Yamaha FS1R

Presets are exceptional and practical. There is total control over editing functions including 8 assignable real-time knob Control Change parts. A patch editor allows synthesis to be more visual. The small LCD may be a problem for some. The 4 knobs are also used to edit paramets and select operators

Polyphony is 32 which is great for a FM synthesizer. Total of 16 voiced and unvoiced operators. 88 algorithms. Rackmount. Only minus is that LFO's are not syncable to MIDI. No expansion capabilities internally. Using external editor Formant sequences can be chained together to create sentences, rhythms...

Formant Shaping synthesis allows the creation of rich beautiful organic sounds. Mixed with FM and a decent filter great basses, pads, electric pianos can be made. It is very flexible.... Effects are a bonus to already brilliant sound quality...(4 FX stage; Reverb, Variation, Insert, and EQ). The deep architecture of this synth engine can allow for truly personal sounds to created. The room for experimental sound development are only limited by your engineering skills.

15 years of FM synthesis technology is behind it and the Formant Shaping is well intergrated

It's Yamaha...

Totally unique... A challenge to program with inspiring results. Relatively inexpensive yet offers many sonic possibilities once only available to the most wealthy of studios.

Well, the front panel took me several hours to figure out, but once the learning curve was over I found I could get around it quite quickly. Having the 4 front panel knobs double as data-entry controllers was a nice touch. Advice to FS1R users: GET SOUND DIVER. This is the only editor I've found that really lets you get into the guts of the fs1r. Yamaha has an editor that looks nice, too, but it's Mac-only. The front panel does NOT allow you to edit everything. Yamaha is rumored to have (well, they have a patent on it anyway, so you'd think it's real) a piece of software to convert audio waveforms into formant sequences. That would be incredibly cool.

This is an 8-operator FM synthesizer, which puts it pretty far ahead of the DX&, for instance. The Formant idea is cool, but in practice it just allows for slightly different timbres than the FM sine and square waves do. If I had a spectrum analyzer and a lot of patience it could be pretty powerful, I guess. The FX are good, but with only rvb, chorus, and "variation" for all 4 voices, they get used up quickly.

The sounds are nice, but only a very few of them actually break new ground. There's something like 1500 sounds that were all originally created for the DX7--which means they sound like the 15-year-old worn-out pieces of garbage that they are. I was disappointed to find that despite the inclusion of four expression knobs on the front panel, there really isn't all that much expressiveness in the voices. The formant knob could be labeled "brightness" and the FM knob could be labeled "distortion" and you'd hardly know the difference. No response to aftertouch. One BIG beef: if you adjust one of the expression knobs, that adjustment is applied to the performance, not the patch... so if you change patches, you're stuck with the adjustment you made to the previous sound. There may be advantages to this somewhere, but for me it's a huge pain when I try to preview sounds. I'll hear a patch I like, play with it a bit, then move on... only to find that all of the new patches sound the same because they have the same attack, release, formant, or fm applied to them.
In any case, I find myself reaching for this machine only when I need a bouncy, bright 80-s style synth patch--and then, ironically enough, I more often than not find myself disappointed and reaching for something else instead.

Utterly dependable so far.

I'd just like to take this opportunity to state that Yamaha's manuals suck like a brand-new Hoover. I have never seen better models of obfuscation, and inadequacy in my life. Don't buy a Yamaha unless you already know how to use the equipment, 'cause the manuals sure can't help you.

This beast has lots and lots of potential, but for now anyway I find it hindering, not helping, my creative processes. As with most FM synths, editing the sounds is very nonintuitive (FM just isn't an intuitive process, in my opinion). And heaping the thing with hundreds of patches that all sound vaguely alike doesn't help at all. I should have bought a Nord Modular. Or a Waldorf Pulse. Or hey, 70 lap dances at the Paradise Cafe. Just about anything would have been better than this.

I guess this machine is very hard to program. Ever heard of FM synthesis? Well, the formant section works just like the FM part. Working with presets is very easy on the other hand. And there are lots of them. Evreything else is pretty straightforward. I managed to work with this module in a few hours.

Well, it's totally new. The idea of manipulating the sound at the source might not be new, but you can now program these formant sequences. Don't let the number of voices (over 1500) fool you. This is only source material for use in performances. The only mode in which you can use the DSP's. But don't worry, you have some 512 perfomances to go. Of course, polyphony decreases in this mode, however this machine was not meant to be a midifile player. It's more an addition to your setup. Give it a mayor part in your music and you'll be kicking ass.

This is definately something different than the familiar sample boxes. 'Formant Synthesis' means that you can create bizar human voice simulations and beautiful effect pads that are constantly moving. As a bonus you get the FM part for free. Probably because FS and FM share the same synthesis architecture. The FM part here is takes the much heralded sound to its outer limits. You'll find EP's which sound, as if you hooked up 6 DX7's. The overall sound is powerful, crystal clear, and yet warm analogue. Some of the patches are totally freaked out. If some alien is trying to talk to you... And, of course, as I mentioned earlier a lot of EP sounds, that are hauntingly beautiful.

Like every Yamaha box I have: absolutely bullet proof!

Never dealt with them...

This box is for everyone seeking something different. Don't mistake, this is not for dance freaks only. I don't make dance music. But the weird sounds of this module can be very inspiring. The're useful in every kind of music where you sometimes need the out-of-the-ordinary effects. On the other hand, thanks to FM, you get truckloads of EP's and other FM like sounds, sometimes combined with FS voices to great effect. Besides that, it looks good too!