CS-50 !!

[Haible_Juergen#Tel2743]

Hi!

Played a CS-50 for the first time yesterday - what a wonderful
instrument!
When I came into the store, I first thought it was a CS-60, unti II found 
that
there was no hinged lid with presets, and no ribbon. Nevertheless
I decided to give it a try, and man, I couldn't let go for a whole hour!
How can a 1-VCO / 4-Voice polysynth sound so lush, and that without
a chorus section !!
Ok, it was quite out of tune, so I can't say how fat it sounds when
tuned. But I think most of its richness comes from the LFO's, especially
from the PWM section. Now what's so different with the PWM?
I think the SINE shape of the modulation is the trick! I found that you
can set a much higher modulation amount and rate before it becomes
annoying. I tried it at home on the OB-8 (which has, like most synths,
triangle instead of sine), and I didn't get the same effect. Then I tried
it on the Modular, and voila !

I was very fond of this little synth, but I think if I ever buy one, a CS-60
would be my choice.

A few questions to CS-synthesizer owners:

(1) I liked the feature "Sustain II" on the CS-50, which allows pseudo-
      monophonic playing. Does this work on the CS-60 and -80 as well?

(2) The filters seem to be a cascade of 2-poles. Has anybody yet figured
      out what architecture they have? They don't sound like state variables
      to me ....

(3) What shape does the Ring Modulator AD-envelope have? The schematics
      (of the CS-80) show linear slopes, but then again the VCF/VCA 
envelopes
      are also printed wrong, so I can't be sure.

(4) - related to (3) - the Ring Modulator VCO, is it exponential or linear?
     (I know the main VCOs are linear)

Thanks in advance for any information !

JH.


PS.: I make a crosspost to DIY, because of the technical questions.