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Frame from Yamaha DX7 - the 32 classic factory patches Plays via YouTube's privacy-enhanced embed

Yamaha DX7 - the 32 classic factory patches

SynthMania
Demos
YouTube
Cited on HN 3 times, 2017–2022, never outright recommended score 0
Years with an HN recommendation, 2007–2026

HN uses it as a reference for how DX7 patches and FM synthesis actually sound.

A run through the 32 factory presets of the Yamaha DX7 FM synthesizer, with timestamps for each patch such as brass, strings, pianos, bass and tubular bells. It is a straight audio demo of the sounds.

“This demonstrates the factory patches; the train patch (#31) seems to have several different distinct timbres” (HN, 2022)

3 citations · Demos

3 Hacker News comments

From the HN archive; up to 20 kept per video, favoring different commenters. Recommendations first.

@agumonkey Jun 2017 Cites it
on HN thread The slow death of the electric guitar
Read more
How many people in the electronic genre could play Bach ? I mind no medium, no genre, nothing at all. If you give me something musical, even tapping on bamboo, or an old DX7 (see this demo [this video] , the pianos samples are dense, and the harmonies aren't dull) synth, I'd welcome it. The link you gave are not bad, but they lack soul, feel, weight. It's a common thing in electronic music, sampled drumbeats, tiny vocals, steady and fragile melodic rhythm. ps: other electronic sounds that I found a bit more telling [link] [link] These two are simplistic but have a strong rhythmic backbone and are surprinsgly twisted at times [link] [link] I'd love to keep on but I have to leave, I'll be back in an hour
Demo of DX7 sounds, including its dense piano samples
@elihu Feb 2022 Cites it
on HN thread Yamaha DX7 chip reverse-engineering, part 6: the control registers
Seems like the sort of thing you'd use for a drum kit patch (each key is a different kind of drum), but I suppose that wasn't a standard thing when the DX7 came out and wouldn't be for awhile. This demonstrates the factory patches; the train patch (#31) seems to have several different distinct timbres: [this video]
Demonstrates DX7 factory patches such as the train patch
@moosedev Aug 2022 Cites it
on HN thread Show HN: A piano chord reference tool
Read more
Taking a guess at what you're noticing but might not have a framework/vocabulary for... It sounds like FM synthesis[0] to me (so either an embedded FM software synthesizer or simply replaying samples of FM synthesis), so the timbre is quite unlike a "real" piano or PCM samples of a real piano. Timbre is a kind of "color" of "quality" of a sound - in my head it's similar to how different materials feel different to the touch. A violin and a trumpet can play the same "note" but their sounds have very different timbres. An apple and a ball might both appear red but have different surface textures. The "piano" in the app sounds like the piano patches (presets) on FM-based synthesizers from the 1980s[1], where the designers tried to approximate the timbre of a piano using the limited (but fun!) possibilities of FM, while the transients and harmonics produced by a real acoustic piano are more complex. The pitches and temperament sound OK to me, so I think what you are are hearing is the timbre. That is, the app is playing the "right" notes, but it's as if you're hearing a "different instrument", albeit one that is an early digital approximation of a piano sound. [0] [link] [1] e.g. the Yamaha DX7; here's one of its "piano" sounds for comparison: [this video]
Example of an FM-synth piano sound for timbre comparison

Video list and Hacker News comment labels from HackerTube (prompted by @karpathy), released under ODC-By 1.0, built on the open-index/hacker-news archive. Hacker News data is provided by Y Combinator; comments remain the work of their authors. Video titles, channel names and thumbnails belong to their creators and are shown via YouTube. HackerTube Watch is an unofficial edition. Data export of 2026-10-31.

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