The CS-50 was released just ahead of its famous big brothers, the CS-60 and CS-80. The CS-50 looks like a scaled-down version of the monstrous CS-80, and it is! This will benefit those who crave the famous classic Yamaha synth sound without the struggle of lugging around the 215 pound CS-80! The CS-50 weighs in at about 100 pounds. The CS-50 is also just 4-voice polyphonic, and lacks the quality weighted 61-note keyboard of the CS-80. The CS-50 has just a 49-note standard keyboard. It does feature pressure (aftertouch) sensitivity route-able to several destinations, however.

The CS-50's sound is unmistakably related to other classic CS-series synthesizers. At just four voices with one osc. per voice and lacking warm filters (at just 12dB/oct) the CS-50's sound can be thin. There are 13 preset sounds of various instruments and synth sounds but, unfortunately, no on-board memory storage for your edited presets. At its low street price, the CS-50 makes a great way to get your hands on these classic sounds without going broke! It's too bad their tuning is just as unstable as the other CS-series synths. It's housed in a built-in travel-case like the other (big) CS-synths. It's been used by Men Without Hats and Herbie Hancock.

Matt (D) Miller

March 16, 2013 @ 11:59 am

This synthesizer deserves a much higher rating than it actually has. The range of sounds it can make is amazing, even without running it through some other equipment.

Volker

January 2, 2013 @ 12:46 pm

We own many old synths and we love especially old Yamaha gear. So we have the chance to compare many CS synths (Yamaha CS5, CS15D, CS30, CS40, CS60, CS70M and CS80). Sure, you cannot play a CS80 on a CS50. But the CS50 is a fantastic synth as well. It is more than just a scaled down CS80 and its sound is so unique and exotic. If you are on tour, you will like this babe more than a CS80. Look at www.tastronauten.de. We have a nice little sound demo and much more synth stuff there.

Bob O

December 21, 2012 @ 4:00 pm

I'm sorry but this review is a joke. I own a Jupiter 8, an Oberhiem 0b8, a Juno 60, a Roland vp330, a virus ti2 and a prophet 5 and my cs50 does things none of them can do especially when it comes to bass. It is one of the warmest fattest synths I own. If you think this beast sounds digital or thin then you either don't know how to program it or you are deaf. :) Seriously 3 stars and the Yamaha EX5 gets 5 stars?? C'mon man!

Kitkat

March 30, 2012 @ 9:58 pm

Yes quite true. It seems only the flagship Yamahas get good write ups.

Rocco Sapareto

March 19, 2012 @ 10:46 am

LOL....sound thin ?? I don't think so ! If you don't know what you're doing it will ! I ran mine through a Cerwin Vega 18" cabinet powered by a Fender dual showman head with NO effects and it was indeed FAT, fat, fat with BALLS ! I get the feeling this site doesn't like Yamaha analogs ..... very negative sounding write ups on the 50 and 60.

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