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It debuted at $445 - a steal for a genuine FM synthesizer with the same 4OP matrix we knew and loved from higher-end boards.
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Odd layout, designed for use slung over the shoulder with a strap, Eighties style.a trend that mercifully died with Terminator sunglasses, legwarmers and cement-hold hairspray. Its 49-key range was an octave short of the industry standard 61, and the keys weren't full-size - they were mini-keys, a nightmare for hands used to standard piano keys. For one, it used the same disastrous tape hookup that the DX-9 did, and no cartridge interface. Do yourself a favor, friends, and if you can't find a good price on a DX-100, check out the DX-27. I can only imagine it's because folks don't realize that you can get all the features of the DX-100 with an added full-sized 61-key (albeit not velocity sensitive) keyboard for pittance. And yet, the DX-27 is barely a step above the DX-9 on the used-gear junkpile these days. Its beefier twin, the DX-27, had the sturdier case and full-sized keys, but was otherwise identical, down to the presets and internal logic. It was a board that should have failed, and didn't. If the DX-9 was the big embarrassment of the DX family for its design limitations, the DX-100 was the unexpected smash success.