Stumbled over four units today... two was in really bad shape even if three where fully working so I used the two worst ones as spare units. and have two good units working... (anyone need spares ?) :-)

This is a... different kind of FM synth. 4-op, 8voice polyphony, but it works differently from, say, a TX81Z. There are less frequency settings, and amplitude modulation can be set for each operator. Feature-wise, it is the most basic FM synthesizer I've seen next to the 2-op PSS-480 though it can create its own characteristic sounds because of its use of amplitude modulation.

Most users pan this device because of its "thin" sound, but the simplified features and low-res DAC are not really drawbacks, in my opinion--just characteristics of the device. The biggest flaw with the FB-01 is its inability to ignore program change messages from other devices. ARGH!

I bought mine yesterday for thirty canadian dollars.

I didn'y bother checking out the patches... I went straight to SoundDiver and made the sounds I expected from it: earth rattling dubby basses with very nice harmonic content, thick and grimey (think Maurizio Von Oswald...) and very full of presence.

I make mostly electronic music... minimal techno.
The box delivers, period.

I really like mine, but I use it as an input for my Korg MX. That means I can produce many poly synth sounds. The biggest drawback is having to use an editor to alter the sound> So far I have not found a program that will edit the FB01 although one is supposed to exist.

Worth picking up if you can find one for less than about 30 bucks but the TX81z is almost as cheap and much better. But I like the sounds of the FB01 layered with analog pads.