Yamaha CS-20M

If you understand how the synth (every typicall one synth) works, you shouldn't have problems with CS20m. I've bought it after years of experience with digital workstations, and have no problem with programming after 10 minutes.

A monophonic synth, but with 2 separately tuned VCO's (and third, sine, connected with VCO1 for subbasses). Of course no MIDI, effects etc. The keyboard is quite nice, maybe too "springy", like in Pianet T or some other Hohner's stuff ;) But really nice to play on.

This model was dedicated especially for live use (because of 8 patches memory - great feature in 1982!), so is really good equipped with real-time controllers. Funny pitch band wheel, staying in position that was left.

Extremaly expressive instrument. It's impossible to stay calm playing it. Very fat, wide sound, with great plasticity. CS20m will wake up your creativity and imagination! Good enough for basses, leads, strange noises and fx's as well.

Well, is't vintage. Very heavy, with some typicall illnesses. First of all, sensitive for changes of temperature. I took it for a live gig one time. It got cold in transport, and I had to wait for more than an hour till Yamaha weren't warmed enough, because it had gone crazy - nothing was worked properly. I think it's rather a studio gear now, really precious.

Apart from situation I've described above, I've no problems with mine CS20m.

Just in some speciall firm working with vintage instruments, like analogia.pl.

It's definitely worth every euro I've paid for. I use it for 6 months and I'm not bored, though it's quite simple (comparing to new keyboards), monophonic synth. Moreover, it's so inspiring, that now can't imagine work without it. I love its punch, I love the sound is nasty, rude. When I played it live and heard it from big sound system, almost feeling it thru skin, I feel again so excited as if I played first time on stage (but just last year I've played over 100 gigs around the country). Believe me, I'm the lucky owner of 11 keyboards, including so serious staff like Motif ES, but CS20m cut me down.

Very technical. You literally buid the sound wave by design. Super heavy by today's standards. This is serious piece of equipment to lug around.

This machine was built around 1976 or 77. It is monophonic. It is only touch sensitive to the extent you program release and gain. No expansion cards or effects. This was built pre-midi and digital. You jack the output like an electric guitar. Realize, this as a pure synth design. Several options availabe for soundwave design.

This is not for reproduction of instruments, but for the pure synth type sound. This machine can belt our square waves that will rupture a speaker set in a heart-beat, so you've got to have the correct (modern) sound break equipment. Very nice for analog, live output.

I toured in the late 70's and early 80's with this machine. Unless you have roadies, you'll get a workout (estimate 40 pounds). Requires a significant case and a significant stand. Battery powered memory so if you loose a battery contact...puff, the effects are gone. There are better products today, but in 70's...this was the boss.

your kidding...right?

There is better more portable equipment available today. This is only for someone looking for a vintage synth. In it's time, this one not only one of the best performance synth's available (because it had....memory), it was the best looking synth on the market.

Pros only on this one - this synth takes the same amount of skill to tweak as the Korg MS 10s and 20s.

Monophonic, dual VCOs.

I had this keyboard plugged into the same rack as a Juno 60 and Chroma Polaris - It absolutely destroyed! If the VCOs are tuned (or should I say detuned) correctly (which is no easy task) the bass is so FAT it is unbelievable.

Built like a tank, but the memory doesn't seem to work on mine so well...

This is an amazing synth for analog aficionados like myself, however; 'new-school' nerds that prefer sequencers, MIDI, and a lot of Menus should steer away, they just couldn't handle this beast!

You've got to work with it for a while to get the right 'feeling' on
the knobs and sliders, and how different settings affect the final
sound, like in just every synth, I reckon.
Not hard to use, but it is not inmediate, and most likely not for
beginners unless all you want are simple sounds.

It's strictly monophonic. The keyboard feels good enough, as good as
Rolands and much better than Korgs.
No internal effects (NOTE: NEVER listen to this instrument dry; use
always at least a bit of delay). No MIDI, but has CV-Trigger in/outs
(directly compatible with Korgs. You need an adaptor to connect it
to any other brand). There are plenty of CV-MIDI converters, though.
No on-board sequenser (they left that for the CS-30L). Korg's SQ-10
should work out of the box, though.
Main features: 2 VCOs, one LFO (big drawback here), one white noise
generator, one multimode filter (+-12 dB/Octave for HP & LP but 6 dB
for bandpass, another drawback) with variable resonance but *no* self-
oscillation, independent EGs for the filter and VCA (ADSRs).
8 memories and a cassette interface for storing/loading the sound para
meters (remember the Sinclair Spectrum?). The bad news are: first, you
can't edit a sound once saved (well, there are dedicated knobs for
adjusting cutoff freq ('Brilliance') and release time ('Sustain') but
nothing else), and second: not every parameter gets stored (they have
white knobs instead of grey). That's rather annoying because one of
those parameters that's not stored is PWM depth, which I use a lot.
If you can't live with that buy the CS-40M instead.
Lacks: another LFO (for PWM, for instance, in order to have a slow
vibrato and fast PWM at the same time), a ring modulator (there is a
rather good one in the CS-40M which is the 20's big (and much better)
brother), and an EG to modulate pitch (there is a pseudo-EG for that,
though, but it isn't the same), again available in the 40. Oh, maybe
another oscillator, too. Sometimes it sounds a bit thin.
It's really a pity that it's only got one LFO, because this synth's
modulation routing is quite respectable. But then again that's a
constant on the CS series (even on the 30 which is a lot more
flexible).

I've owned this instrument for two years and I always thought it sounded
flat and dull; nice sometimes, but not really interesting. I even gave
a poor mark in another synth review just some weeks ago. How wrong I
was!! What was I doing wrong, you may be asking? First: the line out-
put marked 'Hi' in my unit seems to be broken because I was getting
absolutely no bass from it. Nothing at all. The sound started fading
away at around 200 Hz and on the lowest range it was hardly audible.
Three days ago I switched to the 'Lo' output, and I must say that this
synth's bass are really deep. It's not a Moog, but it's good enough
for me.
And second: I'd always listened to it 'dry', that is, just the synth,
the amp and the speakers, and the sound was too dull for my taste. I
thought the filter was too soft and not really warm. Well, that's a
mistake, it's just that this synth does NOT sound good without at least
a bit of reverberation. I don't know, maybe you have to listen to the
sound mixed with itself in order to appreciate the subtle nuances in
it. Anyway, the difference is abysmal. And I can tell you, this is
an AWESOME sounding synthesiser, albeit not a very powerful one (that
is, it's not that good for techno). It sounds like Vangelis! Well, he
used both the CS-40M (which is better than the 20) and the 80 (which
can't even be compared to the 20), but I can get most of the sounds
that he plays in 'Opera Sauvage', and they're not close imitations,
but exactly the same sounds (apart from those which are too complex
for the 20, few ones indeed). It has a soft, silky quality that's
quite distinctive, and it's very, very warm and lovely. But then again
this is not an American synth, so don't expect it to sound as fat as a
Minimoog.
In short: very expressive and 'live' sounds.

This thing is built like a tank. It's very sturdy (and heavy) and
there is a metal chassis inside. And the build quality is very, very
good. It could last very long if treated good.
On the other hand, it's over 20 years now, so I wouldn't use it live
as my one and only keyboard...
BTW, portamento is broken on mine. I need the service manual in order
to repair it, but haven't found it yet on the web. Anyone out there
can help?

I can't speak first hand, but as I understand it Yamaha still has
replacement parts for their old synths, including the CS series (which
is a good thing as they use a lot of custom ICs). I don't know how
expensive that would be, though.

I got it cheap and in excellent shape (except for the broken portamento).
But I don't think I'd go for another if mine was stolen. Analogue synths
are really overpriced here in Europe. But I'd really miss it.
What I like most: the sounds and the way it looks (it's quite pretty).
What I like the least: It's too heavy, I'm always afraid of it dropping.
The BP filter which is the weakest one I've ever heard.
What I whish it had: beside the obvious (polyphony, MIDI, etc) it could
have more memories (8 aren't enough) and it could have a wider range of
sounds (though it's OK, actually).
Other gear that I've got: Right now I own a Roland CR-8000 (analogue
drum box), a broken Solina (looking for parts) and a dead Polysix (on
it's way to be repaired).

It takes a while to learn when you are new to the concept of nearly endless possibilities. I've always played very limited synths. then i got this... wow!

It is a monophonic synth without midi, but it does have cv in and out. No sequencing or cards. This beast is all real-time. It has 30 knobs and 10 sliders. That should tell you something. It has 2 vcos with 6 octaves and 3 waveforms available on each. It has one lfo which triggers modulation on everything. There are both vcf and vca with ther own envelope generators. The vcf can be used as high pass, band pass, or low pass. It includes resonance and cut off controls. It has a noise generator (white noise?), a brilliance knob (that rocks), adjustable time portamento, glide and glissando. It has 8 user programmable settings. This synth is a force to be reckoned with.

This can make bowel shaking bass lines (i forgot to mention it has a really powerful sub on the vca), and in seconds can make incredible lead synth sounds. It can be warm and soft or incredibly harsh. If you are looking to just make weird sounds, it can do that as well. There are sample and hold modulation knobs across the board. I knew i would love this synth, but i had no clue how amazing it was until it arrived. This could be a great synth for techno if it had midi, but since it doesn't, it is probably best suited for new wave, rock, industrial, etc. It can sound a lot like a minimoog or a korg ms-20. This is one of the most underrated synths i know of. They sell for hundreds less than comparable synths.

I have only had it for a little while aso it hasn't had a lot of gigging, but i trust it completely. I haven't had a problem.

Yamaha doesn't care about anything they made before 1999.

I play in an indie band that plays mostly powerpop. We have had a following for a long time. The people who come see us are usually a guitar crowd. it isn't always easy to make synth fans out of guitar lovers, but at the last show we played, i introduced my cs-20m as a band mamber and it got as big an applause as any of the actual band members. The sounds it makes are just so powerful that everyone is impressed. After the show, i had a number of people come up to me to ask questions about it, say how jealous they were, and offer to buy it. If you find one, buy it. I'm soooooooooooo glad i did!

IWhen I purchased my CS20m it's presets were all replaced by user voices.By the way it has got only 8 memories.Patch editing is extremely easy as every parameter has got it's own dedicated knob,switch or slider.Unfortunately I don't have it's manual.

The CS20m is monophonic with a non sensitive but nice keyboard.Has got no effect processors,expansion capabilities,MIDI at all.

It may be great for jazz fusion solos or dance basses

It is almost as reliable as a DX7

I would buy it again as I paid so few for such a nice synth.I love the sound build quality and playability.I hate the weird dimensions and 17Kg of weight for a 3 octave synth.I wish it had a second LFO for the PWM and all the knobs worked at preset mode also.