Yamaha CS1x

Had this Blue Baby, since it was released.
It is cheap, feels cheap and sounds cheap(the presets do).
But if you tweak the presets, you can get some allmost-killer sounds.
It is easy to use, never tried something that is more user-friendly.

The effects are good for the price. Allthougt use it ONLY in the PERFORMANCE MODE. I haven't even switched to the other mode in years.
IN PERFORMANCE MODE,you get ONE FAT sound with GOOD FX, and 12 not so fat sounds with only reverb & chorus.

The sounds are NOT realistic.
Piano sucks, the strings too, and the other "real" GM instruments are even worse. BUT! This sucker gives you good synth sounds!
So if you want some cheap techno gear, this is the cheapest and blue-est.It is sample based, so you can only select the sounds within the machine and change them a bit. It is FAR from Nordlead, ROLAND JP-8000, Korg MS2000, and all the other high end machines, where you can make your sounds from scratch.

No problem here.

The blue book & manual are good.

I LOVE it! It has a special feeling to it. BUT i am very uncertian about using it in my music. It simply sounds a bit too corny if not tweaked enough.

Fairly OK. Performance sounds are quite good but predictable and digital-sounding. Editing is quite easy once you are familiar with the matrix thingy. Manual is fine.

Polyphony is difficult to manage cos its 2 modes (performance and multi) are intertwined in an odd manner. Effects are varied but average. Midi-wise is OK (except for the performance vs multi thing). Enough knobs for some people but not for me. Keys are slightly too light for my liking. Good value for money for these feature though.

Sounds too predictable and boring. should forget about emulating 303 and analog stuff. Makes it sound like a toy. Needs time to synthesise and build up decent sounds. Not very analog-sounding. Filters are thin and do not give the extra squeal with resonance. In fact, for some patches, the filter only work for 50% of its range. Can't expect too much for its low price though. But again, I can get a Novation Basstation for the same price with much more expressiveness and fatter sounds and filters. Like the idea of the scene storage using the modwheel. OK for adding in bits and pieces for dance music but would suggest a higher range synth instead of this for the extra punch and fatness.

So far, no problem. But knobs and wheels have a toy-like fragile feel. Plastic case is cool but I wouldn't drop it from higher than half a metre. Since it's digital, gigging would be fine provided that you handle it with care and don't get violent with it on stage.

Haven't tried yet.

If it were lost, I would not buy it. In fact, I might celebrate over the space I save in my studio and would save up to buy a Nord Rack 3 (coming soon!). Bought the CS1x when I was poorer and could not afford higher end gear. Used to own a Juno 106 which detuned and died. Currently own an MPC 2000XL, a Novation Basstation,a Prophecy and recently a JP8000 to replace the Juno. Am bored with the CS1x though I still like its colour. Sounds wise, I'll give it a miss cos it loses out compared to my other gear.

Yamaha made the right decision to stop its production because it is way down the bottom of the virtual analog synth market now. It has served its purpose when it was first released and became a top-seller(many top bands bought one; e.g. Underworld). For the moment, musicians who are less particular about sounds and want to make mediocre-sounding dance music can get one.

I needed a synth for techno-ish stuff, not that I'm a keyboardplayer, I play guitar and sing gothic music. Thus, I needed something for inspiration. Although, I wanted the KS2000 by Korg my budget didn't allow this to happen. As I bought my CS1x used, the owner before me smoked the manual. However, it's rather straightforward when just fooling around with the sounds. For being a guitarist I kinda consider this synth ok in my book.

I don't know any tech stuff about the CS1x, except its limitations when i comes to using the multilayered sounds with MIDI. What was it, just 2 at a time? Ok, I've seen there's ways to work around this limitation. However, I'm not using it for MIDI.. *shrug*.. The presets is rather dull and 90-ish, but with a little tweaking you can get something useful out it the CS1x. I like it. But only due to the fact that is was sooo cheap!

As mentioned the sound is kindof 90-ish, but if you're into tweaking you can get around it, creating new interresting soundscapes. I'm considering it more useful when playing ambient music than techno, as almost each pattern is familiar... You've kind of heard it before. But then again, for the price it's a knockout! However, the bread and butter sounds are lame. But that's not what I bought it for. It's nice to have them there anyhow. ;)

Yeah sure.. no probs.

No manual yet and I do not think that Yamaha will send me one either. ;(

If it was stolen, I would buy something else. I see the CS1x as somehting very disposable. Its fun, it looks nice and its tweak-friendly. If you get it cheap buy it.

The CS1x is pretty easy to use right off the bat, although getting familiar with it helps a lot. it's definitely a synth that "grows with you", so as you get better at using it, it opens up more and shows more options. I found the program CS1x-Edit, which allows you to interface with the CS1x via midi on a PC (it's on the yamaha UK website), and it opens up a lot of possibilities as well. The editor isn't necessary, but it makes learning the menus on the CS1x's lcd screen easier, since you have more viewing space on a computer (and most people are better with mice than with lcd menus and buttons).
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Editing patches is simply moving the knob to the right line and changing the values; piece o' cake (although it takes a while to understand exactly what the values you're changing do :) ).
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The manual isn't the best, but it gives you info about the synth, beginner info, and has another user guide with the patch banks in lists. The *REAL* useful book is the CS1x BlueBook, also available (for free) from the Yamaha UK website, as it contains every little bit of information you'll ever need to know about the CS1x. It even includes all the basic info about the different effects, different analog modeling and waveforms, and basically everything. It's even worthwhile if you don't own a CS1x =)

There is at least 4 voice polyphony. I'm tempted to say 16, but i don't have that many fingers on one hand, and it's hard to test using just speakers (since it expresses sounds pretty well). Some other reviewers claim that it only has monophony, which is wrong. There is a switch in a menu (and it's labeled right on the CS1x "poly/mono") for switching back and forth between mono and poly. Why would you want to switch? Well you can't use the arpeggiator if you're using poly! =) You can save the mono/poly settings for each patch, so you don't have to switch back and forth (which is nice), and can keep each setting individualized for each patch.
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The CX1x has a ton of effects; I could list them all out, but i'm pretty sure there's info on a Yamaha site somewhere. Plus most of it can be done real-time, which is definitely a plus. It reminds me of a mix between the LCD knob synths and the LED menu synths, mainly because all of the effects can be seen just by looking at the synth, and by turning a selector knob to the appropriate menu-line, and punching a button selects the effect. Easy as pie, but enough variety to keep the keyboard fresh.
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There's plenty of midi action, and I often interface with my keyboard using my PC via midi, since it's kinda fun =). There's velocity, knob stuff, menu stuff, basically everything you can alter on the CS1x can be sent via midi. Of course, you have to have something else that can interpret the same data, but that's not the CS1x's problem ;). There's no aftertouch, but I don't mind (can't miss what you don't have!). There is an onboard sequencer, and I know it's pretty flexible because of the demo songs. There are a lot of instructions on how to use it in the BlueBook and the regular manual, but I've never had the need to, as I do all of my sequencing externally.

Depending on the patch, the CS1x can sound really good. or it can sound really cheesy. Like most analog synths, it really depends on what YOU want out of it. There are a couple fun patches that sound really.. well.. fun! There are also some patches that mix a couple voices together for interesting effects (like I have a patch loaded right now called "children" that has a sustained piano sound followed by delayed strings, and it's very nice). But there are also the typical "cheese analog" sounds too. Low square and sine basses, high squeaky things, it really sort of depends on what you want.
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It's made for electronic music, although the bass sounds could easily be used for any type of music that just needs more bass. I doubt a purist would like using it, or someone who thinks that a guitar is the best instrument, but someone with a little creativity and an open mind can find a lot of uses for it. It's not a keyboard you'd use to look cool; it's a keyboard you'd use to make cool sounds =).
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As I said before, the velocity control is pretty strong, although the keys aren't weighted so it feels like a keyboard (good/bad, depending on opinion). It likes being played, and expresses itself well. Just using the presets makes this synth seem like a fun li'l synth, although it's not a piano.

Well I bought it used, from consignment, and it looks like the person(s) who owned it previously took good care of it. it's hard plastic, which is bouncy (i'd rather have it be plastic and flexible, which saves the insides, than sheet metal that allows the inside to bounce around while keeping the outside nice), and it's blue! I haven't played live, but I would be very comfortable using it live without a replacement or back-up synth. It's never crashed and never gone schizo on me, and it's been on quite frequently for the past 3 months.

I've dealt with Yamaha a little bit, and they've been very quick and friendly, even though the synth is discontinued now. They still supply free (in print even) bluebooks, and know about the CS1x pretty well. Plus I'm a Yamaha fan anyways ;)

If I lost this li'l guy, I'd look to get another one. It's a great price and I'd hate to spend more on a synth that does basically the same things (but looks different.. bleh!). I definitely got a lot more bang for my buck. I've had it for 3 months now, and I'm still in love with it. I also own an electribe-a and use a significant amount of software, but I mainly use the synth directly for its own sounds (recording the synth instead of using it for midi control). I had a choice between this and a roland something, and a yamaha dx7, and i'm very happy I chose the CS1x. It's attractive, it's easy, and it really does a lot. Some people are convinced that there's no good hardware available under 1000 dollars, but there are also people who realize that you can make amazing things on a small budget. I'm one of the latter :) The CS1x is pretty inspirational, although almost too much so; I tend to play around making little songs using different patches than sequencing a whole song, but that's mainly because my computer is slow. The arpeggiator is fun, especially at very high speeds and very low speeds (low speeds makes nice random melodies hehe), and is quite inspirational if used correctly.
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In the right hands, the CS1x is really a great synth, especially for the price. can't be beat for under 500 bucks!

It is quite easy to use, no probs at all. If You download an edotor from the net you get an excellent editing possibilities.

Nice effects, easy to use, excellent patch making possibilities.

Very, very many sounds - can access the material voices as well. All together over 1000 sounds. Great.
You can also download loads of nice sounds from the net.

Never ever had any problems.

It is definitely the best synth for this money, I have it for 6 months now and think it is great. I use it together with some software synthesizers and then it just leaves averything in the smoke.
Could have in-built sampler, but nowadays, if you own a good sound card and a good computer with appropriate software it is not important for a synth, you can do everything on the PC.

Good, with the blue book. I am desperatly trying to figure out
if you can apply more than the two knobs to a softsynth such
as reaktor.. Should be possible, somehow.. I hope...

Good little synth for its price. Would make a nice controller if the midi didnt try and take over, it had aftertouch, and the knobs
weree more assignable (to softsynths such as reality/reaktor :)

Very nice for the price

Life in plastic can be fantastic

Hmm blue book ? What blue book?

If lost or stolen I would probably go for a more controller orientated synth, something that was easy to assign knobs to
soft synths such as reaktor reality, and VST2 ones..

If anyone knows how to do this, please email me psi@musician.org
Specifically is ther a way, and a softsyth that will allow you to assign more than two of the knobs to a continuous controller.. How
about breath and foot ?

For the money it is one of the best keyboards you can purchase if you are into electronic music

Has a killer performance section. All parameters have to be assigned.

It is very expressive and the filters sound great!!

Has not given me any problems other than not being able to save edited parameters successfully. I still haven't read the manual.(It was in French?)

Never had to deal with them

I am very happy with the presets as well as the editing parameters!

editing is a breeze. if you have any trouble, there's the blue book, though i didn't see much need for it. manual explains pretty much everything you can't figure out from 30 minutes playing around.

knobs. knobs are what make the keyboard. this thing would be worth about half as much w/o the knobs. midi... had no trouble sequencing with a 707, haven't tried anything more in-depth. built in arpeggiator is fun, wish it was programmable though.

it's a piece of gear made for electronic music, it does bleeps, chirps, rises, whatever.
don't buy it expecting a 303 emulator. if i was born deaf and blind, and was sitting in another room down the hall from where this was being played, it still wouldn't sound like a 303.

no idea. it hasn't done anything evil yet.

it's a good entry level synth for those looking to make any kind of electronic music. if it was lost or stolen, i'd be sad, then i'd save my $$$ and buy a waldorf q.

Had lots of problems getting it to work properly with the rest of my stuff. (Could be just my unit, or the fact that my manual was in french ..que??) So you should't weigh this comment in to heavily..

BAH...

Some sounds were ok. You will NOT get any wicked 303 basslines or Fat basses though.

Fear the plastic. Knobs feel like they are going to come off. Very unsolid feel over it all in all. Handle it with care.

Never dealt with them..

It has been a while since i sold mine, and NOT considering the fact that it's as plastic as lego I just felt I REALLY had to comment on some of the previews. What ticks me off is that people comment it with things like "nordlead killer"..&#/&" NO WAY DUDE.
Its an average synth with average sounds, and there is no way in hell it can compete with the "virtual-anologue-monsters". Unless you find it REALLY cheap, stay the hell away from it. Buy something else.. Cant think of any genre where you cant find a better solution for the price..Piece of plastic virtual-analogue-wannabee synth, made in the same spirit as the MC-303. Point is, if it is not obvious, DO NOT buy this for its "Nordlead-killer" qualities, it has none. I like the color though.. :)

Its is VERY easy to make sounds on the synth, but not as easy from the computer.

It has got what i needs! But the midi sucks!

The sounds are really GREAT!
GREAT pads
GREAT leads

Evolving sounds!

It is not always predictable! Sometimes it does stuff that it was not supposed to do.

Its a very good synth! The best for the money! Nice color! Nice sounds! COOL SYNTH!

ive had mine for a year now, its not too shabby, but i know for a fact that yamaha can do a lot better. most presets suck, but i never use presets anyways. you can get cool sounds if you tweak the originals, though, but you cant create sounds, you have to base them upon the presets, and you cant save sounds in multi mode. it does serve a decent purpose, i play industrial, so its good for it. its based on dance, techno, and rappish shit, but i have gotten some fucking sick sounds out of it. nothing spectacular about the effects, but theyre useable. for the money, its a decent piece of gear, and i can get really warm sounds out of it, but thats because i make my own. its good to start off with, but ive played better. its annoying to sample (i dont sequence shit, sample it all), but youll have that. i also use a roland jp-8000, and im buying a nord lead 2 really soon, they both put the cs1x to shame, but its still a decent synth, and i dont think i would sell it unless i got a real good deal.

I think it's pretty easy to use...the cushiony rubbber buttons to change parameters could have been a knob...but I'm pretty sure you can Assign one to it. The 2 Assign knobs are great...I have Assign 1 as Arpeggiator tempo and it sounds pretty spiffy at gigs. Its really easy to use and even a complete moron could probably figure it out in a couple days...and that's if they have only 2 brain cells and one is lost and the other went to find it.

Manual was good. Didn't need it much. Just to find out how to restore factory settings. Did it once...my method of learning is to open it, mess around with anything I can and then restore. Complicated, but it gets the job done.

I didn't like it's nasty little one-performance-at-a-time secret...bad, Yamaha, bad.

No expansion that I could see...the effects were pretty good though...lots of distortion, flange, etc...a whole mess...really easy.

Velocity...I don't think aftertouch though.

In/Out/Thru. No sequencer. Decent Arpeggiator.

The synth sounds are great. I love the pads and strings. Definately a techno/trance/alternative board. STAY AWAY FROM PIANO! I really don't like it. It's icky. I like the onboard effects and knobs, but stay away from the Multi bank....*Shudder*

I have gigged without a backup...it's sturdy...but I baby it...I've dropped it twice...once on carpet, the other on concrete...and all I got was minor scratches on the bottom panel. It's solid. I can feel the edit knob loosening...not bad for a year and half though...don't drop it on the blue part...it's sturdy, but it's still just hard plastic.

I'd probably buy a newer version if lost or stolen, unless I could find a cheap (key word) used one. I also have an RM1x and it's great and I recently got a Roland JX-305. Love 'em all. It's a great board and the pads rule. If you don't agree...well...I like them.

Ok ease of use is amazing, it takes no time to learn. The main four knobs (attack, release, cutoff, resounce) can utomaticly make some major difforences in the voices, and with a few seconds you can compleatly distroy the sound with the actual filters and bypass.

Shhhh dont ask about polyphony... Its pretty bad, you can use 11 standerd midi voices and one cool synth sound. Defenatly a lead synth only. Plus dont try to add it to a midi chain, it picks up and plays all channels, and they cant be turned off...NOW THAT SUX. Its not expandeble, but it doesnt need to be, you can almost emmulate anything you want with it if you take the time. The only thing it could realy use is a noise filter then it could rival almost any true anolog. The arpeggiator is great, but then again thats what the board was designed for. If your an underbudget, creative synth player this is a grat sound matchine, and hay if you need more polyphony buy a dat and sample the hell outa the sounds in soundforge and drop them as wave files into cakewalk..right?

As I said befor...the sounds are phat and intence, unfortunatly its a little quieter then normal synths so you'll have to turn it up higher on the mixing board. Its a trance, happy hardcore synth but I use it for EBM/Industrial and experamental noize. Its very good at following your playing style and its volocity is great.

I can fully depend on it, and would easly gig with ot a back up. Even a huge tour.

Who knows, Yamahas always busy

If it was lost or stolen I dont know if I would replace it, for the money it really cant be touched at all, but now I need something polyphonicIf i could afford to replace it I would in a heart beat. I have been programming for about 4 years, I have access to a Nord lead 2 a JP8000, a Dance Planet, Juno 106 and a Korg Prophacy. I think it does well in combat against any of thieses boards. I love my little blue box so I rate it high.

Dead easy. It's a digital synth but there are knobs on the front for filter resonance/freq, attack, release, and two patch-specific knobs, so you can do a lot in realtime (nice touch). Front-panel patch editing is very easy, thanks to lots of info on the front of the case and a nicely intuitive interface. Presets are pretty okay, they give you a good idea of the range of things this little guy is capable of. Manual is nice, certainly better than a damn Roland manual. I didn't find a patch editor to be necessary at all.

Keyboard action is about what you'd expect for $350 -- servicable, but not great. Built-in effects are not that useful; delay and reverb are good, chorus and flange seem weak. They're patch-specific, too.
No expansion possibilities that I can see.
MIDI implementation is fairly standard; velocity and aftertouch. Unfortunately when it's in GM mode it responds to EVERY MIDI CHANNEL ALL THE TIME and I have found no way to turn that off! In "Performance" mode (the real patches) there's no multitimbrality that I can see, but that doesn't really affect me for what I use it for.
No sequencer, but come on, doesn't everyone use these things with computers these days? However the on-board arpeggiator is pretty okay -- it'll lock to MIDI clock. You can't define your own arpeggio pattern but the built-in ones are pretty servicable for techno applications.

GM instruments are so-so. The "performance" patches are built from the basic waveforms of the GM instruments, modified with filters, ADSR envelope, LFOs and so forth.
What you end up with is some very nice evolving pad sounds, good analog simulations, some good leads, really nice vox-type patches. You can do a lot with patch editing just by fooling around -- this eats up hours of my time. :)
Sound-wise this is a GREAT choice for someone who wants to get into electronica on a low budget, much better than the other possibilities I looked at in this price range (the DJX, MC303, etc). This is a real synth.

Well, I already broke a knob off the thing. It seems pretty flimsy. I'd gig without a backup but only because I'm poor. I've had it about 6 months and have had to powercycle it a couple times because sound just stopped coming out for no obvious reason.

Dunno. I've not heard good things about Yamaha support.

Overall this is a GREAT board for what I wanted it for -- experimentation with electronica/trance/techno. You have the opportunity to play around with an easy interface and get the sounds you like. However, unless you're using a computer workstation with this, I wouldn't make it your only keyboard, due to the (apparent) lack of multitimbrality.

What I love: the wide variety of sounds, the easy tinkering-style editing, the realtime control knobs!
What I hate: lack of multitimbrality, the knob I broke off.

Right now the CS1x is the main controller in my setup (I now have an Orbit and an old TX81z to go with it, whee) and it makes a great cheap controller, as well as a good sound module in its own right. If it was multitimbral I'd be giving it a 10 for the price/performance ratio. But this guy makes me want to make music, and that's what counts at the end of the day.

i think the presets sound pretty good. you can make a great techno/trance album with the presets alone. the drums are a little weak but are usable for the most part. editing is pretty easy. it's pretty straight forward, but the cs1x edit program(shareware) will take the sounds to new heights.

it has a great effects unit. everything's there: flanger, phaser, delay, reverbs, etc. the built in effects came a o.k. sound great. you only get 128 user patches, but i think there is a way to dump them to your computer. i don't know, never tried it. it has an appegiator wich isn't programable at all so i find it mostly useless. no sequencer to speak of. it has six knobs wich are midi contrllable which is terrific for controlling my softsynths.

doesn't really concentrate on acoustic sounds(mostly analogish), but i personaly like the organs and pianos included. i find them very useful, but then again, i am not a piano player. it's primaraly meant for techno,trance, but i've used it for ambient mostly. it has an okay touch, but i wish the keyboard was springier. i do think the sounds can get old after a while. it's fairly programmable, but there is still only so much you can do.

it has been extremely reliable. never once had a problem, but i wish it didn't have a wallwart power supply. yeah, i would use it on a gig without a backup. i have.

never dealt with yamaha. i wouldn't know what to expect.

i mainly use it as a controller keyboard now, but for the price, it competes even with dedicated controller keyboards, plus you get the knobs! if it did get stolen, i would check my options first. i would look int getting a an1x. it has been a really good instrument.

This should be damned easy to use with 6 big knobs on it.It isn't unless you stick to the presets. Presets are very good and very varied, there 250 of them and they can be tweaked for rez etc with the aforementioned knobs. Editing, tho, is crap. Parameters are varied using hideous little +/- buttons...1 more knob would have meant the world, jumping between menus is a big drag. There are, however some very good shareware editors if you have a PC.

Well on the one hand, the sounds available to you are very good with a huge XG arsenal plus loads more "basic" waveforms,on the other hand the MIDI implementation is awful. Using 4 midi channels to produce 1 performance sound is just out of order. You can cheat and get 4 performances from the beast, but that will take up all 16 channels.....hope this doesn't catch on. Good arpeggiator with built in rez sweeps etc. Also those knobs send midi so not a bad controller if you don't need aftertouch.....

Surprisingly, this is where this keyboard scores big. For a budget/starter/whatever synth this actually sounds excellent.Great pads,leads, basses, organs. Crap pianos tho (wonder why?). Loads of user patches on the web, too.

Bullet-proof, sturdy, never fails. Remembers everything you set on the last session.

Haven't needed any.

If it were lost, I'd buy something else, but maybe that's because I've grown a bit as a synth user. I like the CS1x and use it a lot in my music, but there are a few minuses (polyphony, editing) and I've outgrown it. Still, for the money there are few things to beat it as a utility synth and/or control keyboard, and it does make some wicked sounds.

This synth is a very nice equipment to start. The preset sounds are very well modelled. The patch editing is a little complex process, but once you have mastered it, is very easy. The manual is nice, but if you want a full featured book, download the Blue Book from Yamaha, and this is a very helpful add-on.

The polyphony is well, 16 keys I think, could be more. The effects are nice, the most useful feature is the arpeggiator, that can lead you out of a bored afternoon. The synth has the standard MIDI connectors and the To Host feature, that allows you to connect the synth to a computer using a special cable from Yamaha without using the Joystick port in your computer. This keyboard doesn't have a built-in sequencer. You have to sequence using an external source.

The instruments are awesome realistic, this because the AWM synthesis. The manual says that this baby is designed for making dance, trance, etc. but it works well with all types of music. The onboard effects are good. It has initial aftertouch and PB and Modulation capabilities.

It's a very reliable machine. It has never let me down!

Never need it. (until now). I have owned this keyb. for 4 months.

I think I'd buy it again. The only thing that disappoints me is the lack of an onboard sequencer. I use this synth with a Yamaha SU-10 Sampler, and I'm planning to buy a Yamaha QY-300 or QY-70 hardware external sequencer. I currently sequencing using my PC and Digital Orchestrator Pro. It is a good deal for the price, it is easy to use and fun to play. I wish It had an extra octave of keys. But is a very good piece of equipment!!!

The CS1x is a pretty straightforward synth at first, until you try to use its use material voices in a song... So if you just want one fat sound it's really easy to use, but if you want to go one step further, you should get the "blue book", a complement to the manual. It describes more complex features of the synth.

Its a 32-voice 16 part synth, so that wont limit you, even if 64 voices seem to have become the standard nowadays. It's three different effect-units: one for chorus, one for reverb and one for variation. The latter comprises a few "standard" effects, nothing spectacular though. The synth isnt expandable, so you're stuck with what you have.

This synth does best what its built for: dance/techno music. The material voices (which make up the elements of the performance sounds) are fair. I tend to use it not so often in my music, maybe because I've got bored with the limitations of this sample/synthesis keyboard. You'll also find an XG compatible synthengine, whose sounds are really cheesy and will hardly fit into a pro arrangement.

The case looks to be able to withstand a hit or two, but not more I guess. Mine is still ok after approximately one year.

I've ordered the bluebook from Yamaha in Sweden, and I got it after a week. So I've nothing to complain about.

Ive played dozens of contemporary and vintage synths, and judging from that I would place the CS1x somewhere in the lower regions. Sure, you could make a "techno"-tune with it, but its "cheesy"-ness and basic features (e.g. only 2 outs) only make it a good beginners synth, nothing more. (even if David Bowie used one on Earthling!)

This is a wicked sytnh and very easy to use. The presets are fine, there are 256 of them. There is a patch editor called CS1X Edit which is excellent! The manual is pretty good.

It has 32-note polyphony and 16-part multitimbral. It has three effects processors: Reverb, Chorus, and Various. There are many different types of effects in each category. For example in Various there are several types of Flnager, Distortion, Phasers, 3-Band EQ, 2-Band EQ... You may use one effect from one of the three categories simoltaneously. Midi capabalities are excellent with SySex support for saving patches on disk. There is no onboard sequencer. There is also a large pannel of switches to tweak the sound. Drawback is that only 1 performance sound per song. But it doesn't matter if you plan on sampling your melody off the CS1x. It also has an awsome arpeggiator with many different styles. Finally you can store 128 of your own patches.

Great for any kind of dance music. I use it for Progressive House, Goa, and Jungle. There are 512 dancy type sounds and 480 XG sounds. You can layer up to four of these sounds to make a performance. With the resonant filter, the effects processors, and the matrix of features you can create more sounds than you'll ever probably use. Sounds can be tweaked a lot!

Very reliably and great for live performances due to its filter knobs.

Havn't needed to deal with Yamaha before.

This is such an awsome synth. The resonant filter is fabulous. There are just too many things that you can do to your sounds with the CS1X. It's very overwhelming at first, but you get used to it. I've been able to get some really nice bass sounds. You can make excellent strings and a whole bunch of other strange sounds. Drumsets are not great. If you have the money, get it! You won't be dissapointed!

This is a very easy synth to get started with. The first time I found this from a local music store I kept fiddling around with it for a couple of hours; needless to say it's almost as good toy as a MC-303 (but the MC is _just_ a toy). Editing patches is very intuitive, only thing I had to look up at first was how to apply changes to all possible four layers at the same time. The manual is well written and mostly rather useless; the only complain here is the difficulties at first at using MIDI channels from 5-16 without GM/XG-sounds. But this is a fairly easy synth, really.

The usual, 32-voice polyphony, 16-part multitimbral. Inboard effects are actually surprisingly good. The reverbs aren't that cool, the overdrive is too thin to my taste, but I really like the guitar amp simulation. Can really make a decent Hammondish-retro-70's-proge-organ sound with enough modulation, plus it's great for those acidish basslines. Expansions, none as far as I'm concerned. No aftertouch-sensitive keyboard, a minus. (this is supposed to be a control synth but Ob Matrix-1000 really needs aftertouch). No inboard sequencer. An arpeggiator, syncable to midi clock. But unfortunately the arpeggios aren't editable so you're stuck with presets here. But for this price, it's understandable.

Welp. I know I'm going to get flamed for this, but... I think the filter is somewhat dry sounding. No Minimoogs here, and this isn't a 303 substitute either (but heck, it's too used anyway ;) The presets samples are fair. Good drums, some good general synth foo. The effects can make nice Hague-electro or trip-hop drumkits and spacey synths. As a lead/bass synth I think this won't do. Get a Prophecy. On the non-performance channels you get to adjust chorus/reverb/cutoff/rez/attack/sustain. No special fx. Some of the samples itself are very usable. As said, 808+909 can be found, and one sample is a terrifict sub-bass. But after the complusory playstate, tweaking isn't that satisfying with this cutie.

So far only few minor problems. I'd gig with it. Sometimes getting it to understand that you don't want GM is hard, but nothing more serious.

no opinion

It's well worth the money, granted. Then again, if you have some multi-fx+a bass synth+a few pad synths, just get a Drumstation. I dig the drums with the fx. As said before, the fx really apply only to the "performance" sounds. What I find myself always doing is using some edited drum kit with some twisted fx and perhaps that lovely sub-bass sample, quite nothing else. It's cheap. For a first synth, definetly. But for tweaking, get a Prophecy. Or a TB, they're about the same price ;) And the arpeggios aren't editable, a shame. And it's samples. I don't really care, but it limits to some extent. And I'm definetly not an analogue purist; but the filter is a bit cheesy. (So is the one in JP-8000 as well ;) (please, this is my opinion, spare your flames)

Very simple interface. The patches on this thing are killer. The manual is small but covers most things. It could be more in depth but the machine is really easy to learn without the manual. You have great control on over your patches. You can also layer patches to make distinct sounds. Cutoff and Resonance knobs are great.

61 keys 32 note polyphony Unweighted keys. The keys feel really great. easy to get into your playing. A decent amount of effects. No expansion, but there is not much need for expansion. Has MIDI IN/OUT/THRU. Keys are sensitive, and the knob movements are also sent out via midi. Real easy to sequence to computer. No on board sequencer. Has one awesome arpegiator. can create very cool acidy/trance tracks with it when using the arpegiator with the cutoff/resonance/attack/release knobs.

The tones are awesome, mostly for techno/dance music though. The sensetivity of teh keys rock, you can really put groove into your songs.

I definatly rely on it. You probably would want a sequencer though. If you like to play live then you dont have a problem. If you already have some equipment this thing is great because of its tones. Extremly dependable, however it is not an all in one machine. I like to use it for pad sounds and bass lines and I use other stuff for drums. Has good tones for melodies too. The drum sounds on it are just ok. I mean it has the 909 and 808 sounds on it but I rather use my roland MC-303 for drums.

I would defiantly buy it again. Totally worth the money! None of its competitors come even close to the price. The Nord Lead is awesome but this is almost a thousand dollars cheaper which makes it a better price. I think it defiantly beats rolands JP-8000. Its the best accompanyment to existing dance equipment.

I LOVE THIS KEYBOARD!!!!!!!!!!! Editing is time-consuming but easy.....manual? I don't need no stinking manual!!!!

Only 32 voice but who cares...those voices kick serious booty! killer effects...no, not Lexicon but easy to use and sound great. Expansion? Not really but who cares, it is what it is. Yeah midi but that's not what makes it a killer. No sequencer but one heck of an arpeggiator!!!!

Realistic? Nope Bad? To the bone! Easy to use? For me,yes. Go hear this thing and decide for yourself.....

How reliable was your best friend? He ate all of your food and drank all of your drinks and he even tried to put the move on your squeeze but you'd kill for him and he you.Reliable? So far so good and if it goes down this instant I'll forgive it and remember what a thrill it gave me for awhile.

KILLER!!!!!

If you can't tell by now that I love this keyboard(I also own other synths eg;QS7 etc.)then you aren't too perceptive.

One word: Knobs! Finally, a digital synth that doesn't require a degree to search through menus. 2 of the knobs are user assignable to a slew of sound editing options. As for those, there's an array listing of all the sound editing options on the face of the box itself with a pointer knob so you always know exactly where you are. The presets sound exactly like what this synth is geared toward: dance music afficionados, like me. It also functions as an GM/XG sound source, but I mostly ignore that part of it. The manual is good for explaining most of its features, but the MIDI stuff is a bit cryptic. Get the Blue Book from Yamaha.

6 realtime control knobs (amp attack and delay, filter cutoff and rez, 2 user-assignable), lots of chorus and reverb styles along with a "variable" effect that can be chosen from a list of things like 2 and 3-band EQ, delay, etc., 3 foot control inputs, PC or Mac hookup port (driver and cable come seperately), low-pass filter, lots of editing options like LFO, pitch envelope, filter envelope, port time etc., all editable via MIDI control messages, VERY cool arpegiator syncable to MIDI (does not out to MIDI, though). Minuses: this is a sample-playback synth, so the waveforms can't be edited. No disk drive or card slot basically means you're stuck with them. You can change just about everything else about the sounds, though. No sequencer, either, so if you want to use those cool 808 and 909 samples, you have to hook it up to something else. For the price, though, it's very acceptable.

This machine was made for techno/jungle/trance/ambient. If you're looking for a machine to back your rock band with 10 billion string sounds, this is not for you. If you're looking for artificial sounds that wreak havoc in a club, this is the machine to get. The keyboard is nice for velocity sensing, but don't hit it too hard (see below). Knobs and an arpeggiator add a new dimension to expressiveness previously thought dead with analogue machines.

It hasn't totally screwed up on me yet. The keys are a bit flimsy (I can already feel a few black keys weakening). The knobs also feel a bit fragile (I'd rather have sliders). The left wheels are pretty solid, though. So far, it's done everything my computer sequencer has told it to do.

I ordered the blue book from Yamaha and to my surprise, it was free! No toll free number, but they didn't keep me on the phone long. I haven't ordered any upgrades, though it doesn't seem to need one. Given the company's history, I feel pretty secure about my purchase.

This is my first real professional-sounding box (before this, I had a couple of the kind you see at Radio Shack and Circuit City). For me, it was a choice between this and the Roland MC-303. There is no comparison. The only advantage the MC seems to have is a built-in sequencer which is really only useful for playing its own sounds. The Yamaha has a heck of a lot more sound editing options (the Roland doesn't even let you edit the filter envelope), and when it comes to MIDI implementation, the MC-303 is downright xenophobic. Even if I get tired of the sounds on the CS1x, it still makes a great controller. With a list price that's a hundred dollars less, my choice was very easy to make. Even after getting the CS1x, I still wouldn't get an MC-303 because the sequencer is pretty much useless for controlling my CS1x, and I'm spoiled by the sound editing options the CS1x has to offer. The only thing it's lacking is an expansion utility and a sequencer. Once I get me an Emax2, I'll be all set for gigs. Basically, it's a poor man's Nord Lead... a swell imitation of analogue (though not as good) with all the advantages of digital. Well reccomended!

This is an add on too my earlier review: I want to add the following information concerning using the performance sounds multitimbrally. Since writing the review, I have learned some new things as follows. First, call Yamaha Literature and order the, so far, free "Blue Book" which is a tutorial style book put out by Yamaha in Germany. This book shows you how to totally access any sounds you want. And it comes with two disks with new patches etc.
Each Performance is made up of up to 4 voices. If you look at your Voice Data List, you will see that the Preset Performance patches use the sounds in banks Pre 00, Pre 01, Pre 02 and Pre 03. The names of the sounds in Pre 00 are identicle to the names of the patches in the Preset Performance set. If one of those patches happens to use 3 voices, the other two voices (sounds) will be in the corresponding patch numbers of banks Pre 01 and Pre 02. Now, the voices making up the User Performances are exist in banks Pre 04, Pre 05, Pre 06 and Pre 07. Pre 04, just like Pre 00, holds all the voices that make up the first (of up to 4) voices of the User Performance set. They also have the same names. For example, check out page 12 of your Data List. You will see that User Performance #47 is Seminl. This patch uses 3 voices and voice one is called Seminl A and is in bank Pre04, #47; the second voice making up User perfomance #47 is called Seminl B and located in Pre05, #47; finally, the third voice is called Seminl C and is in Pre05, #47. Get it?
In fact if you check out the Data List, you will see a set of voices called "Additions" which reside in Pre08, Pre09, Pre10 and Pre11. In fact, these voices represent a whole third set of Performances! BUT, the patches are not included with the synth even though the voices are there. There is just the PRESET and USER sets, not the third one. Crap, right? Well sort of. The sounds ARE there for your use. A midi file containing sysex data comes with the Blue Book and contains all an "Xtra" patch bank, to use it you load the file into a sequencer and play it with your CS1x connected by midi. The CS1x USER performances should then be a whole new set of patches reflecting the voices in Pre08-Pre11. By the way, Pre12 holds the great performance drum voices like the 808 etc.
OKAY NOW HERE IT IS!! Even though midi channels 1-4 are used up by the performance voice chosen, you can actually assign channels 5 through 16 to any sound in any bank anywhere in the synth as long as you are in the correct mode. SO FOR INSTANCE, User Performance Preset #29 is called Xrayz. You will see upon inspection, either via the synth itself, or by looking on page 12 of the data list, that Xrayz is made up of only one voice which is located in bank Pre04, #29. So, you can, if you want to, assign Pre04, #29 (called Xrayz A) to, say, midi channel 11. And so on. So you see, you are not limited to only using the XG sounds as I, based on the manual, indicated earlier.

The Performance presets are FAT!! and extremely versatile and controllable. The XG soundset of 480 voices plus is very good if not stellar. Programming is very easy with all parameters accessable from the front controls, not through menus and submenus etc. The programming feature are basic to those who are familiar with analog style subtractive synthesis. The manual is pretty good compared to others. But that may not be saying much. There are a few areas which required a second or third read only to find that it is sometimes what is NOT said than what is that defines the issue. For instance, for multitimbral midi playback, it appears from the manual that you may only use the 480 multi xg voices but not the very cool performance voices for which you will by this synth in the first place. Obviously you can sequence a single performance, but, not multitimbral performance sounds? NO, and yes, sort of. What the manual only hints at but doesn't say really is that you can have a performance patch play on one of channels 1 through 4 and have 12 xg voices play on channels 5 through 16. This could have and should be better explained in the future by Yamaha. Ah, but it is hard to be too critical when this synth is so sweet sounding and is so inexpensive.

32 notes polyphony, 16 multitimbral with the caveats stated above, 3 effects units with 65 different settings. The reverb unit and the chorus unit are applied globally while the variation effect unit (which is 43 different very adjustable effects) is available as an insertion effect into only one of up to four voices which make up a performance preset. The effects sound pretty good and the variation effect's insertion features allow for lots of excellent effects. No real expansion capabilities. But none needed really. No aftertouch. No sequencer.

The analog sounds are great and the control knobs for cutoff, resonance, attack, release are great not to mention that there are 2 assignable knobs for anything else you wish, i.e., volume, pan, pitch, lfo, etc. In fact, one of the assignable knobs can control 4 of any of the parameters in varying amounts for each of the up to 4 voices making up a performance patch. This feature equals fat and crazy effects sounds to your hearts content. In addition to the six control knobs, for each performance patch, you can store 2 "scenes" each scene is a snapshot of the 6 control knobs. In addition to the "scene" making up the patch, this can make for 3 very different sounds for each patch. When you choose both scenes simultaneously, the mod wheel morphs between them! While playing, at any given time, you can temporarily save a scene to one of the scene buttons. Later you can hard save it if you wich. Music that this synth is good for is everything! The 32 style arpeggiator makes for hot dance/techno stuff. THis is a very capable techno machine.

Light flimsy case. Just don't drop it. I will definately gig with it. It can probably take more than my minimoog.

Excellent overall! Highly recommended I wish it had full multitimbrality for the great lush performance patches I wish the knobs were of better quality (I will remedy this soon) The price is too right! This is the equalizer. Yamaha's Nord Lead Killer! Watch for copycats soon to follow.