Yamaha CS50: The Secret Budget CS80

Yamaha CS50 - Famous Presets & Programming - The most underrated synth!
The ultimate guide to the Yamaha CS50 - Famous Sounds, Programming
CS50 - Full Video Demo inc Programming & Factory Presets
The CS-50 was released just ahead of its famous big brothers, the CS-60 and CS-80. The CS-50 looks like a scaled-down version of the monstrous CS-80, and it is! This will benefit those who crave the famous classic Yamaha synth sound without the struggle of lugging around the 215 pound CS-80!
The CS-50 weighs in at about 100 pounds. The CS-50 is also just 4-voice polyphonic, and lacks the quality weighted 61-note keyboard of the CS-80. The CS-50 has just a 49-note standard keyboard. It does feature pressure (aftertouch) sensitivity route-able to several destinations, however.
The CS-50's sound is unmistakably related to other classic CS-series synthesizers. At just four voices with one osc. per voice and lacking warm filters (at just 12dB/oct) the CS-50's sound can be thin.
There are 13 preset sounds of various instruments and synth sounds but, unfortunately, no on-board memory storage for your edited presets. At its low street price, the CS-50 makes a great way to get your hands on these classic sounds without going broke! It's too bad their tuning is just as unstable as the other CS-series synths.
It's housed in a built-in travel-case like the other (big) CS-synths. It's been used by
Men Without Hats and Herbie Hancock.
1977 - 1980.
Time Stamps
0:00 - Intro
0:08 - All the Factory presets - Strings I
0:13 - Transpose
0:29 - Poly Glide
0:45 - Strings II
1:22 - Aftertouch Modulation Routes
1:41 - Ring Modulator
2:15 - Brass I
2:50 - Custom Installed Buttons Disconnected
3:08 - Brass II
3:23 - Flute
3:51 - Electric Piano
4:05 - Clavichord
4:12 - Harpsichord
4:26 - Guitar I
4:40 - Guitar II
4:58 - Funky I
5:08 - Funky II
5:18 - Funky III
5:27 - Panel
5:35 - Sub Oscillator Sine Tone
6:10 - Oscillator
6:31 - Oscillator own Modulator combined with Sub Oscillator
7:29 - Transpose
8:00 - Ring Modulator
8:54 - High Pass Filter
9:17 - Oscillator plus Sub-Oscillator
9:33 - CS50 explanation
10:17 - All modulation & Ring Modulation full on!
10:55 - Glissando & Portamento
11:33 - Transpose
11:54 - Explanation
12:20 - Sculpting Sub-Oscillator Modulation
13:00 - CS50 as a solo instrument
14:28 - CS50 8 min long Wind Noise Demo - open & Close Filter
15:00 - Wind - Open Close Filter with 4 Oscillators - full Resonance
15:28 - Resonance Explanation
15:50 - Filter open - no Resonance
16:10 - Noise High Pass Filter
16:35 - ADSR on Filter
17:00 - Ring Modulator on Noise - inc Filter Sweep
17:45 - After touch + Ring Modulator
18:38 - Sum up explanation
19:20 - Exploring the Modulation Routes on white noise
Recorded at Greystoke Studio - Dry. Feb 2024
I have done some price comparisons for the following synths:-
Yamaha CS50 - Price new - 1977 - £2,119
£2,119 converts to £11,850 in 2024
Second Hand price paid January 2024 - £4,000
Yamaha CS80 - Price new - 1977 - £4,950
£4950 converts to £27,682 in 2024
Second Hand price paid Sept 2022 - £32,500
I think I got a bargain with the CS50!
Watch me bring that sound back to life!🎹🕺
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[@stevehofer3482]

Thanks for the demo. What was the price of this when it Cosme out? It seems to compare pretty favorably to the Roland Jupiter 4 - although the strings are awful, at least without effects.

[@AndyWhitmore]

I have done some price comparisons for the following synths:- Yamaha CS50 - Price new - 1977 - £2,119 £2,119 converts to £11,850 in 2024 Second Hand price paid January 2024 - £4,000 Yamaha CS80 - Price new - 1977 - £4,950 £4950 converts to £27,682 in 2024 Second Hand price paid Sept 2022 - £32,500 I think I got a bargain with the CS50!

[@issiewizzie]

Love the raw sound ... thanks No reverb or any effects ...great stuff

[@AndyWhitmore]

Glad you like it!

[@JayKaufman]

You start latching on to the power of the CS-50 at the end. It does nice CS-80ish brass and pads as expected, but once you crank up that cross modulation and send it into outer space, it becomes a treasure trove of effects and foley for your tracks.

[@AndyWhitmore]

I Agree! Considering its an eighth of the price of a CS80 - it really is a viable alternative!

[@Fallingoverbackwards]

Thank you for this video ❤❤ Can you do one with delays and reverbs? Thats how most artists used the CS series. But its great to hear without of course first

[@AndyWhitmore]

coming up!

[@synthquery2226]

What mod is that on the four vertical pots in the VCO section? Are they for detuning the individual oscillators?

[@AndyWhitmore]

The mods have all been disconnected No idea what they were set up to do

[@neilloughran4437]

I saw one of these in my local shop circa 87/88... also a mint JP6 for about £650... those were the days... while it's not quite my thing it defo does get you in the CS80 territory for a fraction of the price... would sound nice with a good Lexicon reverb too...

[@AndyWhitmore]

They sound great with reverb- but a little of viewers request dry with no eq

[@Fallingoverbackwards]

Do both please 😅 with effects would be awesome but this was an amazing demo

[@AndyWhitmore]

I will happily re-release all these videos with effects - I have done that in the past but this time just decided to release the videos dry. Thanks for the encouragement.

[@AndyWhitmore]

@@Fallingoverbackwardswill do!

[@Fallingoverbackwards]

@@AndyWhitmore thank you thank you, i have a cs-60 and learning from you. I love the 50,60 and 80 (never had the chance to play)

[@nuipb]

OK but which are the "Hidden Features revealed" ?

[@AndyWhitmore]

Its much closer to a CS80 than any other synth for this money. It has more modulation sources than any Roland, Oberheim or Prophet. The CS range has a sound of its own & compliments any synth set up.

[@nuipb]

OK, however I still fail to see any hidden feature here...@@AndyWhitmore

[@AndyWhitmore]

@@nuipb - I Agree - I have changed the title because of your insightful comments!

[@nuipb]

Ah OK.

[@panutalus]

Please do not quote vintagesynthexplorer for CS-50. "Thin sound, lacking warm filters" while it's all damn identical to CS-60 and CS-80. They were biased like hell.

[@AndyWhitmore]

Completely agree - there is nothing thin about the CS50 - especially when you add the sub oscillator! Great Synth!

[@dodgingrain3695]

Quite underwhelming.

[@AndyWhitmore]

🤷

[@Fallingoverbackwards]

Lol nearly every synth is without effects but doubly so with CS. Imagine a Gibson electric guitar video with no amp, overdrive...very underwhelming indeed. The CS oscillators though are incredible and there are reasons they maintain the highest vintage prices.

[@AndyWhitmore]

I love the Synth - which synth do u think is outstanding?

[@AndyWhitmore]

@@Fallingoverbackwards i’m glad you noticed that there are no effects - I am not trying to pretty these synths up so they sound better than they are - I’m trying to do a realistic representation of the synths and you have noticed this - thanks for watching

[@bartmark5744]

whats are the modifications on this synth?

[@AndyWhitmore]

all the modifications have been disconnected - the synth was perfect before it left the factory!