Discovering Yamaha CS50's Top Sound Options

video upload by Andy Whitmore

"Yamaha CS50 - Famous Presets & Programming - The most underrated synth!
The ultimate guide to the Yamaha CS50 - Famous Sounds, Programming
CS50 - Full Video Demo inc Programming & Factory Presets

Recorded at Greystoke Studio - Dry. Feb 2024

I have done some price comparisons for the following synths:-

Yamaha CS50 - Price new - 1977 - £2,119
£2,119 converts to £11,850 in 2024
Second Hand price paid January 2024 - £4,000

Yamaha CS80 - Price new - 1977 - £4,950
£4950 converts to £27,682 in 2024
Second Hand price paid Sept 2022 - £32,500

I think I got a bargain with the CS50!

The CS-50 was released just ahead of its famous big brothers, the CS-60 and CS-80. The CS-50 looks like a scaled-down version of the monstrous CS-80, and it is! This will benefit those who crave the famous classic Yamaha synth sound without the struggle of lugging around the 215 pound CS-80!

The CS-50 weighs in at about 100 pounds. The CS-50 is also just 4-voice polyphonic, and lacks the quality weighted 61-note keyboard of the CS-80. The CS-50 has just a 49-note standard keyboard. It does feature pressure (aftertouch) sensitivity route-able to several destinations, however.

The CS-50's sound is unmistakably related to other classic CS-series synthesizers. At just four voices with one osc. per voice and lacking warm filters (at just 12dB/oct) the CS-50's sound can be thin.

There are 13 preset sounds of various instruments and synth sounds but, unfortunately, no on-board memory storage for your edited presets. At its low street price, the CS-50 makes a great way to get your hands on these classic sounds without going broke! It's too bad their tuning is just as unstable as the other CS-series synths.

It's housed in a built-in travel-case like the other (big) CS-synths. It's been used by
Men Without Hats and Herbie Hancock.

1977 – 1980."