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Average rating:
4.5 out of 5
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Very nice monosynth that can sound sweet and wild at the same time. From 1978 but capable of sounds that put many virtual analogs to shame... Good about the CS15: - Trademark analogue stuff is all there: PWM, 2 VCO detune, triangle, square and saw wave, plus noise, -Two whole separate signal paths (2 VCO, 2 VCF and 2 EG). However, you can route VCO 1 to VCF 1 AND VCF 2 (with VCO 2 going through VCF 2 as well), then route each VCF and VCA to any of the two EG's - a recipy for very versatile sounds. EG's can be possitive or inverted. - Very intuitive and clear layout of the board. All the knobs feel solid, construction seems sturdy. Mine has a few scratchy pods but it's (almost) older then me, so I shouldn't be surprised... - Warm and fat sounding: not in the minimoog way but more alike ARP en early Oberheims. Filter is only 12 db but is thick and deep - does not have the shrill sqeak of Korg (MS20, Poly 800) and Roland (JX3P, SH101) - So far, it's quite stable in tune...
Lesser points of the CS15 - Only one LFO, but you can route it to PWM, VCO, VCF en VCA (or any combination of them) - 12 db filters do not have a very steep depth to them: if you want a very fast attack, you might still end up with a click at the beginning of the sound (in itself not an ugly thing, but you just might not want it). - Filter won't self oscillate (so far with me anyway) - people have made mods for this however. - No midi of course. You can trigger through the CV/gate ins but you need double triggers (for each EG). No CV for the filter however, but there's mods for that too. - No crossmodulation or FM capabilities - EG can be routed to VCF and VCA but not to VCO...
Have only had it for a few days but it's definitely a lot of fun to play around with. Has a certain sweetness to its sound (meaning: not extremely agressive). I would say it makes great bass, leads and drum sounds. Is probally less for SFX or anything that requires filter selfoscillation. Of course: monophonic so not much for pads. And no matter what the 1978 manual is trying to tell you: realism is NOT in the CS15 book...
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Good sounds, warm like American synths and unlike the more neutral Roland filter. Only problem is midi-the Kenton boxes can provide it, but it took a while to realize that with the CS-15, and potentially with others in the CS line, it's not simple and you'll need at least a 2-voice midi box to get both oscillators to trigger properly.
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The CS-15, like the CS-30/L and 40, sounds pretty impressive-close to Moog warmth coupled with a tighter, cleaner, less thick but still impressive sound not unlike an Odyssey or SEM. Like the 30, it's bittersweet to use-more than your usual assortment of options, almost a modular configuration allows for some real flexility in programming that goes well beyond the usual scope seen but also sometimes robs it of immediacy. On the other hand, this challenge forces you to learn it and to understand synthesis better..
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Just got one from E-Bay ($350) - very cool sounds and nice routing options (try and find a good quality image of the control panel to really see what the CS-15 has to offer). Some interestingly oddball features too - like the VCA "Initial level" instead of the normal "Hold" function you'd see on an SH-09. Also sounds like the LFO doesn't retrigger when you hit a note - you just get the sound of wherever the LFO is when you hit which might be annoying in some settings but can also be interesting. There's also no delay for the LFO. Routing VCO1 through the two VCFs you can have all kinds of fun. All-in-all, highly recommended for electronic music geeks.
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I bought this some time ago expecting more than I ended up getting. So much for purchasing based on some samples I heard. Basically, after endless knob turning, tweaking, etc, those samples were the only cool sounds I could get out of it. If you're into the cheesy sounds of the early 80's, this is for you. The low-end is weak compared to the Maxikorg I had. I sold mine because it was impractical for me to keep it around just for a handful good sounds. Don't get me wrong, it could have found its way on some of my tracks, but you could get something better for the money you pay for these.
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