Support Our Community!
We’re proud to keep this forum running as a place for enthusiasts like you to connect, learn, and share. To help cover hosting costs and keep everything running smoothly, we invite you to consider becoming a VIP Member for just $1 per month.
As a thank you, you’ll gain VIP status, enjoy a completely ad-free experience, and know you’re helping sustain the forum for everyone.
On paper the FS1R and the Radias appear pretty similar synths, they are both 4 part multi timbral with some capability of doing FM/VPM synthesis. However one major distinction between the two is how Yamaha uses "Performances", "Parts" and "Voices". The Radias has no intermediate "Part" parameters, it simply has 256 "Programs" containing four "timbres" each. The effects are much simpler to understand as each timbre has 2 insert fx plus a Master FX. The FS1R has only 3 overall FX, insertion, variation and reverb plus a 3 band EQ.
I've had my FS1R since around 1999 but it's never featured on a finished song. Is it time to call it quits and sell the FS1R or is it worth it persisting with it's complexity and get to grips with this thing?
I'm not sure whether you have both synths or want to replace FS1r with Radias, but I see rather more differences than similarities.
FS1r has two level patch organization which seems to cope with limited memory (full Performance data take 400 bytes, a single Voice data 608). Changes made to voices are reflected at once in all performances. This is usually an advantage but obviously requires attention, as you may unintentionally break other performances.
Since you hold FS1r for so long you either love it or money is not an issue, then why sell it at all?
Just give it another try and decide later. There is no rush as FS1r beats inflation, so ultimately you can keep it as an investment.
Thanks for your reply Mihau, much appreciated. Thanks for your advice and the FS1R is staying with me for now! I haven't got a Korg Radias but by looking at the software editor it appears to be a quite a capable synth that would be easier to program than the FS1R. Also I have a Korg Z1 which has a deeper VPM engine than the Radias so maybe it is is not for me.
The FS1R is unique I like it but I don't think anyone has built a spectacular set of patches for it yet but there are some singles that have impressed me, some are quite Moog like...
Recently I came across an editor named "The FS1R Editor 1.50" created by Kirill Katsnelson in 2000. It has a simple interface with graphical editors for the envelopes etc. It works by using the "edit buffer" to hold the sounds, so creates a Performance with all parts and all the voices and saves the patch as a file (in reality sysex). I can get my head round this editor as it's simple and efficient so hopefully will get to grips using it with the FS1R.
The FS1r is one of a kind. I have one, do not use it much, but when I want to add something different to a track that does not get in the way of anything else I sometimes turn to the FS1r.
Do not forget as well, that as well as FM it has formants, which give it another character trait that nothing else has. I was always surprised that when Yamaha based the Montage FM engine on the FS1r, it dropped the format side.
