Re: [AH] DX7 Vs...

From Giles Ward
Sent Fri, Sep 28th 2018, 21:43

> It's not necessarily any secret sauce but the DX7 was more flexible than 
> the TX81Z/v50. The DX7 has 6 operators vs the 81Z having only 4 
> operators, although to be fair there were other waveforms besides sine 
> waves on the 4-op synths. Also, the DX7 has more algorithms as well 
> although I don't recall the relative numbers of them for each. Six 
> operators means you can have an algorithm with three stacks of two on a 
> DX7, for example, and so have three sound construction kits in a sense. 
> That's a distinct advantage over the 4-op synths which would only give 
> you the possibility of two 2-operator stacks. Or as another example if 
> you're "faking" additive synthesis you'd have six partials in the 
> "straight line" algorithm on a DX7 vs four on an 81Z. Another advantage 
> of the DX7 is that it had more buttons than the 4-op models. Not 
> necessarily easier to program but at least there were more parameters 
> accessible without menus.

Yes. To me, 6 ops vs 4 ops is like 3 osc vs 2 osc.  It's another layer 
of detuning that thickens things up and adds movement.  16 note poly vs 
8 on most of the 4 ops too.