Title link takes you to shots via this auction."32 Mini Keys. Has many sound varieties. Includes Yamaha pa-18 adaptor. Works well. I plugged it in for 1st scan. Note the red LED lite. Lots of options. Measures 19 1/4" x 6 1/4" x 1" deep. Weighs 3+ lbs. Has controls for pitch bend & modulation. LFO speed. VCO section has glissando,pitch,feet,wave & pwm speed. VCF section has frequency cut off,resonance & EQ depth. VCA section has EQ depth control. EG section has attack time,decay time,sustain level & release time. Has power volume dial. Runs on adapter or battery power. Adapter input has a short & needs to be jiggled but works fine. Has a 1/4" line out & 1/4" phone output. The 1/4" line out has a short but the 1/4" phone output works perfectly & will run an amplifier."
The seller doesn't mention it, but the CS-01 has a breath controller input that's routed to the filter cutoff and it also has guitar strap pegs on it so you can rock out. That black color for the CS-01 is pretty rare. I think he's wrong about it being pre-1982 though. I think they came out in late 1982 and they were about $300 retail.
ReplyDeleteI guess I should mention the sound. It's pretty basic. I think the PWM sound it has is quite nice, the rest sound like a cheap little monosynth. Using the breath control input and being able to strap on the CS-01 helps make up for it's vanilla sound. Mine had the same power jack problem as the one for auction.
ReplyDeleteMan, this synth is nice... vanilla sound? No, more like a sound that just works. It fits in a mix well. Sure, you are limited by it's routing...but it is useful. The breathe controller is wack and if you strap it on, people will really think you are lame. However, I have the MKII version which is better due to the filter and slider vs. switch. The black color isn't as rare as the white,, red, or MKII version...but is obviously rarer than the grey model..in the US anyway.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, and this synth stays in tune.
ReplyDeleteI want one of these just for nostalgia's sake - we had a Black/Red one (like the pic) and a green MK11 at school when I was a we lad and I used to love playing on them.
ReplyDeleteBut they go for crazy money, way more than their utility value. For fifty quid, I'd pick one up. For a £150, not a chance...
They are fun little synths, but they aren't exactly brilliant...
I bought my MKII for $300 and am satisfied. Face it, there aren't any cheaper VCO monosynths with keys for any less these days.
ReplyDeleteAnd you can play them everywhere. Totally portable.
ReplyDeleteThe ebay seller says:
ReplyDelete"This had a high price tag when it was new. I traded a used car for it in 1982 & I was second owner."
Bwaahaha. $300 was a high price tag??? This was probably the absolute cheapest piece of gear that you could buy when it came out. This guy is obviously trying to play off of the ignorance of people with ridiculous statements like this. Who in their right mind would trade a car for a $300 (brand new msrp) budget synth? And if he did trade a car that would mean that the synth was used and probably only going for $100-200 at the time. I hate when ebay sellers lie about things like this hoping that nobody actually remembers how cheap these were when they came out.
It would be like me saying 20 years from now "Oh, the microkorg was extremely expensive back in the day, I had to get a second mortgage on my house to be able afford a used one" I mean, come on...