Don Freeman here. Larry Carlton was the first person I worked with that owned a CS 80 when they were relatively new. It was intimidating in the beginning
@@lorenmorgan1931 Ha! Love that.. i DID! Although the ol cs80 started slipping out of tune as i was playing it ( its a sensitive beast ), I was still in AWE! Hail the mighty 80!
@@lorenmorgan1931Check out the UA-cam channel "Dollar Guy." He has a CS-80 playlist that has video guides from 14 to 6 years ago and he's very meticulous with replacements of capacitors, potentiometers, discrete IC's, as well as overall service/calibration.
I agree about the tuning issues, on the occasions when I've used it on recordings I needed to go back into my DAW after the session and use some pitch modulation to get it in key. And the aftertouch is great, but it is actually quite difficult to master - you need to put in a lot of time with it to get anywhere near that Vangelis sound. I love the gritty vibe of it, but I would never want the hassle of maintaining it. Hope people keep doing cool stuff with them! I always love seeing CS videos
black corp deckards dream, with the expander mk2 and a hydrasynth deluxe for midi control is a still expensive but at least realistic way to get the same mojo i suspect. still saving up for the deckards dream and expander mk2 so cant confirm. also i am impressed that table managed not to break holding it up haha
Its a nice sounding synth. I saw one in person last year in a repair shop, its big. What makes this one of my faves of all time is that Vangelis used it on Bladerunner and that is in my top 5 fave movies. Probably the same goes with many classic synth fans. This era of synths had a look similar to large home organ consoles and I started playing on a 1977 Lowery so I like this synth/organ aesthetic.
I visited the west coast Yamaha distribution center/showroom in CA. back in 1977. I got to talk with a rep. got a full tour and learned about the soon to be released CS series. The brochures were NOT finalized yet, and I was privy to seeing the original version. But, when the actual came out, it STILL had the flying 'eggs' in the sky 😊. Have all three in my file collection. Oh, and I purchased a CS-60 in 1978, It was a hefty price at $2400 back then! Still have it, never gigged with it, so it is still like brand new. It has been in storage since 1991 at our pipe organ shop, not sure if it plays. Time to bring it back home!
Great video. To each their own, but even though I encountered 3 CS-80's in my life (in a music repair/service shop I worked at in 1987 to 1990), I don't desire to own one due the well known requirements of reliable ownership. With that mentioned, I seriously missed the sound and user experience when it was properly serviced. Watching the "Dollar Guy" channel's CS-80 playlist almost makes me want to actually purchase one, but... It's just not possible for me as I have enough "vintage" music items from my past decades of living. Recently, I encountered a video by a UA-cam channel by the name of "synthtaxi" on a Polybrute, which has encouraged me to research the PolyBrute 12. No, it's NOT identical by any means, especially the front programming panel controls, but from trying it out it's sound capability and performance controls are what I consider both extremely close.
The plug-ins do justice to the sound but what's missing is tactile control. Mapping a few CC control knobs does not come even close.I want full 1:1 controllers for plug-ins.
The real thing is something for only 'the happy few' and the plug-ins are for all of us. And - lucky for us all - the plug-in (vst-)versions are more stable without all this con's. Buying a real (old) vintage cs-80 with all this risks incalculated will never become an option into the framework of my financial possibilities. It's a collection item for those who "collect". And also for musicians who like to reproduce the real sounds of it. For that price I can buy an entire alternative synth-park with (new) replacable electronic parts. Just a thought (even I'm a big fan of the Yamaha CS-80 and considering it as the emperor in synth-kingdom realms).
And yeah : if there was a controller-builder who gives us that touch-friendly knob/slider-possibility the con's of a plug-in vst version will be vanished into oblivion. If we could find a person like "Synth Project" but than more as an entire firm with a committment and dedication to build controllers for vst plug-in emulations of vintage synthesizers this would be great. See : ua-cam.com/video/p7A0eLL5jt0/v-deo.html (of the "Synth Project" but only building slendid controllers for his personal uses)
Having messed around with a CS-50 for over a year and having regular access to a CS-80, I can say that there's something still sickly with this CS-80. Something still isn't right with it.
Don Freeman here. Larry Carlton was the first person I worked with that owned a CS 80 when they were relatively new. It was intimidating in the beginning
Wow! Welcome Don! Must have been GREAT working with Larry Carlton! Thanks for watching!
@@RolandPerez-p7i it was fantastic
A Roland reviewing a Yamaha made me laugh for a short moment
One life goal has to be getting close to a CS-80 and feel the keyboard and hear the sounds IRL. 😮
Same
The amount of humans that get to touch a real one, it's almost like the Holy Grail!
The synth I’ve always lusted for you’re very lucky to have played this godly synth
I know you almost feel as if he got infinite youth just for touching it LOL
@@lorenmorgan1931 Ha! Love that.. i DID! Although the ol cs80 started slipping out of tune as i was playing it ( its a sensitive beast ), I was still in AWE! Hail the mighty 80!
@@RolandPerez-p7i Yeah I cant even imagine what a recap of one of those would take. On top of that all the natural circuit drift.
@@lorenmorgan1931Check out the UA-cam channel "Dollar Guy." He has a CS-80 playlist that has video guides from 14 to 6 years ago and he's very meticulous with replacements of capacitors, potentiometers, discrete IC's, as well as overall service/calibration.
After obligatory question about Zach, we can finally proceed. Good review, guys! Love this format!
I agree about the tuning issues, on the occasions when I've used it on recordings I needed to go back into my DAW after the session and use some pitch modulation to get it in key. And the aftertouch is great, but it is actually quite difficult to master - you need to put in a lot of time with it to get anywhere near that Vangelis sound. I love the gritty vibe of it, but I would never want the hassle of maintaining it. Hope people keep doing cool stuff with them! I always love seeing CS videos
black corp deckards dream, with the expander mk2 and a hydrasynth deluxe for midi control is a still expensive but at least realistic way to get the same mojo i suspect. still saving up for the deckards dream and expander mk2 so cant confirm. also i am impressed that table managed not to break holding it up haha
HA! We were totally freaking out about the table's stability.. but we live life on the edge!
Its a nice sounding synth. I saw one in person last year in a repair shop, its big. What makes this one of my faves of all time is that Vangelis used it on Bladerunner and that is in my top 5 fave movies. Probably the same goes with many classic synth fans. This era of synths had a look similar to large home organ consoles and I started playing on a 1977 Lowery so I like this synth/organ aesthetic.
I visited the west coast Yamaha distribution center/showroom in CA. back in 1977. I got to talk with a rep. got a full tour and learned about the soon to be released CS series. The brochures were NOT finalized yet, and I was privy to seeing the original version. But, when the actual came out, it STILL had the flying 'eggs' in the sky 😊. Have all three in my file collection.
Oh, and I purchased a CS-60 in 1978, It was a hefty price at $2400 back then! Still have it, never gigged with it, so it is still like brand new. It has been in storage since 1991 at our pipe organ shop, not sure if it plays. Time to bring it back home!
Great video. To each their own, but even though I encountered 3 CS-80's in my life (in a music repair/service shop I worked at in 1987 to 1990), I don't desire to own one due the well known requirements of reliable ownership. With that mentioned, I seriously missed the sound and user experience when it was properly serviced. Watching the "Dollar Guy" channel's CS-80 playlist almost makes me want to actually purchase one, but... It's just not possible for me as I have enough "vintage" music items from my past decades of living.
Recently, I encountered a video by a UA-cam channel by the name of "synthtaxi" on a Polybrute, which has encouraged me to research the PolyBrute 12. No, it's NOT identical by any means, especially the front programming panel controls, but from trying it out it's sound capability and performance controls are what I consider both extremely close.
Ive had the fortune to play one many times and they are magic. It’s a shame your recording at the end was distorted and in need of compression.
The plug-ins do justice to the sound but what's missing is tactile control. Mapping a few CC control knobs does not come even close.I want full 1:1 controllers for plug-ins.
The real thing is something for only 'the happy few' and the plug-ins are for all of us. And - lucky for us all - the plug-in (vst-)versions are more stable without all this con's.
Buying a real (old) vintage cs-80 with all this risks incalculated will never become an option into the framework of my financial possibilities. It's a collection item for those who "collect". And also for musicians who like to reproduce the real sounds of it. For that price I can buy an entire alternative synth-park with (new) replacable electronic parts. Just a thought (even I'm a big fan of the Yamaha CS-80 and considering it as the emperor in synth-kingdom realms).
And yeah : if there was a controller-builder who gives us that touch-friendly knob/slider-possibility the con's of a plug-in vst version will be vanished into oblivion. If we could find a person like "Synth Project" but than more as an entire firm with a committment and dedication to build controllers for vst plug-in emulations of vintage synthesizers this would be great. See : ua-cam.com/video/p7A0eLL5jt0/v-deo.html (of the "Synth Project" but only building slendid controllers for his personal uses)
At least play the bloody thing while explaining what things do 😅
I
What tuner do you use in the video?
Looks like a Boss TU-3S 😀
@@sheateeley1 Yessir! Peterson Stobe was MIA.. had to do a quick tune right before the video.. Boss handled it pretty well!
Out of tune? What's a trim pod? sp?
Having messed around with a CS-50 for over a year and having regular access to a CS-80, I can say that there's something still sickly with this CS-80. Something still isn't right with it.
Roland Perez is as if Zach was normal and bright.
I appreciate the kind words but we still love Zach.. after all he is the reason we have all these amazing synths to showcase for you to enjoy.