Loading Yamaha DX-7 patches into your Kronos
Wouldn’t it be nice to load the classic Yamaha DX-7 patches into your Kronos? Well you can and here’s how (source: the Kronos Parameter Guide):
Loading DX sounds
Overview
The MOD‐7 can load sounds created for the vintage DX7. There are thousands of these sounds available on the internet, providing a massive pre‐existing library of timbres (in addition to the many sounds created exclusively for the MOD‐7!). Try searching for “DX7 SysEx download.”
Once loaded, you can bring these vintage sounds up to date using all of the MOD‐7’s unique features, layer them with other EXi, and process them with KARMA and the KRONOS effects.
The conversion works by reading .SYX format System Exclusive files. This format is supported by programs on all major computer operating systems.
Supported file types
In order to load a file, it must meet the following requirements:
• The file must contain a complete bank of 32 DX7 sounds. Files with only a single sound cannot be loaded.
• The file may contain multiple System Exclusive messages, but only if the main DX7 bank dump is the first of these messages. All subsequent messages in the file will be ignored.
Note: some instruments, such as the DX7II, may transmit multiple System Exclusive messages when doing their program data dump, with the main DX7 bank dump coming last. If this set of messages is stored into a single .SYX file, the KRONOS will not be able to load the file.
• The System Exclusive must be in the original, first‐ generation DX7 format, which was supported by all of the classic 6‐operator FM synths as well as the DX9. System Exclusive files from later‐generation FM instruments, such as 4‐operator “baby DX” synths and the TX81Z, SY77, etc., cannot be loaded.
Loading a single bank of DX7 sounds
To load a bank of DX7 sounds:
1. Transfer the DX7 .SYX file to KRONOS‐readable media, such as a USB flash drive.
2. Connect the media to the KRONOS.
3. Press the front‐panel DISK button to enter Disk mode.
4. Go to the Load page.
5. In the Drive Select parameter, select the media from step 2, above.
6. Select the DX7 .SYX file.
7. Press the LOAD button.
A dialog box will appear, allowing you to select a bank into which to load the sounds. Since DX7 banks contain 32 sounds, while a KRONOS bank contains 128, you can also select where to place the DX7 sounds within the KRONOS bank: into Programs 0‐31, 32‐63, 64‐95, or 96‐127.
8. Select the bank and Program range into which to load the sounds.
Important: If you select an HD‐1 bank, it will be changed to an EXi bank, and all of the banks’s HD‐1 Programs will be erased.
9. Press OK to load the sounds.
The sounds will be loaded into the KRONOS as MOD‐ 7 Programs.
Loading multiple banks of DX7 sounds
If you like, you can load multiple .SYX files at once. To do so:
1. Follow steps 1 through 4 under “Loading a single bank of DX7 sounds,” above.
2. Enable the Multiple Select check‐box.
3. Select the desired DX7 .SYX files.
4. Press the LOAD button.
An “Are you sure?” dialog will appear.
5. Press OK.
6. For each .SYX file, select the bank and Program range to load into.
For more information, see steps 8 and 9 under “Loading a single bank of DX7 sounds,” above.
Error messages
If the KRONOS can’t read the file, it will show one of two error messages:
There is no readable data will appear if the file is shorter than 4104 bytes, or if the SysEx header indicates something other than DX7 Program Bank format.
File contains unsupported data will appear if the header is correct, but the data is damaged; for instance, if the fileʹs checksum doesnʹt match, or if the trailing F7 is missing.
Velocity response
Converted sounds will respond to MIDI velocity in the same way as did the original instruments. In other words, if you play both the original and converted sounds from an external MIDI controller, they should sound the same.
However, the local keyboards on some of the original DX instruments were not capable of producing very high velocities; instead, they might max out around 105 or so. The KRONOS’s keyboard, on the other hand, can produce velocities over the full MIDI range, up to 127.
This means that some sounds may be brighter when played from the KRONOS’s keyboard, as compared to the original instrument’s keyboard. If you like, you can use the Brightness Vel. Sens. parameter to reduce the velocity sensitivity to taste.
Where to find DX-7 patches?
Here you can find 200.000 patches 🙂
http://korgpatches.com/patches/kronos/dx7_200k_collection
