Yamaha TX-802 (1990s)
Little formal documentation survives for the TX-802 in the usual spec-sheet sense. The model itself is well attested in the period studio press, though. It was Yamaha's rackmount FM tone generator, the rack sibling of the DX7II, and it became a studio workhorse through the late '80s and into the '90s.
The TX-802 was an FM synth module, not a sampler, and it was used as one. Sound on Sound (1997, p.254) reviewed it as the "Yamaha TX802 FM synth module." The review noted that it could function as eight individual two-note polysynths - the "flexible friend" of the rack world - and that stacking multiple units with detuning was a known trick for thick basses. The period trade press backs this up. EQ Magazine (June 1991, p.22) listed two TX-802s in the keyboard rig at Axel Kroell's Baby Studio at European American Recording in New York, alongside DX7s and a Korg M1. It shows up in similar studio inventories again and again: a TX802 alongside a DX7 and a TX81Z in Tom Scott's MIDI rig, two TX802s in Lee Ritenour's setup driving a G10 guitar controller, a TX802 in Jason's MIDI studio at a New York facility, and a TX802 in the keyboard rack at Blank Productions in Stamford, Connecticut. Working studios bought them in pairs.
Third-party support was real and specific. Bacchus Software Systems sold a mouse-driven graphic editing system for the TX-802 (and DX7II), with icons, overlapping windows, and pop-up menus. The same company later released a version for the Yamaha C1 music computer at a suggested retail of $249.95. Digital Music Services shipped TX802 PRO 1.1, a Macintosh editor/librarian with faster running times, MIDI echo options, and Opcode file import. Opcode's editor/librarian line supported the TX802 as well. The TX-802's own manual is thin in the record, but the software around it is unusually well documented.
The record gives no clean spec sheet. There is no confirmed oscillator count, no verified price when new, and no production dates. The Sound on Sound classifieds (February 1997, p.258) show used TX802s trading around £325 with a RAM cartridge, and again at £325 boxed with manual. That is the closest thing to a market figure we have. Be suspicious of any specific "MSRP" or "released in" claim you see elsewhere. The TX-802's paper trail is mostly in studio credits and software ads, not in Yamaha's own literature.
Known specifics
- Type: FM synthesizer tone generator / rackmount synth module
- Rack format: rackmount (per period listings and the Sound on Sound review context)
- Voice architecture: capable of functioning as eight individual two-note polysynths (per Sound on Sound, January 1997)
- Related models: DX7II (shared voice editing software), TX81Z (sibling FM module), DX7 (rack equivalent was the TX7)
- Third-party editors: Bacchus TX802/DX7II graphic editing system; Digital Music Services TX802 PRO 1.1; Opcode editor/librarian support
- Used market (1997 UK classifieds): around £325 with RAM cartridge or boxed with manual
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