Vintage Synth Explorer

Yamaha • TX16W

The '16' in TX16W stands for 16-voices, which is nice, but unfortunately it does not apply to this late-eighties sampler's specs! It's only 12-bit (as opposed to 16-bit) and shipped with a slim 1.5 MB of RAM. Albeit, this is a sampler more than 15 years old! Supposedly marking Yamaha's entry into professional rack-mount samplers, the TX16W seems to take it's rack-design from Yamaha's REV-series effects processors. A narrow 2-line LCD display, numeric keypad and about a dozen other buttons makes for a lousy sample-editing experience - yet this was how it was done in 1988! With internal RAM expandable up to 6 MB's, floppy disk storage, digital filters, and 8-part multitimbral operation, the TX16W was good for its time but is certainly now, a dinosaur.

This 12-bit sampler has a variable 50 kHz sampling-rate without aliasing, eight monophonic outputs, polyphonic stereo out and an external audio input (Mic, Line) on the front-panel. The original TX16W's System OS had to be loaded from 720kb disks in non-DOS format, and frequently needed reloads from the System disk. Moreover this OS is one of the worst ever made. Alternative: Typhoon 2000, a freeware OS provides much easier handling, support for RS422 (you can connect it directly to the built-in MIDI interface of a Mac for SCSI-like communication), 17 factory filters and support for the AIFF audio format. Typhoon is a must have to stay healthy while working with this sampler. It is good for M1-type pianos, percussion sounds, voice samples and your basic 80's style sounds. It has been used by Jimmy Edgar.

VISITOR COMMENTS

Comments page 2 of 2

Click here to add a comment

Your Name:

Email Address:

Image verification:

Message:

Posting Rules: Please keep your comments relevant! Do not post requests for help, do not use for sales, do not post unless you have something interesting to say about this instrument, or we may delete your post.

 

Gaston

Posted 54 days ago

Hey, are those disk and memory for the TX16W still available? I'm interested.

Malte

Posted 119 days ago

still using and loving my machine since 2002, now more than 20 years old, it is still delivering powerful bass drum, snares and claps. i sampled, just for the fun of it, an old Ibach salon piano from 1924, sounds like a fat M1-Piano. NO ALIASING at all. Far comparable to its contemporaries (17 filter Types with Typhoon OS).

Pip

Posted 211 days ago

We had two of them, both with full expanded (6Mb) memory. Yes, the OS was a pig - we used to have to plan out on paper how we wanted to set up each program. However, the filters, for a sampler of that era were fantastic - you can here it on the strings on our remix of Gary Numan's Down in the Park and Are Friend's Electric circa 1993. The envelope generator were also superb - unbelievable on many pad sounds - better than most synths at the time. It's a shame we sold the pair of them before Typhoon came out. Having said that the disks were readible under DOS.

Dan Simmons

Posted 322 days ago

I might be interested in those 1000 disks - but the shipping may cost more than they're worth ;)
Maybe the memory & expansion will make it worthwhile?
I'm just west of Buffalo, NY - i.e. Canada - where abouts are you?
Contact me at dan.simmon [at] (y&h00) d0t (c0m)

Elliott

Posted 328 days ago

I have a box of over 1000 sample disks, memory, expansion boards for this unit. make an offer

<21>