this puppy for about a little over a quarter that (I paid about $650 including

tax + he threw in MIDI cables, A MacMan - which I didn't really need due to

the direct to-HOST interface -, and some other stuff... I'm pretty happy with the voices...The GM Drum Kits are surprisingly good and

the Performance voice kits on Pre0 as well as the dedicated kits on Pre12 are

fabulous. I'm still learning about editing these, although for 'tweeking' the

sounds I usually either use the knobs (for a lead performance) or send MIDI

controller commands from my sequencer. Only one complaint...The user manual I cracked the first day I got it and haven't

found it useful since ... not enough info. Of course there's the "blue book" but

why the hell is it just for PC users eh? I haven't seen the contents but it

would be nice if Yamaha would include manual documenting ALL the CS1-X's

features instead of just a cursory glance. The only other complaint I have is

the roundabout way I have to go about getting at the Material voices (which are

the reason to get this in the first place) from an external sequencer but then

again it is designed as a controller; I guess the assumption is that you're either

getting the rest of your sequenced sounds from somewhere else or from the GM bank.

And as others have said it's useless without a good sequencer.

PS ... for the guy whose music retailer is trying to screw him out of $180 more

bucks than the machine is worth, I'd look elsewhere (possibly mail order if that

bozo is the only game in town so to speak) or tell the music retailer to throw

in about $200-300 worth of stuff 'free' if he's expecting you to pay that much....

BUT, becarefull, only one performance sound at time. This mean that you will have a very nice sounds with a lot of controls (in real time) on it, but the other sounds, which are simple XG of layer voices are not so easy to control directly from a sequencer (filtering is easy, AEG is easy but effect not..)

The other bad point is the outputs: only one... bad for a good mix :( ...Drums are not so good too.

but the price is so low.... 600$... for a multitimbral machine with real time effects... and a good keyboard (velocity, aftertouch, midi controler knobs ...) In conclusion :

if it's your 1st synth BUY IT !it's the best you will find for 600 bucks. it's only opposant is the MC303 (but not so nice)

if it's not your 1st synth : buy it for performance sounds pad.

to use this in a live situation great but on the other hand with Midi, seqencing

from a computer forget it, you only get 1 of the good sounds which takes up 4 midi

channels, then its just lame XG/GM sounds not good if you want to be creative.

There is supposidly a way around this but you need a degree in Midi and also

have a lot of time to waste. Yamaha did not exactly make this clear in media ad's

etc. For me it is not very useful even if the sounds are good. I took mine back and

ordered something that I can easily use with my set- up.