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Fairlight is great-- DX7 though was really the sound of the 80s...

I was trying to find which CPU was used for the DX7.. didn't find it, but did find that Ken Sherriff reverse engineered the sound chips:

https://www.righto.com/2021/11/reverse-engineering-yamaha-dx...

Well I found the schematics: it uses a 6805 and a 6303!

http://www.midimanuals.com/manuals/yamaha/dx7/schematics/yam...

Ha. I have a love-hate relationship with the MC6805. On the one hand, I built a lot of devices based on the 68HC05 series. On the other, having to implement a 16-bit division routine on one was what made me swear off assembly language for good.

it would be reductive to chalk up the sound of the 80s to any one synth. Especially when the Fairlight was responsible for a number of iconic songs: http://ghservices.com/gregh/fairligh/topsong/

This is a good overview of key 80s gear, including the E-Mu, Linn Drum, DX7, Fairlight, Mirage, etc. https://www.musicradar.com/news/10-synths-that-defined-the-8...

Also used in a bunch of movie soundtracks:

https://forum.vintagesynth.com/viewtopic.php?t=72349

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnpYowxlwsU

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