Yamaha CS2x

After reading the manual I understood what the functions where for and what kind of effect each settings has. Example AEG means applitude ,envelope ,generator. After learning what each function does it is much easier to use them to enhance the sound. Settings can be recorded on paper in the order I programed the keyboard settings in and this way a new voice is recorded for all time. Settings can be stored to U1(user 1) or U2 also.

The panel edit settings can enhance the sound of a selected voice very well if I use the right settings. Putting different sounds togethere in the layer function can create very good sounds. There are up to four layers of different sounds that can play at the same time when you press the keys or notes.

I have tested the sounds that I have put togethere from far away and at low volume. There is very good sound quality in the keyboard. I have created up to seven very good and clear and usable sounds and I am very happy with them. I put togethere a sound that sounds like high qualtiy strings like in the orchestra and I have a synthesizer sound that is very energenic and can play all kinds of very inspiring melodies. I also named the sounds. The sounds have a lot of energy. I have put togethere sounds I can use in any music style.

I could play on the cs2x very well without back up. The sounds that can be created are strong and add well to any playing style I trust.I play the synthesizer sound that I put togethere to sound like a band by itself. The sound that the keyboard can make is very good. If a good synthesizer sound is wanted the CS2x can produce it if you use the right settings on the right voice. On this keyboard the keys do not stop working and the keys always work well.

If I needed parts or even to replace the casing I could order them from yamaha. They have good support.

The CS2x is a professional quality keyboard that cost a noble amount of money. I can make dozens of music tapes with energenic jams on them with the CS2x.

This thing is real easy to use. Real time controls plus the easy to read editing matrix make it fairly intuitive. The presets are pretty crappy, and this can be a handicap when cooking up new patches. I think with the editing allowed you should ge able to get whatever sound it is you want from. I for one am coaxes the analog out of this machine. It takes work, but i've got some pretty modern sounds. The manual is also fairly helpful, but not as helpful as the Silver Book, which i would heartily reccommend.

OK,so the polyphony is at an impressive 64 notes, which is just great. The keyboard action is squidgy, but i really really like it. Can make some real punchy sounds from it. The MIDI implementation is kinda archaic and hard to use, but it works all the same. What really shines here is the arrpegiator which has 40 patterns. This thing can put people on the dance floor real quick. I still am really upset with the amount of presets on here that are crap,because then it limits the amount of cool patches you can make.

Ok, yes the CS2x has "real" instruments on it, but i refuse to acknowledge this part of the synth. If you are buying a synth, making a bright piano patch should be on the bottom of your priority list. Like i said before, it's taken patience, but i have made some awesome unrealistic synth tones. It sounds like a blending of analog and digital. They say this is a dance music keyboard and the arpeggiator certainly lives up to it. But then again, if you just want to loop patterns and arpeggios then just buy a groove-box sequencer. I look at the CS2x like an affordable performance synth. This thing is mean to played. Screw hitting the arpeggio hold button. I think it could fit in a rock band quite nicely, and this is what i aspire to do. Give the kids at a rock show a heavy dose of cooked up analog.

I can totally depend on it. The thing that's flimsy are the knobs, and these can be glued. Solid construction, and i would use it without a backup.

Never had a problem worth seeking help.

If i had this guy stolen, i would probably not get it again. I would buy the Yamaha An1x simply because that is a full blooded synth. No crappy organ or glockenspiel patches. But that's just me because i'm interested in synth sounds, not realistic emulation of acoustic instruments. That being said, i do value my Cs2x, and i wouldn't want it to get stolen. I really dig the layered synthesis. There's something about the bass patches that also impress.At this price, it's hard to find a 5 octave synth capable of making a crackling lead that can really add to a show.

This product is very easy to use, when you want simplicity, However when you want to actually go in and tweak around with sounds, it gets to be a little complicated. But it's nothing that can't be explained with a little browsing of the manual.

So many sounds, you won't know what to do with all of them. The arpeggiator is especially a great feature, because you can do many different speeds and versions. There's alot of EQ-ing that you can do with each sound, and there are 2 scenes that each sound has, making even more versatility for this board.

The piano sounds aren't very realistic, neither are the string effects. I mainly use the Cs2x for effects and pads, which are awesome. The keys aren't weighted, which is typical when dealing with synths, so you should probably select another keyboard for piano and what not.

I have used this board for 3 years, constantly gigging and it has never failed me. THis thing can last longer than Sting on an all out sexfest. It's definitely a top of the line gig keyboard

I've never had to call the peeps at Yamaha, so i can't give any insight on this one

THis is one of my most treasured instruments that I've ever bought, and i have a whole slew of them. I would never think twice about replacing it. I love the sounds and it's easy to use. The only thing that i don't particularly like is the non-weighted keys. Plus the knobs do tend to fall off if you aren't careful. It's definitely a crowd pleaser and it's versatility is unmatched in my eyes.

Easy to use once you get familiar with the options. The combine analog and digital options is a plus.

Action is above average. Programming and using effects varies among samples and sounds. You'll have to spend time to understand the layout but you'll be rewarded with lots of cool things on this little keyboard. This synth works well using a seperate sequencer. Nice looking instrument with silver color body.

Sounds seem to be above average. At this price range, you can't beat it. If you liked the cs1x, you'll like this machine. Better piano sound than the roland keyboard at this range. Keyboard has limited analog sounds but has some impressive samples and string sounds. Defintely use some uploaded roms to fully utilize the power of this keyboard. Decent piano sound for the price.

SOlid yamaha. I would recommend you get a hard case and glue the flimsy knobs.

Great people at Yamaha. THey answer both phone calls and emails.

I've compared this to a alesis and roland (can't remember which keyboards) and generally the cs2x offered more and sounded better. At this price range, it really is a great keyboard. I haven't found another keyboard with this price range that can produce overall great sounds.

The presets are generally good, and quite varied - laid out in a fairly sensible manner, in clumps of 20 or 30 from each category. Editing is pretty easy, as there are no hidden submenus - the button matrix on the top means that there's a label for every available parameter (except for the FX Variation params).
However, setting up split zones isn't easy (when is it ever easy?), and it would be nice to be able to set key high/lows by actually pressing the key...
Still, the Assign 1 / Data knob is very handy as it allows you to set parameters and zoom through banks / programs without having to press the + / - buttons hundreds of times.

I love the action on this keyboard - very accurate, good for punchy chords (especially as you can roll off the release with the dedicated knob). 64 note poly, so it's very hard to run out of notes!
The effects are easy to use, with the button matrix working very well (e.g. with the knob in the bottom position, you get separate buttons for Reverb send, Chorus send, and Vari on / off).
No expansion capabilities, although it does have inputs for Sustain pedal, Volume pedal AND Expression pedal.

One very nice feature is that the two standard assignable knobs (& expression pedal) can be set to a whole range of parameters - and this gets saved with the patch. On top of that, all of the knobs & pedals etc can be reassigned to different global parameters...

Beautiful organs, good pianos, nice Wurlitzer, decent clav... and lots of pads / synths etc.
The envelope & filter knobs are excellent if you like to adjust the sounds while you play - I think every keyboard should have a release knob on the front panel!
Some of the effects I never use (the reverbs aren't great, and I never use overdrives), but the Touch Wah is great, as is the Echo & Rotary Speaker. Not much in the way of dirty phasers, though.
I've always liked the action on this keyboard - not too light, so you can slap it when you need to; and very quick, so it's great for funky riffs and stabs.

This is the perfect keyboard for the gigging musician who takes public transport! It weighs only 5.7Kg (you can lift it in one hand), and despite the wobbly knobs it's actually very well built. No problems with mine, and it's been to hundreds of rehearsals and gigs (in a good hard case). No glitches in the OS or any signs of crackle - I can and do depend on it! When I went out to play some gigs in Germany I just took my CS2x in its case, and I had a great time :)

Never had to talk to Yamaha...

It's not state of the art any more, so there may be other keyboards out there that do a better job... but I haven't seen any! It's very adaptable, with lots of ways to get at the sounds. The presets strike a good balance between quality "traditional" keyboard sounds (Piano, Clav, Organ etc) and exciting synths (nice fat resonant filters, too). I like the overall sound - bright, but not tinny and klangy like Roland & Korg can be.

This is a real gem. I own 7 keyboards - apart from my Rhodes :) this is the most like a 'real' instrument.

The CS2x is fairly easy to get going, although if you really want to edit the patches you will need to read the manual and have a little patitence.
But don't be put off, after all if Yamha has something to do with this synth you know it can't be all too bad.

It has an impressive 64 voice polyphony was the main reason I purchased mine when it first came out and oh yeah.. one of my work mates kept raving and ranting on about his CS1x and how brilliant it was for producing dance music. Expansion capabilities you ask? I haven't a clue but I heard its pretty crap on that front. The CS2x has full midi support for all of you midi freaks out there, so it definately scores highly on the midi side, if you are seeking a decent midi controller for those software synths and were also considering to purchase a budget sound module then this is an excellent alternative.

OK here we go.....
I produce dance music and use the CS2x sounds in some of my work, although please note, you will need decent effects and maybe some eq'ing once they are in your sampler/pc as the sounds can sound alittle flat. The real time control knobs are a real blessing as you can tweak the sounds with lovely sounding resonance and high pass & low pass filters, not to mention attack delay and release. Oh yeah.. The appregios are simply awesome, with loads of different patterns and styles. The fact that you will have to boost the frequencies or even add effects to the sounds afterwards is really 'small fries' as most producers/enginers do that to nearly all samples anyway.

Well....

The only problem I have had is one of those daft knobs falling off within the first month of buying my CS2x, but nothing a drop of super glued couldn't handle.
If you need this synth for playing live make sure you handle it carefully.
Apart from that, I have no complaints.

I have never had any reason to call them :)

If it were lost or stolen I would definately be gutted as I paid #500 for mine and do like the sounds that I get out of it, but as is human nature, I would go seeking for a newer, better alternative, maybe a Korg Triton or a Yamaha motif or something with a really 'awesome' sound.

Real-time programming is excellent on this synth. Everything is right in front of you, not buried in menus. You select a parameter in the matrix on the right, and tweak it with a knob on the left. Easy. But layering, or even changing sounds on the presets- I still haven't gotten my head around these things. The manual is useless regarding that: it has very basic, beginner information, and nothing beyond that. The Silver Book is much more helpful, but it wasn't included. Bad Yamaha. 10 for the front panel editing, 2 for layering parts averages to 6.

GM-compatibility is fine, but it's not really this synth's strength. I can understand that they're aiming this at people who might not be able to afford more than one keyboard, and so need 64 voices of polyphony, but the difficulty in setting up performances defeats that purpose. I don't mess with effects much, but they're easy to use, again being accessible right there at the front panel. Another sign of a beginner's board is lack of expansion. I like the onboard sounds, but I wish there were a way to add to them, and not having a card slot or floppy or anything to store patches to is bad. Scene morphing is a nice touch. The arpeggiator is a lot of fun. I especially like that scene changes and the arpeggiator are transmitted as MIDI. The keyboard has a light but snappy feel, and aftertouch is a nice bonus in this price range. The easy front-panel access makes this an excellent controller, but lack of modulation routings becomes very limiting after a while.

Again, GM really isn't the strength of this machine. So, it has pianos and brass, and they're okay, but this is better at electronic sounds, especially weird or aggressive ones. So much so that it's easy to forget that this is a sample-playback synth and not a virtual analog. Synth sounds are very punchy, organs are good, pads and sequences are also very good. Strings come off pretty well, though you wouldn't want to try to imitate a string quartet with this: it's more of a (good) artificial sound. As much as this is marketed for dance, it would make an excellent solo synth for prog and rock. Looked at that way, the pianos and things add versatility. This is a much better second synth than first synth. And you can get some very rough and scary sounds out of this, too: it would go very well with industrial, or with horror film scores.

Haven't gigged with it and can't answer, but the knobs keep falling off. I'd want to glue them on if I took this anywhere.

My only experience with Yamaha was good, but it was with another synth and doesn't count.

Considering how good a control synth it is for softsynths and modules, I don't think I'd want to be without this, unless it were replaced by something a lot more potent like a CS6X or Andromeda. The price I paid for a new unit was a good value at the time; nowadays that would be too much but they're a good buy at current secondhand prices. My other synths are sample-playback types, but this fills a different role and blends in very nicely. If it had expandability and a mod matrix, it could be a desert-island synth.

The presets sound ok, in paticular the modern sounds, nice for producing house or trance style of music.
When I first got my cs2x I just looked at the patch editing knobs and thought shi... damn yamaha's made it a pain in the butt with all of these functions, but its not really that bad it just looks complex, just use the ones you understand. The manual for this synth is OK but you wont learn too much from it, best to just play around with it.

The built in effects sound quite nice but the reverb lacks depth & that certian quality. I like the appregiator as it is not bad, you get to mess about with existing sounds.
To tell the truth I mainly use this keyboard for midi... so :(

The instruments are quite realistic sounding, but they just don't hit the spot for me. This synth will do well for live musicians or for people into electronic music, but bare in mind you will need to put these sounds through some heavy signal processing units/software (that is what I have resorted to lately)to get that meaty sound as the sound lacks that depth & quality which korg owners are not deprived off.

I have not had any major technical issues with my cs2x accept for that bloody knob falling off as it cracked, but super glue is made for this purpose, Yamaha should include a few tubes of glue with their keyboards. I feel that I have to be very careful around this keyboard :( in case it falls into peices.

No probs at the moment :P

If I could turn back time, I would have bought another keyboard as I don't feel this unit is value for money. I have been producing electronic base music for a few years now & will probably use this keyboard till it breaks down then go and buy a korg :)

Quite easy to use. I would like to see however bigger lcd screen - not comparable to my trinity's large touch screen...

Two effect slots is quite little and if I use vari I can use only them together...not too handy. No sequencer either although I wouldn't even use it as I have a pc seq up and running. Midi ports (in/out/thru) and this yamaha's own PC-host connection that I have never seen anywhere used...Midi works quite well although I had to download a software which I used to configure arpeggio to send each arpeggiated note to recording sequencer - you can't do that without external software. Arpeggio doesn't work well with all external midi keyboards though (i.e. Roland's)

Sounds seem to be somehow "dark" if you know what i mean...the high treble seems to be lost somewhere. If I compare the sounds to my korg trinity one must say that korg has treble and cs2x doesn't. You shouldn't put up the high eq though - the thing gets noisy quite soon. Arpeggios are quite allright but not modifiable as far as i know...works best as a dj companion or in studio creating trance...

We used this thing with our band in studio, gigs and training...very reliable although the knobs have a tendency of loosing themselves...buy few spares if you go out on the road.

Yamaha's website doesn't give too much and not too well supported synth...wish I bought either CS1X or AN1X - they have at least some sort of support in the net...

I bought this bastard back in 1998 and been using it since. I wish that I had the money to buy better one but not yet. Use it in studio and try to use bass sounds - all sounds that contain treble sound lacks of them...

The surface editing is fairly simple, but the layering is a pain in the ass, and not at all intuitive. The knobs make doing the basics on the envelope and filter pretty immediate, so it's gets an 8. without those knobs, I'd give it a 4.

The polyphony is 64 notes, which is more than adequate. The built in FX range fro mvery good to very poor. The delays are extremely good, and the chorus efffects are also very nice, but the reverb is thin. I then to take reverb off of it, and use an external cheapy lexicon. It has zero expansion and the MIDI is REALLY REALLY weak. No sequencer, but I have a computer to do that...

the arpeggiator has 40 patterns, but only a few are intersting and none of them are editable.

The sounds vary. the reeds and brass are evil. The pianos are adequate, and the strings and pads are very nice. Because editing is fairly easy, it doesn't take a lot of work to tweak the presets into something useful. It gives you bascially 4 banks of sounds, but only 2 are editable. It would have been niceto have ALL presets editable.

It works. I've never had a serious problem with it since I got it in 1999. One of the knobs fell off, but I glued it back on. fixed.

never dealt with them.

I got this for $525 *new* in 1999 from zzounds because they mistakenly put it in the place of the CS1x at the price of the CS1x. It should have cost me $650, but it didn't because zzounds was new and clueless back then. So, Bang for the buck, it's still a great synth. I don't think I'd buy a new one, though (for $650 I can buy a cheap PC and load REASON onto it and still have money for a controller keyboard...)

What I like: I like the playability of the keyboard - it has the basic ingredients and features to do some very interesting synth sound work. It's basically a very good synth for the money I paid.

It's the only synth I own. I also have an ancient Korg DSS1, but it's in a box and rarely gets used anymore.

I don't know what I'd compare it to - maybe the cheap EMU synths or the Alesis 6.1. They're both more expensive, though.

I figure it this way - if you need a keyboard and don't have much money, this is a very good choice.

as a beginning synth user, i think the ease of use is pitched nicely, there are some good exercises you can work through in the silver book that teach you how to get the most out of manipulating the sounds, which is especially good with the realtime controls, the main reason i bought this synth as i couldn't find any other synths with knobs in this price range

the keyboards a bit squidgy but it still feels quite expressive, lots of built in effects, but it's really how you use them that counts, though you can make some really mad sounds just from playing around, nice arpegiattor (40 rythyms) which transmits as midi. i use it with cubasis, i wouldn't have wanted to pay more for a synth with a built in sequencer, i think it's much easier to use a computer so you can see what your doing

nice piano, i've reprogrammed it to sound less bright, and some great organ sounds particularly the wurlitzer. im not interested in synths that try to replicate acoustic instruments, id rather use the real things, and some "wicked" sounding versatile analogue instruments, nice pads but too much dubious brass and sfx, though you can manipulate the crap sounds to make them more interesting. not to sure about the range on the basses, i havent heard it yet through decent speakers. the onboard effects are sufficient and after a while you get an idea of what would sound good on what, velocity responsive but no aftertouch

allright, you can pull the knobs off, which is why i've used araldite to reinforce them. Admittedly i shouldn't have had to but there not going to come off now, and anyone else who complains about the knobs should do the same. i'd depend on it at gigs

n/a

if it were stolen then i might do more research into the world of samplers before replacing it, but it's good because apparently you can use the knobs to control other devices such as the roland jv's. i also looked at the roland rs5 and the korg x5d ? which were roughly in the same price bracket. the roland had a nicer keyboard action, but it and the korg were more expensive and they didnt have as much realtime control. even though some people think it's pant's i am constantly enjoying playing it and inventing new sounds consequently it's very inspiring. i wish the arpeggiator had more styles though and i wish it had some kind of vocoder but it's sample based and not modular ( i think ).i'd recommend it though i still think it's quite expensive for what it is. i like it more than the other instruments i played on in the same price range though part of me wishes i'd waited a few months, saved up and bought a korg karma, though i was impatient to buy a synth at the time. As a beginner it suits my needs and it is inspiring and most importantly fun to play.

My first venture into proper synths so I was expecting it to be easy........and it wasnt. It took me months to get off the presets (which are quite good though!) and the whole "layered" synthesis idea i still cant be bothered with. Menus are confusing

Oh, and the 2 manuals........... what language is that? Egyption hyroglryphs?

Polyphony excellent, but you would expect it to be since its only 1-part multitimbral in performance mode. It claims to be "16 part multitimbral" but this is only talking about its midi-playback capabilities. Some usefull arps in there but no choice to program your own patterns. No sampling either, or expandability. No tweaking of wave-forms or anything either......

Some very nice sounds, but they all sound like cheap rip-offs off pro sounds and not the real thing. Its "layered" synthesis system should work in theory, but it never gets u the results u want. Has some nice pads, a few good leads and some nice arp sounds. Preset Bank 2 is a total write-off and I never knew how i did it but i managed to bring up a 3rd bank of presets from somewhere containing some good sounds...........no idea where they came from, outer space?

Most of the leads are really really really dated and this synth would have been great for sounds up to about 98/99 when sounds started advancing in the trance scene. Lets not pretent it aint a dance keyboard....

The filters and stuff are ok but not as powerfull as the ones on Roland synths. Midi is a nightmare apart from general syncing so that is a creative hindrence.

Its got some good souns but not much scope for new ones. See what I did with it at www.mp3.com/hardfaze

Build quality is really low, im scared of using some of the parameter knobs incase they fall off. They make dodgy noises after a while, become really lose and move about in their sockets. The keyboard itself feals ok, better than roland etc. The apparently "ingenious" menu system just is complicated, tacky and puts you off using its advanced feutures.

I would never ever ever use it live, its build quality is too bad.

Never reported any of my problems...

Nice sounds but cant use it live. No sequencer and only one-part multitimbral. Its got a built in 16-part midi synth........lol why did they even bother? Ok arps and filters but all the advanced features are too hard to tweak once u have pasted the basic control knobs.

But you'd be pushed to get something better for the money it is now (much cheaper than what i paid).

I have come across two owner's manuals...one called the owner's manual and one called the silver book...both are about as helpful as a broken leg if you are new to synths

no sequencer and the midi is not easy to figure out either...not much on expansion capability either...

the drums are pretty much a joke...this synth is ok if you are looking for your standard dance sounds...leads and pads are the strong point in my opinion

i would never use this at a gig without backup unless i had a deathwish...NEVER

when i heard i got free support for a couple of years i was excited and have been dissapointed ever since...but they did call back so im not gonna give them a 1

paid five hundred...feel like i got shorted about two hundred...in fact if i were to sell it it would be for around three hundred...the owner's manual was extremely dissapointing once i finally got a hold of one...been playing a couple of years now i also own a roland mc303 and a roland tb303 this keyboard actually goes pretty good w/ the mc303 but i would not advise attempting to make professional music w/ only this to help you...also got a copy of cubase but i still cant figure out why the midi is not going through...mentions something in the 'silver book' but that seems to be written in a language i cannot understand...midi is definately what i hate the most about this thing since it is much more difficult than it needs to be

The sounds on this thing are great. If you're looking for dance sounds, as I was when I bought it. But it falls over big time on the Midi front. Try as I might to wade through the manual that made as much sense as Hyroglyphs, I could not work out how to get the 'layered' sounds into Cubase? So I get in an expert in Midi, he couldn't work it out? Then I got a computer music expert, he couldn't work it out either. In the end I had to settle with sampling them into another machine. Bitterly dissapointing, when the sounds on this thing are so fab.
Editing is so easy its untrue, with the real-time editors. A joy to play with.
But I'm only giving it 3 because of the Midi nightmare it creates.

It has tons of effects. A sweet arppegiator and as mentioned wonderful realtime editors. There isn't any expansion capability though.
No on board sequencor, but lots of knobs to play with.
Its not a touch sensative keyboard, but who needs touch when you want to 'stab'!?

The piano and brass sounds are shockingly bad. We're talking late 80's Childrens TV show bad. But the dance patches are fantastic and if you use the 'scene' buttons as well, you can instantly change the filters without any effort at all.
The onboard effects are very good, although effects such as distortion and overdrive almost halve the gain for a lot of sounds.
Volicity and aftertouch are eaisly manipulated with the the real time dials.
If you want dance sounds and cool arp's - this is the one...but 'Caveat Emptor'. Let the buyer beware!

You can't bang this thing around. I pulled one of the knobs rather gently and it flew off. So I wouldn't want to gig with it really. Strictly studio use.

But keyboard wise its as sound as a pound.

Tried to use Yamaha support to explain how I get the layers to play via Midi. Didn't understand the explanation and I don't think the helpdesk really understood the query?
But they were very friendly about it.

If it were lost or stolen - I'd claim on my insurance and buy some decent sample CD's instead!
It promised so much, sounded fantastic and delivered so little. The most ambivalant synth I ever bought. I love the sounds so much and hate the fact I can't put them into my PC!!!
What's up with that!?
I also own a Quasimidi 309 and I'm in the process of getting a Triton Studio. So in all honesty this thing will be redundant when that arrives. It will be like waving goodbye to your Great Aunt after a vist - You're sad to see it go; but secretly relived its gone.
I've created some killer stuff on it, so its been a useful 'note pad'. But with no sequencer on board, it's sadley lacking.
Yamaha, its one thing creating a 'beginners' synth, but its a whole different matter extorting cash out of people in the name of 'fashion'. At least give them something they can work with.
Take my advice guys. Start with any of the Roland MC-xOx packages or even something like my beloved 309 and add proper professional instruments to your set-up as you progress.
If you have to have the fantastic sounds from this thing, then get a sampler and borrow a CS2X from some poor victim who bought one and sample the sounds.
But I implore you, after you've done this and just because you've saved yourself a few hundred pounds/ dollars, please don't look too smug when you hand it back to your friend. He has feelings to you know.
In conclusion and in the words of the Great Yellow Bald One - "Mmm...CS2X...D'OH!"

this synth is very easy to use you can throw the manual in the garbadge can cause you wont even need it! by the way the presets sound great.

the synth is 64 polyphony it also has many nice effects. the expansionabilty is not so great but i dont need it. the midi part works for me. a sequencer is not on board.

This synth has the best sounds ever!!!! the piano's are great, the guitars, basses etc. are outstanding but the lead sounds..... AMAZING, i can't believe it!!! They sound f*cking great, DAMN!!! Or as we hollanders would say: kapot moeilijk (hahahahaha). If you like 80's rock, progressive rock, or normal rock, you've got to buy this synth. If you like dream theater, than you'll notice that it's a lot of fun playing along with songs as pull me under or metropolis pt. 1. That's because the synth leads and analog leads are very realistic and the pith bend wheel works great.

it feels a little light cheapy, but that doesn't matter, and i'd sure use it on a gig.

didn't need it

i love the pitch bend and the modulation wheel i work with it al the time. i wish it had some more knobs and wheels for more bending and modulating. but 8 knobs and 2 wheels is enough and for this price it is the best synthesizer in the world.

This is definetely a beginner's keyboard, and for good reason. It's simple to understand after playing around for a few days, and really easy to find all its limitations. The 8 knobs and editing matrix are clear and well laid-out. The manual explains anything you can't figure out in quick snippits, but just messing around will tell you more than the manual ever would. Plus, there are several software editors available that make editing and patch storing a breeze.

-64 voice polyphony
-Flimsy 61-keys
-3 built-in effect sections (reverb, chorus, variation)
-Not expandable
-MIDI IN/OUT/THRU, Velocity, no Aftertouch
-No onboard sequencer
-AWM Sound Modeling technology
-Around 1000 patches in 50 banks
-Arpeggiator with 40 types

The sounds on this are, well, about what you'd expect from the price range. There's a nice sampling of regular acoustic instruments, as well as many more electronic sounds. The pianos are, on a whole, quite useable. Same goes for strings and acoustic bass. The brass and wind section is shameful, you'll certainly need some other source for those. But acoustic isn't what this instrument was made for.

Yamaha built the CS2x with dance/electronic music in mind, and thus the real strong point is in the electronic sounds. There is a massive variety of these, both in the GM/XG soundset, and in the Material Voices for Performances. With a little hunting and some tweaking, you can probably find a synth sound suitable for what you need.

The only reason I won't give this keyboard a 10 for reliability is that it's a $600 keyboard, and thus the case, keys, and knobs are made with that in mind. Nothing's a solid or tight as you would find on a Triton or Motif, but nothing's falling apart, either. It's rather solid, doesn't fail, and boots in no time.

I only had to contact Yamaha once, and they were quite helpful, and quick in responding by email. Full points.

Were this keyboard to go away, I probably would not buy it. There are so many other options out there with vintage analog sounds, a ROMpler isn't really what I want for my synthesizer needs. It's a good solution for a beginning keyboardist, and great to learn on, but it's not pro-quality, and you'll constantly be running into its limits in terms of sonic variety.

I've only been playing for a year, and this is the only keyboard I own. I really like that it covers many different kinds of instruments and that it was rather inexpensive. I dislike the fact that it's limited and almost bland at times. Before buying it, I compared the Yamaha CS2x to the Roland RS-5. Hands down, the CS2x won out. The Roland is much more dedicated to bread and butter acoustic sounds, rather than bread and butter synthesizer sounds.

It's definetely a good beginners keyboard, as such it's been great for me. I would say if you're looking for an inexpensive way to get started making music with a keyboard, and you're into electronic music more than rock, it would be a great deal at $500-$600. For the same price, the Roland RS-5 would suit you much better if you were looking for acoustic sounds.

Very easy to use. With things on the front panal you avoid a lot of the sub-menus & sub-sub-menu hassle on most other mfg's synths. I also have an Alesis QS6.1 and its harder to program. Not useing software, doing it the hands on way with the synth itself. LOL. Manual is good.

Good sequencer. 40 types, each can be adjusted for tempo & note timing resolution. You can either have apeggiator across the whole brd or just lower third. Hold function lets you release keys with it continueing to play untill you tell it to stop.

Loves the performance set. Many great voices. Also useful for starting to create new versions for user sets 1 & 2. Noted a few peeps said it didnt play enough deep bass. Which surprises me. Cause you can shift the keyboard up to 3 octaves down! Lol. Perhaps they wheren't useing voices suited to bass sounds? Is great synth for trance, ambient, techno, rave, new age, etc. You can do 4 way layers & splits. Nice keyboard action, velocity sensitive.

Seems well made. Lightweight which is nice. Good plastics are as good as metal etc. Its the space age! Lol. I gig with it and play at home. Generally use 2 synths plus sampler & drum-n-bass machine for my rig. Treat your gear with respect and the CS2x will hold up as well as any well taken care of guitar.

Hasnt dealt with the mfg.

Would replace it if lost or stolen. Would deliver serious grief to anyone who stole any of my gear. Loves the 8 controll knobs. Would have preferred built in power supply rather then external adapter. Is inspiring to creating music.

This synth is easy even for beginners like me. All the knobs, buttons are laid out clearly and logically.
The display is large and basically pleasant to work with.

64 notes polyphony. Soft keyboard action, just nice when you want to play your own appregiated pattern.
Built in effects are not that easy to edit on the synth, but with "cs2x tuned'em up" program. All the layers of obstables are gone.
No expansion is available. But the features will be enough to produce quality tracks.

This is a very good Dance/Trance/Techno keyboard.
Sounds pleasing and good quality overall. The leads and basses are the best. You will find them very familiar on commercial tracks.
There is no aftertouch but the response is good enough in the feel factor.

Except of some midi data drop outs occasionally when there are too many channels playing, otherwise is a very reliable keyboard.

No problems at all.

I wont buy it again if lost.
Because there are always better and cheaper synths with better and more up to date sounds.

The presets are what sold me on this synth, at least the Performance ones. They have a variety of pretty cool sounds. I've found though that after a while they got old, and its time to start programming my own for sure. The manual is pretty weak actually, I've found it to be pretty useless to me since I fairly new to synths and programming them. But there are a number of websites out there, and its a total must to use the software utilities that others have written such as the Layer Manager, and Tune It up.

But Overall its a pretty good synth to use, although its never going to be an all in one synth, and most of the things are pretty self explanatory.

64 Note Polyphony. The keys feel good, it plays nice. But I have a major complaint about the effects, which makes it not a good solution as your only synth. The effects can only be used on the performance voice in performance mode, and in Multi mode all you get is the XG voices (no Material voices that make up the performance voice in performance mode), but effects on all 16 channels. I think the CS6x can do effects on all channels. I found that limitation to be very frustrating to me since I do all my work in Cakewalk. But in terms of that one performance voice, it works great, and you get a lot of great stuff for that one voice. If its going to be lead synth then great! if you want to use it as your only synth, you'll run into this brick wall.

No expansion really.

Midi is great, I use it with Cakewalk pretty flawlessly, and it handles pressure no problem, and is working pretty well for me. I did run into a problem with the other channels sounding when i transmitted data to my other synths in my studio, but I think I finally found a way to stop those channels from receiveing data. I had to go to Yamaha help to get it done though.

THis is a Dance Keyboard, no lies. The sounds are very clearly aimed at the Techno, Trance, etc crowd. The "real Instruments" suck as real instruments, but I didn't buy it for that, if I want real insturment sounds I'd buy the instrument. The Onboard effects limitation is annoying as previously stated though.

Drums: almost non existent. Too quiet, I had to buy a Drum Machine to get the punch I wanted from this machine.

Pads: Its got some great pads in there, great spacy trippy sounds that really work.

Piano: quiet and weak

Lead: some awesome lead performance voices

Bass: again some killer low bass performance voices

I rate it lower because of the drum sounds being so crappy.

So far so good.

Just once, and recently but they were helpful and solved my problem. I didn't have a bad excperience.

I am iffy about it right now after having it for about a year, but I think its been a good synth for me overall. Its got some frustrating limitations, but its a good controller synth to drive my other gear (Korg EA-1 for analog bass sounds, Kawai K1m for killer pads and strings, and Alesis SR-16 for drums) and it has some great Lead and Bass performance voices. I would not expect this synth to be the be all end all of your studio, but its got some good things about it that make it worth keeping.

this board is simple to use. patches can ce editted directly on the front knobs which are very descent filters. effects can be tweaked a little in side the board but are not spectacular at all. the manual is great for somethings, but there has been some questions i could not find at all. iv'e had this board for almost 2 years.

the polyphony is great, 64 note. ive never had a problem with dropped notes when im playing back via midi. sometimes problems with realtime effects though. got to take you time. no expansion , no sequencer.

heres the deal. alot of the sounds are horrible. ugly. i like soulful
and funky sounds. but there are alot of sounds that are beautiful. pads, basses, leads, organs. drums are a little to crisp for me. but after i sample them in my sp 12 they're pretty delicious. only able to play one performance preset sucks, i just sample sequenced phrases and it works out fine. i always find room for it on every track. if you get this synth you will for sure need an old analog board for accompaniment. i recomend an akai ax 60, juno 106 or 60. dont get me wrong this board has tons of diversity, but you know. its digital...and sounds like it. i like alot of the old piano and wurlitzer sounding presets this thing has. after filter and effects it can really sound relistic. most va or analog boards cant do this at all, so its nice to have around.

i dont gig with my key board but i would. it seems pretty durable. what bugs in my set up, and if some one can help please do, is that the cs2x always responds to other midi data coming in. im always hearing those damn pianos following the rhythm of the drums or something. so know i cant use midi ch 5-16 in my set up. ive tried tons of different things and its the same.

never dealt with them.

i wouldnt buy another one. im debating on selling it in fact. it was my first board and i didnt know much. im happy with it but im looking for something with more multi timbral, sweeter sounds, and i dont need all these full size keyboards lying around. its all about rack mounts or desk tops. if you need straight up sounds, it cool. if i sold this id need a nice roland or a proteus 2000. if your starting from scratch, this is seriously what id do ( depending on your flavor)
1. a fender rhodes( mark 2 or something) 2. either a waldorf micro q or the q or an access virus a or b. depends on cash flow in either situation. with those your getting alot of multi timbral plus hot sounds.and 3. like i mentioned earlier, a synth with some realistic sounds on it, or forget it, and pick up a real analog synth to be on the safe side.

Presets are pretty easy to use; I still have problems selecting some of the other banks though. This is probably just me, but the manual didn't help much. In the end I usually manage to get to where I want.

The biggest problem with the CS-2X is the fact you can usually only play one Performance sound at a time. If you're just using GM, then obviously that's no problem - but this synth shines in its Performance voices. I get around this by using SF Acid and recording each part as a WAV before trying to set up my keyboard for the next part. According to Yamaha's site, I seem to remember, channels 1-4 are set aside for Performance mode and the rest can be GM. Since four channels are set aside and since not all Performance sounds have a full 4 part layer, it is theoretically possible to combine more than one Performance patch - but in practice I can't be bothered to work out how many parts a performance uses and see if I could pick a different one with less parts just to accommodate more than one Performance voice. I have to stress this point since you will get your fingers burned if you expect to be able to choose a set of Performance voices from this box and have your sequencer play 16 parts together - it won't happen! If you use a MIDI sequencer like Cubase or Cakewalk rather than a purely WAV-based sequencer, then don't buy this keyboard unless you want a cheap way to produce GM (or - as I did - buy it as a first keyboard).

Other posts have mentioned the filters - yes, they are great, especially for real time effects. They can completely alter the sound of an instrument and work particularly well on sequenced percussive sounds (eg. the "Roulette" Performance patch). As regards the inbuilt effects - most Performance sounds have both an "arpeggiated" and a "non-arpeggiated" version - there's around two dozen arpeggiations you can choose from for each, although the defaults are usually fine. Various echo/chorus effects which I haven't really used, so can't comment. No expansion available, but then it's not the kind of keyboard you would really want to expand - it's very much an all-in-one solution and if you want anything beyond that you would get another keyboard, or another in addition. Keyboard action is actually okay - I could find no faults with it as my first keyboard, and since buying a few others I still quite like its feel - it's certainly not a "natural" touch, but the weighting is about right if you're a pianist, and the 5 levels or so of velocity sensitivity are fine for everything I've thrown at it.

GM sounds are unremarkable. The CS-2X is usually promoted as a "dance/techno keyboard" - which is true. However, I must second the opinion of one of the earlier reviews - it can also make some great rock sounds. After the first few months I used it almost exclusively for rock, including rock leads, which, when synthesised out of multiple lead patches, give some convincing 80's rock lead sounds. To be fair, it's quite easy to get rather cheesy effects and Pet Shop Boys styling, and my only real complaint is that all the sounds are a bit thin. Working with this keyboard you find yourself layering a lot of sounds to try to produce something resonant - which is enormous fun and a useful education in itself. But for less money you could have these sounds "out the box", with after-touch to boot if you bought, say, a second-hand Korg 01/W. Having bought other keyboard and modules since though, there are still sounds I like to use on the CS-2X - particularly some of the string pads.

I've also experienced the odd problem with the thing "hanging", and failing to respond to MIDI input. You can generate this programmatically by forcing it to try to process too many MIDI messages, but it hasn't been a significant problem, and I can't compare it fairly with my other equipment to say if it's any worse in this respect. The construction is cheap and cheerful but the thing seems fairly sturdy. Easy to scratch, but I don't imagine having any problems with sticking keys, etc.

Never dealt with Yamaha.

If it were lost, I wouldn't buy another, but only because I've moved on and learned a lot having owned it. It has paid for itself in terms of experience. Since buying it I bought a Korg 01/W and just last week a Roland XV-3080 and Alesis DM Pro, along with a decent electric guitar. I started making music in June 2000 and the main reason I forked out for other equipment was because the drums simply weren't professional enough and I wanted "real" orchestral sounds. However, the Yamaha's still my "master" keyboard, until I can afford a 76-key GEM or something similar. As many have said, if you're on a budget and new to this, then it might well be the best first buy.

CS2x sounds good right out of the box, the presets are impressive. It
is very easy to use, though the editing system is maybe a bit awkward
and for some reason you can't adjust the layer EQ on the synth, you
have to do that via sequencer or Yamaha's Tune'em Up editor (which is
very good and freeware, but sadly Windows only). The manual doesn't
even bother to mention that CS2x has an EQ! Otherwise the manual is
ok, but Yamaha's Silver Book is a must download if you are serious
about CS2x.

64-note polyphony is good enough. I think the keyboard action is good
but I'm just a beginner, maybe I just don't know about anything
better. It lacks aftertouch, though. The effects are versatile and
easy to use. No expansion capabilities or sequencer but I don't
really miss them. MIDI implementation is good. The real-time knobs
are a really nice feature that make CS2x also a pretty good master
keyboard.

Decent pianos and drums, good basses, strings and organs and very good
synth sounds, especially the analog leads are excellent. CS2x is
obviously oriented to dance music but it has usable sounds for every
genre, I find it works well for progressive rock. The onboard effects
sound good to me.

Well, it is quite light and plastic but I'm sure it won't let you
down under normal circumstances. I have had it for six months and
haven't had any problems so far. I wouldn't hesitate to use it on a
gig.

I am happy with my CS2x, it is definitely worth the money. However,
if it was lost or stolen (though I would never let that happen :)), I
would maybe consider getting a Yamaha S30 instead since I have heard
it is more all-around but it is also much more expensive. Anyway, for
a beginner like me CS2x is a very good choice for the first synth. It
is a very inspiring instrument and also looks very nice, I love the
silver case and the blue knobs. :) I just wish it had aftertouch and
the EQ was editable on the synth.

Pretty easy to used, The presets sound great at first but then when u come to use them they dont sit in the mix well.
The MIDI arpegiato does not sync to the HOST port. If yours does please tell me and Ill take this one back.

POLY is ok, FX are ok, No expansions but it is just a lead synth.

Sounds sound great, Until u try to use them in a mix, then they sound over bright and thin, the XG sounds are thinner...

Mine crashes all the time, goes quite, a few times Ive had to do a system reset and lost all my presets..

Yamaha are ok , but could not help me with the arpegio sync to midi HOST problem.

If it where stolen I dont think I would replace it, I'd probably get a second hand cs1x and something else.

PLEASE IF ANYONE KNOWS HOW TO SORT OUT MY PROBLEMS PLEASE EMAIL ME..
DIVYKECKS@HOTMAIL.COM

The CS-2X is about the simplest most intuative synth I have ever owned. Editing is a breeze, and it is very easy to come up with some of the most delightfull sounds imaginable. Never even had to look at the manual. It would be nice to have dedicated control knobs for all of the paramiters, but hey for the money, even I would have to admit that that would be asking too much.

For what this synth was designed to do it has a great selection of features. Finally Manufacturers are understanding the fact that few people use on board sequencers and multimode sucks. If you want a keyboard that does one thing well, then this is the keyboard.

Sounds are fabulous. Even some of the presets are good, but the ease of creating new and inspirational sounds is where this baby shines. It doesn't take long to come up with some mind blowing pads that are totally unique.

Hasn't failed yet

Never needed it, but have owned tons of Yamaha stuff and not had any issues

I love this keyboard. Yes it does feel cheap and I would love to see individual editing parameters and aftertouch etc, etc, but hey for the money it rocks. Plus every minute on the thing is fun and inspirational. I would be very upset not to have it.

Editing is a breeze with all the controls right on top of the synth, no scrolling through menus. One of the most intuitive synths that I have ever seen. Here, you have the best of both the digital and analog worlds.

The coolest features that make this board stand out from the others are the eight real-time controllers and the ability to morph between two sounds with the mod wheel. You can also save two different edits of a patch that are quickly accessible through the "scene" buttons. There is also an impressive appegiator with "hold".

The two features sadly lacking in this unit are aftertouch and expandability. If you want these, then you will have to go with the CS6x.

The keyboard feel is very mushy, cheap, but I wouldn't let this stop me from buying this board if I liked the sounds and needed the features. One can always adapt to the feel.

Get this straight, this is a DANCE keyboard, if you do dance music, you will love it, if you don't do dance, look elsewhere. The patches are very inspirational to creating dance music.

I am not a professional musician but if I were, I don't think that I would rely on any one piece of equipment for a gig but I think Yamaha makes a decent product and it should be as reliable as any.

I owned this synth for three weeks and took it back to trade it for a Yamaha S30 which is much more suited to my needs. Initially, I was trying to buy a synth as close to $500 as possible and I was very impressed with the dance sounds and real-time controllers of the CS2x. After three weeks I felt this unit was just too specialized (I like to do jazz, classical and other assorted styles too). I didn't even look at the S30 before I bought the CS2x because the S30 was $1000. It turns out that the S30 is a great synth for me. I am VERY happy with it and it was worth the extra cash. Still, if you do dance music, you will definitely want to check out the CS2x.

No other synth that I know of in this price range has the dance sounds, features, and polyphony of this unit.