The CS-80V is the reproduction of the legendary Yamaha® CS-80, which was considered by many as the "ultimate polyphonic synthesizer", back in the late 70’s. It has been popularized by artists and groups like Toto, Jean-Michel Jarre, Keith Emerson, Stevie Wonder, Vangelis, Ultravox, Peter Gabriel… to name a few, and they all helped to turn this synthesizer into a real myth. More than twenty five years after its release, the time has come to rediscover a sound that has extensively contributed to the history of music

Extended information

In 1976, Yamaha introduced the CS-80, a synthesizer based on the same circuits as the GX1. The price tag ($6900) put it out of the reach of most musicians, and the weight (83kgs with stand) made it sometimes hard to use on stage. But the qualities of this synthesizer, considered Japans first great synthesizer, made it immediately famous in the Music Industry.

The CS-80 was popularised in the late 70’s and early 80’s by a number of pop groups, including Electric Light Orchestra, Toto, Paul McCartney and Wings. Other artists and bands like Vangelis, Bon Jovi, Jean-Michel Jarre, Geoffrey Down, Stevie Wonder and some others turned the CS-80 into a real myth.

Peter Forrest (in the A-Z of Analogue Synthesizers, Susurreal, First published 31/10/96) says: “When it comes to trying to decide which of the top-flight synths is the best ever, it’s not easy. (…) But if you are looking at richness of sound coupled with performance power, and sheer overkill, maybe nothing can touch it”.

Technical specifications

2.0 FEATURES:
* switch to Syncrosoft copy protection ( V 2.0 )
* VCF audio quality improvements ( V 2.0 )
* Ring modulator audio quality improvements ( V 2.0 )
* A revolutionary preset navigation system called the SoundMap ( V 2.0 )
* lower CPU utilization on Mac OSX( V 2.0 )
* better Audio Unit compatibility (Digital Performer most notably) ( V 2.0 )
* ability to use NRPN midi messages for automation ( V 2.0 )
* better handling of control surfaces while changing preset ( V 2.0 )
* new presets added ( V 2.0 )
* midi RPN "pitch bend range" message is now recognized( V 2.0 )
* bug fixes

MAIN FEATURES:
* All the original parameters of the Yamaha CS-80: 2 oscillators, 4 filters (high pass, low pass), 2 LFOs, 4 envelopes, 2 VCAs, 1 sub-oscillator (LFO), 1 ring modulator, chorus and tremolo
* New effect: Delay
* New Multi Mode: assign a different sound to each of the 8 voices of polyphony!
* New Modulation Matrix with 12 sources to modulate a choice of 38 destination parameters
* More than 400 presets made by a selection of the most famous sound designers
* Polyphonic aftertouch
* 1 Arpeggiator
* Expression and sustain pedals
* Ribbon controller
* No aliasing from 0.1 Hz to 16 kHz
* 64-bit floating point precision
* Sampling rate: up to 96 kHz