Yamaha CS1x

When I first bought this keyboard back in '98, it took me only a few minutes to learn all that was needed to learn. Just a great keyboard all around.

For the price (esp. back when I first bought it), this thing was loaded. 32-note polyphony. Multiple tweak knobs that can send and respond to MIDI. It would be nice to have more features - such as expansion and more polyphony, but at this price, it might be asking too much.

I like the way the keys feel - not weighted. Also, the sounds are more than adequate. Despite their lack of realism, I like how the piano and string sounds have a bit of warmth to them.

The only problems that I have with it are the arpeggiator lacking modification and the distortion getting too "hot," but both problems can be easily worked around.
As you can tell, this keyboard was made for Electronica.

Let's see...my ex-wife took a baseball bat to it, and I was still able to use it as a tone generator/knob box.

Yamaha support was found lacking. Luckily for the public, they are rarely needed.

I put my money where my mouth is - I bought another one when my ex-wife put a baseball bat to it. And, I've been happy with that investment ever since. For the small price that I've paid for it, it works wonders. All the problems that I run into with it can be easily worked around.

After a day or two most functions are easy to find without the manual!

Enough polyphony for me. Effects within the synth is enough for my needs.

Some sounds could be better. But I think most sounds have a very nice feeling to it anyway! They fit my needs.

I think the synth is made of too much fragile plastic, but I've dropped it accidently a few times and it still works fine like an atomic clock.

I owned this synth for about a month now and now I'm deeply in love with my blue box and I will NOT sell it soon.

Very easy to use... but you have to spend some time alone with it.
The matrix is a very smart idea. The editors are an added value but they are not a must. Again everithing is in the matrix.

Short of polyphony (32 voices), the key action is average. It is the MU 50 plus 0.5 meg of tecno sounds, so the midi capabilities are huge. The arpegiator is lovely and extremely addictive.
I just love those knobs!.

The performance sounds are what make this synth a must... the Xg ones are just... there. (you could use some of them ). The leads cut the drums have all the punch I need and the pads hold. What more can I say... It is not an Jp or an Juno.

It is the core of my studio. I Never had a problem with it (owned for 2 years)

N/A

I won't be selling my blue demon any time soon! I just love it. I own a korg NX5R and used to own a Roland XP 10... The CS1X is soooo different... it has a personality. I will buy another synth in te next months but I will keep this one of course!

Like anything, once you've got the feel for it, a piece of cake. Realtime effects are irreplaceable!

Everything I need for performing, studio use = n/a

I guess the performance presets are great for dance etc. but some of the basic keyboard instruments suffer in quality, especially piano, rhodes, etc.

No problems at all, fell/dropped a few times, no dramas

Showing its age (in 2002), but otherwise an excellent synth. Great feel to the keys, easy to play fast and steady, some great sounds and effects.

Won't repeat the info already here, just add a different insight:

I simply wanted something to input MIDI data into my DAW/Project Studio setup. My first choice was a Yamaha DX7, ancient technology nowadays
but built very well and all I really needed. Despite their age they still fetch up to AUD $500 secondhand. USB MIDI keyboards aren't cheap either, especially larger 61/79 key versions. At AUD $350 in the local Trade-O-Rama my CS1x was a rather tasty bargain, given its mint condition and that they cost about AUD $1400 in 1997.

So ease of use? As a knuckle dragging guitarist more at home twiddling a few knobs on an amp than a million buttons on some keyboard, but this guy isn't at all hard to work. I've skimmed the manual and blue book (found online - http://www.yamahasynth.com/classic/cs1x/cs1x.htm) quicky have got the basic jist of how it works. The big 6 knobs do cool stuff and the multi-function button matrix isn't as scary as it first seems. Switching between Performance (modelling synth stuff) and Multi (synth/GM-XG tone stuff) is simple and it hasn't taken me long (got it yesterday) to edit my own tones, add effects, and play sequences out through it via MIDI. I downloaded CS1xEdit, which some people say is vital to editting the thing properly, though, even though the LCD isn't huge, it isn't particularly hard to do on the unit itself.

See above/below for the feature list.

One of the things that really sold me about it, other than the fact it had a MIDI Out and keys, was the internal GM/XG tone generator. Yes, okay, the sounds aren't totally amazing, don't throw away your Akai S-series (or drummer!) but for composing your own stuff they're quite usable. XG sounds add some flexibility, and the effects are easy to add and aid things to sound a bit better. Having the tone generator is a big plus as far as I'm concerned.

Keyboard action is typical low-end synth - better than a toy, I used the asbeforementioned DX7 and an SY85 and they had a similar feel. Weighted keys? Be nice, perhaps not what the dance/techno guys want. Unlikely for the price, too. My only gripe here is that my sounds don't seem to be very pressue sensitive - i might have wrong setting somewhere though.

Preset #108 - Jump

Oh yes baby. Maybe it's the EVH/guitar connection, but when I heard this tone I specifically went out to learn the first few riffs of Jump... and it sounds brilliant!

The unit is capable of some right nasty noises, there's lots to play around. Creating a sound from scratch would take a lot of work, cuz there's a lot to play with, I don't pretend to unit all the LFO stuff fully, just crank the resonance knob, hit the arpeggio button and move the cutoff knob around the "sweet spot" - add a "thump thump" beat, and we have instant techno, kids.

Well, it's plastic shelled, though the chassis is metal and it isn't that light (about 7kgs). Mine will spend its foreseeable life on a desk and probably won't get moved around much. If you were to gig with it you'd want to treat it with some respect and care. Knobs are okay but wouldn't resist hitting something side on too well. Low profile buttons should fare better.

Honestly don't know. I own a heap of Yamaha stuff, guitar, home theatre DSP unit, speakers, sub. Everything's made to a very good level of quality despite their affordable prices so that's reassuring. Their Australian office is up the road so if worst comes to worst I can hunt their arses down!

The CS1x is a good buy, even better I got it so cheap. I probably won't use half its features but it's a solid, good looking piece of equipment by a reputable company and makes some great noises. Can't really say I'd buy again, unless it was going cheap... would probably look at something more upmarket, a full on sampler or high end tone generator and a weighted MIDI keyboard. But for the moment, it does an awful lot of stuff I need my gear to do. If you need a MIDI keyboard capable of making some bitchin' analogue noises and doing duties as a sound module for some moderate sequencing too, and the price is right, your ship has arrived.

Very easy with a matrix built in edition. The software editor is a good alternative for PC users.
Manual has been made by Fischer Price I think!!!

The CS1x has everything you can dream for a 300 $ second hand synth...
Effect are good even if filters definition is too limited and some effects are too noisy

The dance/techno sounds are incredible for this price !!!
If you want to make techno patterns or killer solo synth, you have everything you need and more...Piano are quite good even if I prefer Roland sounds, organ are better but you will not find any Hammond B3 here...

the weight is very light but I had no problem with it...be carefull with the power AD which is fragile

I think I would buy a CS2x or AN1x instead now but for the price it's a real present...I have a Roland RD 600 and a Clavia Micro Modular and I can say that the CS1x has its place in my set... Clavia sounds more analog (it sounds great) but there's no polyphony so that you can forget pads (or buy a Nordlead). I use the Cs1x with my Cubase and never experienced any problem...I think it's the best way to enter techno music programming...

This was my second synth, my first was a Yamaha DJX. I therefore had a steep learning curve, trying to get this thing to midi sync with Cakewalk, but that was because I just didn't know what was up. But I looked at the Net Resources, Got the Cakewalk Studioware panels, read the Blue Book, Studied the manual, and finally got it all together. I have to see everything seems really easy to use once you know your way around.

It's especially easy to modify the factory preset sounds to match the music you're making. I just lay down a beat (using Fruityloops) and just play with Local ON over it to adjust the sound to what I want it to be, save it, and then export the fruity loop to Cakewalk as an audio loop, and then just record the CS1X sound over it. Easy as Pie (or cake).

I've now looked at loads of other synths, and the CS1X doesn't have a lot of the features that some of them do, like sequencers and autoaccomp, etc. But that's not what it's for. Yamaha calls it a 'Control Synthesizer' and that's what it's good at.

I NEVER use the XG or GM sounds, they suck. I just tweak the Presets until they're what I want, and it has all the tools to do just that. It also has great effects built right in. They're easy to access. I also like that you can edit each layer of the performance just by turning that knob.

So, the features that count are the Samples, the effects, and the tools you use to edit them. Oh, and the arpeggiator. Easy enough I think. I wish Yamaha had included a dedicated software editor/librarian but CS1X edit is fine.

I find this thing gives me great control over the sounds it has included. I find I ALWAYS have to play around with them to get the exact sound I want, but hey, that's fine. I WANT them to be my sounds, not straight off the box. You set the sound up the way you want with the menus on the right, then use the knobs to tweak it as you record or jam, very nice.

I find the filter cutoff is especially good for building up to a drop. It is perfect for dance/trance/house stuff. I couldn't believe the sound you can get from this thing for $300. The sounds are straight off Ministry of Sound/Gatecrasher CD's. They sound great, clear, clean, strong.

I wish you could program the arpeggiator more, though. And it's really hard to sync the arp. with Cakewalk's midi clock. I find I have to just make sure the arp tempo matches the beat, and trigger it with the sequencer at just the right time. But that's OK, I can now get it to syncopate by delaying the trigger slightly off the beat. Cool.

I haven't had any problems, so I don't know. Sometimes notes stick using fruityloops as a sequencer, so I just don't do it. I want to try it with a hardware sequencer before i gig with it, see how it works.

I got the manuals free online, but I wish the Blue Book had been more accessible. I have not had to contact Yamaha, but I hate dealing with big companies. I'd take it to a dealer first.

As my studio expands to match my drive to play music, I will be adding more gear. I'm getting an electribe em-1, I use fruityloops and all the dxi plugins. I will also eventually get another synth. But I will keep this one. And I would replace it if it got ripped off.

I think for what it is, it's great. It produces great sounds if you tweak it, and that's the point, isn't it? Use it as a tool with other tools, and it does it's job. It works great with Cakewalk (V9). If you do use it with Cakewalk, just make sure you know the sysex commands, makes it much easier.

As long as you get cs1edit, and link it up to a pc / or mac

Features are limited, dodgy midi linking, nice twiddly nobs to the left, complicated wierdness to the right.

You get some amazing spacey sounds from this, as well as some killer dance sounds, and its crystal clean

Seems to be very dependable, as others have said, I would prefer it
if the case had more absorbtion of shock so that if it gets dropped the case bounces and not the internals

Not great, couldnt get what I needed without a lot of searching on the internet, for the blue book, cs1xedit and lots of patches / sounds. When I get some time I'll upload all the above to ...
www.aquaphonics.freeserve.co.uk (/gear/cs1x.htm)

If you can pick up one of these second hand and cheap get it, it really can lift the originality of sounds in a dance track (IMHO).
Check out what it can do with some electribes at.
www.garageband.com/damxes303 (track2 cs1tribe
www.aquaphonics.freeserve.co.uk (/gear/cs1x.htm)

Using this synth is easy enough, but editing and working your way around the operating system for the first time proved, for myself, tricky. The manual teaches the basics, but doesn't help much otherwise. The GM sounds are not nice, but the performance sounds are good considering the price you pay. Although you can only use one performance sound, which is disapointing.

The synth in action is good, there are 6 control knobs that you can use to model each sound in real-time, 4 of them are user asignable. The other two control the resonance and cut off frequencies, which are generaly good, except a few sounds dont seem to sound much different. It also has the usual pitch-bend and Mod wheels, and 2 foot-pedal controlers and an audio in function.

Dont get this synth if you hate dance / trance style music. The performance sounds are good if tweeked abit, I particulary like the string patches, very good for trance / trip hop music. GM sounds dont sound realistic, get a korg for that. The anolog modeling is very good though and reacts straight away when you tweek it, it also transmits midi when you adjust any knob, which is good.

Nothing has gone wrong with it yet, I have had it 2 years, I mainly use it in the studio but have gigged with it. Yep, its reliable!

I have called customer support a few occassions, and they where very helpfull, they even taught me a few hacks to get an extra 4 performance sounds.

If it were lost or stolen, I would buy the CS2x or maybe the CS6x, or maybe something different altogether! Who knows?
What I love about it is its anolog modeling, and the ability to control the sounds via midi, I know most synths do that, but if your on a budget (like me) and wanna make techno (like me) then you cant go wrong.

Ok this was my first synthesizer and in the beginning i was quite unfamiliar to edit the sounds. After a while i learned it's possibilities and a useful software helped me.

There should be more polyphony, 32 is too little when it's a really good MIDI-synth. The effects are reasonably good, but the chorus and reverb effects aren't powerful enough and they sound quite the same.

There are a lot of sounds, and to build a performance from 4 sounds it's really good. Good basslines and pads, even though the Preset sounds aren't that impressive, you can make your own that sounds much cooler. I play in a rock/heavy band and the organ and piano sounds are reasonably good. But this synth is more to techno and dance. You can also make a lot of weird sounds and tweak the sounds which makes this a good live-instrument. I wasn't that impressed in the beginning with the sounds but if you're motivated enough to make sounds of your own with it, it's fun. The XG sounds aren't that good though, there are a lot of them too choose from, but they are better to be edited.

Caution: It's very sensitive to temperature-differencies!! The LCD-screen goes nuts after it was about 1 minute in the cold and it stays for that condition for a long time. Otherwise it shows a lot of numbers or it's completely blank! The keys feel quite numb when played a while. You have to be careful with it and it's best in the studio or at home.

Not yet.

I really love this synth. It gets better with the time actually, if you're motivated enough.