Yamaha Reface DX Legacy Project

About the project:

The Yamaha Reface DX is a great little synth and I love it. But before I continue I want to make a few things clear. Don't believe everything the ads and salesmen try to tell you! I know what I am talking about:

- The Reface DX is NOT a remake of the legendary DX7
- The Reface DX is NOT compatible with 4-operator FM synths from the past like the TX81Z, DX100, or DX9
- Therefore it is NOT possible to load patches from those vintage Yamaha FM synths in a Reface DX

Did I say "NOT possible"? I wanted to give it a try anyway. Some years ago I started a Python project called DXconvert. The original goal was to be able to convert between the many different file formats that people have used and use to save Yamaha DX7 System Exclusive voicedata. Not much time later I started developing TXconvert to support 4-operator FM synths. Over time this project has grown to support hundreds of file formats and a whole family of vintage FM synths.

When the Yamaha Reface DX arrived I immediately hoped to be able to (re-)use my huge library of SysEx patches for 4-operator FM synths that I had collected since I bought my first Yamaha synth somewhere in the late 1980's. But because of the major differences I had to put a lot of time and effort in expanding the conversion power of my TXconvert software.
This website is the result of these efforts. I have (tried to) re-create the original patches from several vintage Yamaha (and Korg!) FM synths to System Exclusive files that can be loaded in the Yamaha Reface DX.

How to load the patches in my Reface DX ?

I am getting a lot of questions about this. It seems working with SysEx dumps and files is less common in these days than it was in the old days. For example Yamaha's Soundmondo website doesn't work with SysEx files that you can save/load to/from your local harddisk but is based on cloudstorage. And the soundmondo App for iOS devices uses QR code images that you can scan to send the data to your Reface DX.
To handle SysEx files (*.syx) you use a universal SysEx dump utility. Universal meaning you can use it for any MIDI device that can send/receive SysEx data, not just the Reface.

If you need an offline editor/librarian for your Reface DX you can download the Reface DX Editor Panel that I created for Ctrlr.

I have collected some links to SysEx Dump Utilities for several platforms. Give it a try!

The patches are also provided as plain text files (*.txt) The text files show a list of all parameter values. You can enter the values by hand in your Reface DX for the best educational experience :-)

More more more patches!

Some people can never have enough patches. The Yamaha Soundmondo website offers thousands of free patches, created and uploaded by the user commmunity. For people preferring directly downloadable SysEx files I have created a pseudo-mirror site where all these patches are available as SYX or TXT files. To make things easier for you I have removed many of the duplicate patches. Get Free SysEx patches from Soundmondo now!

Reface DX Factory Presets

It's always possible to switch back to the original 32 Factory Presets using Factory Reset or Voice Recall. They are in ROM and you will not lose them.
You can download SYX and TXT versions of the Factory Presets here.

Yamaha DX7 support

You own a Yamaha DX7 or compatible 6-operator FM synth and you want to enjoy this collection of patches too? Then visit my Yamaha 4OP to DX7 Conversion Project

Donations:

Please donate to support and to encourage me to continue these projects, to improve the quality of the conversions, and to maintain this website. On request I can also provide patches as QR code images for people using the Yamaha Reface Soundmondo App (iPad/iPhone)

e-mail: m.tarenskeen@kpnmail.nl

The Reface DX Legacy Project