YAMAHA reface CS Demo & Review [English Captions]

YAMAHA reface CS and CS40M
DEMO by Katsunori UJIIE.
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[@DeleswaProductions]

Amazing demo!!! I have discovered sounds well beyond my expectations after getting the CS. There is more horsepower under the hood of this little monster than most would believe.

[@jeremymurray-wakefield8011]

Best all-round system demo of the CS yet! VERY nicely done, thank-you!

[@derrickulous]

Dam I’ve had this synth for years and this guys showing me ways to use it I’ve never thought of

[@dwaynecarroll6098]

The breadth of sounds possible from the CS is amazing.

[@BarnacleButtock]

Hell of a headphone level check at the beginning

[@computethis7128]

why is everyone complaining about it's size and mini keys? it is designed for midi use and to be on a worktop. not for professional playing like you would with classical music on a piano. it is a synthesizer, not a piano.

[@Livesinashack]

I think the complaints were Justified when they were charging $500 for it. But for 286 it's a real bargain.

[@Seiti]

Really need to tell the guy in the video then. "Mr., you ain't supposed to do all that" 😆

[@WildernessMusic_GentleSerene]

You are correct! I want mini keys on my desktop synths for programming ONLY. I will then play the CS remotely with full sized keys.

[@rars0n]

Okay, to me this sounds better than the DX while also having a much better interface. What a great demo!

[@tonbonthemon]

What I love about this guy is that he doesn't go straight to an EDM sequence with this gear. He really jams out and shows what the parameters etc can do while you really play it. Not that EDM is bad... but the demos in that genre never seem that engaging to me.

[@fraval57]

Your demos are the best of the web

[@james9789]

This chap could make a pencil sound good

[@777Comish]

He is pretty amazing

[@alferfoot1861]

Haha...quote of the century..perfectly said.

[@tyronrossouw44]

My favorite channel for synth reviews ;)

[@charliedronkers]

I'm so fannnnnn Katsunoriiiiii I dreamt that I was your cameraman once

[@paulgroover283]

This looks cool i have the microkorg 37 keys is good loads of sliders and old fashioned rocker for the pitch bend.

[@deanbridges572]

please add subtitles ! you do the best reviews !!!!

[@mattgalletly]

At about 5:23 and a couple of other spots, it's almost passable for the synth used in Prince's "1999".

[@Roboprogs]

This one looks like it would be my favorite from the Reface series. It's a shame they couldn't at least give them a 4 octave DX100 size keyboard, though. (at least the Reface is velocity sensitive, unlike the 100, but the new keybed just seems incomplete)

[@Cesarsound1]

Nice video! What is the app used in your iPhone? thanks.

[@musictrackjp]

English sub-title is available now !!

[@fender1000100]

+music that touches ARE YOU MAD? This little gem is nothing short of AWESOME. You can do everything with this. From VINCE CLARKE TO JOHN CARPENTER. As my demos will soon show. Its as phat as a moog and as lush as a JP8.

[@vforvillain77]

would love to see you follow thru and post some demos, good demos of the CS are severely lacking

[@fender1000100]

+vforvillain77 Coming in 2017..3 demos that will show what this amazing little synth can really do. It can do so much. And the demos ive been hearing like this one are good. But they do not show how good this synth is at drums and percussion too. Thats the gap I will fill with my demos. Starting from March 1st. Look out for them. Cheers.

[@vforvillain77]

I'd love to just see some thick saturated basses and leads, and keys sounds. Vintage kinda sounds, cuz I'm not even into modern techno and dubstep. If you hear some early Ladytron, like Blue Jeans, you'd get the idea. People overuse the resonance on these things like crazy, it spoils it, just leave that filter open, lemmie hear those dense harmonics, oooohh..

[@vforvillain77]

one of the things I'm incredibly curious about is how much usable sounds of the above variety you can get from the ring mod and FM, cuz all i hear on youtube are wonky dissonant sound effects. That's cute and all, but that doesn't tell about the variety of real instrument sounds they can bring to the table to help compensate for the other rather limited oscillators. That's my concern, that everythings gonna sound samey and there'll be like, two actually musical settings you can squeeze out of the FM and ring mod and otherwise it's just silly shit

[@fender1000100]

+vforvillain77 Funny you should say that. Because the majority of my drum patches are made with the FM OSC. Thats what I love so much about the CS. It can do everything from a thumping kick drum. To a complex etheral pad. Its like a MS20 and a AN1X in one.

[@estonoesunusuario]

0:18 playstation 1!

[@mr.dervish4655]

Playstation 1 was done using a Roland D-50.

[@mustafakurhan]

Hello Katsunori, what is your cable for soundmondo? is it normal lightning cable?

[@kieranishi]

I fuckin love it when he says “distortion”

[@hanaogra]

ノイズが小さくてレンジも広い、現代的で滑らかなサウンドだ エフェクトのクオリティ、reface CSとの相性も中々いい感じ

[@LordCritish]

Great demo! Does anyone know the app used on the phone by Ujiie?

[@jjmifsud3618]

It's called Yamaha Synth book - it's free and has a really basic AN soft synth as well as some pre-made drum beats. Not bad for free. itunes.apple.com/us/app/yamaha-synth-book-us/id953322768?mt=8

[@mita9409]

氏家さんがかっこいいし、氏家さんが弾くフレーズも、かっちょいい。そしてこのrefaceシリーズ4台すべて欲しい。（1台もまだ持っていない）どれもこれも選べず、どれもこれも欲しくなってしまいますね。

[@mita9409]

あ！！　質問なんですけど、こういうのって、上に並んでる幾つものパラメーターっていうんですかね...コントロールバーみたいなのがいっぱい並んでるやつね。あれを、毎回つかう前に電源を入れる前、とりあえず一旦全部0レベルにしてフラットな位置まで戻しといてから電源いれるほうがイイんでしょうか？もしこれを読まれてたら教えてください

[@user-cz3fb2qo3b]

全部のレバーをゼロに戻しておく必要はないと思います　前に使ったそのままな状態で電源入れて問題なし

[@mita9409]

@@user-cz3fb2qo3b そうなんですね！！　今まで、ひそかに疑問だったんで、知れて良かったですお返事ありがとうございます

[@user-wg7vz2xl1x]

minilogueやrefaceは手軽さがいいね。 なんとなく弄れる気持ちになるw

[@PakBudiTarigan]

I love pulse wave sounds. Can the sound be saved after edited

[@rainbow_mess]

yes, but only on an app on your phone/tablet/computer ( soundmondo.yamahasynth.com/ )

[@Sousafolle]

Fun but pricey... The distorsion is awesome and they should put the same on ReFace YC!!

[@trashbirdie]

What is that phone app he is using?

[@theycallmejpj]

i'm toying between this or a roland boutique as my first synth. I much prefer the idea of patch memory and presets, but then the reface has 8 note polyphony. how important is polyphony with a synth, and I it more important than patch saving? any feedback will be helpful

[@MrEuki]

Your first synth? Have you tried working with some VSTs and a DAW before? Try to limit your VST to four voices of polyphony. If you think that this is enough, you should be good to go. As someone who had a lot of different synthesizers over the past few years, I have to say, that having "only" four voices of polyphony can get annoying. It's one voice short of having that sort of magical five voice experience, where you're playing an octave with your left hand and a three note chord in your right hand. The boutiques may have some things going for them, but I honestly don't really like them. How about a Mininova? Or a Microbrute? Or an Audiothingies Micromonsta? Or a Waldorf Rocket? All cheap ones, all rather good. (With the Micromonsta definitely offering the most bang for buck.) I do like the Reface CS and still own it whilst I have sold many other synths, but if I could have only one synth, it would not be this one. Maybe this helps :)

[@theycallmejpj]

i bought the reface in the end. VST's aren't an option as I cannot be dealing with the hassle of having to buy a computer. I like it so far, although I wish soundmondo was a bit better

[@HotStrange]

theycallmejpj no computer? How do you plan on recording it?

[@kiko1935]

How do you access the presets if you don't have an iphone? Take a picture of the settings?

[@HotStrange]

Yep. Think it works on android also through soundmondo

[@creamydistortion]

Take a snapshot and get it developed while grocery shopping.

[@Emilia_0]

3:28～Description of this synth.

[@pyrotas]

The super-saw just sounds *massive*

[@ish233]

what took you so long?

[@Cesarsound1]

Hi, what is the iphone App he is using at 2:33 ? Can someone help me?

[@jjmifsud3618]

It's called Yamaha Synth book - it's free and has a really basic AN soft synth as well as some pre-made drum beats. Not bad for free. itunes.apple.com/us/app/yamaha-synth-book-us/id953322768?mt=8

[@Cesarsound1]

Hi JJ, thank you so much for the help, I will get it right way!

[@buttnutmcfcuknut2771]

I wanna take some crayons to your t-shirt, dude. Like, greens, reds and yellows and stuff. Maybe orange.

[@Synthfidel]

What app is he using on his iPhone?

[@tkmymzk7344]

+Tommy Johnson The app is "Yamaha Synth Book"... itunes.apple.com/jp/app/yamaha-synth-book/id947712793?mt=8 or itunes.apple.com/us/app/yamaha-synth-book-us/id953322768?mt=8

[@Synthfidel]

+tkmymzk Thanks!

[@Telstar2Nite]

+Tommy Johnson The CS has an 1/8" "audio in" jack for playing music through the CS. He's just jammin' along to a song on his iPhone. I believe you can also get an app to save and recall patches ('cause the CS doesn't have memory banks to save patches). The same is true for the YC and CP. Only the Reface DX can save patches, 32 of them (4 banks of 8).

[@savanaviolenta]

Osileitaa ,efektaa

[@phuturemusic]

liked CP best

[@EmilyAcid2015]

how is the phone connected? usb or aux?

[@DamienDrake]

Aux.

[@miguelaraujo6409]

Can you make an eletric piano type sound?

[@HotStrange]

*electric And no this is a synth not a workstation or FM synth. Try the CP or DX. Or do research.

[@Vimana]

This is a late reply but could be still useful for someone... The Reface CS is surprisingly versatile and if you want a sound reminding you of a Rhodes or a Wurlitzer you can definitely achieve that. I own the Reface CS and I've made a couple of electric piano sounds with it. There are of course the Reface CP available for you if you mostly need those kinds of sounds. By the way... there's also a free program available for saving patches to your computer. I've been using it for a long time now.

[@agerven]

There must be a reason why Ujiie is not playing on the original Yamaha CS in this reface demo ... All in all, i.m.o, this Reface CS is no quality nor price competition to, for instance, a Roland JD-Xi. Anyway, Ujiie, you're polite, enthousiatic and with humor like in all of your videos, and I compliment you for that. Always nice to see you at work.

[@eusanti5007]

+agerven In fact he IS playing it.

[@agerven]

+Eu Santi , Ai, I must have missed it. I've set the video aside and will watch it again.

[@agerven]

+Eu Santi I've seen and heard it now. You're right, my excuses. I have missed some 1:30 near the end watching the first time. Playing the 40M in comparison with the CS reface certainly adds some plus points to the reface! Aside of all this, as anyone can see from the introduction and last section of the video, this CS reface is without doubt a lot of fun.

[@LF0]

+agerven Have you played a Yamaha CS reface?

[@agerven]

+LF0 No, I haven't played it. It is just not the right instrument for me. Which doesn't mean I'm not interested in what a professional reviewer makes of it.

[@pauloyoshizaki2103]

KATSUNORI - UJIE : TECLADISTA : PROFISSIONAL : YAMAHA : DEMONSTRAÇÕES : PERFEITO : PROFISSIONAL : TECLADISTA : YAMAHA : INSTRUMENTS : MUSICAL : YAMAHA : LONGAS ! ; DATAS ; C/ YAMAHA .

[@sixsoxsex1]

can it be also used as midi controler?

[@punishedvenomnakedsnakeleb2747]

abcd Yup

[@H4NDCRAFTED]

That 90s design tshirt..i want one. Mambo ?

[@SPAZZOID100]

80's. Not 90's.

[@H4NDCRAFTED]

James Reeno Prob, early 90s they were pop too.

[@jnavarro822]

+H4NDCRAFTED Definitely 80's. Those outline figures were designed by Keith Haring. He died from AIDS complications on February 16, 1990.

[@SPAZZOID100]

+H4NDCRAFTED keith Haring. 80's.

[@LB-pp7pu]

4:53 "OOSCIRRETA!" Fuck yeah! I already have a Reface CS, this guy makes me wanna buy 3 more

[@JVW325]

Lol every one of these mtjp reface videos i watch the first comment is always mentioning people complaining about the size. Just plug a full size midi controller into it, not too hard..

[@piyushyadav2269]

Can we use its sounds for 88keys keyboards and also what would be the polyphony of that sound? Since it does not have much of that by itself!

[@ministryofmagic6921]

r2d2 at 9:08

[@qwertyuiopasdgjklzxcvbnm]

jajajaja ay la intro que susto

[@TotemSP2]

What a coincidence, I saw this today. I saw it in stores and thought I could be good for a MIDI controller, but apparently not, and certainly not for $600.

[@SPAZZOID100]

This is a synth. Midi controllers can be as cheap as $50

[@savanaviolenta]

Now they're 299$ super nice.

[@pauloyoshizaki2103]

YAMAHA : REFACE : SINTESYZER : DIGITAL : COMPACTO : NEW - GERAÇÃO : CONTROLLER : DIGITAL : MIXADOS : EFFECTOS : RITMOS ; SOM - VOCAL : DIGITAL : REFACE : CS : YAMAHA : 2023 ~ 2024 .

[@TheMadisonHang]

i just found this synth today on youtube you should do a review of the Yamaha CS1x www.vintagesynth.com/yamaha/cs1x.php

[@AlainRaes67]

cs40m is not polyphonic , its duophonic like an arp but each voice can be triggered seperate , very hefty beast to carry but thin sound , at least reface wont break your back lugging and its filter model will kick the cs40m into a corner , digital has its merits too , opposed to the reface the cs40m ringmod isnt tracked as its not generated from the main oscillator frequency

[@geoffk777]

As always, it sounds great when Katsunoru-san plays it. But 1 ADSR? That's a total fail for any complex sound. Try getting a good brass sound. And a three-octive mini keyboard is a joke for any professional. Buy a Roland JP-8000 on EBay. It's 15 years old but sounds better and it's more flexible in every way.

[@musicthattouches17]

Great demo, but a toy for kids. Expected much more from Yamaha. I cannot understand, why they offer synths with mini keys. To play in the bus or train or in the park? I prefer the fat big synths I can work with! Demo nevertheless is class! :)

[@F0nkyNinja]

+music, that touches For people who don't play a whole song on the synth, use it for stabs or similar things or for DJs, et.c. Who need space on their tables.

[@musicthattouches17]

+F0nkyNinja O.k., may be a reason to buy it. Otherwise are there other possibilities. ?

[@F0nkyNinja]

music, that touches You can do the gig in the park or your yard or on the bus. But the Reface series are mostly for people who have say a heavy, large Nord Stage or Electro and want a versatile synthesizer that is easy to place ontop (DX and CS) or for people that play Rhodes and want a dedicated, lightweight organ with all the controls. The CP are for people who maybe want to make music on the train between the home and workplace, or already have a synthesizer but need electric piano sounds.

[@SPAZZOID100]

This does not sound like a toy.

[@ogasi1798]

+James Reeno exactly

[@ChrisCebelenski]

Toy issues aside, I think it's a shame to put a "CS" badge on this. The engine has more in common with the AN series than any CS. Ujiie is being very generous here - there's very little new here besides the form factor. Sure, you can play it on the tour bus or on the beach, but to be honest it does sound a bit plastic, even through an amp.

[@markvarney7165]

+Chris Cebelenski There were virtual analog "cs"s before (CS1x). The CS 5 wasn't a particular unique or expensive synth. "CS" is just the name yamaha uses for "analog style" synths.

[@ogasi1798]

Same people hating the use of the term CS probably think the term jupiter shouldn't be used for Roland gear unless it's an 8voice analogue poly...... Get educated people.

[@ChrisCebelenski]

+jamie munro I'm not so hung up on the CS badge really, more that it doesn't sound that great. Generally VA synth engines have matured greatly since the old AN engines, and Yamaha has chosen to not provide us with something that is modern. Roland, whatever they call their models, has done a great job with the Aria and SuperNatural VA engines, while Yamaha offers up a warmed over rehash of 10 years ago.

[@vforvillain77]

The choice was to provide a portable version of a well loved sound instead. The same formula that made the microkorg (MS2k engine) a best seller for the past 10 years. Mini synths aren't really the place for innovation. It happens in the bigger synths, and if we get lucky, trickles down to smaller more affordable things. (jdxi, mininova, MK, MK xl, etc) and honestly, the AN was and is no slouch, even many new synths can't compete with it's sound, it's a classic VA with a rare authenticity to analog sound. It still sounds better than a great many synths out there.

[@naohara100]

なんで自分のCDつくらないの？

[@synthartist69]

Sounds so awesome.. BUT... mini keys, less than 61 keys, no patch storage... so I can't buy it.... try again Yamaha

[@drabbster]

37 keys are one of the main reasons why i want it :D

[@vforvillain77]

Me too, sorry sucka! some people like the portability of mini keys and batteries. and finally this is the first one out that's knob-per-function. That alone makes this a big deal. There's a hundred options out there if you want 61 full size keys and patch storage, so don't shit on the ONE synth that finally gives US what we want.

[@synthartist69]

vforvillain77 how about a tiny one for you and a full sized for us..with patch memory?? Would u be ok with that?? Wanted to ask first...

[@vforvillain77]

Yes, there are a ton of them out there and have been for years. Now there's a small one too. I'm ok with that.

[@rumham9911]

If you are well accustomed to how a synth works you should be fine without the patch memory. Also as far as a synth goes this is a dead simple one to program so you'll get the sound you want in under a minute regardless of what it is. I'm glad that this thing exists with 37 mini-keys, battery operation and speakers, it means I can take it pretty much anywhere and practice my keyboard skills, or bring it with my Octatrack and play some keyboard parts to its patterns. As others have stated, there are tons of other options if you want bigger keys and form factor. In my opinion a great instrument that's pretty underrated and misunderstood, well done Yamaha.