David Hilowitz Music Unleashes the FM-1: DX7 Vibes for Pocket Money

David Hilowitz Music wastes no time getting to the main event: the M-Vave FM-1, a synth that’s causing a proper stir for one reason—absurdly low price. The FM-1 clocks in at $67 (don’t trust the screenshots, as David warns you’ll pay a bit more after shipping), and yet it claims to pack the soul of a classic Yamaha DX7 into a box barely thicker than a Game Boy. The plastic may be light, but the hype is heavy, and David’s not shy about putting it through its paces.

This is no throwaway knockoff. The FM-1 isn’t just a toy, it’s a full-fat FM synthesizer, supposedly a “faithful recreation” of the DX7’s sound engine. Hilowitz doesn’t just unbox the thing—he lines it up next to the DX7 and gets ready for a sonic street fight. There’s a reason everyone’s talking about it: it’s rare to see this much FM power for pocket change. Don’t expect a nostalgia-soaked love letter though—David’s got his critical goggles on.

Despite its budget price tag, the FM-1 comes loaded. David gives us a whirlwind hardware tour: USB-C for MIDI and power, a proper MIDI TRS-A input, and—crucially—a headphone jack so you can actually hear the carnage. The size is pure nostalgia, but the features are straight out of 2024. The onboard effects aren’t just an afterthought either. You get filter, chorus, reverb, delay, distortion, and phaser, with the bonus of being able to reorder them. That’s more than some synths ten times the price offer, and it’s all tweakable in real time.

Presets? Oh, you get them. David suspects legal wrangling kept real DX7 banks out of the box, but the factory sounds are close enough to tickle the retro crowd. Arpeggiator and sequencer are both on tap, and the ability to load actual DX7 presets via a clever online editor is the knockout punch. If you want to go beyond the built-in sounds, you can—without hacking, soldering, or sacrificing a goat. For a “budget” synth, this thing is dangerously well-equipped.

The real test: how does the FM-1 stack up against the mighty DX7? David lines up both units, running identical MIDI into each, and lets the audio speak for itself. Sometimes the difference is there—a subtle texture, a hair of digital grit—but at other moments, you’d be hard pressed to tell which is which. For most mortals, the FM-1 gets so close it’s almost unfair.

Of course, purists will still hear ghosts in the machine. But if you want classic FM sounds without hauling a 10kg keyboard to the park, the FM-1 is a revelation. The video’s A/B tests are where the magic lives—watch it if you want to train your ears. For everyone else, the takeaway is simple: you don’t need a vintage monster to get those glassy, bell-like FM tones.

If you’ve ever wanted to mess around with FM synthesis but couldn’t face DX7 menu-diving or the price of entry, the FM-1 is your golden ticket. David makes it clear: for sixty-seven bucks, this is a steal. There’s a world of sound design waiting, and you don’t have to stick to cheesy ’80s presets—unless that’s your jam. The full experience, quirks and all, is best caught in the video. Grab your headphones and see if this pint-sized FM machine kicks as hard for you as it does for David.