Yamaha DX-1

Number one can get expensive. Whether it’s the promise of a brand-new bike for being top of the class in math, receiving a fine starting with a one (followed by multiple zeros), or even a number one from Yamaha:

Yamaha GX-1: Unaffordable
Yamaha GS-1: Affordable, but you’d be strapped for cash afterward

Or this incredible Yamaha DX-1 as a full-featured variant of the best-selling synth of all time, the legendary Yamaha DX-7.

It’s a well-proportioned feast for the eyes. And if you could afford the DX-1, you also had the money to have it carried on stage for you. Even its weight starts with a one!

The visual arrangement of its huge range of parameters with red LEDs supports the programming of your own sound creations. And half an hour later, it helps you realize that FM synthesis is still a type of synthesis that the majority of people can’t get their heads around.

Based on the DX-1’s serial number seen here—1019—you might assume that the eboard in front of you is the 19th or 20th in a rare series that Yamaha kept under wraps. But in fact, there are an estimated 150 units in total in specialist circles.

And yes, this number starts with a one as well… :-)