Yamaha CS1x
 

What do you think about the Yamaha cs1x to use for industrial/trance alongside a Virus B??????

Shite - forget about it.

I bought one when they first came out (1996) and regretted it about three weeks later. The keyboard action is terrible with limited FX and programmability. The sounds you can get out of it are average at best IMO and quite harsh to the ear in quality compared to today?s standards. The initial sound palette was of interest to me as there was nothing really out there at the time, which was solely aimed at the dance/trance market, and I needed one for a remix.

If you want an affordable high quality-sounding unit to back up your Virus B take a look at the Roland JV2080 - the thing has awesome power and quality of sound compared the CS1X. The JV2080 can carry up to 8 expansion boards. I had one with the dance/techno/vintage synth boards fitted and it sounded great. The FX are decent and the unit is highly programmable. It also has loads of audio outputs.

A lot of top producers still swear by the JV2080 and the less powerful JV1080. Look at paying about ?200-250 for a unit in absolute mint condition with box and manual (the manual is very handy). And about ?60-?70 per expansion card.

I read on one review site that someone had actually compared the CS1X to a Nord Lead. That is a bit like comparing a Datsun Sunny to a Bentley Continental.

Also take a look at the Roland JD990. It has less polyphony and expandability compared to the JV2080 - but sounds much better overall. There is one going on ebay...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Roland-JD-990-...QQcmdZViewItem

All the best