Re: [AH] Behringer DS-80 / CS-80

From Joan Touzet
Sent Tue, May 7th 2019, 20:59

Crawling out of lurking for years to say: as a CS-80 owner, what I
appreciate about it nowadays is less the sound and more the playability,
which I believe stems from the fact that it was designed as much by the
Electone part of Yamaha as the synthesis division. I think this is what
Behringer is missing in this product.

Having trained as a church organist and classical pianist as a child, I
simply adore the CS-80's human interface. The natural extension by
Yamaha of that form factor into something with poly aftertouch, as well
as the clustering of controls and their ease of use, is really the key
for me. The performance controls move fluidly, offering virtually no
resistance (unlike the modern Bourns-style short-throw linear pots). The
fabric-coated ribbon lets my finger slide easily, offering just the
right amount of resistance and requiring very little pressure to engage.
Only the ribbon on the A6 comes close in a modern synth that I've
played. Finally, the wooden keyboard is (for me) the exact right balance
between piano actions and organ responsiveness.

Of course, the top two thirds of the CS-80, namely the panel patch
controls and the 4 presets, I almost never touch. Everything I need is
down in the performance area. The keyboard scaling controls and voice
assigner functionality are equally important in ensuring a musical result=
=2E

With my synthesis hat on, OldCrow nailed the reproduction circuits years
ago, starting with the MOTM-480 and the VCO153. These do well in the
Deckard's Dream - heck, I built one, so obviously I'm happy with this :)
So I'm confident Uli can just copy those circuits (snerk) and make it
sound mostly right.

But in my "sound like a jerk" (thanks Alex!) opinion, what we need today
is the (maybe portable?) high quality control surface that is best mated
for CS-80 style synthesis. I want the synthesizer equivalent of the
Thrustmaster Warthog joystick/throttle:

  http://www.thrustmaster.com/en_UK/products/hotas-warthog

which is a licensed-from-the-USAF Warthog A-10C replica control set.
Give me that, and optimise the integration for your CS-80 synthesis
replica, and I'm happy.

Maybe Yamaha will do that. Or maybe they'll release another Reface with
mini keys. Who knows?

But I'm sure that people who want the CS-80 sound and aren't
keyboardists/pianists/organists will be happy with the price point Uli
is able to hit with the DS-80.

-Joan "Toccata and what?" Touzet

On 2019-05-07 14:36, Edward Schultheis wrote:
> I liked the =E2=80=9Cand I sound like a jerk=E2=80=9D
> =C2=A0But it does say that it is on very early stages, and they want fe=
edback.
> =C2=A0Im sure yamahas announcement has to do with them releasing this n=
ow.
>=20
> On May 7, 2019, at 11:04 AM, Alex Timchak <xxxxxxxx@xxxxx.xxx
> <mailto:xxxxxxxx@xxxxx.xxx>> wrote:
>=20
>> And this is the state of the synth world now: I was actually
>> disappointed not to see a LED screen like on Deckards dream and that
>> you will *only* be able to have 4 patch memories.
>>
>> And the touch strip is small.=C2=A0
>>
>> And I sound like a jerk.=C2=A0=C2=A0
>>
>> On Tue, May 7, 2019 at 12:41 PM Marshall Craig <xxxxxx@xx.xxx
>> <mailto:xxxxxx@xx.xxx>> wrote:
>>
>>     Holy fugk!! This /can=E2=80=99t/ be real=E2=80=A6!
>>
>>     -M
>>
>>
>>>     On May 7, 2019, at 9:51 AM, matrix <xxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxx.xxx
>>>     <mailto:xxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxx.xxx>> wrote:
>>>
>>>     https://www.matrixsynth.com/2019/05/new-behringer-ds-80-yamaha-cs=
-80-is.html
>>>
>>>     --=20
>>>
>>>     cheers,
>>>     matrix
>>>     http://www.matrixsynth.com <http://www.matrixsynth.com/>
>>