Yamaha • CS-01

Yamaha CS-01 Image

Yamaha CS-01

The CS-01 is a very old but classic analog monosynth from Yamaha. Although originally designed for use by novice musicians or first time synth-buyers, the CS-01 has been recognized by today's electronic musicians as one fat little bass machine with simple controls. In a nutshell, the CS-01 is simple to use and edit but still has some great features for any situation. It's tiny and portable, it has baby-sized keys and it can run on batteries, and there is a built-in amplifier and speaker which is quite fun.

As for sounds and synthesizing, the CS-01 is the perfect monosynth for bubbly and growling bass! It features a very nice 12dB resonant VCF filter. In addition to the oscillators' sine and square type waveforms there is PWM and noise. There are also LFO controls, glissando (like portamento), a typical ADSR envelope generator, pitch & mod wheels and even a breath controller input. A CS-01 mkII (pictured below) was later released by Yamaha soon after the original. It featured an improved 24dB resonant VCF filter with adjustable slider control over resonance instead of switchable on/off resonance as found on the original. The CS-01 mkII is also identifiable by its black case with green letters.

Yamaha CS-01mkii Image

Yamaha CS-01 mkII

The CS-01 may look simple or toy-like but it is still able to create cool little analog bass blips, bass lines and bass bubbles that are just perfect for today's electronic musicians. It has been used by the Dust Brothers, Underworld, OMD, Richard Barbieri and Chick Corea.


VISITOR COMMENTS (18)

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Marc
Posted 50 days ago
See a lot of grey ones about, mines a mk1 black and yellow version.

Great sound for such a compact unit, microkorg of it's day
bill
Posted 162 days ago
why this synth is great isnt about how it sounds entirely.
i mean being a small real small light analog synth that you can take pretty much anywhere earns it max marks in my books.

too bad theres no magic midi sockets. i think kenton sells a kit for this.
really tho it is a fun little synth. great little synth for whatever your mind dreams up. dont expect any amazing sound design here but who cares.
i mean most of us would be first in line at the local music shop to grab it if it was rereleased.
efabric
Posted 164 days ago
I upgraded mine with a Filter Q potentiometer control on the right side, still bypassable by the switch. I found that the synth was too bright stock. For massive bass I replaced the main oscillator caps with twice their value. After tuning with the inside pot, My CS-01 goes one octave lower ! GrrrooOWWWL !
AGL
Posted 182 days ago
To answer the PWM question again: PWM is easy to emulate digitally, it's not a wavetable.

Hilarious little synth, loved it except for the resonance switch on the original. A switch? Come on...
tim jones
Posted 293 days ago
I've just been to see Azymuth in Bristol UK, Jose uses one of these and it sounds soooooooo good. On a par with any of the Roland mono synths