i just can't bring myself to hate this thing. it was my first "real" synth, bought off ebay when i was 16 with the money i'd saved up over the summer. despite its limitations and datedness, i had so much fun messing around and writing songs on it back then. i still love my cs1x, can't imagine ever parting with it!
Same here....I literally learned the basics on the Cs1x. Of course my next Synth was a complete different beast (Yamaha EX5) but I still have some beautiful pads and look leads I programmed on the Cs1x...I also learned that the most important thing about a synth is the time YOU put in to it...
"datedness" ?? If you like it, you like it.... why should you let this fool with 4 sets of headphones on his head try to make you think it sucks? Why does this person matter to anyone? Why do people need to spend time on graphics and videos just to tell you about a synth? It's almost as if its a joke. Placing stupid movie scene clips in between.
Gen-X: 90's Rompler PTSD Millenial: "SWEET, a 90s Rompler! Now I can sound like a public television station in 1996! And it's only $5 so I don't have to choose between gear, rent, and food this month!" Gen-Z: "What's a rompler? All gear made before 2010 sounds the same to me"
I don't know..."Bad" musicians? I have known a lot of great musicians that just wouldn't get any creative inspiration from a lot of synths. Take an amazing violinist who spent decades of their life honing their craft and can perfectly play any sheet on sight, they might not have the creative training for improv or know a thing about ARP's...but that doesn't make them "bad musicians", just not training in same area so don't "see" the creative possibilities as readily...you DO! So that's cool! Just say'n don't fall in trap of having put other artists below you because their creative flow or craft is simply different. Ya know?
@@AudioPilz Speaking of the SH series you gotta get your hands on an SH-32. Had one for a minute, and for the life of me, I could not figure out what it was supposed to be or why it had been built.
I know you hate this synth but I absolutely loved the tracks you put together with it! Alone, it sounds tiny, fragile, weak. But when put together in your vid, it offered a sweetness and delicacy that helps me understand why some people swear by it. Despite all that, I appreciate your notes that it wasn't fun to work on. Your suffering brought us some lovely tunes :)
Used this synth a lot for gigging: Lightweight, "decent" sampled piano, organ (for the nineties), and great sampled analog sounds. Great memories. Also has a deep MIDI implementation with real-time sysex. Thank you for the great tracks and entertaining video. Loved it.
I'm happy someone has identified the name of my disease in the late 90s. Glad to know it's not just me. That was the only time in my life when I lost my love and enthusiasm toward synths.
@@__teles__ - Hell yeah.. The dogshit days of synths were what made me just clock out and I only clocked back in when PC CPU's were powerful enough for softsynths and quality VST's. The industry finally saw sense tho.
"I'm sorry, Yamaha CS1x but we need to break up. It's not you....it's me. No, it's actually you" _"Whatever! If you can't me at my sharps and flats, you don't deserve me at my naturals!"_ Great work as always. Keep it up!
The casual bangers you throw into this video are some humble FIRE. Love it. Such an awesome way to be reminded it's Friday. Happy weekend Bad Gear homies!
Fun fact: Many of the GM/XG voices on this keyboard (and by extension, Yamaha's AWM-powered gear at the time such as the MU/QY series) can still be heard on their low/mid-range keyboards today.
We first made music on an Amiga 500 with the program Protracker. Music was good but we had to go to a higher level. After that we wanted to be able to make more of our own sounds and effects. We were still in school and didn't have much money left. We eventually bought the CS1x new for 1295 guilders. Still a lot of money but we had a synthesizer :) The music started to sound more professional which resulted in a record deal. In short: For little money it turned out to be a good investment. We still have the synthesizer in our possession.
Florian, you're just killing it! You've easily become the top synth / gear reviewer on RUclips. Bad Gear is a Great Channel! I can't wait to see you try the Alesis Fusion, maybe the V-Synth, the ESQ-1, the original Korg Waveststion, the Casio CZ series, the Yamaha SY-77, the Roland SH-32, and the Korg Microstation (I'm sure you've already done one or two of these and I just can't recall).
@@AudioPilz It definitely is the penultimate example of "ticking off all of the boxes"…and yet there is no shortage of hate for it. I'll not influence your opinion except to say that there is also an underground community of users who, even after all of these years, remain devoted to it (while treading water in the ocean of hate for it). If you're careful, too, the prices for it can be flat - out stupifyingly cheap. Keep up the great work, Florian! 👍
All the people who were upset about me using Goldfinger dialogue to joke about the Blofeld are going to have a massive coronary over Princess Vespa. ;)
I had one for many years - I bought it because it had knobs so you could change things on the fly - a real novelty after ten years of programming synths through a letter box display and with little or no real time controls. But then I’m a keyboard player, so I fit the description you used towards the end of your video!
"And an unhealthy proportion of sellers on Reverb need to get a goddamn life." I fucking lost it. As a vintage PC enthusiast, I feel your pain. I just recently paid 'only 100 bucks' for an Awe64 Gold, and not too long ago balked at the idea of paying 80 bucks for a working Voodoo 2. (They're more than double that now)
Oh man, a video about my first synth! Bought one of these on a whim a few years back (got it for $200 back during the beginnings of the analog revival) after hanging out with some friends who had a proper studio. It was a terrible introduction to the fundamentals of synthesis, but the amount of interesting sounds it let me make with no real knowledge definitely got me hooked, and now that I understand more about electronic music, it still sees use as a midi-controlled device.
I owned the CS1x and the SU10 and used them in this way for my first two albums in the mid 90's as well as some other tracks I made then. Also used the CS1x when I was in a rock band in early 2000s and then sold it to my friend who had one like it but the whole synth melted in his car.
@@AudioPilz haha, well, truly, I took care of mine and it was in perfect condition but yeah, don't throw it and don't leave it in a hot car in the summer.
i love my cs1x... to me it's all about how you use it..another youtuber made a video using the cs1x to the fullest..making a 90's trance track with it..i wouldn't call it bad gear myself.. it's a synth of the 90's..and sounds like a 90's synth
This channel just makes me so happy. I'll name my first born child Baddy McGeary if you take a crack at the Roland EF303 which i cannot for the life of me figure out.
I'm an AN1x owner, and that synth is for the good gear show for sure. It has basically the same case-design, and i often used the "sampler-holder" for a Volca or effects.
I love my cs2x, for some projects it had all the right sounds for more... normal people ears. I feel like its a MoPhatt with a keyboard, and without the endless percussion. Navigating it and editing is a NIGHTMARE but for out of the box cheeze, it gets an A++
You should change your channel name. It's just confusing when the contents is so good and actually doesn't review BAD gear. You make the best quick, in depth, relevant reviews with great demo tunes found on the internet.
I remember that era when Nord was new and all the rage, Roland did the JP-8000, Korg the MS-2000 and Yamaha this one. This is actually the first time I hear it's sounds, and I always thought it was a modelling synth like the others and not a rompler. They sure marketed it as a old school revival of sorts, but I guess that was only in terms of the name and the control surface. Thank you for showcasing it 🙂
You might be confusing this with the Yamaha AN1X. Same body, color, similar layout, and it’s possibly the BEST virtual analog of that era. THIS one (the CS1x) was kind of an abortion. Definitely check out videos on the AN1X
Dude, with each video your memes game and video production is getting better and better and it was high quality to begin with. Also, those tasty jams man
@@AudioPilz There are two kinds of people who will get the joke... The Austrians with kangaroos and poisonous animals in their front yards and those without! :D
@@MischaSMK09 Hahaha! Seems like Austria and Australia get as mixed up as Sweden (my home country) and Switzerland. :) So in Sweden, the two kinds of people who would get a similar joke would be the people who Yodle all the time, have tons of chocolate and wake up to Cuckoo Clocks and then there's people who don't!
Loved the jam near the end! I got lost in composition + cool visuals and had to re-watch so I could actually pay attention to the synth's sound quality :D
This was my first synth - paid about 1200 DM for a brand new one. This was my biggest mistake, but I learned really alot about MIDI SysEx Messages... Hands up for this reminder that in the old days not everything was great (and will not become great again)
I was looking at this synth and the An1x back then and made the right decision…I got the An1x using the money I earned the hard way during my vacation job - and still have it to this day and play on it basically every time i sit down with my synths.
The CS1x, along with the JP8000 is all over my 1st couple of albums. Sold it years ago but just re-bought it this weekend. Love this and it’s so versatile when you dig deep
Bough a second hand CS1x for £120 a few years ago. Love it! Perfect from drum n bass (try the B900 drums) and ambient house tracks. I agree that it takes a deep dive to really get to grips with the synthesis but compared to a DX7 this is almost a user friendly experience!
I'd love to imagine that the previous owner of the machine was a session keyboardist trying to nail a particularly tasty solo and messing up the bends on the pitchwheel take after take. Eventually he had enough and went nuclear on it. :^)
Plenty of diverse artists keep the Cs1x around! It may not be the best out there but it's unique and fun to use. To be honest I know it's not an expensive synth but I wouldn't sell mine for cheap, I'd be kicking myself for it. I have a rev 2, sh01a, and a mininova and I probably use the Cs1x the most for sampling into a sp404. Great video, enjoyed the visuals and the jam was kinda sick my guy. 😆
I bought mine in 1999 (Yes, for the Prince sounds too) and a lot of synths came and went and still this CS1X does service here in the studio. The Yamaha's cs1x audio spectrum falls well into the mix for production, there are many synths that have to fat sounds (you dont need pads in 49-19500 hz) and suppress other instruments in the mix. So for a fast dance production I quickly grab the cs1x, my Yamaha SY and Waldorf STVC. When I use a bass for fusion or jazz, NordLead. When I play live light music, I use a Roland Uno DS
i didn't even know that this synth exists ....und ich kenn mich echt aus. Danke für die Episode. Immer wieder eine Freude deine Videos anzuschauen!!! much love and support from munich
Did he just show the Australia Flag for Austria????!?!?! Why yes, he did! Check out between time: 1:33 and 1:35 and enjoy the giggle! Well played my freund, well played indeed.
I missed this video until a CS-1x came up locally. Thanks ...wait, I did watch this...when you said it was used for education in Austria, it all came back to me
"Chromatic Doorbell" - Best. Description. Of. Crap. Synths. EVER. Oh, that really did make me laugh, especially as it was a Roland SH-201 sliding past :) 100% RUclips Gold.
Wow, that bad boy has see better days, I'm very amazing about how you could get the best of each piece of gear that you test. Nice work, each beat that you create is so great. General Midi is proud of you.
Out of all the hardware I ever bought, CS1X gave me the most bang for buck, in terms of being something that aided producing a track. The default sounds in performance mode are really excellent and very usable, being interesting but not overly cliched. My only real gripe with it was as you mentioned, the arpeggiator, which is otherwise also fantastic but does not send it's output to midi. Also have a mc303, had not realised they came out in the same year - it's a piece of junk imo, as far as music making.
Hihi, I remember the mc303's I got to play with in stores when it just came out, umm, I never understood what the point of that thing was. It was in the late 90's though, so Pilz may have mixed up the dates. I did also end up using a TB-303 for quite a bit then, and the MC was sooo different they had nothing at all in common. The TB was built like a childrens toy but sounded great, the MC seemed to be built quite OK but sounded like ass.
OMG YOU ACTUALLY MADE THE GENERAL MIDI JOKE!! I've always imagined General MIDI like that, and looks like I've FINALLY found the other rompler-PTSD suffering person who thinks it's funny 😂
fantastic!I have a cs1x in my shed,like the reference to Dr mix, really excited about this video.I actually used the cs1x in the last few years gigging with a band,I replaced it with an fa06
I was honestly expecting the QY10 to sequence the first jam, you got me with the slightly-too-large-but-made-it-work-anyway Digitakt. 😂 Update: Extra points for WINTAGE, never change Florian ✌
Woah, now this was a synth I didn't expect to see here. Excellent video! PS: I take back the Korg Monotribe suggestion as I actually did my research afterwards.
@@AudioPilz yes, it was was for the better. I currently own the Yamaha Cs6x, Waldorf Microwave XT, Ensoniq ESQ1, behringer Neutron, and a few other things. I am obsessed with weird gear and love making noise...... I mean music lol 😆
When I was a kid in high school I had a paper on my bulletin board with a thermometer showing how much I saved to get the CS1X. Never got the keyboard. 20 years later I finally got the Yamaha reface dx.
Such an underrated synth. Mine permanently sits next to my Juno 6 and DX7. It holds its own in its own way and will never be sold. 90s Dance Piano sounds are worth its weight in plastic 🤣
I've recently sold my CS1X, it had been in the loft for years, I bought it from new and used to sequence it to my Commodore Amiga, it was my first ever keyboard. Loved it at the time. But looking back, I wish I'd got the CS2x or the AN1X or even the CS6X, but for the time, I loved it.
The Arpeggiator does not output the notes via MIDI, but they changed it with the CS2x. This one is the same, but totally different and IMHO the best of the whole CSx range
This is the first bad gear episode where I found every aspect of this unit's sound agitating. Usually you find a way to pull at the very least something usable out of a piece of gear, but this sounds bad. Great video! Thanks for really getting into some bad gear!!
I recently bought one for the sounds it puts out for me it's nostalgic as growing up in the 90s still hearing 80s music in movies and shows you really helped me on navigating the performance mode I thought the filter was broken and some of the knobs didn't do anything but then you showed me in the video why thank you yeah I can understand the synth is not for everyone and after diving into it it feels limited coming from a software plug-in like absynth 3 and of course I could have just sampled a RUclips video of the cs X1 but I wanted to try my first time buying an old unit and yes unfortunately it was at the time that synthesizers use cheap plastic material as my keyboard when it was shipped from Japan got damaged from FedEx just like yours in the video the pitch wheel got jammed into the unit not as bad and I was able to fix it with some Legos and super glue and glue gun glue to wear the top looks normal a little cracked but functional
Yes, nitty gritty is used a lot in England. Especially in the West Midlands, where we have our own language separate to English. No one knows what it means, but we like getting down to it.
Here in Texas some say, "Gettin' on down to tha meat n' potaters." Maybe you'll hear the janglin' of some spurs on a few hardcore tracks. Maybe not. Lol.
First video I've seen where someone don't like it, I bought one last week and will be setting it up soon to get into it all. All I see is positive reviews for it everywhere. Can't be that bad! If it is apparently simple or has limits then surely that pushes your creativity to the max so you can get much more out of it than you should 😉
I saw mine in my basement storage this week. Must be a sign to pick it up again... Best midi workstation ever, plus versatile tour keyboard/preset fake synth.
Bought one of these maybe 5(ish) years ago for 120 euros locally from a nice suburban dude, who sat in his dark house and smoked like 9823719 cigarettes in the 20 minutes we were chatting. I hoped for charmingly cheesy sounds, and it kind of delivers those, but I didn't enjoy the overall concept and guess were also too lazy to go deeper into editing. It felt like a preset machine to me and the sounds felt plasticy and fake, but in a somehow overproduced way I didn't connect with. I sold it a few months later for 100 euros to a kid who told me, that he wanted to make 90s techno with it. He also told me, the thing would be awesome, the prices would rise and I would be super stupid to sell it that cheap, which seemed like a weird thing to say to the guy, you want to buy the synth from. Seeing todays prices I guess he was right though. But well, I have no regrets selling gear cheap that I got cheap. Playing that thing made feel like the keyboard guy of some party band. I liked the blue colour though.
Well, I'm more of a keyboard player and love every minute I own my CS6X. Sounds and effects where wonderful and It had just everything I you are not afraid of menus. Key touch was delightful. I miss it.
I was online looking at used stage pianos as a substitute for my bigger synths (Kronos, M3, etc). Ended up seeing a CS1x on the site I was looking at for pretty cheap and was like, what the hell. Your video had perked my interest to go through the purchase. I play in a classic rock coverband so I think it might fit in nicely. That guy from KOSmusic certainly makes this thing sound great. Thanks man!
General Midi showed great bravery when he fought in the war.
Mad Dog Midi!!!
😊 I Wonder how he felt once they'd extended him.
The Protocol Wars
Tragically he got five times shot in the head!
@osspaljeni classic
i just can't bring myself to hate this thing. it was my first "real" synth, bought off ebay when i was 16 with the money i'd saved up over the summer. despite its limitations and datedness, i had so much fun messing around and writing songs on it back then. i still love my cs1x, can't imagine ever parting with it!
First love is the deepest!
Same here....I literally learned the basics on the Cs1x. Of course my next Synth was a complete different beast (Yamaha EX5) but I still have some beautiful pads and look leads I programmed on the Cs1x...I also learned that the most important thing about a synth is the time YOU put in to it...
"datedness" ?? If you like it, you like it.... why should you let this fool with 4 sets of headphones on his head try to make you think it sucks? Why does this person matter to anyone? Why do people need to spend time on graphics and videos just to tell you about a synth? It's almost as if its a joke. Placing stupid movie scene clips in between.
Gen-X: 90's Rompler PTSD
Millenial: "SWEET, a 90s Rompler! Now I can sound like a public television station in 1996! And it's only $5 so I don't have to choose between gear, rent, and food this month!"
Gen-Z: "What's a rompler? All gear made before 2010 sounds the same to me"
Really loled hard😂😂😂
I've been saying this for almost 20 years now.. there is no bad gear.. just bad musicians.. 👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽
Certainly true!
I don't know..."Bad" musicians? I have known a lot of great musicians that just wouldn't get any creative inspiration from a lot of synths. Take an amazing violinist who spent decades of their life honing their craft and can perfectly play any sheet on sight, they might not have the creative training for improv or know a thing about ARP's...but that doesn't make them "bad musicians", just not training in same area so don't "see" the creative possibilities as readily...you DO! So that's cool! Just say'n don't fall in trap of having put other artists below you because their creative flow or craft is simply different. Ya know?
There some truly awful synths out there… and detuned pianos with broken keys, hammers and dampers…
You've got it backwards: ALL gear is bad gear. 😜
@@pimusicproductiona ‘great’ musician who doesn’t get creativity from presets is not a great musician. Learn to program and create.
I like how you leave Ableton's crash notice up for the video. That's a vibe I can really relate to.
Thank you!!!
@@AudioPilz Speaking of the SH series you gotta get your hands on an SH-32. Had one for a minute, and for the life of me, I could not figure out what it was supposed to be or why it had been built.
@@johnwilmarth833 I got one recently and it's one of the most frustrating but also fun synthesizes I've ever used
Great review as usual. As an Australian, I found it heartwarming seeing the Austrian flag there.
Thanks!
Much better than the Australian flag. Those red stripes are so uninspirational!
In Hamburg, we often do have Austrian flags attached to the bridges.
I know you hate this synth but I absolutely loved the tracks you put together with it! Alone, it sounds tiny, fragile, weak. But when put together in your vid, it offered a sweetness and delicacy that helps me understand why some people swear by it. Despite all that, I appreciate your notes that it wasn't fun to work on. Your suffering brought us some lovely tunes :)
Thank you so much!
The sound of the CS1X was and is why we like it. It has massive 80s vibes, great for synthwave etc.
Used this synth a lot for gigging: Lightweight, "decent" sampled piano, organ (for the nineties), and great sampled analog sounds. Great memories. Also has a deep MIDI implementation with real-time sysex. Thank you for the great tracks and entertaining video. Loved it.
Thanks for watching!
"Suffering from 90s Dance Rompler PTSD ..." must be the generation after "suffering from DX7 Electric Piano PTSD" ...:)
Wasn't that the generation before? ;)
@@AudioPilz Probably. It's Friday. :)
I'm happy someone has identified the name of my disease in the late 90s. Glad to know it's not just me. That was the only time in my life when I lost my love and enthusiasm toward synths.
@@midimoog It was a terrible time for synths. Take a terrible sample of a 303 then put a whistly filter on top. NO
@@__teles__ - Hell yeah.. The dogshit days of synths were what made me just clock out and I only clocked back in when PC CPU's were powerful enough for softsynths and quality VST's. The industry finally saw sense tho.
Thank you so much for giving us something to look forward to on lockdown friday nights. The humour is off the charts, as always!
Thank you so much!
"An unhealthy percentage of sellers on Reverb need to get a goddamn life" lol
Sad but true
Or at least a proper appreciation for appropriate pricing on used gear
It is the first time you pissed me off with a review, the first synth I ever got, and I think it is an absolute classic till this day
agreed!
The broken case makes it sound more analog too by introducing non-linearities due to the altered air flow. VST's can never emulate that :)
Science wins!!!
The case was broken on purpose to keep the unit cool and avoid getting over-heated.
"I'm sorry, Yamaha CS1x but we need to break up. It's not you....it's me. No, it's actually you"
_"Whatever! If you can't me at my sharps and flats, you don't deserve me at my naturals!"_
Great work as always. Keep it up!
Thanks!!!
We use three CS1X synths on stage, the Stanglers ALSO use Three!! fantastic synths to use live, cant rate them enough +++++++++++
Great for real keyboarders in a band context!
The casual bangers you throw into this video are some humble FIRE. Love it. Such an awesome way to be reminded it's Friday. Happy weekend Bad Gear homies!
Thank you!!!
Fun fact: Many of the GM/XG voices on this keyboard (and by extension, Yamaha's AWM-powered gear at the time such as the MU/QY series) can still be heard on their low/mid-range keyboards today.
That sample set is really nice!
@@Lamster66 : TG-500 had them back in 1992.
We first made music on an Amiga 500 with the program Protracker. Music was good but we had to go to a higher level. After that we wanted to be able to make more of our own sounds and effects. We were still in school and didn't have much money left. We eventually bought the CS1x new for 1295 guilders. Still a lot of money but we had a synthesizer :) The music started to sound more professional which resulted in a record deal. In short: For little money it turned out to be a good investment. We still have the synthesizer in our possession.
Florian, you're just killing it! You've easily become the top synth / gear reviewer on RUclips. Bad Gear is a Great Channel!
I can't wait to see you try the Alesis Fusion, maybe the V-Synth, the ESQ-1, the original Korg Waveststion, the Casio CZ series, the Yamaha SY-77, the Roland SH-32, and the Korg Microstation (I'm sure you've already done one or two of these and I just can't recall).
Thank you so much! Great input, I'll take a closer look (especially the Fusion is interesting!)
@@AudioPilz It definitely is the penultimate example of "ticking off all of the boxes"…and yet there is no shortage of hate for it.
I'll not influence your opinion except to say that there is also an underground community of users who, even after all of these years, remain devoted to it (while treading water in the ocean of hate for it).
If you're careful, too, the prices for it can be flat - out stupifyingly cheap.
Keep up the great work, Florian! 👍
I managed to buy one of these a couple of months back for just $100, really loving it as a beginner synth just for the ease of use.
That's a really cool price!!!
Still got mine, still easy to use and great sounds
Always envied people who could make it sing
the amount of jokes and puns in this one is off the charts, made my day.
Thanks!
Definitely in G#9/Ab9 territory
I'm in the mintority here cause I actually think it sounds great. Some of us like that old sound.
Yes :)
Definitely has a fan base ;)
It sounds very clean and complete, for just one unit by itself.
Funny how this is so bad while the synth that shares the same housing is one the best digital synths ever: the AN1x
Correct, Officer;) AN1x seems to have aged much better
Bad ? Nothing bad on .
Me to I love my AN1x even after 22 yrs it's still my favorite .
An1x was and is one of the best I've ever used.
The only reason the AN1x wasn't successful was because it looked like the CS1x, and was overlooked by producers back in the day
All the people who were upset about me using Goldfinger dialogue to joke about the Blofeld are going to have a massive coronary over Princess Vespa. ;)
I expect you to comb the desert!
@@AudioPilz Tuvok ain't found shit.
@@AudioPilz Only if you Jam the Radar ;-)
I had one for many years - I bought it because it had knobs so you could change things on the fly - a real novelty after ten years of programming synths through a letter box display and with little or no real time controls. But then I’m a keyboard player, so I fit the description you used towards the end of your video!
Cool! Always happy when a synth like the CS1x works for someone
"And an unhealthy proportion of sellers on Reverb need to get a goddamn life."
I fucking lost it. As a vintage PC enthusiast, I feel your pain. I just recently paid 'only 100 bucks' for an Awe64 Gold, and not too long ago balked at the idea of paying 80 bucks for a working Voodoo 2. (They're more than double that now)
Yeah, it has become kind of ridiculous
I remember the day it came out... (Ouch - getting old by the way...). And we all were very interested in this plastic piece of gear. 😀
Yeah, they were EVERYWHERE back then😅
Oh man, a video about my first synth! Bought one of these on a whim a few years back (got it for $200 back during the beginnings of the analog revival) after hanging out with some friends who had a proper studio. It was a terrible introduction to the fundamentals of synthesis, but the amount of interesting sounds it let me make with no real knowledge definitely got me hooked, and now that I understand more about electronic music, it still sees use as a midi-controlled device.
Agreed! Great midi controller!
I owned the CS1x and the SU10 and used them in this way for my first two albums in the mid 90's as well as some other tracks I made then. Also used the CS1x when I was in a rock band in early 2000s and then sold it to my friend who had one like it but the whole synth melted in his car.
It seems like the plastic enclosure was not made for eternity ;)
@@AudioPilz haha, well, truly, I took care of mine and it was in perfect condition but yeah, don't throw it and don't leave it in a hot car in the summer.
Do you have links to the albums online? I also used the CS1x quite a bit at one point. Not sure one which tracks though.
i love my cs1x... to me it's all about how you use it..another youtuber made a video using the cs1x to the fullest..making a 90's trance track with it..i wouldn't call it bad gear myself.. it's a synth of the 90's..and sounds like a 90's synth
And dont forget the 80s sound it also offer. It goes amazingly well with the sound of the Commodore SID chip.
@@h0rk3d KOSmusic comes to mind
MIDI files always sounded awesome on Yamaha's XG sounds. Also, the An1x is the true CS successor of that era.
True on both accounts!
10 fingers and knowledge of music theory is the best arpeggiator.
True! Trial and terror works too;)
8 fingers and two thumbs are better.
@@mahkova23 it is not my fault if your parents could not afford the 10 finger genetic modification.
This channel just makes me so happy. I'll name my first born child Baddy McGeary if you take a crack at the Roland EF303 which i cannot for the life of me figure out.
I would consider that an honor and I'd be happy to be The Godfather of the child (Marlon Brando style;)
I'm an AN1x owner, and that synth is for the good gear show for sure. It has basically the same case-design, and i often used the "sampler-holder" for a Volca or effects.
The AN1x seems to be the one that aged better
@@AudioPilz : no way, cs1x is a toy beside it.
Hand grip turns SH-101 into LOL-HS at 0:34
Classic!
CS1x is a beast.
I can remember a lot of people who could really make it sing. Never got it tbh
Nice bit of info there. I was into Hocico in high school and had a CS1x. But never would have guessed!
I found the AN1X pretty cool back then.
Hmm...
Hocico.
😙
I'd personally like to see NI maschine 1 on here in future
Thanks! Great idea, I'll take a closer look!!!
I love my cs2x, for some projects it had all the right sounds for more... normal people ears. I feel like its a MoPhatt with a keyboard, and without the endless percussion. Navigating it and editing is a NIGHTMARE but for out of the box cheeze, it gets an A++
It's a total 90s time machine!
Enjoying the show every godam’ week. And I dig your library in the background more and more ^^
Thanks!
I played this synth live with a TG33,Sr16 and a Brother Sequencer. Never had any complaints. :)
Wow, TG33 - nice!!! Always wanted to try one of that vector Yammies
Never had any audience,then? 😉 Sry, just kiddin'! Cheers mate
@@AudioPilz Very underrated synth!!!
You add such excitement to my mornings with every video you put out!! You deserve many more fans!
Thanks! Happy to hear that!
the fantastic BLUE YAMAHA CS1x is ALL YOU FINALLY NEED, paired with the YAMAHA AN1x you are FULLY EQUIPPED with Synthesizer
I really want an AN1x!!!
@@AudioPilz wish you luck to get one. I was lucky to get one in good condition for AFAIR 120 EUR from a musician in Düsseldorf
You should change your channel name. It's just confusing when the contents is so good and actually doesn't review BAD gear. You make the best quick, in depth, relevant reviews with great demo tunes found on the internet.
Thank you for the feedback!!!
I remember that era when Nord was new and all the rage, Roland did the JP-8000, Korg the MS-2000 and Yamaha this one. This is actually the first time I hear it's sounds, and I always thought it was a modelling synth like the others and not a rompler. They sure marketed it as a old school revival of sorts, but I guess that was only in terms of the name and the control surface. Thank you for showcasing it 🙂
Thanks for watching!
You might be confusing this with the Yamaha AN1X. Same body, color, similar layout, and it’s possibly the BEST virtual analog of that era. THIS one (the CS1x) was kind of an abortion.
Definitely check out videos on the AN1X
@@halcyo Hey, I think you're right! My apologies, my memory ain't what it used to be 🙈😊 but yeah, they sure did look alike
I swear this is the only RUclips with a justified intro, by literally using sounds of the instrument you are going to review
Thanks! Happy to hear that!
I've been waiting for this one! this was the first synth I ever had
Cool! Thanks for watching!
Dude, with each video your memes game and video production is getting better and better and it was high quality to begin with. Also, those tasty jams man
Thank you so much!
1:34 “At least here in Austria” = my favourite joke of this episode 😂 🇦🇹 🇦🇹 🇦🇹
...a joke many people wouldn't get ;)
@@AudioPilz There are two kinds of people who will get the joke... The Austrians with kangaroos and poisonous animals in their front yards and those without! :D
Austria-lians😂😂
@@MischaSMK09 Hahaha!
Seems like Austria and Australia get as mixed up as Sweden (my home country) and Switzerland. :)
So in Sweden, the two kinds of people who would get a similar joke would be the people who Yodle all the time, have tons of chocolate and wake up to Cuckoo Clocks and then there's people who don't!
Loved the jam near the end! I got lost in composition + cool visuals and had to re-watch so I could actually pay attention to the synth's sound quality :D
This was my first synth - paid about 1200 DM for a brand new one. This was my biggest mistake, but I learned really alot about MIDI SysEx Messages... Hands up for this reminder that in the old days not everything was great (and will not become great again)
It indeed is a crash course in Sysex!
I was looking at this synth and the An1x back then and made the right decision…I got the An1x using the money I earned the hard way during my vacation job - and still have it to this day and play on it basically every time i sit down with my synths.
AN1x is super nice!
The CS1x, along with the JP8000 is all over my 1st couple of albums. Sold it years ago but just re-bought it this weekend. Love this and it’s so versatile when you dig deep
👍
The yellow of the keys matches nicely with the blue livery.
Colors of the 90s;)
Bough a second hand CS1x for £120 a few years ago. Love it! Perfect from drum n bass (try the B900 drums) and ambient house tracks. I agree that it takes a deep dive to really get to grips with the synthesis but compared to a DX7 this is almost a user friendly experience!
Yeah, DX7 is an entirely different beast ;)
I'd love to imagine that the previous owner of the machine was a session keyboardist trying to nail a particularly tasty solo and messing up the bends on the pitchwheel take after take. Eventually he had enough and went nuclear on it. :^)
This would have been a better story than the postman haveing a bad day;)
Plenty of diverse artists keep the Cs1x around! It may not be the best out there but it's unique and fun to use. To be honest I know it's not an expensive synth but I wouldn't sell mine for cheap, I'd be kicking myself for it. I have a rev 2, sh01a, and a mininova and I probably use the Cs1x the most for sampling into a sp404.
Great video, enjoyed the visuals and the jam was kinda sick my guy. 😆
Thanks! Nice setup!
I bought mine in 1999 (Yes, for the Prince sounds too) and a lot of synths came and went and still this CS1X does service here in the studio. The Yamaha's cs1x audio spectrum falls well into the mix for production, there are many synths that have to fat sounds (you dont need pads in 49-19500 hz) and suppress other instruments in the mix. So for a fast dance production I quickly grab the cs1x, my Yamaha SY and Waldorf STVC. When I use a bass for fusion or jazz, NordLead. When I play live light music, I use a Roland Uno DS
Clever approach!
"and I can still use the CS1x as an excuse when my music sucks" 😂😂😂😂
Yeah, it works for over 20 years now;)
i didn't even know that this synth exists ....und ich kenn mich echt aus. Danke für die Episode. Immer wieder eine Freude deine Videos anzuschauen!!! much love and support from munich
Besten Dank!
Did he just show the Australia Flag for Austria????!?!?! Why yes, he did! Check out between time: 1:33 and 1:35 and enjoy the giggle! Well played my freund, well played indeed.
No kangaroos around here;)
@@AudioPilz Reminds me of the time Moog helpfully shipped something to Austria for me.
I immediately showed this to the kangaroos in my garden in lower austria :D
I missed this video until a CS-1x came up locally. Thanks
...wait, I did watch this...when you said it was used for education in Austria, it all came back to me
Did you buy it?;)
@@AudioPilz LOL, F*CK no. Wants more than $300USD. For that I'm buying NEW Behringer anything or SERUM...and I still have a JP-8000 to repair.
"Chromatic Doorbell" - Best. Description. Of. Crap. Synths. EVER. Oh, that really did make me laugh, especially as it was a Roland SH-201 sliding past :) 100% RUclips Gold.
Thanks!
Wow, that bad boy has see better days, I'm very amazing about how you could get the best of each piece of gear that you test. Nice work, each beat that you create is so great. General Midi is proud of you.
Thanks, Sir!
Wow, it's not often I get to hear Rise of the Triad just randomly brought up in non-gaming videos.
Thanks! Best pre Mick Gordon game soundtrack and the ideal test for GM compatible sound modules
Very fond memories of playing this in my music technology course in the late 90’s
I even had to use it at my final exam ;)
Out of all the hardware I ever bought, CS1X gave me the most bang for buck, in terms of being something that aided producing a track. The default sounds in performance mode are really excellent and very usable, being interesting but not overly cliched. My only real gripe with it was as you mentioned, the arpeggiator, which is otherwise also fantastic but does not send it's output to midi. Also have a mc303, had not realised they came out in the same year - it's a piece of junk imo, as far as music making.
CS1X and MC303 - so different and yet so similar
Hihi, I remember the mc303's I got to play with in stores when it just came out, umm, I never understood what the point of that thing was. It was in the late 90's though, so Pilz may have mixed up the dates. I did also end up using a TB-303 for quite a bit then, and the MC was sooo different they had nothing at all in common. The TB was built like a childrens toy but sounded great, the MC seemed to be built quite OK but sounded like ass.
I used to have one of these, I was one of the people who suggested you feature it. The intro tune already had me LOLing
Thank you!!!
you already had my like with the "sexy beast" clip but the rest of the vid was predictably great
Thanks!
OMG YOU ACTUALLY MADE THE GENERAL MIDI JOKE!!
I've always imagined General MIDI like that, and looks like I've FINALLY found the other rompler-PTSD suffering person who thinks it's funny 😂
Thanks!
"and I can still use the CS1x as an excuse when my music sucks" lol, I will use it all the time then :)
great video, keep up the great content!
Thanks!
fantastic!I have a cs1x in my shed,like the reference to Dr mix, really excited about this video.I actually used the cs1x in the last few years gigging with a band,I replaced it with an fa06
Thanks! Still not sure if Claudio will talk to me as long as I am below 100k subs ;)
@@AudioPilz he talks to me occasionally and I have no subs 😀
I was honestly expecting the QY10 to sequence the first jam, you got me with the slightly-too-large-but-made-it-work-anyway Digitakt. 😂
Update: Extra points for WINTAGE, never change Florian ✌
Thank you!!!
Woah, now this was a synth I didn't expect to see here. Excellent video!
PS: I take back the Korg Monotribe suggestion as I actually did my research afterwards.
Thank you!!!
This was one of the first synths I played on.... it was life changing....
For the better? ;)
@@AudioPilz yes, it was was for the better. I currently own the Yamaha Cs6x, Waldorf Microwave XT, Ensoniq ESQ1, behringer Neutron, and a few other things. I am obsessed with weird gear and love making noise...... I mean music lol 😆
What an amazing synth. The users that know how to use this timeless product can still crank out some great music.
Agreed, some people really click with that one
Best intro monologue in the history of the show
Thank you!!!
When I was a kid in high school I had a paper on my bulletin board with a thermometer showing how much I saved to get the CS1X. Never got the keyboard. 20 years later I finally got the Yamaha reface dx.
I'm really interested in the Reface
Such an underrated synth. Mine permanently sits next to my Juno 6 and DX7. It holds its own in its own way and will never be sold. 90s Dance Piano sounds are worth its weight in plastic 🤣
Agreed, classic piano sound!!!
I had one and loved it.
I've recently sold my CS1X, it had been in the loft for years, I bought it from new and used to sequence it to my Commodore Amiga, it was my first ever keyboard. Loved it at the time. But looking back, I wish I'd got the CS2x or the AN1X or even the CS6X, but for the time, I loved it.
It was certainly a powerful tool for the time. After reading all the comments I really want to try the AN1x now
The Arpeggiator does not output the notes via MIDI, but they changed it with the CS2x. This one is the same, but totally different and IMHO the best of the whole CSx range
Nice color too!
This is the first bad gear episode where I found every aspect of this unit's sound agitating. Usually you find a way to pull at the very least something usable out of a piece of gear, but this sounds bad. Great video! Thanks for really getting into some bad gear!!
Thanks! I know a lot of people who can really make it shine and it is frustrating that I can't pull it off
I’m about to play some UT with the squad. Needless to say they gonna have to wait.
Kewl! Which UT?
@@AudioPilz UT99
@@tudorcotoi7011 2nd best game ever!
Was not expecting to see this here... deck 16?
Literally the best game LOL
I recently bought one for the sounds it puts out for me it's nostalgic as growing up in the 90s still hearing 80s music in movies and shows you really helped me on navigating the performance mode I thought the filter was broken and some of the knobs didn't do anything but then you showed me in the video why thank you yeah I can understand the synth is not for everyone and after diving into it it feels limited coming from a software plug-in like absynth 3 and of course I could have just sampled a RUclips video of the cs X1 but I wanted to try my first time buying an old unit and yes unfortunately it was at the time that synthesizers use cheap plastic material as my keyboard when it was shipped from Japan got damaged from FedEx just like yours in the video the pitch wheel got jammed into the unit not as bad and I was able to fix it with some Legos and super glue and glue gun glue to wear the top looks normal a little cracked but functional
Legos and super glue! Cool method!!!
You would of been better off spending your money on some punctuation. ;)
Yes, nitty gritty is used a lot in England. Especially in the West Midlands, where we have our own language separate to English.
No one knows what it means, but we like getting down to it.
Thanks for the clarification
We also sometimes get down to brass tacks. So much warmer sound than steel ones. That's brass tacks, not brass tracks. No salvation army or oompah
@@hydorah And once in a while you get down to the nuts and bolts.
@@Stoney3K Nice work keeping the thread going...
Here in Texas some say, "Gettin' on down to tha meat n' potaters." Maybe you'll hear the janglin' of some spurs on a few hardcore tracks. Maybe not. Lol.
That piano sound fucking rules (imo)
👍👍👍
I personally love and prefer 90's VA sounds. Its the sound that got me into synthesizers.
👍👍👍
First video I've seen where someone don't like it, I bought one last week and will be setting it up soon to get into it all. All I see is positive reviews for it everywhere. Can't be that bad! If it is apparently simple or has limits then surely that pushes your creativity to the max so you can get much more out of it than you should 😉
It's an instrument that works great for many players - for be (and a bunch of others - not so much;)
@@AudioPilz To be or not to me.
Mein allererster "Synthesizer"...
Und mein erster Fehlkauf. :D
Du hast ja auch viele schöne Sachen auf Lager ;)
@@AudioPilz Die vielen "unschönen" Sachen sind auch schnell wieder rausgeflogen.😄
first piece of bad gear I actually own hahah. Your verdict is 100% accurate.
Thank you!
Which modern synths do you think will end up on this channel in a decade?
Every plugin;)
@@AudioPilz that's a lot of faith in Behringer
Probably everything by Arturia
@@vladv5126 shots fired
Korg Electribe 2 for sure. :D
I saw mine in my basement storage this week. Must be a sign to pick it up again... Best midi workstation ever, plus versatile tour keyboard/preset fake synth.
Bought one of these maybe 5(ish) years ago for 120 euros locally from a nice suburban dude, who sat in his dark house and smoked like 9823719 cigarettes in the 20 minutes we were chatting. I hoped for charmingly cheesy sounds, and it kind of delivers those, but I didn't enjoy the overall concept and guess were also too lazy to go deeper into editing. It felt like a preset machine to me and the sounds felt plasticy and fake, but in a somehow overproduced way I didn't connect with. I sold it a few months later for 100 euros to a kid who told me, that he wanted to make 90s techno with it. He also told me, the thing would be awesome, the prices would rise and I would be super stupid to sell it that cheap, which seemed like a weird thing to say to the guy, you want to buy the synth from. Seeing todays prices I guess he was right though. But well, I have no regrets selling gear cheap that I got cheap. Playing that thing made feel like the keyboard guy of some party band. I liked the blue colour though.
Maybe that kid is a Bitcoin millionaire;)
Great timing! I just saw a CS1x on FB Marketplace for $100... I am still very intrigued by it.
You can't go wrong for 100 bucks
For a moment around 3:55 I thought I was running a Civvie 11 video accidentally in the background
Play the game, Civvie...
All your videos kill! Your music is sooooo catchy! Best thing on RUclips!
Thank you!!!
The AN1x, however, is a complete and utter VA beast
Only heard good things about it!
Well, I'm more of a keyboard player and love every minute I own my CS6X. Sounds and effects where wonderful and It had just everything I you are not afraid of menus. Key touch was delightful. I miss it.
Man you are sooo spot on! Laughing out loud at the "Australian" flag splash!! No mercy, keep 'em coming! :-)
Always a pleasure, thanks!
I was online looking at used stage pianos as a substitute for my bigger synths (Kronos, M3, etc). Ended up seeing a CS1x on the site I was looking at for pretty cheap and was like, what the hell. Your video had perked my interest to go through the purchase. I play in a classic rock coverband so I think it might fit in nicely. That guy from KOSmusic certainly makes this thing sound great. Thanks man!
That one is really nice for a classic live situation. The sounds sit well in the mix