Yamaha SY22

Plenty of features. I wish it had knobs. The Vector Control Joystick is very useful for creating ambient sounds.

Price paid

900

UTILIZATION

Easy to use, manual is good.

Very robust, never had a problem and I"ve used it for thousands of hours over many years, moved many times with it. Nothing breaks ever.

SOUNDS

A bit metallic, but that's what happens to early 90s synths. Moby uses it. Effects are good for its time, but not easily programmable. WOuld give it a 6, but I really like its drumkit and some sounds (only 1 kit)

OVERALL OPINION

Loved it for years, now it's in the closet. So for 10 years, it was a 9, now it's a 5. Average = 7.

Originally posted on FutureProducers.com
Posted by: Unknown ( 3-, 2003)

Hi.

Just to say that having cut my teeth on this synth, there are some hidden features.

First, you can not access the LFO speed when it is set to S & H.
Actually yes, set the speed before selecting the waveform. This creates honeycomb effects or sample and hold precisely !!

Then the FM part is a synthesis 2 operators, 256 presets in the synth, but it is completely edited via an editor on computer !!

http://www.plompy.co.uk/software/

A +

USE

N / A

SOUNDS

N / A

NOTICE GLOBAL

N / A

The SY22 synthesizer is a 5 octave velocity sensitive and aftertouch. It has a wheel pitch bend and modulation. Moreover it is equipped with a joystick called "VECTOR CONTROL" to play and recorded movements vector.
16 voice polyphony and multi-timbralité 8.
The synth is fairly small and light but very well built. The touch is not so unpleasant that mid-range. The keybed is made of metal and easily accessible.
It will be perfect as a small master keyboard.

UTILIZATION

The synthesis is not very advanced (except for the vector part), the use is quite simple and intuitive.
It is impossible to edit the sounds FM programming but this is by choosing a more basic sound of the 256 FM sounds or AWM 128 samples.
RANDOM an editing function is available and very convenient to create new sounds on the fly!
In all cases it is very enjoyable to play and we quickly took the stick to handle vectors!

SOUNDS

The sounds are mostly scalable and can be a good idea of ​​the synthesis. The AWM samples are a bit "hard" but the next 4 op FM is very pretty. Many sounds become more interesting just by pushing the joystick slightly to D or B (thus increasing the volume of hand FM).
The effects are a bit tight, not editable and very typical. By cutting and sending the raw output of SY in H8000 is immediately more war ^ ^!
There is a beautiful flute like I think ...

OVERALL OPINION

I use it for a few days and knowing the brand and the synths of the time, I must say it is a big deal right now than to pick up a SY22!
The sounds and the game is inspiring and well-built machine (switches, keyboard and joystick solid).
The only downside is with the external power supply ... :/
Very fun and good for learning the synthesis!