Notes on product
appearance and photos shown: Most items shown in the photos on this
product page are versions that existed from 6/2019 through 2021. By
7/2025 every single piece of the upgrade, aside from the central
Synclavier analog power supply itself---which is the whole point of
this design versus the trash anyone else is trying to do---had been
changed and improved to proper factory made items and better materials
to replace the prototype/hand made of surplus parts items supplied the
first few years when it had been anticipated that very, very few of
these kits would be sold, and possibly only few could even be made. The installation method remains the same for now, just follow the installation photos.
The earlier photos that still remain on this page, the installation
page, and in other places showing this Synhouse product may show
earlier versions of the parts. For example, the stiff gasoline-proof green AWG 10 triple ground wires w/unplated copper strands (now factory made in very flexible green AWG 10 triple ground wires w/tin plated copper strands for improved solderability, featuring the tin plated copper fully flat star washer/ring terminals for stacking to the star grounding point, made to the latest revision which is perfect), the black/white AWG 14 AC twist wires from 2006 studio surplus (now factorymade w/new machine twisted AWG 14 wiring),
main 9-way 5-color half factory/half handmade wiring harness (went to
fully factory made once the exact lengths were determined, then to
fully factory made in the better, preferred factory that makes those TX816 and some Synclavier
and SP1200 wiring harnesses for Synhouse), main digital PSU (preferred
factory unreachable for two years, out of business by 2022, replaced by
various other suppliers those 3 years that were difficult to certify,
replaced by preferred factory better than the first one doing a first
production then a massive second production once Synhouse factory work
was fully resumed), single use black FR4 drilling template (made in 15
different versions, most hand modified, but at least four factory
versions existed [3/2017, 9/2019, 1/2021, and 4/2023], now a single use
white paper drilling template which delayed a 2nd price increase and
3rd shipping price increase since the shipping box no longer had to be
a foot long), black IEC AC inlet and FR4 IEC panel (went from whatever
factory/surplus IEC sockets were in stock at Synhouse over the years to
a new IEC socket from the preferred factory, and to a black steel IEC panel more similar to the old Yamaha panel that gets removed/discarded, plus it is M3 metric tapped like the old one from Yamaha to remove another two items from the hardware packet,
this was great expense and difficulty enabled only by five years of the
surprising success of this kit and the use of that same IEC
socket/panel in another Synhouse product), miscellaneous mismatched
black/red/green (No choice b/c muh "supply chain crisis" with 115 ships
lined up off the L.A. coast [when not a single ship or dock crew in the
world had refused to work even once] had Synhouse buying very
approximately sized heat shrink tubing of miscellaneous colors at
Harbor Freight tools while All Electronics was closed for lockdown. Fun
fact: Not one person working at or shopping at that store died of the
world's most deadliest pandemic knowst to man.) heat shrink tubing
installed by Synhouse and supplied in hardware packet (went to matching heat shrink tubing from preferred factory), cable ties from 1999Synhousestock
(went to new stock cable ties from better factory), hardware packet
(had many parts replaced with better, more exact parts, initially
changing 2/each steel nuts and spring washers to 2/each single Keps
nuts for ease and efficiency, then replaced entirely with the tapped
black steel IEC inlet panel requiring no nuts on the back at all,
though the very, very limited production of this upgrade doesn't allow
the usual Synhouse designed and manufacturedhardware/fasteners
to be produced, it must be off the shelf from somewhere), and, most
importantly, it can be seen that the fully soldered ring terminals
which had been whatever was in stock at Synhouse for decades (mostly
odd factory closeout lots from the wonderful, wonderful All Electronics
in the city with no skies Van Nuys, permanently out of business in
2023, fellow shoppers at any time might include many L.A. electronic
music techs, and two ex-Linn Electronics, Inc. people come to mind)
were changed to three very precise new parts from the preferred
factory, especially the tin plated heavy cast pure copper ring terminals in two sizes, still fully soldered, and avoided accepting ANYTHING less, and no one else has those (lame attempts at competing with this power supply upgrade
don't supply but suggest using crap crimp connectors). The usual
applies, as everyone else says: The company reserves the right to
change the product from the appearance shown.
Need 230v Euro power? It's supplied to anyone ordering from Europe or otherwise requesting it.
The Problem(s):
The Yamaha TX816 (most people call it a TX816 but the model number
shown on the serial number tag
on the back of the machine can say TX216 or TX816, depending upon how
it was sold, US list prices in 1985 were $2,095 and $4,995,
respectively), described as eight DX7s in a rack, is an instrument
of enduring popularity, but it has 1) a horrible power supply and 2) an
unfortunate AC power cord setup.
Even back in 1985, the Yamaha TX816 was well known for having a very
bad power supply, it either had a loud buzzing, humming sound in the
room, or it just failed outright. Anyone involved with electronic music
or instrument sales knew this well all the way back in 1985. Various
synth technicians over the years have figured out how to replace a dead
one with something else, usually taking a lot of time doing them one by
one, and not ending up with anything that could be considered an
upgrade (usually a crappy, noisy combo switching power supply like a
Skynet because it's all they had or all that they could make fit).
A huge percentage of TX816 power supplies have failed or become very
noisy. Bad power supplies (and other components, such as the
LCD/backlight on the Yamaha REV7 reverb, more than half had failed in
two years, almost none exist still working in the world today) are
common to Yamaha products, and nothing has ever been done about it. The
slightly newer Yamaha TX802 module is also known for having a humming,
buzzing, failing power supply, and the Yamaha 02R and 02R version 2
digital mixers have suffered an almost 100% failure rate, and even when
fixed, fail again, because they are garbage.
Work was done here on a number of Yamaha TX816s 2016-2017, and it was
shocking to see that all over the web, everyone still knows about the
bad power supplies, and still no one had done anything about it.
What people on the web DO NOT discuss is how terrible and insufficient
the Yamaha TX816 power supply is even when it is working properly. It
doesn't have nearly enough power for eight TF1 modules. There is no
power headroom, so transient response is suppressed when any sounding
voice has to suck power away from the other voices/modules.
The Yamaha TX816 power supply doesn't supply nearly enough power for eight TF1 modules. Even when first turned on cold---WITH
NO VOICES SOUNDING---the +15v load is drawing 80% and the -15v is
drawing 91% of the rated power supply capacity. If you don't believe
this, you can cut the wires and clip your DMM/ammeter in there and see
for yourself how much power it is drawing when turned on cold. And keep
in mind that the meter is averaging, it is not showing transient peaks
of usage which is, well, where your audio is.
A TF1 module is a complete instrument, a 16-voice digital algorithm
synthesizer with MIDI. If Yamaha had made one of those in a standalone
box, it would have been fitted with this crap Yutaka power supply, and
the load and amperage capacity would be well matched. But EIGHT of them
on one of these crap Yutaka power supplies? That's really a joke.
The Solution:
Synhouse has engineered (2016-2019) a massive power supply upgrade that
puts a Synclavier power supply into the Yamaha TX816. It's a little
more than that, it's actually a custom +5v digital power supply and
+/-15v Synclavier analog power supply that goes into the TX816 with
upgraded wiring, improved grounding, and additionally gets rid of that
ridiculous donkey tail AC power cord (only 2-prong, it isn't even
grounded), putting a normal, properly grounded, IEC AC inlet on the
back so that it can use a standard computer power cord.
Three different factories (regular Synhouse subcontract suppliers)
kindly contributed to this very, very low production volume product and
made it possible to have high quality at a low price. It should remain
available for a number of years.
The kit includes drilling template, both power supplies, AC inlet panel, and wires, all
pre-assembled as far as possible, everything needed except your tools
(electric drill, 2 drill bits, center punch to mark holes for drilling, 1 or 2
Phillips screwdrivers, soldering iron).
Current Pricing:
$185 Synhouse/Synclav.com Synclavier Power Supply Replacement/Upgrade for Yamaha TX216/TX816
$149 Synhouse Factory Installation in Los Angeles (shipping not included)
Installing this isn't quite as easy as installing a Synhouse MIDIJACK,
but it isn't difficult at all, it just requires some tools and some
care and caution as you work. The installation method is well described
and illustrated here: