Wavecomputer360 wrote:
> Hi Tim, hi Laurie,
>
> I think you hit the nail on the head... it´s the performance of the
> instrument, the way controls are laid out and the way the machine responds
> to you as a player which makes the CS80 stand out. And this is why all
> virtual emulations are pointless as the sum of it all makes it the
> instrument it is, not only the sound generation (which is rather simple,
> compared with, say, and Oberheim Xpander and such). Like Peter Forrest once
> said, other polysynths would wipe the floor with the CS80 when it comes to
> modulation routings and such but the CS80 would blow them all away when it
> comes to richness of sound and sheer performance power.
>
Most definitely! Once again, the great things about the CS-80, for me,
are the feel and poly-aftertouch of the keyboard, the ribbon (including
being able to sweep down to D.C.), the choice of sustain I & II (for
nice mono/sustained sounds on a poly-synth), the ring modulator, and
having all the performance knobs. I like the sound, but to me it's not
the big deal. Now, give me an Oberheim 8-voice SEM box controlled from
a CS-80. That instrument could caress like a feather or kill a
tyrannosaurus from a mile away...
As I've mentioned, I picked up a MIDIBoard and a Roland A-50 a while ago
to try and have a poly-aftertouch MIDI controller, but I'm still working
on restoring the A-50. How do we get Edirol (=Roland, who made the A-50
and A-80) or M-Audio to add this? Their MIDI/USB keyboards are getting
nicer all the time with more programmable knobs and sliders. How do we
convince them that there's a market (other than a few dozen of us here)?
David