Yamaha CS80

Wavecomputer360 wrote:
> Hi Tim, hi Laurie,
>
> I think you hit the nail on the head... it\ufffds 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