Yamaha SY85
Synthesiser and Workstation

The Yamaha SY85 was launched in 1992 as the final addition to the big boards in the Yamaha SY synthesiser range.  Many thought that the SY85 initially was a modification of the previously released SY77 or SY99.  But it was a different beast.

The SY77 and SY99 used AFM and AWM to generate the synthesis. Whereas the Yamaha SY85 uses just the AWM engine with waveform samples which are manipulated to generate the sounds.  The synthesiser ships with 64 internal waveforms which it uses to form the factory sound set.

You can load your own samples into the Yamaha SY85 and use these to create your own tones. 

In addition to the ability to create tones from custom waveforms and samples the SY85 comes with a performance mode, voice mode and 8+1 track sequencer.  The +1 is the drum or percussion track. 

For me the Yamaha SY85 was lucky find.  The case was cosmetically in very good condition. This synthesiser was described by the seller as fully operational.  But when the SY85 arrived, this proved not to be the case.  Requiring a refurbishment project to be undertaken.

The refurbishment project that was undertaken on this instrument to correct the issues that I found on acquisition.  The two main issues that were found are listed below.

• Power supply - the power switch was jammed in an ON position, however when I opened the instrument up, I found more damage to the power supply than just repairing the switch.

• Disk drive - this made a high-pitched noise but would not load any data into the instrument. A common problem with this instrument was the drive belt perishes.  Do you just replace the belt or replace the floppy disk drive unit?

I documented the refurbishment work that I undertook to restore the SY85 back to full operational use, plus a couple of upgrades that are musts for this synthesiser. Links to the videos can be found elsewhere on this site.

If you need help getting software for this synthesiser maybe I can help.  I have a range of sound library disks available for sale on e-bay or use the contact page to request specific software.