WOLF retro DESIGN REVIEW. 15th April 2025
A retro review looks at products that are at least over ten years old from a present-day WOLF design perspective. While the technology and fashion of the period influence design, and are taken into consideration, great design ideas will transcend their eras to be timeless.
Interesting and factual information may be provided, but our review aims to deliver insight from the perspective of a designer’s mind and eyes.
Is the 85 meant to fall between the 77 & 99?
Introduction
Product Focus
As with most reviews the focus is on the design and its evolution with the Keyboard industry. The functioning systems and sound quality are not necessarily not considered.
Product description
The Yamaha SY85 was released in 1992 as another music workstation but differed from all previous Yamaha synths in that it did not have any FM. It was Yamaha’s hesitant answer to a market that was full of Rompler keyboards.
Price and Availability.
When new the SY85 Sold for around $1500US which was considerably less than the SY77 & SY99 that were also for sale alongside the SY85. It was the cheaper alternative that seemed more for amateurs than professionals.
Additional information
The SY85 was the last of the SY series and curiously designated as an ‘85’ rather than an ‘88” which would have been more in keeping with all the other SY models. Nevertheless, as an 85 model it suggested that it was somewhere in between the SY77 and the SY99. This however is a little misleading as many would describe it as an affordable Rompler alternative that was slightly below the SY77. Perhaps that’s why it had a ‘5’ instead of an ‘8’?
Review
Was there anything impressive about this?
First impression/ Delight
We recall seeing this for the first time in 1992 and our impression now only slightly differs from then. The SY85 is unimpressive and has nothing about it aesthetically to suggest that it was special in anyway. Apart from holding the title of being Yamaha’s first pure Rompler it did nothing particularly new.
Exterior Design Review
The SY85 has smaller dimensions to the SY77 and shares a few similarities with colours and components such as the pitch and modulation wheels, card slots and alpha dial. Everything else is relative different to the point where the SY85 almost feels like it shouldn’t be a part of the SY series. In particular it lacks the unique design detailing at the rear corners which all other SY synths share.
The SY85 is conceived as a singular wedged form with a platform for all the controls protruding by around 1cm just above the key bed. This platform protrudes at 90 degrees like a step that is set back by approximately 1cm from the surrounding edges. It is a rather basic detail and not as elegant as done on most previous Yamaha synths.
At the center of the instrument is a screen that looks borrowed from the DX7IIFD with eight slider controllers underneath. Another distinguishing feature of the SY85 is the disk drive on the left end that sticks out and breaks the simplicity platform.
Craftmanship.
The SY85 is fully encased in plastic which differs from the SY77 & SY99 by making it lighter but also feels a little lesser in quality. The finish on the black surface on most of the ones we’ve seen have a lot ware and marks to suggest that the painted surfaces were of an inferior grade. We also noticed that many SY85’s have yellowish keys which could again suggest that a lower grade plastic was used.
The buttons and controls all work as they should and the sliders in particular are smooth with a good amount of weightiness.
A new slider know design unique to the SY85
FUNCTION- Experience.
The arrangement of buttons and controllers are well organised similarly to the SY77 & SY99 but appear a bit different on the left side with a grid style control section which almost looks like press pad buttons reminiscent of those on the original DX7.
The screen seems relatively small for 1992 when most synths were opting for larger ones. This might have been a clue to suggest that the SY85 was not intended as a top tier model. The eight sliders underneath them however were a novel idea and at that time and were the most sliders we’d ever seen on a Yamaha synthesizer to date. Interestingly the SY85 had broken away from the same slider knob design that had been used all virtually all Yamaha synths since 1986. The new design had a rather pronounced convex curve that differed from the flatter concaved ones used previously. Despite being a new design, it was not repeated and in fact the subsequent W and EX series both reverted to the older design.
The Matrix/grid to the left of the screen is a new idea and we think the boxes should light up but unfortunately, they do not. This was another concept unique to the SY85 that was never again to be repeated.
Not the most elegant Disk Drive placement in our opinion.
The Grid that does not illuminate.
Desirability / Collectability
The SY85 was reasonably popular in the day due it being an affordable Yamaha workstation but with time it has become increasingly lost in the gap between the SY77 and the SY77. It’s looks are relatively dull and all that plastic (most now with bad scratches), only makes it less appealing. They are mostly only sought after for fond memories so can often be found for a bargain. A very clean example such as the one in this review that comes with its original disks and rare factory hard case might fetch a few hundred more but in general they are worth between $200 and $500 Aust.
WORD OF THE WOLF
In our opinion the SY85 should have been labelled as the SY66, but from a marketing perspective Yamaha probably wanted it to seem a little more than it was. This synthesizer holds the lowest score of all the synthesizers we have ever reviewed to date. At only 5.4 it has in fact one of the lowest scores of across all the different categories, and this probably says enough. It is not that the SY85 is a bad instrument, but from a design perspective it really does very little.
The factory set and demonstration disks are nice to have but often go missing.
Original Manual set
WOLF DESIGN EXCELLENCE SCORE = 5.4
Disclaimer
The information in this review is intended for informational or educational purposes to provide readers an understanding of how something may be seen from a certain design perspective. In this case it is from the view point of WOLF DESIGNS. As design is subjective this review should only be considered as an independent opinion. Information further to being of an opinion is provided to the best of our knowledge based on our own research at the time of doing the review. We cannot be held responsible for any inaccuracies or inconsistencies and reserve the right to change or update any content as appropriate.
The final responsibility of the design resides with the original manufacturer.
A forgotten plain Jane