Build Your Own FM Synth: DIY Kits with a Real Yamaha Chip Inside

Soldering iron, solder and parts tray on a workbench, ready for an FM synth DIY kit build

Most FM synth projects stop at the same wall: finding the chip. Every DAFM DIY kit ships with a genuine vintage Yamaha FM chip, tested by hand, so the only thing left for you is the soldering. It is hardware FM, not a software emulation.

DAFM Genesis DIY kit: bare PCB, quick guide and labelled parts bags

Three kits, three classic chips

  • DAFM Genesis DIY kit: YM2612 or YM3438. The sound engine of the SEGA Genesis / Mega Drive. 6 channels, 4 operators, 8 algorithms. Pick the YM2612 for its gritty “ladder effect” or the cleaner, louder YM3438; on the latest board the two chips can be swapped easily.
  • DAFM Arcade DIY kit: YM2151 (OPM). The chip behind countless arcade machines. 8 channels, 4 operators, 8 algorithms, with a separate YM3012 stereo DAC for a louder, cleaner output.
  • DAFM Blaster DIY kit: YMF262 (OPL3). The chip of 90s PC sound cards such as the Sound Blaster 16 ASP. 6 channels, 4 operators, 4 algorithms, with a YAC512 stereo DAC. Bank 0 holds the 128 General MIDI 4-op instruments by The Fat Man heard in Doom, Descent and more. More on the chip in our Yamaha OPL guide.

What you build

A through-hole soldering project: no surface-mount parts to wrestle with. Once finished, every kit gives you:

  • 2 rotary encoders and a full menu on 4 blue OLED displays
  • A 12-note tactile keyboard with octave change to audition patches
  • MIDI input, with chip parameters controllable via MIDI CC
  • SD card presets (DMP files for DefleMask on Genesis and Arcade, OPLI files for the OPL3 Bank Editor on Blaster)
  • Stereo 3.5 mm output, USB Type B 5V power

Build instructions on Hackaday

Step-by-step instructions live on the project’s Hackaday page. New to through-hole soldering? SparkFun’s through-hole soldering tutorial is a good start.

Not sure about your soldering?

Choose the assembly option in the Tindie order menu and we build it for you.

FAQ

Does the kit include the Yamaha chip? Yes. All DAFM kits always include the chip.

Are the chips new? They are vintage chips that may have been resurfaced at origin. We test every one so it works perfectly in the synth.

Where do I buy? On Tindie, with tracked Correos shipping worldwide from Spain. Import duties, if any, are paid by the buyer.

Get your DAFM DIY kit on Tindie