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I've had this since 1993, when it was my first full-size synth. I've played around with it a lot in that time, and only recently have I started using it in a professional setting (with my band, Floorian). The YS is a strange animal; I don't know what to say about it. It's capable of great sounds but has one of the worst user interfaces imaginable, at least as far as programming sounds go. In its effort to dumb down a 4-op FM synth engine it's only served to make synthesis more of a crapshoot. Your best bet with this thing is to incessantly mess around and when you find a sound you like, save it immediately; don't bother writing settings down because they're so random seeming that you'll likely never be able to get there again. Sound quality is sometimes noisy, especially with tremolo and volume type effects. Several lamentable omissions: portamento, some kind of filter, limited tweakability of voices in Multi mode, only 8-note poly.
Anyway, there are positives...as I said, some of the sounds are excellent, and its layering and modulation capabilities are very useful. And ironically the goofiest detail of its goofy physical design--its gigantic volume control--is also one of its best, great for fading in and out sounds on a dark stage.
The YS benefits from going through external effects.
Nutshell: can be quite useful with lots of practice, but in the short term better for experimenting with than relying on as a main synth. Approach it with plenty of patience and low expectations, so that you will be abso-thrilled when (if) you figure out how to make it exceed them.
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