via this auction
Update via Monkey in the comments: That's a IIx not a I. Most series I's were upgraded to later specs so those are incredibly rare. I doubt there are more than a few working ones in existance. I've played all versions I, II, III and 30a. The 30a didn't blow me away but the I, II, and III all sound different but equally amazing. I'd love to own any of them!
Auction description: "This classic museum piece is the first model of the very first digital sampler yet built so advanced that it's still prized today.Create the unique sounds produced by many famous musicians with this retro instrument. Here are some descriptions and reviews:
'The Fairlight CMI is a keyboard ... which was one of the most prominent synths of the early- and mid-'80s and set the agenda for the way 'ordinary' synths would later develop. Sampling, graphic sequencers, multi-timbrality, software-based synthesis and the concept of the 'workstation' can all be traced back to this instrument.
Coming from Australia, a country not known for producing synthesizers, this was the keyboard that broke all the established rules, even down to its color!Consisting of several large (cream-colored) parts plus loads of cables.. It has been used by The Cars, Paul McCartney Stevie Wonder, David Gilmour, Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, Fleetwood Mac,Jean-Michel Jarre, Heaven 17, Hardfloor, ABC, Hall & Oates, the Buggles, Supertramp, Thomas Dolby, Jon Astley, Michael Jackson, Yes, Trevor Horn (Art of Noise), Geoff Downes, Vince Clarke (Yazoo), Peter Gabriel, , Devo, Julian Lennon,, Elvis Costello, Scritti Politti, Starship, Teddy Riley, Brian Wilson, Foreigner, Madonna, Debbie Gibson, Jane Child, Eurythmics, Mike Oldfield, Prince, OMD, Steve Winwood, John Paul Jones, Queen, Keith Emerson, Alan Parsons,, B-52's, Pet Shop Boys, Soul II Soul, and Stewart Copeland. The Fairlight is a standalone Music Production Center and is rivaled only by the NED Synclavier. The Fairlight is a historical, prized piece of Vintage Digital Synthesizer and Sampler technology. It still holds up today, over twenty years later and is still a high quality and professional instrument. Uniquely useful to hardcore synth programmers, musicians, sound designers, film composers and Vintage Synth collectors.'
'An incredible sampler with 28 megabytes or more of memory! Full 73 note velocity sensitive keyboards. Complete synthesis and editing of digitally sampled sounds. Three different on-board SMPTE Sequencers and storage to various disk mediums. The processor itself is housed in a 24" module. It was also the first digital sampler to hit the market back in 1979 and has endured throughout the eighties and nineties. The sampler is the heart of the Fairlight. It's a 16-bit resolution digital sampler with variable sample-rates up to 100kHz! Original Fairlight models used two standard 8 bit 6800 processors with 32khz sampling resolution. As for sequencing, there are three sophisticated methods. There's CAPS (Composer, Arranger, Performer Sequencer), an 80-track polyphonic sequencer. The complicated MCL (Music Composition Language) is like a text-based step time sequencer. And finally the Rhythm Sequencer which functions like a classic drum-machine style sequencer.'"
