Yamaha CS-01 Analog Synthesizer 1982

video upload by Jonasan

"The CS-01 is an interesting synth. It came out around a time when analog monosynths were mostly being phased out for DCO based polysynths and digital synthesizers. After a little under a decade of compact synthesizers for musicians being available from japanese companies an analog monophonic synthesizer was cheaper to produce for a novice level musician at the time. Synths like the CS-01 and SH-101 from roland as well as the M-500sp from korg were all offerings that basically were these companies slapping tried and true designs into plastic boxes for affordable prices. These days all synths from this time are equally as pricey but the CS01 is still fairly affordable and has some good tones to offer. Its actually not really a VCO synth but a digital oscillator with analog filters and low resolution envelopes. This was the trend of the early 80s budget synths. The Saw and Square waves are pretty standard stuff but sound very good and the the weird 12db filter with switchable high and low resonance while groaned about online by losers is perfectly functional as i demonstrate here. The ADSR is very sensitive and okay? Its my least favorite part of this synth. The real special part of this synth is its PWM. Its FAT, set to a low footing and its insanely deep and set higher and it does soaring singing leads very well. These things seem to have largely been passed up by the reverb scalpers and the youtube influencer reddit effect. I see some going for $400+ which is hilarious. You should try to snag one as if you wait any longer there might not be any vintage analog synthesizers left you can buy under $800+. Also this little thing while looking like a toy actually is a wonderful instrument! Excuse the sloppy noodling i was not myself while recording this one. I try to show a variety of tones! They were apart of a producer series that yamaha offered with a drum machine, mixer, 4 track cassette recorder and some other items intended to get a musician off to the races! I own the drum machine of that series and will make a follow up video on it soon. A mkii version was made with a 24db filter with the resonance switch changed for a slider in 1984 but i havent had a chance to try one.

Specs:
1 VCO - triangle / saw / square / pulse / PWM
Sine waveform
1 ADSR envelope gen"