Professional TOYS

video upload by AudioPilz

"Hey everybody, today we are going to talk about the true underdogs of music technology, the notoriously iconic Portasounds.

This product line of professional toys has been around for over 45 years and Yamaha released so many different models that it is hard to keep track even for terminally online gear freaks like myself.

We are going to take a deep dive into the long history of Yamaha Portasounds, try to find out which ones still offer the most utility for modern music production and - as I just recently fell victim to an impulse buy of what I consider to be one of the more desirable vintage versions - make some music.

00:00 Introduction
00:42 History of Yamaha Portasound
01:30 Yamaha Portasound Concept
01:51 Innovative Features
02:20 Portasounds and the DX7
02:45 PS, PSS, PSR
03:20 Synth Technologies: PASS
03:30 LoFi Squarewaves
03:42 ROM Samples
04:09 VSS Models - Casio-like Sampling
04:16 FM, Differences to other FM Synths
04:38 Which FM Portasound you should buy
04:57 Why the Yamaha Portasound PSS-680 ???
05:12 FM Engine
05:45 Classic Sounds
06:07 FX Section
06:38 PCM Drums
06:51 Sequencer, Midi Control
07:32 Best Portasounds
08:25 Dawless Jam
08:59 Outro"