Vintage Synth Explorer

Yamaha • CS-80

A very old and very huge (over 200 lbs.) classic synthesizer. Considered Japans first great synthesizer. It had some pretty amazing features for its time such as eight voice polyphony, patch memory storage and polyphonic aftertouch. It can generate great analog strings, brass, drones and pads with that instantly recognizable classic polysynth sound. No synth sounds greater. Some examples of its extremely fat sound can be heard in "Blade Runner" and "Mutiny on the Bounty" by Vangelis as well as "Dune" by Toto. The thing that really made this synth sound so powerful was its "natural" detuning....thus its brass and string sounds were unparalleled not only for authenticity, but for pure width! Unfortunately for the CS-80, it was released the same year as the more programmable and cheaper Prophet 5.

With two analog oscillators per voice, the CS-80 has the potential for some really fat sounds! A great VCF filter with independent hi pass and low pass resonant filters, a powerful ring modulator and plenty of modulation controls further enhance the CS-80's sonic potential. There are 22 preset sounds (6 user) selected from bright and ugly colored buttons above the keyboard. The keyboard is weighted and has a full 61 keys with performance controllers for vibrato, pitch, brightness and volume. Surprisingly there's also a long ribbon controller for the pitch-bending, located above the keyboard. There is no MIDI or cv/gate control. The only way to MIDI it is via a rather complex retrofit receive-only kit from Kenton.

It has been used by Vangelis, Chicago, Jethro Tull, Kraftwerk, Ultravox, Bon Jovi, Simple Minds, Paul McCartney, Michael McDonald, Brian Eno, Toto, Eddie Jobson, Doug Johnson (Loverboy), The Crystal Method, Jean Michel Jarre, Geoffrey Downes (Yes, Asia), Rick Wakeman, Stevie Wonder, Phish, Daft Punk, BBC Radiophonic Workshop, and Tony Banks of Genesis.

Check out Arturia's CS-80V - an amazing, totally authentic and realistic software synth plug-in modelled after the CS-80, with major enhancements including stereo voices, non-drifting oscillators, advanced modulation abilities, MIDI/Tempo sync, patch memory, total recall, controller automation, and much more - all for less than $250!

VISITOR COMMENTS

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Posting Rules: Please keep your comments relevant! Do not post requests for help, do not use for sales, do not post unless you have something interesting to say about this instrument, or we may delete your post.

 

R.L

Posted 289 days ago

I just aquired one that is outta tune but it looks great and the keys all work for just short of 2 grand so I am a happy camper :D

Pugface

Posted 302 days ago

Owning a Cs80 is like having a ferrari. You go faster but you pay for it at the garage. It never stayed in tune. It liked a warm room. Its filters were 12dB but sounded very natural. This synth sounded like a real instrument. But not immetating a real instrument. It sounded organic. the mixing of Sine to other waves was the key to the best sounds. The interaction they brought, cancellation and addition, between waveforms was its magic.

Steven

Posted 311 days ago

This synthesizer is top notch, just as his little brother the CS50/60. And I agree, the people at Arturia did a great job on recreating this monster in a vst. Okay the ring modulator is not as powerful as the original but for the rest the normal synth tones come close like 80 to 98 % of the original. SO there's nothing to be ashamed of the buy the Arturtia version.

planetplayer

Posted 313 days ago

Wish I had one. I played it in early 1980's. VST is better for these days than dreaming. I think. Nothing is like the original. However accesing programming and storage of programs etc is better on VST. The VST sounds very similar, they did a good job.

François

Posted 325 days ago

Some other used that great machine too, Peter Gabriel uses it in ``So``, and Keith Emerson used to play Peter Gunn with it.
And The J. Geil's Band featured it in one of their videos.
I do have one and I love it
François

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