Once you master the four screen + dual knob navigation, you will be well on your way to making some beautiful retro FM sounds.

The DAFM Blaster offers a wide range of sonic possibilities that are not easily accessible on other synths that utilize the Yamaha OPL3. I have been able to create some exciting sounds with this powerful little synth. I find that saving patches is not straightforward, and I hope that this feature is streamlined in future. This synth sounds significantly better than anything produced by Korg and others in recent years. I look forward to what this company makes in the future.

It does exactly what I wanted, which is to play Deflemask patches on the real hardware for that sweet YM2612 grittiness and ladder effect.

Kasser also very quickly provided support and a repair when my unit had an issue.

I'm impressed with how much is squeezed into this little box.

The availability of 8 separate FM channels with four operators each is impressive, and the fact that each channel is polyphonic really opens up the possibilities. The menus are very well designed and easy to navigate, though the preset saving/loading (menu 6) could be a little more intuitive, and I'd really love a way to access the instrument presets directly from the device without the need to summon them from an external MIDI device.

Would also be great to see a bit more flexibility in the algorithm and LFO sections. The ability to select different waveforms for each operator would be great, and it'd be nice if the LFOs were not so 'global', but these might be due to hardware limitations of the YM2151 chip.

Overall a great device. Very happy with it.

https://youtu.be/rQvBhxPB6ks

I've been waiting for someone to wrap a synth around a YM2612 in a cost-effective and compact way, and this synth delivers. Its built-in patches in particular are spectacular - they really cover a lot of the bases for someone interested in the sounds of the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive.

The synth's user interface is extremely minimalist, which is a strength (it doesn't take up a lot of room, and the knobs are certainly stylish) but can also be a bit of a pain, particularly when it comes to interacting with the SD card.

After playing with this synth for a little while, I've figured out some things that were either quirks of the UI or stuff that the manual left slightly under-specified. This is more to make sure that people can get the most use out of this synth without getting frustrated by its quirks. For reference, I'm running the YM3438 version with firmware v1.98.

There's a more detailed explanation of these findings on the Mod Wiggler forum: https://www.modwiggler.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=3830114#p3830114 but I'll summarize them here:

1. Make sure your SD card works. I had some SD cards that the synth would neither read nor write, and others that it would. Make sure saving patches (pressing the right knob while the lower-right quadrant of screen 6 is selected). You should see six files written to the root of the SD card, named Patch01.dmp - Patch06.dmp. (I'd love for some kind of visual or auditory confirmation that patches were saved or loaded here, but c'est la vie)
2. Loading patches seems to work only if you save the current preset to a slot first (click the right knob while the upper-right quadrant of screen 6 is selected, which will make the little number at the tail of the arrow disappear, _then_ load patches by clicking the right knob while the lower-left quadrant of screen 6 is selected)
3. To bank switch, send a bank MSB CC command (CC#0) followed by a program change command. Don't send a bank LSB CC command - it seems to trip the synth up a bit if you do.

Overall, I love this synth! I hope these tips help others bypass some potential frustration.