The New Fairlight CMI – Would You Pay $17,000 For This Synthesizer?

Fairlight CMI

Fairlight and creator Peter Vogel have announced the arrival of the first Fairlight CMI-30A, a $17,000 synth that updates the classic Fairlight CMI – an 80’s digital monster synth:

Our new baby has already left the nest and is currently winging its way to the US in readiness for a first performance at NAMM. Its parents are recovering well and are looking forward to receiving visitors in the near future.

Here are a couple of early pics, but more baby photos and recordings of first words will be posted in time. We thank our friends and loved ones for their support during the gestation period.

Happy New Year and Happy Fairlight!

For more info on the new synth, see our post on the Fairlight CMI-30A announcement or the Fairlight site. Also, don’t miss Herbie Hancock demonstrating the vintage Fairlight in the 80’s on Sesame Street.

Think there’s a place for a $17,000 digital synth? Planning on picking up a couple?

Leave a comment and let us know what you think of the new Fairlight CMI-30A!

via DVDBorn, Fairlight

24 thoughts on “The New Fairlight CMI – Would You Pay $17,000 For This Synthesizer?

  1. doesn't make sense to me… why keep it so old-school looking? It's not like that look has aged very well… They should have at least made it look like it was manufactured this decade… old digital is not old analog… will probably sound awesome tho…

  2. This doesn’t make sense to me either. Nice wood floor though.

    I’m waiting for the opposite of this thing… a tiny metal box with a top notch modern hardware sampler inside. For $325 including analog filter. That would be nice.

  3. Why they don't use a graphics tablet instead of a light pen (which is known to cause its user no small amount of pain when used extensively for longer periods of time) like the later Fairlight workstations did is beyond me.

  4. Nope, i would never pay 17000 for a fairlight…it's ridiculous with today's technology and costs. I'm not a collector though…

  5. This exists mostly for nostalgic and historical purposes. From what I understand, it looks so much like the original because it is meant to be a virtual re-creation of the classic Fairlight–with a few updates. Much like the Creamware re-creation of the Prophet.

  6. You could buy a functional and fully serviced original at a local store for – can't remember, maybe $3000 or even less, a couple of years ago.

    Guess: Fairlight are betting that someone pays up, and so make a nice profit from selling one or two. And/or create some noise for the upcoming… can you guess it – IPAD App! yay!

  7. If I literally had money to burn, I would maybe, _maybe_ consider a $5K Voyager XL. Money to burn. I think the Fairlight is pretty cool, but this has to be a joke.

  8. Does Fairlight seriously beleive any one is going to pay $17,000 for this unit?!?!?. Come on just because your based in Australia which was formly a continet for exiled criminals. So break the streotype and stop trying to rip off the rest of the world.

  9. "CMI-30A" is such a sexy name for it, too. No one under 30 wants a synth unless it can be had as a $5 app. For $17k, you can now build a well-appointed home studio and hire a helper monkey to vacuum it for you. If they were offering a Fairlight Jr. for $4k, they'd clean up, but a price like that keeps the product in the warehouse/garage. Nostalgia is for logic-challenged sheeple.

  10. let's not forget that it is not a replica, but a emulation of a Fairlight with a lot of DSP chips.

    insert "it doesn't sounds fat as the original CMI-30" joke here: _________________________________

    maybe a PC/MAC emulation of the original Fairlight OS with samples would have been a lot more useful.

    nevertheless, if I was rich (sorry, very rich) I would order one… and probably have the same taste in candle holders…

  11. Lets first listen to the quality. Compare it with a real CMI IIx (Last rev audiocards = 1.4) and than draw a conclusion……….

    By the way, the old units that are seen for 3000$ at times, they are in need of repair. You'll need alot more $$$ to get a real good system. (First you have to get the owner so far to part from it).
    As for todays performance: A real IIx sounds awesome and has real nice tricks as a synth up its sleeve.

    The 30A seems to have all the tricks, but I still want to hear if the sound is equal…….

  12. Synclavier draws huge amounts of power (10Amp is not uncommon), looks nice (in some cases), has some cool sounds… However, working with a IIx, is something completely different. My experiance is that the IIx gives much faster results. Instant fun…….. It only uses aprox 250 watt, which is 10% of the Synclavier. Next to that, Synclaviers tend to be custom.
    I'd like to have both, but when I have to choose, I'll much rather prefer the IIx. (In fact I have a IIx and skipped on a nice Synclavier system, last year, simply because of the huge powerconsumption and also the fact that I believe that the Synclavier sounds can be emulated with modern gear.

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