No one seems to have bothered reviewing the DJX, at least in the U.S., so I have a few questions:

1) Is the sampler section a one-shot, what-you-hear-is-what-you-get affair, or can the sample be trimmed & effected internally?

2) Can the available sample be divided between several sounds and if so, how complex is the process in this instance? Can you recover unused memory for application to the next sound?

3) What kind of frequency response does it have, compared to the usual, muffled "toy" keyboard soundset? Half the reason I'm considering it is to have access to the Mellotron CD, which by its nature can "live with" a less crispy sound and still do the job.

4) Will it save even one sample onboard a la Flash Bank or must you reload it every time?

5) Can you directly transfer a trimmed sample from a larger unit such as an Akai into the DJX? If so, what kind of protocol(s) does it speak?

6) Will it save/reload programs via SMF?

7)What kind of sys-ex compliment does it offer, if any?

You'd think KEYBOARD would have reviewed it because of its unusual performance/price point ratio, but here we are! Any help would be appreciated.

I am by no means a DJX expert, but I will attempt to answer most of your questions:

1) Is the sampler section a one-shot?

The sampler is one shot. It can be set to start via trigger (you edit the trigger threshold) or you can actually trigger it manually.

You can edit the end-point and the loop point.

2) Can the available sample be divided between several sounds?

The DJX offers a total of 6 seconds of memory. You ercover what you trim off when you edit the endpoint. You can assign the sample to a single key. Just like the sampled drum loops that come standard on the DJX.

3) What kind of frequency response does it have, compared to the usual, muffled "toy"?

I think there are some very useable sounds... DX7 type fm keyboards and a few others are useable. In reality, I can only use about 20 - 30% of the onboard sounds with my other gear.

4) Will it save even one sample onboard a la Flash Bank or must you reload it every time?

The sample will be stored as long as the internal memory backup battery is good, or you don't do a reset.

5) Can you directly transfer a trimmed sample from a larger unit such as an Akai into the DJX?

No.

6) Will it save/reload programs via SMF?
Yes - either by bulk load or with an external sequencer.

7)What kind of sys-ex compliment does it offer, if any?

Too many to discuss.

Excellent! Now if I could just locate one to test-drive in Arkansas...the place is so guitar-heavy and countryfied, the few dealers who handle keyboards often look like someone just did a smash-&-grab and stole 3/4 of the stock you'd find at Manny's. Bleah!

While I'm still a bit concerned about how crisp some sampled material will be compared to the original, you've answered several key things of concern to me; thanks.

Now if I'd only had this thing hooked up to the TV when that Puffs commercial was running..."I feel like if I rub it one more time, its gonna fall off!" HA!

This is the official site from Yamaha http://www.yamahadjx.com/
It should have your info

Dear God, don't get the DJX expecting to use it as a sampler. It is not a very good samples and your results won't be crisp at all.

Don't get me wrong, the DJX is very cool -- vist http://www.abstractreality.com/djx and get my STUDIOWARE PANEL -- if you use Cakewalk, it will give you complete control over the keyboard so you can use it in a more professional environment...

It has some great preset sounds and decent drum sets... It's sampling just isn't very good. You'd be a LOT better off using an Awe64 or SB live - much more powerful sampling, better sound quality, and it's still inexpensive.