The Yamaha DX7II, was the final DX7 version in the line (apart from the rare Centennial model, launched in 1987 to celebrate Yamaha's 100th birthday).

There are two versions - the DX7IID and the DX7IIFD.   The latter has the advantage of a 3.5" 720K floppy disk drive (a big deal in 1987!), but other than that, they are identical.

They both look like this...

 

The casing is sleek, black and made of alluminium, making it weigh only 10.5kg - nearly 35% less than the original one!

The LCD  is larger than the original, and the DX7S, at 2 x 40 characters, backlit.  If you are buying one, check that all the buttons work - this style of DX7 is prone to getting dust under the contacts (not a big problem, only you might have to press some of them quite hard).

The DX7IIFD version of the DX7 is the best to go for if your budget permits, as it has the following advantages over the orignal:

• 3.5" Floppy Disk Drive 
• More Advanced MIDI Features, including two assignable sliders for controlling parameters on the DX7II or an external MIDI device.
• 64 Internal Memory positions
• Ability to create layered, stereo combinations
• Microtuning for the more experimental types.
• Full 0-127 Velocity (the origianal DX7 only allowed 0-99 which 'dampens' some sounds slightly)
• Modern appearance? (subjective)
• Higher resolution, less 'hissy' output thanks to 24bit DACs. The original has 12bit DACs

 

 

 

IF YOU WANT TO DOWNLOAD A MANUAL FOR A DX7 IID  /  DX7IIFD, CLICK HERE

The manual can be downloaded free of charge from Yamaha, so there's no excuse not to get programming!! 

 

EBAY AUCTIONS, CLICK HERE

If your DX7II is broken, don't throw it away - even broken DX7's fetch some bucks on ebay auctions.  There are still many thousands of DX users who want to keep theirs going, using keys, buttons, circuits etc, so sell your duff one for spares!!

Common Problem

If your DX7 seems to work ok, but doesn't produce any sound (and you've checked obvious things like volume!), then perhaps the LOCAL feature was turned OFF, which means the DX7 transmits MIDI but won't play it's own sounds.  

To check / rectify this, after turning the DX7II on, press the EDIT / COMPARE button. Then press Button 31 (MIDI1) a few times until you see the word 'Local' on the right hand side of the LCD.  For the DX7 to play it's own sounds, Local must be ON.  Use the Cursor buttons and the + - data entry buttons to change Local to ON.