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Dead DX7 II FD


augerinn

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There's one of these locally I can get cheap. It's even got the E! upgrade.

 

Any ideas on why it wouldn't produce any sound ? I'm going back to look at it today, and I'm gonna make sure MIDI local is on. I'm also gonna bring a ROM cartridge and see if that makes any difference.

 

I googled, and couldn't find much.

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Me thinks you should change the battery first, yes. I've cured many a dead DX7II's by changing the battery. Be worned, you have to desolder and solder a new one on. It's not hard to do, but you have to know what your doing as it's tight surgury. The battery has 2 leads to the main board.

 

A dead give away the RAM battery is shot is it powers on fine but no sound. Usually it wont hold the patch locations and shows nonsense on the screen also.

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Correction: It needs three presets reloaded. Tub Bells, Bass 1, and the Rhodes. Everything else can {censored} off and be replaced by stuff from other banks
;)

 

 

Correction V2.0: While I'll be the first to admitt the DX7II may very well my have the worst presets of all time, ya can't leave out Superbass, Warm Stg, Thunderon, Wallop or the quintessential electric piano.

 

The greatest DX7II patch of all time is one found on a million Tangerine Dream albums/songs. (A very digital, bright, harsh, electric, guitar type sound.) Anyone who has heard "Lily On The Beach" would recognise it on a bunch of tracks including well, "Lily On The Beach". There is nothing else like it.

 

The Tub Bells sound is used on the Taco Bell Commericals-the one note jingle.

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Correction V2.0: While I'll be the first to admitt the DX7II may very well my have the worst presets of all time, ya can't leave out Superbass, Warm Stg, Thunderon, Wallop or the quintessential electric piano.


The greatest DX7II patch of all time is one found on a million Tangerine Dream albums/songs. (A very digital, bright, harsh, electric, guitar type sound.) Anyone who has heard "Lily On The Beach" would recognise it on a bunch of tracks including well, "Lily On The Beach". There is nothing else like it.


The Tub Bells sound is used on the Taco Bell Commericals-the one note jingle.

 

 

yeah, that one is good, but my favorite is the one Yanni used in his old stuff (before he went downhill [yeah he used to be a groundbreaking electronic musician]). It's all over 'Out of Silence' and 'Chameleon Days' on such tracks as "Acroyali", "Walkabout", and "Keys to Imagination".

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Me thinks you should change the battery first, yes. I've cured many a dead DX7II's by changing the battery. Be worned, you have to desolder and solder a new one on. It's not hard to do, but you have to know what your doing as it's tight surgury. The battery has 2 leads to the main board.


A dead give away the RAM battery is shot is it powers on fine but no sound. Usually it wont hold the patch locations and shows nonsense on the screen also.

 

 

Yeah, I've got 2 on order from Mouser. A whole $1.43 each. Ones for the DX-7 MKI that I'm about done refurbing. It cleaned up real nice, just needed a couple of keys (6.00 each from Yamaha, 3 days). The motherboard has to come out to get to the battery (and in the case of the IIFD, the E! expansion card too), but these things are SOOO eaasy to work on. Built like tanks, too.

 

They're asking $250.00 for the IIFD, but I think I'll offer them less as it's not functional.

 

 

I have two of them and both had the same symptoms you described- in both cases the battery was dead/

This is quite encouraging !

 

Ya know, I played with the MKI for about an hour last night. I'm STILL not a big fan of FM, at least not the pre-sets. Part of the deal with the MKI was 7 data cartridges, including the factory voices.

 

Thanks for all your help. You guys rock !

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back in my yute, i learned how to play piano on a DX7IIFD w/E! before my parents bought an upright. that keyboard has been played everywhere, it's built like no other. thank you, ultraheavy custom Anvil case...

 

that's my way of saying it's worth the risk, btw.

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Update.

 

Grabbed the E! Ram off the net, formatted a floppy to 720K and copied the patches on to the floopy.

 

Marched down to the Pawn Shop with handwritten notes and floppy in hand. After 1/2 hour of fiddling, the E! Ram was uploaded and I had notes coming out !

 

They wanted 280.00 plus tax, I walked away with it for a LOT less than that (200). All it needs is an battery. Otherwise, it appears to have been babied.

 

With stereo and built in FX, it sounds a lot warmer and less brittle than a MK I (especially the sucky factory patches). I still have no real love for FM though (besides, I have FM8) and will most likely turn it after the battery replacement and a good cleaning.

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