Yamaha CS01-II Vintage Synth Review

Synthesist Ari Tamminen shared his take on the Yamaha CS01-II, a vintage analog synth from the mid 80’s.

Here’s what he has to say about it:

The CS01-II….was a revised version of the original Yamaha CS01, with a different VCF section with a 24 dB/oct LP filter and a variable setting for the resonance.

The synth also had the option to use a breath controller to control the VCO and/or the VCF, but as I don’t have the breath controller, I left that bit out of this review.

I have been using this synthesizer since new, so I’m pretty familiar with it at least. it was the first real synthesizer I have owned myself and it’s still in active use.

If you’ve used the CS01-II, share your thoughts on it in the comments!

9 thoughts on “Yamaha CS01-II Vintage Synth Review

  1. I was obsessed with this synth when it came out, particularly the MKII with its very stylish design. Couldn’t afford one, as I was a school kid, but was fortunate to get a brand new one just a coupe of years back. It had been sat in the store room of a local Yamaha dealer for decades, only to be discovered by a friend when they were closing down. I got it from that friend, who bought 4 or 5 of them new in the box, along with some brand new CS80 spare parts.

    A terrific synth, the modern equivalent of which I consider the Arturia Microbrute.

      1. Its a DTG (Digital Tone Generator) chip by Yamaha, and this has long been established. A weird labelling choice by Yamaha at the time.

  2. I had a chance to pick one up in Chicago for only $60 about 9 years back but really didn’t need another monosynth in that moment

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