Yamaha CS-30

sorry mate, no presets here... the manual is pretty useless. it's not a beginners'synth, but by far not as hard to program as it's always made out to be. if you want instant gratification, why would you buy this anyway.

the sequencer is fun and easy to use (8 steps). i really like the calibration of the knobs. you can make very subtle changes quite easily. overall: high quality machine, though by far not on the level of the polyphonic cs series. you have to dig the cs sound, though. for a moog it ain't.

i'd say it's best for experimental music, or any electronic genre. though i could also imagine it being played on the stooges' funhouse or einsturzende neubauten's early works.

don't know.

no idea.

i make mainly electronic experimental music and dark ambient, even though i loathe the term. i'm a huge fan of anything that's made by yamaha and says "cs". in my setup, it's probably the most complex piece of eqipment. i mainly use it for improvised modular textures. other gear includes jupiters 4 and 6, yamaha cs 60 (my all time fave), micromoog and various smaller preset machines.
i'd get it again, but then they're going up in price so fast.

I know many people have commented on how difficult this unit can be for the beginner and I'd tend to agree. That said, once you've wrapped your head around the mod routings (from the single LFO and three envelopes - with five options) and the oddball way they've configured the voice routing (waveforms are on inputs to filters, filter modes are on inputs to amplifiers), you're on your way to creating some fantastic sounds. No presets here, pal, you're on your own, unless you really want to download the manual from the Yamaha Japan site and try out their patch sheet suggestions. The manual is helpful, but not required. This really is something you need to get your hands very dirty with.

No polyphony, a mere one note at a time. Work your talent and make it a very interesting note. No built in effects, but sounds quite the business through some good phasing, delay or reverb (got a stonking great sub bass drone by running it through a long reverb with just a hint of LFO mod on the oscillators, filter and amp - very easy to set up). No MIDI, which I don't use much of anyway. Mine is the model CS-30L, so no sequencer. I'm not missing it. Some folks grouse about the lack of self oscillation on the filters. I've got the MS-20 and Mono/Poly for that sort of thing and these are very different sounding filters, crank the resonance to 10 and they add a certain character to the sound without squelching it at all. Then modulate the filters from a fast LFO, you'll wonder how it's not oscillating but still giving results very close to that effect. Very nice indeed.

No velocity or aftertouch sensitivity, this is from the late 70s after all. This is a unit that wants to be tweaked and PLAYED, both from the keyboard and from its little knobs and sliders. No pitch or mod wheels as such, does have a pitch bend lever and lever for filter sweep (marked 'brilliance', oh, yes, it is very brilliant). Foot pedal inputs for pitch and brilliance, footswitch inputs for portamento and sustain (also available from left hand sliders). I'm using this synth for experimental/industrial/ambient type music and it's a keeper for that sort of thing. I imagine that it would be a good studio noisebox for interjecting strange sounds into rock, metal or 80s style synthpop/technorock/what have you. Rent/borrow one and sample it. Not the same as using it for real, but will get you away from your favorite softsynth for a day or so. And don't forget the external input for processing guitars, drum machines, tapes, etc.

To be fair, I've had this thing all of three days. It's 25 years old. It's going to stay in the studio. I wouldn't let it out of my sight at a gig or travelling. I'll be cremated with it. No notes yet on reliability. I hear Yamaha are very good with stocking old parts, so I hope it's true. The keyboard scanning chip is getting a bit hard to find, but I'd just hook up my MS-20 to control it or get a MIDI-CV box if the keyboard died and I couldn't find the part. So far, so good, but I think that's a function of it having been recently serviced and it was obviously well looked after by its prior owner(s).

Haven't had to deal with Yamaha yet. I love the fact that they've got all their old instrument manuals available online, very helpful and I'm the sort who can while away an afternoon reading a CS-80 manual, what a geek.

This is one of the kings of the monosynths, I do believe. A pity there weren't more of them made, or at least more of them made available in the US. If it was lost/stolen/destroyed, there would be nothing else to replace it but another one. I've been playing synths since 1982 and have been through more of them than I can easily recount, but this one's a keeper. It's not easily comparable to anything else, any more than you could compare an AKS or MS-20 to something else, very much its own thing. I'm sure I'll find some flaw or shortcoming, but, you know, you can always sit around saying, "It's great, but I wish it also had X, Y or Z". Take it as it is and work with it. It has certain limitations, both of design and being the technology of its time, but it's got way more possibilities than, say, a Moog Rogue, Prodigy, Korg MS-10 or any of the lower rung ARP instruments. In terms of depth, comparable to MS-20 or even maybe ARP 2600. If you like analogue, you probably like this. Love the road case it's built into, too bad the screw-in legs went away somewhere along the line.

I rate it low because in all honesty the layout of all the modulation is pretty impossible. It is easiest to work with a copy of the chart next to you as the panel isn't very informative about how the knobs group together. Furthermore there are no patches and no memory to work from. One sound at a time. I think in a live situation, you could easily get lost trying to figure out why it doesn't sound the way you would expect only to discover that some knob hidden in a remote position was turned a bit too much to the left. But by then you would be well into the next song. The real problem of course is that there are so many knobs and switches to choose from that you loose the overall picture. But then why a rating of 7 and not 4, you might ask. Because everything can be manipulated with knobs instead of little displays - and in my book i is a universal truth that knobs and switches are superior to LCD displays and menus. I imagine that you can get familar with the layout to the extent that you can easily 'play' the knobs, and just knobs can't be beaten for performance.

We are up there in the top range with respect to features. This synth is a monophonic synth, so comparison should be to other mono-synths. This synth is definitely one of the last steps before going modular. The routing capabilities are still hardwired, but there are so many of them that it seems like almost an arbitrary choice which connections they did not provide a knob for. For example, the VCF 1 has three outputs a LPF a BPF and a HPF. Then there is a routing of the VCF output to the VCA 2, but only for the BPF. Why? It seems for no particular reason. There are many of these litle quirks. I suspect you could take it one step further and make a patchboard with pins like the old ARPs and VCS3, giving you total routing capabilities.
But even with these limitations, there are still so many modulation options that it will take me years to fully discover what this synth can do! And it is packed with all the coolest features: Portamento, Sample&Hold, real 8-step analogue sequencer with continuous pitch control on each step, External signal in and ext. signal trig, Ring Modulation, FM, an envelope with an adjustable intonation level, envelope on the pitch, envelope on the LFO speed (COOL! Set the envelope to take the LFO into the audio range and modulate OSC1, then FM Osc2 with Osc 1!!!), stereo output (imagine how cool it sounds to route the two oscillators to separate channels when they have slightly different envelope). The CV interface follows the Hz/Volt standard, but in my case that's OK because it will interface with my Korg PolySix.

The only thing really missing is a resonant filter, and maybe a few more waveforms. But since I also have a MiniMoog they sort of complement each other perfectly. And we're not in the Moog type of sounds. This synth has a thinner type of sound. This does not mean bad, just different. I am very fond of old school Genesis, and it can do a VERY close imitation of Tony Banks Arp ProSolist. And then it can make the wildest sci-fi sounds you've ever heard. I consider this synth more a studio tool than anything else. If you need an exciting new sound to beef up your mix, go to your CS-30 and build it. It can do so many crazy things. As a live synth the way to go is to stick to a certain setup you know well and make knob-excursions from there. This is a synth for experimentation! You will easily get lost in new sound combinations and never come back, so remember to write down the positions of all 50 knobs once you find a great sound. You will need some external effects to throw your sound into.
The stereo output really provides and incredible width to the sound. I once read that Keith Emersons technician had urged him to use the Yamaha GX-1 on the ELPowell album 'because it throws itself back and forth in the stereo perspective'. This could be said about the CS-30 as well. I could easily hear the CS-30 do 'Fanfare for the Common Man'.

Mine has proven very reliable. I had to fix the LFO when I got it, but otherwise it seems very reliable. I have read that people complain about tuning difting. Ha! I guess these people have never owned a MiniMoog before. I don't think it drifts very much.

I am very happy to give Yamaha a very high rating for their support. I had to replace the LFO chip. The first good news was that Yamaha has a local service department. They looked up the chip and had the spare number in 5 minutes. Yamaha got the order and had the chip for me in TWO DAYS! They still carry them in stock. I am impressed! And the service was even polite and friendly. This is really great, considering we're talking a piece of equipment that is 22 years old. Thumbs up, Yamaha!

This is a hard to find thing. If I could, I would replace it, or I would probably get something similar such as an Arp 2600, a VCS3, a Korg MS-20 or maybe even a small modular. I bought it mostly for the flexibility because I can not afford a modular system, and because I wanted more modulation possibilities plus a S&H.

You have to get used to it, for an beginner it's not easy.

2 VCO,2 VCF, 2 VCA, 1 LFO, 3 ADSR envelops, 8-Step-analogsequenzer,
no effects, no midi, cv/trigger in/out,

sound similar to the Korg MS-10/20 series, no velocity, no aftertouch, best for techno or electronics music, good for noises, bubbles, basses,

very stable for a 1979/80 synth, I never had any problems,

good buy, lot of possibilities

surprised I didn't find this one on your page...
(I'm actually looking for information myself, but since there's no information about it on your page at all,
I'll share the little knowledge I've got)
the cs-30 is an old analogue monosynth, thus allows you realtime access to everything(which is what we love so much about `em)
it's just a bit confusing in the beginning `cause there's loads of knobs and buttons (round fifty).
so compared to an MS-10 or a Polysix it's slightly complicated, but compared
to any of those who do not carry their heart on their sleave it's a
piece of delicious cake really.

the CS-30 is monophonus.
it comes with two VCO`s, to VCF's, two VCA's, an 8-step sequencer, three
envelopes and an LFO.
so there's two VCO's; both have either sawtooth or PW/PWM, vco 1 also delivers
an additional sine wave in the mixer section of VCA 1. it's possible to
modulate `em with the LFO (including S&H)or an external signal individually and
both together with one of the three envelopes. Plus:you can modulate VCO 1 with VCO 2.

there's two multimode VCF's (highpass,bandpass,lowpass).
VCF 1 has got a mixer section that allows you to select either VCO 1`s
saw or PW/PWM or VCO2`s PW/PWM plus either VCO 1`s saw, white noise or
an fed in external signal.
VCF 2 just has an input selector where you can choose VCF1's highpass output,
VCO 2 saw or PW/PWM.
both filters have the usual features like cutoff-fq, resonance, key-tracking, amount of envelope
mod, amount of LFO mod (again including s&h).
now this is where THE ONLY DISADVANTAGE of this great gear comes in:
if I'm not totally stupid and just don't know how to handle it, then
it is true that you can't turn the resonance up enough to make it oscillate,
thus no sweeping around wildly.
well,then there's those two VCA's.
VCA 1 has got the aforementioned mixer which allows you to feed in
the output of VCF1 and VCF2 as well as a sine wave coming in from VCO1
(which is great for fattening up gnarly bandpass sounds).
of course you can modulate with the LFO and one envelope.
VCA 2 has no mixer section. since I'm writing this from memory I'm not
absolutely shure about the following: that the fix input is coming from VCF 2.
(I might just revisit this article in a few days, correct me where I've
lied).
Hey, wait, there's one really cool thing about VCA 2:FM again (with VCO 1).

what makes this synth kinda special is it's voltage controlled LFO, modulated
by one of the envelopes.
it comes as sine, square, rising saw, falling saw and sample and hold.

three env's there are of which you can invert the first and the second
(except for the VCA mod obviously).
env 2 and 3 are standard ADSR's, and I don't have a clue whether they're
exponential or linear (you see, that's one of the things I'm trying
to find out via the internet).
env1 is a ADR that allows you to set the attack and decay level youreself.
all three of `em can either be triggered by the keyboard, the
sequencer or externally. you can choose between normal and five times
the time. I actually think they're cool.
I've already mentioned a classic analogue eight step sequencer, just
one line of knobs, routed to the VCO's.
you can of course select the amount of steps (Within the range of 1-8
apparently), theres a knob for the speed but you also can get it going
by hitting a button in the "manual mode".
the CS-30 has got portamento, a pitch bender,though no mod wheel.
there is a crossfader on the right side of the keyboard that allows
you kinda to morph between VCA1 and VCA2.
on the back there's three audio outs (VCA1, VCA2, both)(and -hey!-the
phones jack is on the front!), sequ. gate and cv out(few words to that below, though),
ext. in, gate and cv in.plus a VCF in.
another PAIN IN THE ASS with this fantastic machine is, that it's been
built by YAMAHA, who -along with KORG- had the stupid idea to not follow
the volt per octave cv norm but to create their own: hertz per volt.
so if you try and connect it with an old roland sequencer for instance
(i mean the csq type ones)it's not working.
MIDI is not such a problem, though, `cause at least my DOEPFER MCV4
supports this Hertz per Volt thing, and I guess other manufacturer's
MIDI to CV converters do so as well.

with a gear like that you of course better forget about trying to mimic
a `real' instrument.
this thing's for real itself!
it's the perfect lift into the wonderful world of strange electronic
sounds.
along with the MS-20 it's one of the few old synths that allows you to
experiment around with modulations at a rather low price.
the possibility to crossmodulate is a hit.
there's no aftertouch or stuff so you have to play around with the knobs.
it's certainly not appropriate for the worn out 303 fake thing since
it's laking the needed amount of resonance, this being the only con
about it's sound.
what's really cool though `n' kinda unique is the vcLFO, `cause with that
in combination with s&h you can create rhythmic patterns that fade in
and out if you're using long attack and release times vor the VCA envelope

most of my analogue synths do funny things at times, however the CS-30
doesn't.
the oscillators seem pretty stable to me and so looks the whole synth.
I've not used it live yet but I would at any given time and not being worried
at all.

I let you know soon as I've gathered experiences in this field.

oh god, I hope no one ever ripps me off this one.
the only thing to replace it with would be a modular system which I just
couldn't afford at the moment.
it's certainly worth a bit more than what I've paid, concidering what it
does.
I'd say there's some instruments that are somehow inspiring and some
that just aren't. this one certainly is.
after having understood the basics of analogue synthesis this gear
could be the one to lead you forward.
guess it's a bit hard to handle for a beginner, but hey: just turn
all the knobs saying `mod' down to zero and see what happens.
I'm not really missing the high resonance, `cause my other synths
can do that sweep game.
the cv norm used sucks, but well....
I wish it were possible to trigger the sequencer which it isn't.
I've found a note somewhere in the net though, that connecting one
envelopes led voltage to where the manual trigger feeds it's voltage in
could do the job, because the envelopes can be triggered externally.
think I'm gonna try that soon.
I've got other nice toys, too. Such as the Korg MS-10, MS-20, Polysix,
a Roland Jupiter 4, a Casio CZ-5000, a Doepfer MS-404,a Novation Bass
-station and the still unexplored Yamaha tx81z
(is that the right name? I doubt it. I mean: DX7, that's easy
to keep, but... well, it's that little rack FM synth with just four
oscillators)plus a Fender Rhodes, a Clavinet, a Pianet, a Farfisa and
a Vox Organ (the latter a two manual super continental), last not least
a funny old string synth I've purchased cheaply made by Logan.
ah- and I tend to always forget my rhythm section:a modified Roland TR-606
(indy outs), a Casio RZ-1 and an Akai MPC-2000 (the old one).
and of course there's all my beloved guitars.
if you're interested in results you might wanna check out this page:
TONEPARK.de (uh,uh, I'm not even 100% shure with this adress)
which is the webpage of a munich based label, founded by the
musicians involved themselves. vinyl-releases are planned for fall 2000.
still haven't got my stuff there, but that's soon to happen.
(just joined recently)
Hey! if there's anybody out there owing the same synth and willing to
comunicate about such things as the eg's being exponential or not, maybe
even having a manual or whatever, please contact me.