Members arcadesonfire Posted May 9, 2008 Members Share Posted May 9, 2008 Yo, i'd like to get a synth/keyboard for my Clash meets Talking Heads meets contemporary indie rock band. I'm seriously considering the old Yamaha SY85 or SY77. Synth sounds won't be the main draw in our music, so we don't need to be on the cutting edge of synths, but... I'm curious, would either of these have convincing non-synthy acoustic piano and rhodes sounds? Would one be better than the other for those sounds?? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members OPEN OCEAN Posted May 9, 2008 Members Share Posted May 9, 2008 well...have them both in the form of their rack versions - i own the tg 77 and tg 500 - and all i can say is that they really rock so if you can get tg 500 cheap - i would prefer this in terms of better display - then go for it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hulston Prickle Posted May 9, 2008 Members Share Posted May 9, 2008 I assume you know somewhere those synths are on sale, because those are fairly obscure choices Between the two I think the SY85 has sampled acoustic sounds and the SY77 is an FM synth. I played an SY85 once well over 10 years ago, and it sounded like every other early 90's Yamaha rompler. If you aren't picky, you'll be fine. However if you are looking for better acoustic piano and rhodes sounds there are better choices in the used cheap rompler market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members arcadesonfire Posted May 9, 2008 Author Members Share Posted May 9, 2008 I assume you know somewhere those synths are on sale, because those are fairly obscure choices Between the two I think the SY85 has sampled acoustic sounds and the SY77 is an FM synth. I played an SY85 once well over 10 years ago, and it sounded like every other early 90's Yamaha rompler. If you aren't picky, you'll be fine. However if you are looking for better acoustic piano and rhodes sounds there are better choices in the used cheap rompler market. Better choices!??! i wanna hear em! I'm really out of my element here... the sy's caught my attention because i saw them on ebay and on craigslist for 200-400$ thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members OPEN OCEAN Posted May 9, 2008 Members Share Posted May 9, 2008 paolos site has them both please check www.synthmania.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Don Solaris Posted May 9, 2008 Members Share Posted May 9, 2008 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hulston Prickle Posted May 9, 2008 Members Share Posted May 9, 2008 For a more recent synth with emphasis on acoustic sounds you might be able to find a Kurzweil ME-1 and MIDI controller in your price range.For older 90's romplers, Roland X and JV series are good, E-mu vintage keys are good (again, need a MIDI controller), and Kurzweil K2000s are good and affordable now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members arcadesonfire Posted May 9, 2008 Author Members Share Posted May 9, 2008 For a more recent synth with emphasis on acoustic sounds you might be able to find a Kurzweil ME-1 and MIDI controller in your price range.For older 90's romplers, Roland X and JV series are good, E-mu vintage keys are good (again, need a MIDI controller), and Kurzweil K2000s are good and affordable now. Hmm... well i really do want to have something with editable synths... like i said, i'm out of my element with all the terms for different kinds of keyboards, but i have done a bit of synth editing in the world of cakewalk sonar, and i'd like to be able to do that. I do have a 49-key controller... so maybe i should get a little unit like the ME1 dedicated to samples and then get another unit dedicated to editable synths?? this darn check the government just gave me might persuade me too easily to go over my original budget on this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MrT-Man Posted May 9, 2008 Members Share Posted May 9, 2008 I own a 77 (it was my first synth ever). The 77 and 85 are pretty different synths. The 77 has FM synthesis and would probably be better for electronic / digital / spacey sounds... but the samples really aren't all that great. Some things are better than others. Organs are ok, strings aren't great but perhaps passable, woodwinds & drums suck... As far as piano sounds, the 77 will give you the classic FM digital piano sound, but the acoustic piano is pretty weak. I'm sure the 85 would be a lot better in that respect. The SY99 would be the best of both worlds. It's essentially a 77 with 76 keys, better effects procesor, and much better samples. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members xpander Posted May 10, 2008 Members Share Posted May 10, 2008 go for the 77, much more dynamic plus its got the big FM section which will make it worth more in the long run if you ever decide to sell it. i have the dynamic SY77 & SY99 duo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wildpaws Posted May 10, 2008 Members Share Posted May 10, 2008 I own a 77 (it was my first synth ever). The 77 and 85 are pretty different synths. The 77 has FM synthesis and would probably be better for electronic / digital / spacey sounds... but the samples really aren't all that great. Some things are better than others. Organs are ok, strings aren't great but perhaps passable, woodwinds & drums suck... As far as piano sounds, the 77 will give you the classic FM digital piano sound, but the acoustic piano is pretty weak. I'm sure the 85 would be a lot better in that respect.The SY99 would be the best of both worlds. It's essentially a 77 with 76 keys, better effects procesor, and much better samples. And the SY99 has the ability to load user samples. There have been some pretty decent pianos done on the 99, but you really need to have the maximum sample ram installed to get the most out of user samples. Actually, somebody did an edited drum kit for the 77 called Slammin that was pretty good. The SY85/TG500 are romplers with IMO limited synthesis, the SY77/99 are AFM/AWM hybrids with both FM and samples and the ability to have both sides interact with each other, you can do some nice patches using both AWM/AFM elements in the same sound.Clyde Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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