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CS2X is a mean machine, much sharper, harsh and brighter sounding than cs1x. If you are a techno/distortion fanatic who loves frying your brain with wide eyed sizzling crunch, its got filters that will literally open your mind and your music up to new possibilities in distortion sound. The distortion filters sound rough and crunchy and after awhile I wanted smoother, finer hi res sound so I bought a behrlinger dsp 1000 virtualizer for $200, the results - good. So if you don't like the chorus and reverb, then use the effects on an additional effects processor, no problem! The high freq cutoff is ok but if you want that really high frequency birdie type tweet (you hear in raves or something a Yamaha Ea-1 could do) you should look for something that will do that. Also, I've found that massive, deep and resonant punchy type bass is not so easy to create on the cs2x. For base I would use something else, but be your own judge. All in all, I'm pleased with the brightness, however the high frequency range I think should be improved with an additional equalizer and/or effects unit w/and equalizer, but you may feel its ok. I love this keyboard, would not sell it or my cs1x I doubt I'll ever find anything that will ever do what it does for me musically for what I need it to do except the cs6x which I haven't checked out yet. Knobs are really great, they save alot of time composing. Its nice to so easily adjust the sounds to meld together with my other gear, guitar synth and drum machine without wasting time with buttons and/or forgetting where I was at/supposed to be musically and/or creatively. To have some fun, try this: Add the distortion effect and increase the release time with pre0 #65, pre4 #35, pre4 #40 or xg40 #27. Then while your smiling, add the chorus in. Ha! surprising, isn't it? smile... One more thing I should mention - for professional sounding music- for drones, crystal clear bells, pianos, strings and such - I would rank the cs2x low, about a 2. I think some drones are ok, kind of ambient, relaxing kind of a sound of its own, but theyre hard to find. I would rate cs2x a 4.0 definitely for its sizzling distortion crunch, it would be a 5 if the sounds and effects were alittle more high res. Also, the number of possible effect types could have been more, parameters per effect could have been a wee bit more, and overall sound resolution could be improved a bit but the difference I made up with a decent effects processor. I give the cs2x a 2 on construction quality - I think the case should be metal, not plastic. And many keys on my old cs1x now jiggle alittle, it isn't really a big deal or hurt my keyboard playing in any way, its just interesting to me. Kind of funny. Anyways, my final word would be to use your best judgement - if from what you read here you like it, then give it a look. It may surprise you. Best wishes. Good luck! -G
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