[Disclaimer: I was involved in DX7 V's development, so I am biased is favor of DX7 V. Still, I hope my comments will be useful to you, and/or anyone else watching this video. Anyhoo...]For a fair comparison you should indeed set DX7 V to full velocity. Or you should actually play on the original DX7's keyboard instead of sending MIDI (hehe), because that is what the DX7 velocity mode actually models.And although you do get full velocity range (i.e. up to 127) when you send MIDI to the original DX7, AFAIK the resolution is only 5-bit, so there are only 31 possible values, not 127. When DX7 V is in full velocity mode it does support 127 different values (good for piano sounds!).Note that if you want to show that there are also improvements in DX7 V over Dexed (IMHO; YMMV), then you should try e.g. the TRAIN preset from the original ROM 1A cartridge. And if I remember correctly there are also differences between DX7 V, Dexed, and the original DX7 when using looooong envelopes.BTW, I enjoyed your previous DX7 V video very much. :-) Keep the good work!
great to hear from a fellow dev, really appreciate the comment and some clarification on this comparison! i've now redone the test using the optimal settings and will release the video tomorrow. suffice to say, i'm very impressed with the accuracy of the emulation, and tomorrow you'll all be able to hear this for yourselves. THANKS for stopping by and helping make this great instrument!! One thing though, you seem to suggest there is a difference between playing midi into the plug and playing a real dx7, well, if I captured the midi-out from the DX7 (which I did) then there is no difference. Finally, enhancement request, make the velocity scaling sticky when changing presets... YOU ROCK!
Thanks for this video! Good to know the disclaimer. I have found dexed GUI to be frustrating and trying to find patches on the internet is also frustrating. Looking forward to trying out the Aturia version!
@TaleTN with all due respects your reply regarding the velocity problem does not make sense. Surely in 'DX7' mode the VST should be reaching full velocity sooner, eg at 100. But it doesn't, it only reaches full velocity in 'full' mode. In short these two modes would appear to work completely opposite to how one would expect.
The duller and muffled tone in the Arturia DX7 V was caused by the velocity mode being set wrongly. Watch this for a more accurate comparison: th-cam.com/video/iHycGwuWcn0/w-d-xo.html
If you pronounce DX7 (Dé-X-7) then i suppose you say Dé-X-ed. You have to practice on that word and you will understand and pronounce it correctly...;)
It certainly sounded "brighter" and more alive to my ears. Something about the EQ of the sounds. It sounds very FM. But admittedly the lows don't go as deep as the original DX7.
I like the dynamics of the DEXed its appears more varied as a solo instrument but could require additional processing in cutting through in a dense compressed mix. Yeah out of the box they sound great, not like a real piano (when recorded) it sounds awafully muddy at the lower mids along with the annoying mechanical sounds (artifacts from - hammer, adjacent string vibrations, wood knocks, string resonance, ect). FM rulez, so clean, brighly polished, agressive high end harmonics, making the analogue synth old N dull, brings back the teen years first time hearing fresh new palate of complex sounds. Back then I was tired of the commodore 64 ‘s (square/saw tooth osc & boring subtractive filters), any sound generated to me sounded like an advance modified beep, not knocking the 64 with its clever ADSR for its decade. The 64 lost its thrills when you known its limitations and when you hear a note it generates, you can picture it in your mind how it was its constructed, same old, same old, boring! It is the FM synthesis that was magic to my ears with so many possibilities. FM open my eyes and my ears. When your hearing this new synth how one note pressed & the sounds texture; its oscillations varied in pitch & spectrum, complex variations in time, that’s magical to me, as if the layers of sound is revealed seperately. To me Yamaha has set a revolution, marked its era, made the 80’s, imagine if it was not invented, what pop music could of sounded like with traditional synth. I guess that’s a TH-cam video title some to create, we can all have a laugh of the contrast. Something new I learnt today, DX7 is mono.
I was really impressed by the Dexed considering it's free and it sounds better then the Arturia on a few patches. Arturia is still the better option because the sound design capability is way more advanced but if had no money or needed to save money I would have no problem using the dexed.
Great video again. I really like the DX7 sound on all 3 instances. But I am afraid it doesn’t do Arturia justice if people don’t watch it till the end. And I guess a lot of people won’t and make a wrong assumption about the sound quality of the DX7 V.
i know what you mean ed, i feel a bit bad about this too. I don't want to do Arturia or their developers a disservice so I have an update to release tomorrow which will put things right. three vids is pretty good publicity for their product :)
DEXED sounds very true to the DX7 every time, while Arturia sounds quite a bit different every time. And ironically DEXED is 100% free. I have a DX7 II FD and use DEXED with it.. Compared with the early DX7, DEXED isn't quite as good as the DX7 II FD. And I prefer the vast control you get with DEXED.
These emulations are great. Thanks for taking the time to do this Woody. I absolutely love my DX7. I love interacting with it, loading the ROM cartridges, hitting that mod wheel and just having it in my synth rack. That's why I'll always prefer hardware. But if you want the sounds, these plugins are a brilliant workaround.
tl;dr - among the many instruments I've owned and lost (i.e. sold in a moment of short-sightedness and stupidity), my ~'86 DX7 ranks near the top. There was an indefinable quality, that goes beyond nostalgia. and my regret is palpable. Don't ever let it go, for you may never forgive yourself. ; _ ;
I was literally screaming to your video, as i could tell right away, that the problem from the muffled Arturia DX7 sounds was because of the velocity range ,i was happy to see you figured it out. Dexed is 0-127 velocity range ,dosn't seem to have that velocity range option like arturia.
Best to starting watching this at 14:20 as the first fourteen minutes make a comparison that have the velocity set incorrectly on the Arturia for a just comparison. The Arturia sounds fantastic after 14:20. This video is still very worth your while. Knowing the velocity needs to be set to full is very important to getting the sounds you desire!
Just skip to 11:50 to get the real comparison. The majority of this video is misleading. For over half the video he's using the Arturia plug-in on a setting that scales the velocity back. When he reveals how to change the setting it's obvious he was aware of the issue the whole time, especially since he admits it was his 2nd time recording it at the start. He just wasted time. At the very beginning of the video he could have pointed out this setting that needed to be changed and done a 10 minute honest comparison. A lot of people are not going to get through the whole 20 minutes and just conclude that the Arturia plug-in sounds muddy and dull.
To be fair, the "muffled" setting is the default setting, which apparently is difficult to find, and to switch off. Nevertheless, this video is very long with a lot of waffle, and issues like this should have been flagged up at the start of the video so we knew he was going to fix it.
Thanks Woody. While some people might have edited the video to show only the final result with the setting explained, you go through the process of figuring it out, which is valuable since not everyone is an expert! Would love to also hear what the new 2017 features can do.
i'm glad you enjoyed my angle. i'll publish a new comparison tomorrow using the corrected settings. however wanted to tell the story, probably some will see the whole exercise as a waste of their time, so glad to hear the contrary from you.
EXCELLENT video Woody ! :-) Not just a demo, not even just a comparison, but a really useful hands-on, real time tweaking and "problem" solving video ! And I'm pleased for you, that it also grabbed the attemtion and input from a Dev too ! First Roland, now Arturia - you should be proud of what you're achieving with your channel Woody ! :-) As you know, I'm a "hardware guy", I just love having real synths and real keyboards to play - when I record, I take them into a studio to do it with a band or as a session. Then if I have to play it live, I take the keyboards out to the gig. So although I do not have ANY soft synths, I really enjoy watching your videos about them - and this is one of your best !! :-)
Woody, well done. Your comparison was very thorough. Thanks for spending all the time to create and edit this video. Almost 35 years old and the DX7 still elicits passionate responses from players the world over.
Dexed is really really close to the DX7. I am very impressed! For the sake of good music in the final mastering the normal consumer of "good music" does not give a hell on how this music was made. It is simply a matter of reaching the heart of your audience or the legs to dance with .... :-) What I want to say is: Even if the modelled virtual instrument is only 97% close to the original, when you make music with it which reaches the heart of the audience your mission is done ... Maybe the "97%" are soundwise better than the "100%" of the original. I don't give a damn on how close the copy is to the original. I choose the virtual instruments on how they enhance my musical creativity. Example: MJUC Compressor: MK1 is Fairchild 670, MK 3 is RETRO, a mordern hardware clone of 176 the tube driven predecessor of the famous 1176. My personal favourite is MK 2, a digital mix of these two which has never been a real hardware in famous studios ... :-)
Still have my DX7 and for many years it was my favorite. Still like it. But the Dexed is rather amazing considering it is free and even if it wasn't free. If you weren't A B ing like this just playing the sounds, I'm betting most people could not tell you which was which. A hair more brightness at times with the Dexed, in some instances kinda' nice, but easily tamed if necessary. Glad you finally found the Arturia fix. I was disappointed at first, but not bad once the correction was made. Good UI. But I'll have to load up my Dexed. Have had it in my collection for some time just haven't plugged it in yet. I will tomorrow! Good review.
I don't have a ton of experience with the DX7 so I can't say that my opinion carries weight, but I think that Arturia did a good job. I love their stuff.
I thought right from the start that if must be the original DX7's 100 max velocity problem, and I was so happy to see you're really on top of it. Well done!
Thanks for the video. This is really a great way to present the comparison. I can understand the appeal of the DX7 V for people that enjoy sound crafting. Arturia has done an amazing job on the UI/UX and the sounds are a almost exact reproduction. For me,DEXED (dee x'd) at the low low price of FREE is almost indistinguishable from the real DX7 and I can't justify the $150 value difference. The nostalgic factory presets are all I need, and for sounds beyond that there are plenty of other VSTs.
Well after getting the entire Arturia V series for just 250 bucks during the last sale, I can confidently say that all instruments provide with that package are 100% well worth your time, money and effort. They work great right out of the box. Just have a look at the settings right below the interface, those are pretty useful. Like we see in case of the DX7, unless you put the velocity mode to full for the presets, you won't actually get the big picture
DX'd is the pronounciation I think ;) .. Dexed does seem to be a bit punchier and brighter than the original. Nice to know the difference in Arturia was just mostly setting related.
To be honest in some instances the difference is hard to tell. The Arturia DX7 sound less powerful without the under the hood little tweak (by the way thanks for that neat trick) But after that it's pretty damn close. The Dexed is a must and sound amazing, plus it's free! But the Arturia GUI is beautiful and really fun to navigate. I do not own an original DX7 but i own both Dexed and Arturia DX7 and the Dexed will have to take a step back ;) Thanks for taking the time to make that video!
This is great - I have been a huge fan of the free DEXED plugin - it's amazing how close it gets to the DX7 sound. I got the Arturia V version as soon as it was released and was far less impressed, even with minor adjustments to get the voicings to sound the same. It's too sterile for my analogue-thirsty ears! This is my consistent critique of Arturia's vintage replicas - the new versions feel artificially tuned for today's digital listener. I get the consumer is different than those who would buy outboard gear, but I question the idea of wanting something old to sound new in a new way. Even with that crit, I am an Arturia fan. I do not own a *real* DX-7 (heavy sigh!) but have depended on listening to old records and paring those against DEXED and Arturia's DX-7V so I'm VERY glad to hear this side-by-side comparison, as
Back to watch and listen to this again. Thanks for the demonstration. Dexed is my favorite and now that the Apple M1 is supported and I can use it on my new Mac Mini with Logic :)
Agreed !!! Dexed sounds FAR better than the others . . it is also the most expressive of the three ! i doubted it all this time, but now i see it is a serious emulator of this beastly 80's synth ! Arturia is the WORST of the 3. The original beast is THE BENCHMARK here so i CANNOT criticize it too much since the OTHERS are emulating it ! LOL ! . . but it (the real beast) definitely sounds WORSE than Dexed !
But after he set it to full velocity arturias suddenly came much closer. A couple of the patches with Dexed sounded further away from the original than DX7 V did. But I may say that for a free plugin emulating a vintage synth it's doing a pretty good job :)
In some patches they sound identical, in others the real DX7 seems to have more 'pop' than the Arturia one. Sounds like Dexed might sound more accurate. Either way these are all incredible, and without hearing them back to back I doubt anyone could tell these apart.
i suppose the dexedness of it because it is apparently an editor for the DX7... but I wouldn't know anything about that as I don't have a real one. haha. I called it dex'd too. I still do.
It's pronounced Dex-Ed it means DX-Education and it's a play on "Sex Ed" meaning Sex Education, most people think it's pronounced Dex'd but actually I just made all that up....I say Dex'd btw
Excellent video Woody. I'm happy somebody is making these comparison videos. After listening to the various versions of the DX7 I feel they are all pretty decent. It's nice to know there's free software out there to recreate those old school DX7 sounds. I too like the original DX7 sounds. It's all about the nostalgia. Take care, Sam.
Very interesting! Thank you for taking the time to even out the volumes between the clips; otherwise these comparisons would have been useless. The Dexed is not a bad choice ...
Jerry Heartlead ... Lol right! I feel like I'm trying to launch a space shuttle. I got the arturia dx7 recently and it's soooo much easier to not know what im doing xD
It is Dex-ed for me. Also, I have a feeling that most people didn't really watch the video till the end. Add a disclaimer for that impatient public if you are in a mood someday.
First of all I have big respect for your great effort. I feel confirmed in my affinity to the FM synthesis and to hardware as well. And I really can´t understand people who say: Nah - I can´t hear this or that sound anymore, it´s cheesy or old school. I think it´s complete nonsense. In fact for example the so called FM-Rhodes became an electric piano in it´s own right. It is definitely a classic sound - as are the clavs-, mallets and brass-sounds. Translated to the world of classical music - which is my main work area - it would mean that noone would like to hear an oboe for example just becaue it is about 500 years old. So - I still own a TX-802 and a FS1R and I love them both. The TX stays at home and the FS is still in my live rack when I play with my trio. But everytime I play the TX I think: damn, what a great synth this is -- and I consider to use it live again. But then I see the size and think it over till the next time when it surprises me. Although the DX7 was such a huge success people underestimate it´s possibilties. There are still thousands of new sounds to be explored. But I guess the success kinda burned it´s image to death. Same goes for the D-50 which still can be an amazing synth.
Interresting comparison, at first I felt that the Arturia sounded very muffled and Dexed closer the sharp sound of the original. But that such a simple setting like the velocity can change that so drastically is mind blowing..... It's a different of night and day.
Excellent detective work on the EP patch, owned a Yamaha DX7IIFD (my first synth) and wish I hadn't sold it, but this was as close as I have yet to hear. I think there are those who still miss the sound and the compositions that made the DX7 famous. I have subscribed and will watch more of your videos. Great work, thank you. TTFN.
The Dexed Chrystal EP really took the cap that time.(07: 37)....A lil bright at times, but really close, close enough to make music with with that nostalgic DX 7 feel. If you make a good track or if you are playing live really well, what would it matter that it was not done on the real thing? In years to come, you won't be able to tell the difference, as the DNA of sound is being seriously blown open and technology is increasing by leaps and bounds in perpetually increasing multiples...cheers to ETs. Peace
Agreed the Presence on the high end lacks on several patches of the Arturia. Just a suggestion, it would enable direct A-B comparison better if you arranged the samples: Arturia - DX7 - Dexed. Putting the original in the middle lets you go directly between either copy and the original... nice comparison though and playing!
The Arturia velocity default is only an "issue" when comparing MIDI playback between an original DX7 and the plugin. If you were actually playing with a master keyboard that had a good coverage of the full velocity range, it would sound fine because you would compensate by feel, just as you did when originally playing on the hardware DX7. Also, the fact that it defaults to this mode helps users (the vast majority I'd imagine) who aren't using a DX7 as their master keyboard to have the same range of expressiveness as they'd have had on the original. Hooking up a different keyboard to the original DX7 via midi can result in sounds that saturate too easily into super-clangy brightness because although the keyboard rarely transmits over 100, the FM engine still responds to velocity levels 101-127.
Thank you so much for doing this video! Before seeing this I was wondering why things seemed to be a bit lackluster with the DX7 V's sound when I was doing my own evaluation. This clears things up for me! BTW I really do love the DX7 V - great interface
Well done (again) Woody! Thanks for the comparison. The DX-7V patches are included in Arturia's update to Analog Lab, but I had been considering buying the update in order to get more control of the patches. Now am thinking DEXED may be the way to go . . Cheers.
i think analog lab is pretty great and with so many patches, no need for deep editing, combine that with Dexed and you have analog and digital 80s covered!
Absolutely, Woody. In my case though - I have V Collection 5... which has all but the four new synth of VC 6. The free Analog Lab upgrade and it's a fantastic upgrade. I was on the fence about the DX-7 v though. Not so much anymore. :) Thanks again for the great review! Keep 'em coming. Joe
I own dx7, a legendary synth, but when I travel I have a portable home studio, and I've been using dexed for a long time, among all the simulations it's the best, there's no doubt, and it's free. the sound is identical, but compared to the original synth is less bright, I can give shine to the harmonics with the satin.
Aah the "oh so familiar" velocity problem.. I had the same problem with my DX11, and I immediately recognized that dull sound :P. Good thing you found the solution for the Arturia plugin! I think the sounds are spot on with the original, if you enable the 'Full' velocity mode. But, and I know I keep saying this, I still recommend getting the Dexed plugin in my opinion.. It's completely free, and it sounds just like the original to me. You can still edit the sounds, import original .sysex presets, and lots more. But it's still cool Arturia finally featured the DX7 in there collection. I can already see loads of comments on this video, saying that the Arturia version sucks, but I think they just haven't watched the video 'till the end :).
Thanks for the video Woody. You made a comment that was kind of a throwaway but it's incredibly relevant to this conversation. Nobody ever puts an instrument into a mix without some kind of post processing. The DX7 was a revolutionary instrument and I owned two of them when they came out. Any of the three solutions presented in this video will provide the authentic vintage sound of the DX7 when embedded in a mix. as for me, the DX7 boards are long gone and I now rely on DEXed. The DEXed librarian is superb and I'm currently working on an overlay for my BCR2000 that will give it a knobby front panel. I respect the work that Arturia has done but I fail to understand why anybody would spend hundreds of dollars on a product that doesn't sound appreciatively different to the free option. As for the VST versus hardware argument all I can say is it really doesn't matter. I've been the gear slut with the hundred thousand dollar studio packed with synths and desk and outboard and I found that contrary to expectation it hinders the creative process because you get too enamored of the equipment. I now use an old PC with a small selection of plugins, Reaper, the BCR2000 and an equally old Axiom Pro keyboard along with a high quality interface. From a finished mix perspective there is no difference.
I think that arturia should have also included a FS1r more, and perhaps modes to emulate those AWM + FM synths that Yamaha did, so that it would feel like much more than the free software.
Hi and many, many thanks for your informative and entertaining video. I have been using Dexed as a plugin in Logic Pro for a week now and am very, very happy. As a blind Logic Pro user, it takes a bit of tweaking and work-arounds because the Dexed plugin window per se is not accessible, but I got it working and can say that the plugin is actually more accessible now than the original DX7 ever was for blind players. I am happy to trade in some minor acoustic differences for accessibility. :) In the mix of a song they probably won't matter as much anyway, hopefully. :)
Super loving these comparison vids! I wondered whether to upgrade my Arturia collection but now I’m intrigued by Dexed and playing around with that for now.
Excellente comparaison ! Et c'est vrai que l'instrument d'Arturia a des fonctionnalités supplémentaires qui valent vraiment le détour. EXcellent comparison ! It's true that Arturia's instrument as extra features which are really worthwhile. :)
I m user of Dexed vst ...free vst and great sounding ....I had dx9, dx7II and i prefer dexed vst, the last week i had one dx7 I and was very similar than dexed. Amazig work as usual! thanks a lot Woody
Fantastic! Tottaly free VSTi DEXED is MORE close to the original DX7 synth without additional settings/programming! Arturia`s VSTi have a really nice GUI, but sounds often different than the original DX7 or even DEXED VSTi. So, it need some of sound programming. *sound control: Sennheiser HD598+FiiO E17 Alpen; E-mu 1212M PCI + Yamaha MSP7 Studio.
Arturia sounds ok once you sort out velocity, but it sure is sluggish and unstable compared to Dexed, which IMHO sounds a little closer to the DX7. In truth though, none of the emulations sound exactly right. The 12-bit audio, unique DAC and warmth of the original synth is something most people might not miss but to my ears are part of what made the DX7 such a smashing success. The keyboard/action on the DX7 is also worth its weight in gold.
Incredibly helpful, thank you! Dexed sounds brighter to me and a tiny bit grainy on some of the brightest sounds, but they sounded identical to my ear on most of the warmer sounds and pads.
if you want a bare-bones dx7 clone then yeah, you still can't go wrong with dexed. i've been using it for a couple of years with success. for people buying the v-collection, then I would choose to use the arturia, since it's included and has a better ui.
I Disagree in some part. Dexed is a great emulation, but its definetly not "almost" identical to the original. in many patches its clearly more bright or sharp sounding, and Arturia is even with the keyboard scaling at full still warmer or duller sounding than the original - in some patches. That said for being absolutely free, can't really beat Dexed. and if you just want a plain DX7 emu with not too many extra stuff added, to play your old DX7 patches its a hit. And since I don't have my old TX802 anymore to compare I really wouldn't bother about knowing that its a bit sharper sounding than an old DX7. Arturia DX7 V is more than just a DX7 clone as it has many extra functions than the original and should be a hit to those that actually want to use hours in exploring the posibilities in these functions. I used to be fairly good to work with the DX7 back in the days, but personly I really can't be bothered today as if I need a realistic acoustic instrument I'd not fiddle with FM synthesis for hours with a DX7 emu as we did back in the 80'es to try to get it just a tad better sounding.
$99 is worth the extra waveforms (which makes it closer to an SY77 or SY99 than a DX7) and dynamic envelopes....plus feedback on every operator and filter?? Yea, this proves it can do a stock DX7 (with the factory patches) and much much more....which means it does much more than Dexed. IMO, very generous introductory price @ $99
I'm a fan of the DX7! I hadn't come to understand keyboards until just a few years ago, and I'm still learning, but, in my opinion, I feel that the DX7 was one of the groundbreaking instruments of the '80s. Many popular songs were created using that instrument! Anyway, your comparison here is really great. I think you have a tutorial on loading dexed, right? I'll have to watch it again...I had difficulty opening the dexed file. Like I said, I'm new to all this, especially the virtual computer stuff...I guess I need a VST coach. (Ha!) BTW, thanks for all the handy info in the video here. Nice keyboard sounds!
just sounds like the filter is set a bit lower on the Arturia than the dexed, but the dexed seems to do some sort of digital clipping or aliasing that does make it sound harsher at times.
Arturia are certainly masters of emulating old synths. I purchased the CMI V Fairlight. Very impressive. They love adding features, not just for the sake of it though, it's all very useful and adds power so far beyond the original while maintaining the original sound available to you.
Arturia is hit or miss. A LOT of their earlier work does not resemble what they were emulating. I'd call it a very approximate attempt. Their more recent work is better, but I don't understand how people can't hear that most of their emulations are very very poor. If someone is going to invest so much marketing it would be nice if they were also technically better than their competitors.
Dexed 0.9.4 released March 2018. EG timings fixed which improves the DX7 emulation out of sight. The DX7 had a ~14 khz filter to fix the DAC noise, Dexed still need a 15k LP filter after it in MKI mode, not required in 24 bit mode.
Even though this info is to complicated for me I enjoyed it, and still have my DX7, and now I have the TYROS5 at church been using Yamaha organ and keyboards since 1979. Tanx Woody God bless.
Great comparison Woody! I laughed out loud when you said "most people probably don't really want to hear those anymore, apart from me". LOL! Apart from me too Woody! Love 1983 sounds.... Thanks man.
Well done Woody! This kind of comparison is extremely scientific and objective. It would be very interesting though to see how each synth "sits" in a busy mix. IMHO the original DX7 with all its flows, the noise and the alianzing would be much more distinct. That's what i have noticed using hardware and software synths. Hardware takes a bigger place in a whole mix...
The Yamaha sounded brighter in almost all instances. And I agree, the Arturia sounded soft and somewhat muffled. Even after the change, the attack of the Arturia was slow. And the DEXED seemed to get some of the stuff wrong completely. Injecting sound where the original had none.
I used Dexed more as a tool for programming/sending patches to my DX7. The Arturia (and FM8) to me are just great ways of having that DX flavor but in a more modern way. If I'm feeling particularly lazy and don't feel like connecting my DX7 in the studio, then I'll use Dexed if I want the closest possible emulation. All good stuff!
Changing the settings on the Arturia is exactly what made it sound precisely like the DX. Maybe you could make Dexed a little less bright to match the original as well. At the end, they all sound very, very familiar to me. Btw I really think it's pronounced dee-exed, like the past tense of DX, as if it is a verb. I Dexed U, whatever that means. 😊
I have a rack of 80's/90's Roland ROMplers because I dig those sounds from those days. That said, I have 2 different MIDI controller keyboards in the rig and each has a different velocity setting just for the reasons that you talked about in your review of the Arturia DX7 V. Sometimes I want punchy, bright sounds so I have one with the velocity jacked to max (127). Other times I want more subtle sounds so I have another with a tamer velocity setting. As for your demo, excellent job!
Thank you for this comparison! That was exactly what I was looking for after I heard of the Arturia DX7. Edit: Well yes, I should have immediately watched the rest of the video too. Please ignore that part of my comment. ---> [[But somehow it seems to me that it does not actually a good job in resembling the sounds - especially on lower notes]]
For the Arturia - I think other than the velocity range being different and needing to be tweaked (obviously addressed in the video!) causing the Arturia to be more muffled than it would be, the HW DX7 is actually ever-so-slightly SHARP (overall higher in frequency/pitch) when compared to the "perfect-tuned" 440Hz VSTs :) To me it's an obvious difference that stood out right away as pitch related issues are reallllly magnified for me (blessing and a curse). The slight drop in overall pitch is something that not everyone will consciously notice, but it's also at a significant amount of drop to where I'd imagine jussst about everybody will "feel" the difference but maybe not be able to put the finger on it. It's secondary to the obviously more muffled sound (due to a setting in the VST) but still a significant subconsciously processed detail. Side-note: I actually like the feeling of it better when jusst a bit sharp! Can be a good production technique to do this for when the last chorus comes in (or every chorus..? :D), adds a little subconscious "energy" or "excitement" (or whatever!) boost for sure. This is definitely not something to overdo though! And it might not sound so great if other pitch/chord related elements aren't pitched up the same amount of cents (sometimes just doing it to one element can be cool, it can bring attention to that element without boosting volume/other processing etc). This processed is best done by global tuning in the synth, or manually tuning guitar, etc. (if you want to be completely free of artifacts) though there are obviously many ways to pitch any element up or down, especially with the technology of our times today!
great comment, re tuning, if i recall the dx7 doesn't show the tuning on the display, you just move the slider up and down whilst in the tuning function until it sounds right. quite possible I didn't nail or it, or even left it in the mode and nudged the slider. so yeah, good call, and thanks for the sharp tuning trick!
I needed to hear Eye of the Tiger on a DX7 pipe organ:) Mission accomplished! free DEXED seems to be the best emulation out there. If only the interface could be scalable...
The original sounds so sweet! The others are somewhat harsh probably due to absence of any analog path unlike the original DX7. Some things are just not emulatable, like the analog smoothing
Dexed has a little more definition than even the original. I think it is superior soundwise as someone else mentioned you can use other plugins to adjust the amount of analog warmth. It is hard to add back detail to the sound if it's not already there.
[Disclaimer: I was involved in DX7 V's development, so I am biased is favor of DX7 V. Still, I hope my comments will be useful to you, and/or anyone else watching this video. Anyhoo...]For a fair comparison you should indeed set DX7 V to full velocity. Or you should actually play on the original DX7's keyboard instead of sending MIDI (hehe), because that is what the DX7 velocity mode actually models.And although you do get full velocity range (i.e. up to 127) when you send MIDI to the original DX7, AFAIK the resolution is only 5-bit, so there are only 31 possible values, not 127. When DX7 V is in full velocity mode it does support 127 different values (good for piano sounds!).Note that if you want to show that there are also improvements in DX7 V over Dexed (IMHO; YMMV), then you should try e.g. the TRAIN preset from the original ROM 1A cartridge. And if I remember correctly there are also differences between DX7 V, Dexed, and the original DX7 when using looooong envelopes.BTW, I enjoyed your previous DX7 V video very much. :-) Keep the good work!
great to hear from a fellow dev, really appreciate the comment and some clarification on this comparison! i've now redone the test using the optimal settings and will release the video tomorrow. suffice to say, i'm very impressed with the accuracy of the emulation, and tomorrow you'll all be able to hear this for yourselves. THANKS for stopping by and helping make this great instrument!! One thing though, you seem to suggest there is a difference between playing midi into the plug and playing a real dx7, well, if I captured the midi-out from the DX7 (which I did) then there is no difference. Finally, enhancement request, make the velocity scaling sticky when changing presets... YOU ROCK!
Ah yeah, that's smart! The difference should be very minor if any then.
Thanks for this video! Good to know the disclaimer. I have found dexed GUI to be frustrating and trying to find patches on the internet is also frustrating. Looking forward to trying out the Aturia version!
Do you know Jason in Arturia?
@TaleTN with all due respects your reply regarding the velocity problem does not make sense. Surely in 'DX7' mode the VST should be reaching full velocity sooner, eg at 100. But it doesn't, it only reaches full velocity in 'full' mode. In short these two modes would appear to work completely opposite to how one would expect.
The Dexed, mostly sounded brighter than the original, and the DX&v sounded duller. Great comparison video.
The duller and muffled tone in the Arturia DX7 V was caused by the velocity mode being set wrongly. Watch this for a more accurate comparison: th-cam.com/video/iHycGwuWcn0/w-d-xo.html
I think it is pronounced "Dexed" not "Dexed".
But then again I say "Moog".
I think it's actually "Dexed"
If you pronounce DX7 (Dé-X-7) then i suppose you say Dé-X-ed. You have to practice on that word and you will understand and pronounce it correctly...;)
TheDukeofJuke lol you slightly kid? You’re telling me, the person’s whose last name is moog can’t pronounce his own name? 😂
It's Dee X Ed - as in DX Editor
@@chintimin No you're both wrong, it's pronounced 'Dexed'
The DEXED sounds the best to my ear.
It certainly sounded "brighter" and more alive to my ears. Something about the EQ of the sounds. It sounds very FM. But admittedly the lows don't go as deep as the original DX7.
@@CandyAppleBlue I think it's because it has different velocity scaling
I like the dynamics of the DEXed its appears more varied as a solo instrument but could require additional processing in cutting through in a dense compressed mix. Yeah out of the box they sound great, not like a real piano (when recorded) it sounds awafully muddy at the lower mids along with the annoying mechanical sounds (artifacts from - hammer, adjacent string vibrations, wood knocks, string resonance, ect). FM rulez, so clean, brighly polished, agressive high end harmonics, making the analogue synth old N dull, brings back the teen years first time hearing fresh new palate of complex sounds. Back then I was tired of the commodore 64 ‘s (square/saw tooth osc & boring subtractive filters), any sound generated to me sounded like an advance modified beep, not knocking the 64 with its clever ADSR for its decade. The 64 lost its thrills when you known its limitations and when you hear a note it generates, you can picture it in your mind how it was its constructed, same old, same old, boring! It is the FM synthesis that was magic to my ears with so many possibilities. FM open my eyes and my ears. When your hearing this new synth how one note pressed & the sounds texture; its oscillations varied in pitch & spectrum, complex variations in time, that’s magical to me, as if the layers of sound is revealed seperately. To me Yamaha has set a revolution, marked its era, made the 80’s, imagine if it was not invented, what pop music could of sounded like with traditional synth. I guess that’s a TH-cam video title some to create, we can all have a laugh of the contrast.
Something new I learnt today, DX7 is mono.
I was really impressed by the Dexed considering it's free and it sounds better then the Arturia on a few patches. Arturia is still the better option because the sound design capability is way more advanced but if had no money or needed to save money I would have no problem using the dexed.
I just love how genuinely happy and Nerdy you get over this stuff. Keep doing what you are doing man!
Great video again. I really like the DX7 sound on all 3 instances. But I am afraid it doesn’t do Arturia justice if people don’t watch it till the end. And I guess a lot of people won’t and make a wrong assumption about the sound quality of the DX7 V.
i know what you mean ed, i feel a bit bad about this too. I don't want to do Arturia or their developers a disservice so I have an update to release tomorrow which will put things right. three vids is pretty good publicity for their product :)
i dont care which one sounds better they all sound great. i just came to hear your playing haha
and i dont care what sugar dunkin donuts uses for their donut glaze, i just like to eat the donuts!
DEXED sounds very true to the DX7 every time, while Arturia sounds quite a bit different every time. And ironically DEXED is 100% free. I have a DX7 II FD and use DEXED with it.. Compared with the early DX7, DEXED isn't quite as good as the DX7 II FD. And I prefer the vast control you get with DEXED.
The arturia is great for modulations -- It may not be DX7 but its a dream FM synth
The problem with the Arturia is a wrong setting, which he fixes halfway through the video. After that, it sounds identical.
@@Scripture-Man I have the V Collection, but I'll still take my real DX7 over this.
In dexed you can choose with one DX7 model you want Simulate (Mark 1 or 16 bit FD)
These emulations are great. Thanks for taking the time to do this Woody.
I absolutely love my DX7. I love interacting with it, loading the ROM cartridges, hitting that mod wheel and just having it in my synth rack. That's why I'll always prefer hardware.
But if you want the sounds, these plugins are a brilliant workaround.
ah yes, i remember now how much I enjoyed the real thing. more than any other vintage synth that I revisited last year.
tl;dr - among the many instruments I've owned and lost (i.e. sold in a moment of short-sightedness and stupidity), my ~'86 DX7 ranks near the top. There was an indefinable quality, that goes beyond nostalgia. and my regret is palpable. Don't ever let it go, for you may never forgive yourself. ; _ ;
@@SSeanMan embrace brevity
I was literally screaming to your video, as i could tell right away, that the problem from the muffled Arturia DX7 sounds was because of the velocity range ,i was happy to see you figured it out. Dexed is 0-127 velocity range ,dosn't seem to have that velocity range option like arturia.
haha, yeah i understand your frustration. thanks for following along with me on the journey.
I was about to comment the same thing, I was getting really mad hahah. I'm glad I watched the whole thing!
Aurturia should make the velocity range like the original BY DEFAULT if its supposed to be an EMULATION.
Best to starting watching this at 14:20 as the first fourteen minutes make a comparison that have the velocity set incorrectly on the Arturia for a just comparison. The Arturia sounds fantastic after 14:20. This video is still very worth your while. Knowing the velocity needs to be set to full is very important to getting the sounds you desire!
Just skip to 11:50 to get the real comparison. The majority of this video is misleading. For over half the video he's using the Arturia plug-in on a setting that scales the velocity back. When he reveals how to change the setting it's obvious he was aware of the issue the whole time, especially since he admits it was his 2nd time recording it at the start. He just wasted time. At the very beginning of the video he could have pointed out this setting that needed to be changed and done a 10 minute honest comparison. A lot of people are not going to get through the whole 20 minutes and just conclude that the Arturia plug-in sounds muddy and dull.
I have to agree entirely.
Must admit again I thought the same. However, this channel is not crap and I am not unsubscribing.
He was demonstrating a common problem users might have and how to solve it.
Yup
To be fair, the "muffled" setting is the default setting, which apparently is difficult to find, and to switch off. Nevertheless, this video is very long with a lot of waffle, and issues like this should have been flagged up at the start of the video so we knew he was going to fix it.
Thanks Woody. While some people might have edited the video to show only the final result with the setting explained, you go through the process of figuring it out, which is valuable since not everyone is an expert! Would love to also hear what the new 2017 features can do.
i'm glad you enjoyed my angle. i'll publish a new comparison tomorrow using the corrected settings. however wanted to tell the story, probably some will see the whole exercise as a waste of their time, so glad to hear the contrary from you.
EXCELLENT video Woody ! :-) Not just a demo, not even just a comparison, but a really useful hands-on, real time tweaking and "problem" solving video ! And I'm pleased for you, that it also grabbed the attemtion and input from a Dev too ! First Roland, now Arturia - you should be proud of what you're achieving with your channel Woody ! :-)
As you know, I'm a "hardware guy", I just love having real synths and real keyboards to play - when I record, I take them into a studio to do it with a band or as a session. Then if I have to play it live, I take the keyboards out to the gig. So although I do not have ANY soft synths, I really enjoy watching your videos about them - and this is one of your best !! :-)
Woody, well done. Your comparison was very thorough. Thanks for spending all the time to create and edit this video. Almost 35 years old and the DX7 still elicits passionate responses from players the world over.
Dexed is really really close to the DX7. I am very impressed! For the sake of good music in the final mastering the normal consumer of "good music" does not give a hell on how this music was made. It is simply a matter of reaching the heart of your audience or the legs to dance with .... :-)
What I want to say is: Even if the modelled virtual instrument is only 97% close to the original, when you make music with it which reaches the heart of the audience your mission is done ...
Maybe the "97%" are soundwise better than the "100%" of the original. I don't give a damn on how close the copy is to the original. I choose the virtual instruments on how they enhance my musical creativity. Example: MJUC Compressor: MK1 is Fairchild 670, MK 3 is RETRO, a mordern hardware clone of 176 the tube driven predecessor of the famous 1176. My personal favourite is MK 2, a digital mix of these two which has never been a real hardware in famous studios ... :-)
Free Dexed sounds just as good as the commercial plug in! Quality test as always from Woody, thank you
I watch this videos whenever my GAS wants a dx7 mk1 or 2. The Arturia is so powerful and yet so much simpler to program 🤩👌
Still have my DX7 and for many years it was my favorite. Still like it. But the Dexed is rather amazing considering it is free and even if it wasn't free. If you weren't A B ing like this just playing the sounds, I'm betting most people could not tell you which was which. A hair more brightness at times with the Dexed, in some instances kinda' nice, but easily tamed if necessary. Glad you finally found the Arturia fix. I was disappointed at first, but not bad once the correction was made. Good UI. But I'll have to load up my Dexed. Have had it in my collection for some time just haven't plugged it in yet. I will tomorrow! Good review.
I don't have a ton of experience with the DX7 so I can't say that my opinion carries weight, but I think that Arturia did a good job. I love their stuff.
I thought right from the start that if must be the original DX7's 100 max velocity problem, and I was so happy to see you're really on top of it. Well done!
Exactly the video I wanted to see ! Thanks
Thanks for the video. This is really a great way to present the comparison. I can understand the appeal of the DX7 V for people that enjoy sound crafting. Arturia has done an amazing job on the UI/UX and the sounds are a almost exact reproduction. For me,DEXED (dee x'd) at the low low price of FREE is almost indistinguishable from the real DX7 and I can't justify the $150 value difference. The nostalgic factory presets are all I need, and for sounds beyond that there are plenty of other VSTs.
Must say the V version, sounds good and very closed to the original. Very good job Woody ! :-)
To be honest Dexed, sounds good too and some presets, have their own character
5:49 "HE CAME FROM"
PLEASE do a full on dx7 cover of what a fool believes that sounded bad ass!
Well after getting the entire Arturia V series for just 250 bucks during the last sale, I can confidently say that all instruments provide with that package are 100% well worth your time, money and effort. They work great right out of the box. Just have a look at the settings right below the interface, those are pretty useful. Like we see in case of the DX7, unless you put the velocity mode to full for the presets, you won't actually get the big picture
DX'd is the pronounciation I think ;) .. Dexed does seem to be a bit punchier and brighter than the original. Nice to know the difference in Arturia was just mostly setting related.
To be honest in some instances the difference is hard to tell. The Arturia DX7 sound less powerful without the under the hood little tweak (by the way thanks for that neat trick)
But after that it's pretty damn close.
The Dexed is a must and sound amazing, plus it's free! But the Arturia GUI is beautiful and really fun to navigate. I do not own an original DX7 but i own both Dexed and Arturia DX7 and the Dexed will have to take a step back ;) Thanks for taking the time to make that video!
This is great - I have been a huge fan of the free DEXED plugin - it's amazing how close it gets to the DX7 sound. I got the Arturia V version as soon as it was released and was far less impressed, even with minor adjustments to get the voicings to sound the same. It's too sterile for my analogue-thirsty ears!
This is my consistent critique of Arturia's vintage replicas - the new versions feel artificially tuned for today's digital listener. I get the consumer is different than those who would buy outboard gear, but I question the idea of wanting something old to sound new in a new way. Even with that crit, I am an Arturia fan.
I do not own a *real* DX-7 (heavy sigh!) but have depended on listening to old records and paring those against DEXED and Arturia's DX-7V so I'm VERY glad to hear this side-by-side comparison, as
Back to watch and listen to this again. Thanks for the demonstration. Dexed is my favorite and now that the Apple M1 is supported and I can use it on my new Mac Mini with Logic :)
Dexed sounds way more better than Arturia DX7. Interesting video!
Agreed !!! Dexed sounds FAR better than the others . . it is also the most expressive of the three ! i doubted it all this time, but now i see it is a serious emulator of this beastly 80's synth ! Arturia is the WORST of the 3. The original beast is THE BENCHMARK here so i CANNOT criticize it too much since the OTHERS are emulating it ! LOL ! . . but it (the real beast) definitely sounds WORSE than Dexed !
pure bs
But after he set it to full velocity arturias suddenly came much closer. A couple of the patches with Dexed sounded further away from the original than DX7 V did. But I may say that for a free plugin emulating a vintage synth it's doing a pretty good job :)
Because it's louder, you can clearly see the size difference in the wave forms.
Luis Houses i agreee its brighter
In some patches they sound identical, in others the real DX7 seems to have more 'pop' than the Arturia one. Sounds like Dexed might sound more accurate. Either way these are all incredible, and without hearing them back to back I doubt anyone could tell these apart.
I've always called it DEX'D ;)
I would have thought it was "De-eX'd" as in "You've been DX'ed..."
indeed, like dee-x'd, that's the other variation i was trying to think of.
I say dex'd as well, dex'ed just sounds like something Shakespeare would write if he needed one more syllable
i suppose the dexedness of it because it is apparently an editor for the DX7... but I wouldn't know anything about that as I don't have a real one. haha. I called it dex'd too. I still do.
It's pronounced Dex-Ed it means DX-Education and it's a play on "Sex Ed" meaning Sex Education, most people think it's pronounced Dex'd but actually I just made all that up....I say Dex'd btw
Thanks Woody, great video and I’m so glad you highlighted the full velocity mode ‘issue’ on the DX7 V. I never would’ve sussed that!
Excellent video Woody. I'm happy somebody is making these comparison videos. After listening to the various versions of the DX7 I feel they are all pretty decent. It's nice to know there's free software out there to recreate those old school DX7 sounds. I too like the original DX7 sounds. It's all about the nostalgia. Take care, Sam.
Very interesting! Thank you for taking the time to even out the volumes between the clips; otherwise these comparisons would have been useless. The Dexed is not a bad choice ...
I have the Dexed in my plugin library and I have to say, that it's good for using presets, but I have completely no idea, how to program sounds on it.
Jerry Heartlead ... Lol right! I feel like I'm trying to launch a space shuttle. I got the arturia dx7 recently and it's soooo much easier to not know what im doing xD
its because you have to learn everything about the FM synthesis, and is by far the hardest one of all.
For the price of free Dexed is pretty great.
It is Dex-ed for me.
Also, I have a feeling that most people didn't really watch the video till the end. Add a disclaimer for that impatient public if you are in a mood someday.
good point, it'll be covered in a separate video.
First of all I have big respect for your great effort. I feel confirmed in my affinity to the FM synthesis and to hardware as well. And I really can´t understand people who say: Nah - I can´t hear this or that sound anymore, it´s cheesy or old school. I think it´s complete nonsense. In fact for example the so called FM-Rhodes became an electric piano in it´s own right. It is definitely a classic sound - as are the clavs-, mallets and brass-sounds. Translated to the world of classical music - which is my main work area - it would mean that noone would like to hear an oboe for example just becaue it is about 500 years old.
So - I still own a TX-802 and a FS1R and I love them both. The TX stays at home and the FS is still in my live rack when I play with my trio. But everytime I play the TX I think: damn, what a great synth this is -- and I consider to use it live again. But then I see the size and think it over till the next time when it surprises me.
Although the DX7 was such a huge success people underestimate it´s possibilties. There are still thousands of new sounds to be explored. But I guess the success kinda burned it´s image to death. Same goes for the D-50 which still can be an amazing synth.
Interresting comparison, at first I felt that the Arturia sounded very muffled and Dexed closer the sharp sound of the original. But that such a simple setting like the velocity can change that so drastically is mind blowing..... It's a different of night and day.
The Arturia emulation sounds like if it's played under a layer of mud.
Orio Menoni yeah, it’s a wrong setting. He fixes it at 14:19
@@TheFatRat Thanks, I was a little dispointed before you pointed out...I really like the outlook of Arturia one.
@@TheFatRat ooooh that makes sense. My first impression was that there was a velocity issue. He should pin your comment haha
This
Burned
Excellent detective work on the EP patch, owned a Yamaha DX7IIFD (my first synth) and wish I hadn't sold it, but this was as close as I have yet to hear. I think there are those who still miss the sound and the compositions that made the DX7 famous. I have subscribed and will watch more of your videos. Great work, thank you. TTFN.
The Dexed Chrystal EP really took the cap that time.(07: 37)....A lil bright at times, but really close, close enough to make music with with that nostalgic DX 7 feel. If you make a good track or if you are playing live really well, what would it matter that it was not done on the real thing? In years to come, you won't be able to tell the difference, as the DNA of sound is being seriously blown open and technology is increasing by leaps and bounds in perpetually increasing multiples...cheers to ETs. Peace
Oh wow, the velocity range tip for the DX7 V is crazy. tyty
Agreed the Presence on the high end lacks on several patches of the Arturia.
Just a suggestion, it would enable direct A-B comparison better if you arranged the samples: Arturia - DX7 - Dexed. Putting the original in the middle lets you go directly between either copy and the original... nice comparison though and playing!
Woody Piano Shack great video! Just bought the Arturia plug-ins but this shows how the original synths compare. Thanks so much.
The Arturia velocity default is only an "issue" when comparing MIDI playback between an original DX7 and the plugin. If you were actually playing with a master keyboard that had a good coverage of the full velocity range, it would sound fine because you would compensate by feel, just as you did when originally playing on the hardware DX7. Also, the fact that it defaults to this mode helps users (the vast majority I'd imagine) who aren't using a DX7 as their master keyboard to have the same range of expressiveness as they'd have had on the original. Hooking up a different keyboard to the original DX7 via midi can result in sounds that saturate too easily into super-clangy brightness because although the keyboard rarely transmits over 100, the FM engine still responds to velocity levels 101-127.
it's doing my head in to figure out how the scaling works, but I think you got it figured, thanks!
no excuses....arturia fucked up
I have dexed, and it sounds SOOO good. I loved that you included it here. :D
Thank you so much for doing this video! Before seeing this I was wondering why things seemed to be a bit lackluster with the DX7 V's sound when I was doing my own evaluation. This clears things up for me! BTW I really do love the DX7 V - great interface
Personally i use Dexed vst ...very good and free ....good work Woody as usual 😉🎹
Well done (again) Woody! Thanks for the comparison. The DX-7V patches are included in Arturia's update to Analog Lab, but I had been considering buying the update in order to get more control of the patches. Now am thinking DEXED may be the way to go . . Cheers.
i think analog lab is pretty great and with so many patches, no need for deep editing, combine that with Dexed and you have analog and digital 80s covered!
Absolutely, Woody. In my case though - I have V Collection 5... which has all but the four new synth of VC 6. The free Analog Lab upgrade and it's a fantastic upgrade. I was on the fence about the DX-7 v though. Not so much anymore. :) Thanks again for the great review! Keep 'em coming.
Joe
I own dx7, a legendary synth, but when I travel I have a portable home studio, and I've been using dexed for a long time, among all the simulations it's the best, there's no doubt, and it's free. the sound is identical, but compared to the original synth is less bright, I can give shine to the harmonics with the satin.
but you can change the sound of the presets much easier in Dexed………….to make the sound brighter you might try the Tal Chorus
DEXED is the winner, because of the Sysex capabilities! I hope I can donate their works :)
Aah the "oh so familiar" velocity problem.. I had the same problem with my DX11, and I immediately recognized that dull sound :P. Good thing you found the solution for the Arturia plugin!
I think the sounds are spot on with the original, if you enable the 'Full' velocity mode. But, and I know I keep saying this, I still recommend getting the Dexed plugin in my opinion.. It's completely free, and it sounds just like the original to me. You can still edit the sounds, import original .sysex presets, and lots more.
But it's still cool Arturia finally featured the DX7 in there collection. I can already see loads of comments on this video, saying that the Arturia version sucks, but I think they just haven't watched the video 'till the end :).
yeah, people too quick to fire off a comment!
Thanks for the video Woody. You made a comment that was kind of a throwaway but it's incredibly relevant to this conversation. Nobody ever puts an instrument into a mix without some kind of post processing. The DX7 was a revolutionary instrument and I owned two of them when they came out. Any of the three solutions presented in this video will provide the authentic vintage sound of the DX7 when embedded in a mix. as for me, the DX7 boards are long gone and I now rely on DEXed. The DEXed librarian is superb and I'm currently working on an overlay for my BCR2000 that will give it a knobby front panel. I respect the work that Arturia has done but I fail to understand why anybody would spend hundreds of dollars on a product that doesn't sound appreciatively different to the free option. As for the VST versus hardware argument all I can say is it really doesn't matter. I've been the gear slut with the hundred thousand dollar studio packed with synths and desk and outboard and I found that contrary to expectation it hinders the creative process because you get too enamored of the equipment. I now use an old PC with a small selection of plugins, Reaper, the BCR2000 and an equally old Axiom Pro keyboard along with a high quality interface. From a finished mix perspective there is no difference.
YES, YES, YES, what Paul said ^^^^^^
I think that arturia should have also included a FS1r more, and perhaps modes to emulate those AWM + FM synths that Yamaha did, so that it would feel like much more than the free software.
Hi and many, many thanks for your informative and entertaining video. I have been using Dexed as a plugin in Logic Pro for a week now and am very, very happy. As a blind Logic Pro user, it takes a bit of tweaking and work-arounds because the Dexed plugin window per se is not accessible, but I got it working and can say that the plugin is actually more accessible now than the original DX7 ever was for blind players. I am happy to trade in some minor acoustic differences for accessibility. :) In the mix of a song they probably won't matter as much anyway, hopefully. :)
i agree with your conclusion there, glad to hear that you got to grips with logic and dexed, i'm impressed, respect!
Awesome video. Love DX7 sounds and I'm glad technology has made it immortal with this computer programs
Wow! I just bought a MKII 61 I appreciate you doing this video! It sounds identical to the DX7 keyboard to me. Thanks!!
Very well-organized presentation. Useful musical examples. Good detective work, beneficial for us who are lacking in patience!
As a weekend stage warrior, I'm happy enough with the Dexed plugin. You can't beat free when "close enough" is that close.
The Arturia DX 7 is really nice, the only thing I would do personally is EQ some more highs in. Other than that, it's a great synth!
Super loving these comparison vids! I wondered whether to upgrade my Arturia collection but now I’m intrigued by Dexed and playing around with that for now.
Excellente comparaison ! Et c'est vrai que l'instrument d'Arturia a des fonctionnalités supplémentaires qui valent vraiment le détour. EXcellent comparison ! It's true that Arturia's instrument as extra features which are really worthwhile. :)
I m user of Dexed vst ...free vst and great sounding ....I had dx9, dx7II and i prefer dexed vst, the last week i had one dx7 I and was very similar than dexed. Amazig work as usual! thanks a lot Woody
Dude, you are doing a great job. Thanks for this nice channel🎹🌺
Always a joy to watch your vids Woody.
Nice demo comparison woody, really closing the gap with analogue
Another winner video from Woody. Your great mate. thanks for the work. I really like your videos.
Fantastic! Tottaly free VSTi DEXED is MORE close to the original DX7 synth without additional settings/programming!
Arturia`s VSTi have a really nice GUI, but sounds often different than the original DX7 or even DEXED VSTi. So, it need some of sound programming.
*sound control: Sennheiser HD598+FiiO E17 Alpen; E-mu 1212M PCI + Yamaha MSP7 Studio.
Arturia sounds ok once you sort out velocity, but it sure is sluggish and unstable compared to Dexed, which IMHO sounds a little closer to the DX7. In truth though, none of the emulations sound exactly right. The 12-bit audio, unique DAC and warmth of the original synth is something most people might not miss but to my ears are part of what made the DX7 such a smashing success. The keyboard/action on the DX7 is also worth its weight in gold.
Incredibly helpful, thank you! Dexed sounds brighter to me and a tiny bit grainy on some of the brightest sounds, but they sounded identical to my ear on most of the warmer sounds and pads.
The DeExd is almost identical. Not sure I would buy the arturia version when the free is so close.
I do agree with you !
if you want a bare-bones dx7 clone then yeah, you still can't go wrong with dexed. i've been using it for a couple of years with success. for people buying the v-collection, then I would choose to use the arturia, since it's included and has a better ui.
I Disagree in some part. Dexed is a great emulation, but its definetly not "almost" identical to the original. in many patches its clearly more bright or sharp sounding, and Arturia is even with the keyboard scaling at full still warmer or duller sounding than the original - in some patches.
That said for being absolutely free, can't really beat Dexed. and if you just want a plain DX7 emu with not too many extra stuff added, to play your old DX7 patches its a hit. And since I don't have my old TX802 anymore to compare I really wouldn't bother about knowing that its a bit sharper sounding than an old DX7.
Arturia DX7 V is more than just a DX7 clone as it has many extra functions than the original and should be a hit to those that actually want to use hours in exploring the posibilities in these functions.
I used to be fairly good to work with the DX7 back in the days, but personly I really can't be bothered today as if I need a realistic acoustic instrument I'd not fiddle with FM synthesis for hours with a DX7 emu as we did back in the 80'es to try to get it just a tad better sounding.
$99 is worth the extra waveforms (which makes it closer to an SY77 or SY99 than a DX7) and dynamic envelopes....plus feedback on every operator and filter??
Yea, this proves it can do a stock DX7 (with the factory patches) and much much more....which means it does much more than Dexed.
IMO, very generous introductory price @ $99
mrdali67 dude, clean your ears, dexed sounds identical
The main thing I took away from this video is that DEXED is really good. Gotta love free plugins.
I'm a fan of the DX7! I hadn't come to understand keyboards until just a few years ago, and I'm still learning, but, in my opinion, I feel that the DX7 was one of the groundbreaking instruments of the '80s. Many popular songs were created using that instrument! Anyway, your comparison here is really great. I think you have a tutorial on loading dexed, right? I'll have to watch it again...I had difficulty opening the dexed file. Like I said, I'm new to all this, especially the virtual computer stuff...I guess I need a VST coach. (Ha!) BTW, thanks for all the handy info in the video here. Nice keyboard sounds!
just sounds like the filter is set a bit lower on the Arturia than the dexed, but the dexed seems to do some sort of digital clipping or aliasing that does make it sound harsher at times.
Arturia are certainly masters of emulating old synths. I purchased the CMI V Fairlight. Very impressive. They love adding features, not just for the sake of it though, it's all very useful and adds power so far beyond the original while maintaining the original sound available to you.
Totally!
Arturia is hit or miss. A LOT of their earlier work does not resemble what they were emulating. I'd call it a very approximate attempt.
Their more recent work is better, but I don't understand how people can't hear that most of their emulations are very very poor.
If someone is going to invest so much marketing it would be nice if they were also technically better than their competitors.
Very very very great review just discovered this in my v6 collection🙏🏾 awesome just awesome 👏
Amazing video as usual Woody! Keep them coming!
Dexed 0.9.4 released March 2018.
EG timings fixed which improves the DX7 emulation out of sight.
The DX7 had a ~14 khz filter to fix the DAC noise, Dexed still need a 15k LP filter after it in MKI mode, not required in 24 bit mode.
Even though this info is to complicated for me I enjoyed it, and still have my DX7, and now I have the TYROS5 at church been using Yamaha organ and keyboards since 1979. Tanx Woody God bless.
And Woody, this is why you are the Man! Great vid... thanks, mate!
Great comparison Woody! I laughed out loud when you said "most people probably don't really want to hear those anymore, apart from me". LOL! Apart from me too Woody! Love 1983 sounds.... Thanks man.
lol, good to know!
Well done Woody! This kind of comparison is extremely scientific and objective. It would be very interesting though to see how each synth "sits" in a busy mix. IMHO the original DX7 with all its flows, the noise and the alianzing would be much more distinct. That's what i have noticed using hardware and software synths. Hardware takes a bigger place in a whole mix...
i figure it would be the other way around, harder to distinguish the clones in a busy mix than in isolation.
The Yamaha sounded brighter in almost all instances. And I agree, the Arturia sounded soft and somewhat muffled. Even after the change, the attack of the Arturia was slow. And the DEXED seemed to get some of the stuff wrong completely. Injecting sound where the original had none.
very impressed with all. great video thank you!
I used Dexed more as a tool for programming/sending patches to my DX7. The Arturia (and FM8) to me are just great ways of having that DX flavor but in a more modern way. If I'm feeling particularly lazy and don't feel like connecting my DX7 in the studio, then I'll use Dexed if I want the closest possible emulation. All good stuff!
echo that, when i had a real dx7 I still sometimes used dexed coz it was quicker and more convenient to use in the DAW.
Changing the settings on the Arturia is exactly what made it sound precisely like the DX. Maybe you could make Dexed a little less bright to match the original as well. At the end, they all sound very, very familiar to me. Btw I really think it's pronounced dee-exed, like the past tense of DX, as if it is a verb. I Dexed U, whatever that means. 😊
I have a rack of 80's/90's Roland ROMplers because I dig those sounds from those days. That said, I have 2 different MIDI controller keyboards in the rig and each has a different velocity setting just for the reasons that you talked about in your review of the Arturia DX7 V. Sometimes I want punchy, bright sounds so I have one with the velocity jacked to max (127). Other times I want more subtle sounds so I have another with a tamer velocity setting. As for your demo, excellent job!
I thought how did Arturia do a bad job in dx7 because of ep sounds till I watched this video. Thank you Woody 👍🏻🙏🏻🤘🏻
Thanks so much! The full velocity discovery is key. Glad I didn't have to learn the hard way!
Thank you for the demo! So weird that the velocity setting is a detriment to accuracy.
Great comparison Woody. That epiano is very close once the setting was changed.
Thank you for this comparison! That was exactly what I was looking for after I heard of the Arturia DX7. Edit: Well yes, I should have immediately watched the rest of the video too. Please ignore that part of my comment. ---> [[But somehow it seems to me that it does not actually a good job in resembling the sounds - especially on lower notes]]
You are quickly becoming my favorite Englishman on the web
welshman, but appreciate the thought immensely.... :D
Woody Piano Shack Have you ever seen the Keanu Reeves movie, “The Replacements” ? “I’M BLOODY WELSH!!”
For the Arturia - I think other than the velocity range being different and needing to be tweaked (obviously addressed in the video!) causing the Arturia to be more muffled than it would be, the HW DX7 is actually ever-so-slightly SHARP (overall higher in frequency/pitch) when compared to the "perfect-tuned" 440Hz VSTs :)
To me it's an obvious difference that stood out right away as pitch related issues are reallllly magnified for me (blessing and a curse). The slight drop in overall pitch is something that not everyone will consciously notice, but it's also at a significant amount of drop to where I'd imagine jussst about everybody will "feel" the difference but maybe not be able to put the finger on it. It's secondary to the obviously more muffled sound (due to a setting in the VST) but still a significant subconsciously processed detail.
Side-note: I actually like the feeling of it better when jusst a bit sharp! Can be a good production technique to do this for when the last chorus comes in (or every chorus..? :D), adds a little subconscious "energy" or "excitement" (or whatever!) boost for sure. This is definitely not something to overdo though! And it might not sound so great if other pitch/chord related elements aren't pitched up the same amount of cents (sometimes just doing it to one element can be cool, it can bring attention to that element without boosting volume/other processing etc). This processed is best done by global tuning in the synth, or manually tuning guitar, etc. (if you want to be completely free of artifacts) though there are obviously many ways to pitch any element up or down, especially with the technology of our times today!
great comment, re tuning, if i recall the dx7 doesn't show the tuning on the display, you just move the slider up and down whilst in the tuning function until it sounds right. quite possible I didn't nail or it, or even left it in the mode and nudged the slider. so yeah, good call, and thanks for the sharp tuning trick!
Woody Piano Shack Cheers! Fantastic channel btw, love the content. Keep it up!
I needed to hear Eye of the Tiger on a DX7 pipe organ:) Mission accomplished! free DEXED seems to be the best emulation out there. If only the interface could be scalable...
was that performance on your bucket list? happy to oblige :)
The original sounds so sweet! The others are somewhat harsh probably due to absence of any analog path unlike the original DX7. Some things are just not emulatable, like the analog smoothing
Just add your favourite VST after the plugin. Analog gainstages and EQs have to be the most emulated thing in all the VST realm.
Dexed has a little more definition than even the original. I think it is superior soundwise as someone else mentioned you can use other plugins to adjust the amount of analog warmth. It is hard to add back detail to the sound if it's not already there.
Incredible video Woody !
Dexed is such a humble VST. Great video by the way. I subscribed immediately. :)