well i decided against it because of the fact i have a dx7 now. really what i want is a mobile FM program like nanoloop 2.x but you know..... with a tracker interface and more control. i do enjoy tfm and vgm tracker but it just doesnt feel right cuz i really want to hear it on real hardware but i am having issues converting it to .tfc

if you can sample that thing and throw it into piggy that might be a solution ovenrake. that has been the closest i have came to true FM composition and playback.

well at least my model is mkii for a $100 I got the computer, floppy drive and rather large clavier keyboard for it. did I get totally boned? because this was all in box and I was in canada and I was creaming everywhere.

dont do it man

i was just looking into buying one of these guys.

I have a CX5MII (the one with slightly improved MIDI support etc)...I love using it as an old school FM synth (I also have a DX7, but fuck it I can't deny that I enjoy editing patches on a TV screen), for backing tracks or little parts in songs. Since I never really planned to use it as a standalone music station (and I luckily got it cheap) I have to say that Yamaha's music sequencer software is rather archaic though.

If you want a machine that you can make complete FM chiptunes with, then the Yamaha CX5M - with the software available - is not the best option. I've heard some amazing tracks made with the Moonsound cart Linde mentions. If you want some accessible FM synth operation (potentially MIDI controllable with later models), then a CX5M with the voicing cartridge is great fun...but this is a chipmusic forum, so why would anyone want that?

I got a cx5m recently. just been missing a din to video cable that needs to be built...
I also hope this isn't a pre-emptive bummer, I've been reading a lot about it and there's this third party sequencer that looks promising. otherwise, I'll just process it through a ton of delay and just control it with the keyboard.

Any other tips, suggestions? hopefully advice that doesn't end in "get another msx".

x68000s have become something of a collectors item in Japan, the vintage computerstores have been picked over many times. I have only ever seen one I a store once and it wasn't on sale, just a display model. They are also pretty heavy so shipping one may well be almost as much as the machine if not more. I think they were pretty much the machines to have for arcade ports, capcom used them as dev machines I think? And as alex mentioned, the chip is very very similar to the fb01.

g0org.biz has alot of interesting x68k stuff if you dig around a bit, it's a Japanese site but the music isneady to find

boomlinde:

ah... perhaps you are correct... anyhow... it appears XPMCK may at some point support MDX output... if so... then this is probably the easiest way to do it (without learning japanese etc)

proof: http://jiggawatt.org/muzak/xpmck/bugs/i … ;task_id=9

alex:
There is definitely some 4-op FM going on in the tracks, so I'm pretty the sound capabilities were used. The backing seems to be provided by the CX5 (or its sound module) and the drum machines, while leads and some pads sound like DX7 and some analog synthesizer.

I'd love to try to decipher MDX documents, though. I wonder what the X68000s go for in Japan.

I've had a hard time using my CX5M. Since carts are a bit hard to come by and I haven't really gotten my act together to get/build an SD cart, my only option has been to control it externally - and the preset sounds aren't anything to write home.

boomlinde what software was the cx5 music here made w/?

EDIT:
i just read the description... from the looks of things the cx5 was probably only used as a sequencer... so... thats completely boring my friend - anyhow i think the sharp x68000 seems far more interesting than the cx5m (same fm chip)... and perhaps we can translate some MDX documentation and use it - what do ya say?

The CX5 was used extensively on this album: http://www.soundshock.se/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=234, and later on, the SFG sound module was used in an MSX2 to produce this: http://www.soundshock.se/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=172. I have Pulse 1 for reupload, if anyone wants to have a listen (and can suggest a nice place to upload it to).

Besides being a cool concept and looking very Darth Vadery, I don't find the CX5 that interesting. You can certainly get most other MSX computers cheaper (and with more RAM) and use them together with an FM-PAC (more distinct lo-fi FM sound, grea software support) or a Moonsound cartridge (shitload of FM channels + shitload of wave table channels + effect DSP).

^_^ FB01s are the tits.  Best bang for your buck hands down.  Cheapest possible way to get those classic Yamaha FM sounds.  And some of the presets are ACTUALLY usable!!!

PS: @ Lazerbeat: You're just bitter. :-P

TX81Z or bust !

Beware doesnt deserve an FB01.

Although actually useful information shocker. I have a feeling Note! used one of these machines?