Yamaha CS-5 Analog Synth Overview

Published on Sep 19, 2016 ProckGnosis

Note: He says the CS5 is 1/16th of the CS80 as 5 goes into 80 16 times. It's also one voice/mono while the CS80 is 8 voice x 2, so 1/16th again. :)

"CAUTION: this video is for serious synth geeks, who actually like watching or listening to people just screwing around with an old, analog synth for 20 minutes.

This is sort of like a review, only 30-40 years after the product was released. For being a single oscillator, mono synth, this thing really has some punch for bass, especially with the square wave undergoing some pulse width modulation from the single LFO.

As I explain in the video, this is first analog, mono synth I ever bought, and it was playing with this synth a few years ago that piqued my interest in analog mono synths again (the OLD kind that don't require menu diving, and you can't save the patches).

• Oscillators - 1 VCO with pulse or sawtooth waveforms and noise-gen
• LFO - Yes, with sine, sawtooth, sample and hold
• Filter - 1 filter: 12dB/oct High pass or Low pass; 6dB/oct band-pass
• Effects - None
• Keyboard - 37 keys
• Memory - None
• Control - CV / Gate
• Date Produced - 1978-83"

Update:

Yamaha CS-5 Analog Synth Song

Published on Sep 19, 2016

"Song recorded in Propellerhead Reason using only the Yamaha CS-5 synth and Reason's Kong Drums. Skip to 6:57 to hear the clips and sounds (without the drums or any effects). For an analog, one oscillator mono synth, this thing can kick some ass. I admit, the more I play with it, the more I like it, even with its limitations (one oscillator, one EG, etc) being at the low end of the CS family."