KORG Opsix £700

Of the many consumer-facing and industry-changing technological battles that have been fought over the years, some have had clear winners that have set new standards against which their rivals are judged. Synthesisers have seen their fair share of competition down the decades, not solely in terms of manufacturers competing with what they’re able to pack into their instruments but via the foundations of the very sounds they produce

In terms of popularity, by this point it’s pretty clear that subtractive synthesis has won out. Most synth users are familiar with oscillators that feature waveforms that are blended together before being passed through filters and amps, with LFOs and envelopes there to help shape each of those stages via modulation. Yet subtractive synthesis is by no means the only way in which synthesised sounds can be generated. Yamaha’s DX7, one of the world’s most famous synths and still considered a landmark instrument today, is veritable proof of this.

The DX7 relies on FM (frequency modulation) synthesis, plotting an alternative pathway to electronic-sound generation. The problem with the DX7 was that its algorithmic approach and use of waveforms not as sonic builders in their own right but as modulation sources seemed baffling to many users. It’s perhaps true that its approach to sound design appealed more to programmers than to traditional musicians.

Yet the DX7s hall-of-fame status has never dimmed. For many years, manufacturers have tried to find ways to facilitate the capabilities