels like it was reverse-engineered from a tank.

Never talked to them, although they have a pretty decent website for as many products as they produce.

It would've scored a ten if it were editable from the panel. Maybe Yamaha will come out with a nice control surface like the one Access made for the Matrix 1000 (another powerhouse that's impossible to edit). Yeah, that would be too easy. Also, it would've been nice to know that prices were going to fall so sharply so soon. ;)

FM digital was never easy to grasp for those accustomed to analog synthesis. But the interface is exceptionally user-friendly considering it's FM heritage. The presets are wide-ranging and are easily edited into something preferred. It even spells out SysEx strings when editing. Perfect for use with a Peavey PC1600X Sysex controller. The manual, on the other hand, is poorly laid out and is not very helpful.

The FS1R exceeds! Think four fabulously improved DX-7's in one. - But with 8 operators, not 6. - and 88 algorithms, not 32. - And with formant variations. - Total Sysex control - 32 voices. Excellent display.

The FS1R exceeds! Think four fabulously improved DX-7's in one. - But with 8 operators, not 6. - and 88 algorithms, not 32. - And with formant variations. - Extreme effects! And plenty of them with many parameters each to work with. I've rarely found effects as good on board a synth or even in a stand-alone unit. The spaciest pads. The finest EP's. Great synths all around. Not a sample to be found. - Clean, quiet, loud output (x4). I have never heard a better digital synth. It sit's nicely in the mix alongside analog.

Solid as any Yamaha gear I've ever had which is among the most reliable.

Have never needed Yamaha support and doubt I ever will.

March, 2000 - Guitar Center is now out of them nationwide. Mars Music is also out. But they're still available online from americanmusical.com (but for how long?). $440 delivered! Some say they're discontinued. Some say not. I tend to believe the former. Received mine three days ago. Very glad I did. I believe demand and second-hand prices will escalate in the near future.

I guess the demand for Analog/Virtual Analog hurt sales. Or maybe it's because it's not some "groovejunk" aimed at the sub-literate crowd. A true MIDI synthesist will do him/herself a favor by acquiring one soon.

This box makes neat sounds. The first 256 patches that use the Formant Shaping synthesis engine are mind-boggling. I've never heard anything like some of the noises. Since formants and the human voice have a lot to do with each other, you can make some neat 'singing' patches.
Editing is not for the faint-hearted. There are 8 oscillators plus 8 noise channels available per voice (don't forget the 88 FM algorithms too!) ... which adds up to hundreds and hundreds of parameters. Since this is a completely new kind of synthesis, the parameters may not make much sense at first glance ... but they're not impossible (too bad the manual doesn't help much).
A computer-based editor like Sound Diver is really a must for any kind of sound design. Actually, the FS1R module that comes with Sound Diver is really good.

Other reviews have covered the specs -- 32 voice (16 if you're using the filter) rackmount 1U synth module.
The effects on this are *really* nice. I like them a lot -- there's a lot of variety; from good reverb to amp simulation, to a couple phasers, etc, etc, etc. You can patch in 3 FX simultaneously per perfoemance (multi), and all have nice routing options.
The unit has four knobs on the front panel that transmit MIDI.

Like I said, the presets that use Formant Shaping are wicked! There are over 1000 DX7-cloned presets that I hardly touch. BTW, I will probably never look for a real DX7 as long as I own this. The FS1R does a DX7 with uncanny precision.
I've made some really really neat sounds with this box. 8 oscs + 88 FM routings + 8 noise sources + filter = LOTS of possibilities. The modulation matrix is pretty neat, allowing velocity or other continuous controllers (8 I think) modulate aspects of a voice. I'd like to see more modulation destinations though.
As for the sound quality? TOP-NOTCH. It is silent. It doesn't pop when turned on or off, when it *is* making noise, it is so rich, full, and detailed that it takes all my gumption to hold back the tears.

Hasn't failed yet.

The FS1R is recently discontinued, and available pretty inexpensively now (Feb 2000). I bought it for its original and utterly flexible synthesis engine. I have a feeling it will be remembered 10 years from now as a revolutionary synth that was overlooked and ultimately failed in the marketplace (ala TB-303).
I have an Akai S3000XL Sampler and Access Virus as my primary noise-making aparatii. The FS1R gets used with most of my work, but in a more minor role, due to its limited multitimbrality. Maybe when I get ProTools I'll use it a lot more.
I wish it had a giant knob-panel option so that I wouldn't have to boot up my computer every time I wanted to design a new sound. But that knob-panel would probably take up my whole living room. Oh well...
It took a long time to figure out the synthesis engine, and I'm still learning a lot every day about it. One day when I can design sounds on this thing as easily and as naturally as I do on the Virus, I will conquer the world.

The FS1R is a rackmount 32 note polyphony 16 operator tone module that utilizes FM and FS synthesis. The FM synthesis is identical to the Yamaha DX line of synthesizers, and FS tries to model physical nuances of sounds into performances. There are 512 performances available in 4 banks of 128. Only 1 bank can store user performances. There are 1536 voices of which 128 can store user voices. FS or Formant Shaping is new to me and I am still trying to grasp the theory behind it. I think a mac, or computer patch editor is needed to get the most out of this unit. However, the module does not come equipped with one. The manual is full of information. Unfortunately there is little use for that information when trying to tweek the unit's parameters.

The FS1R polyphony = 32 note, and when a filter is applied that number is cut in half. There are 84 different effects. There are no onboard expansion capabilities but DX series sounds can be loaded via sysex. No on-board sequencer, and each performance can only have 4 parts. It does have 4 knobs for Attack, Release, Formant, and FM.

The sounds on this instrument are none too realistic except for sounding like DX synths-very realistic. Most of the sounds are catagorized into basses, vocals, keyboards, organs, pads, bells, sequences, Fx, comps, and leads. I will use this instrument in combination with my other sound modules. I will be creating strange sounds with this instrument to be mixed into recordings, and I will also use the DX pianos. Some of the Basses, and organs are also useful. The FS is not totally programable. If it was I would give this synth the highest mark.

I placed this unit in my rack and have no issues with it as of yet. It seems to hold its own.

Only logged on to the website in the UK.

I now own an Alesis NanoSynth, a Roland JV-1010, and a Korg N1R. With the addition of the FS1R I think I have all the bases covered. If the FS1R was lost or stolen I don't think I would need to replace it. This tone module is a nice complementary piece of gear to my setup. It definately expands the tonal possibilities of my recordings. There is no arpeggiator on this unit, but some of the sounds are perfect for one. I wish the FS1R had an onboard arpeggiator. Also, a data wheel would have been nice to have for selection of performances instead of the tiny selection buttons.

I bought my first synth ever, DX11, back in 1988. At that time, I thought that all synths were basically the same and hoped to make the synth sounds featured in Yes, UK & Rush albums out of the DX11. Of course, I didn't even know that FM synthesis even existed when I bought a DX11. I was utterly disappointed by the DX11 and when I bought a Korg 01/Wfd and a Kurzweil K2000 in 1992, I gave the DX11 to a friend for nothing. To me, FM or anything that sounded digital was simply crap. Two synths that I bgouth last year dramatically changed my perception toward FM. The Kawai K5000R proved that a digital sounding synth could be so cool, and I also noticed that some of killer AN1x patches used FM algorithms. So, I began to think that FM couldn't be that bad. I became curious about the FS1R and ordered one without ever listening, thinking that I would eventually return it.

Rather a lengthy introduction, isn't it? Anyway, how does the FS1R sound? Let me just say that the FS1R is the most inspiring piece of gear I've ever bought. Like 199,000 out of 200,000 DX7 owners, I cannot program FM from scratch. All I can do with FM is tweaking here and there. The FS1R is a tweaker's dream-come-true. You don't even have to understand FM at all to make truly impressive sounds from the FS1R (more on this later). How hard is editing? Pretty easy. When I first got the FS1R, I figured out how to edit from the front panel without ever looking at the manual, thanks to the very logical OS and a big LCD which shows every vital piece of information. After that, I read the manual, which is the worst manual I've ever read. I always thought that nobody would write a worse manual than that of the AN1x. I was wrong. BTW, I use SoundDiver, which has an excellent FS1R editor.

The FS1R has 32 voice polyphony (16 if a filter is used!), 4 effect processors, 8 voice carrier/operators (i.e. ocillators) that can generate several different waveforms, 8 unvoiced operators that can generate sine waves and noise if you wish, 88 FM algorithms only Brian Eno could fully understand, and 90 formant sequences. The effects sound excellent and offer decent routing possibilities. The formant sequences are the heart of the FS1R. You can program how a certain preset formant sequence should behave to your heart's content. Although the FS1R is capable of storing user formant sequences, as of now you cannot do that from its front panel, nor can you using any FS1R editors out there.

The FS1R has 1,100+ preset voices, but you cannot play them directly. You must play them in performance. The FS1R's performance is similar to Roland JV/XP's 4 tone patch structure. In the FS1R's performance, you can choose up to 4 voices, and you can assign them to different MIDI channels for sequencing, or you can assign a single MIDI channel to all the voices and combine their sounds just like in Korg's Combi mode (but the FS1R offers much more editing power). I guess that Yamaha didn't expect many people to program their own voices using FM; that's why so many preset voices are included. What you can simply do is select some voices and mess up with them in performance. Even if you use a single preset voice in performance, you can make it sound nothing like the original voice. By combining two voices and applying formant filters, I was easily able to come up with several sounds that almost made me cry. You could do the same very easily.

The only complaint that I have is the FS1R has only 128 user performance slots available in its memory. I've already filled 2/3 of it. I wish the FS1R had a SmartMedia slot.

Since the FS1R can do amazing FM, its EPs, organs and basses are top notch. Unbelievably, the FS1R can make some hard-core analogue sounds, too. However, the power of the FS1R lies in pads & totally new sounds. I'm a pad-holic and I have never heard better pads that any thing else (except the Prophet VS). I'm not a fan of synthesized voices, so I don't care if the FS1R can say 4-3-2-1 or whatever. But when you subtly apply a formant sequence to a voice, the result can be absolutely magical. For example, when a formant sequence is applied to a typical synth pad voice, the end result can be neither a typical pad sound nor a human voice. You'll hear some human element in it but it does sound like a pad. Brilliant! Some of FS1R's digital sounds are so shockingly impressive that no human being would be ever able to describe them. You must hear them to believe. BTW, the FS1R has absolutely pristine sound quality.

The built quality of the FS1R seems excellent. I've owned many Yamaha gear and haven't had any problem with them.

I'm downsizing my home studio because having too many synths didn't necessarily boost my creativity. I'm down to RD-600, AN1x, JV-1080, JV-1010, Gigasampler & FS1R (my wife has a JV-90). I've sold everything else including my beloved K5000R because of the FS1R (I never thought anything would be able to make more unique sounds than the K5k). Like I said earlier, whenever I play with the FS1R, it amazes me, moves me & inspires me. It's shame that not may people have found the power of the FS1R; I'm glad I did. If you are even remotely interested in pads and sounds that you've never heard before, buy an FS1R. For $599, it's a bargain and everybody should have one.