Yamaha Reface CS Demo & Short Review - 2 years later 

There are some incorrect and misleading information in this video and I'd like to correct it. I'll also add some more information about the synthesizer's functions. Warning! This is going to be a long one! :-) I just hope that you and some of your viewers find this helpful. 6:17 - The mod slider adds multiple saw waves together with the one saw wave and detunes them depending on how much you raise the slider. If the slider is moved all the way to the top, then it works as a typical "supersaw" sound. If you raise it just a bit it sounds like two oscillators, which are slightly tuned differently. If you keep the slider somewhere in the middle it can also sound quite similar to a "unison" option found in various synths. The texture slider just adds a sub oscillator and the mod slider does nothing to it. 6:37 - The mod slider changes the pulse width of the square wave. (It doesn't detune anything like you thought in the video.) The texture slider adds a second oscillator and changes its pitch one semitone at a time. 6:50 - Some others have also pointed out that it's an oscillator sync option and not a ring modulator. It's a saw wave but the texture slider changes the amount of the oscillator sync. The mod changes the level of how effectively the ADSR envelope changes the amount of osc sync. A typical method of using the oscillator sync is to use the envelope to change the osc sync level. If you use it like that then you can usually keep the texture slider at zero or at a very low amount. 7:01 - That's the ring modulator. You need two oscillators to have a ring modulation. Both of the sliders control the pitch of one of these oscillators. 7:10 - That's correct. It is a sine wave. You can get FM sounds here. Usually FM synthesis, like in the Yamaha DX7, uses only sine waves modulating each other in a complex way but if you can modify the pitch of an oscillator with another (audible rate) oscillator then it's already Frequency Modulation even on an old vintage analog synth. A Minimoog can do that for example. The texture slider changes the FM depth. The mod changes the FM source's pitch. When you move the mod slider towards the top, then it also adds noise. If you want to have just the noise and nothing else, set the octave as low as possible and play with the lowest notes (and just keep the texture slider at zero). In this video you thought that the sliders might add distortion. They don't but a good idea to try is to use the effect section's distortion while adding some FM to the sine wave. You can get a nice distorted lead guitar sound for example. One thing to remember when creating any sounds is to always adjust the ADSR controls to let the sound be more alive. Just experiment with it a little bit. :-) 8:41 - The pitch option of the LFO already modulates "the oscillators themselves" like you said in the video about the Osc option. The Osc option of the LFO does many different things depending on the selected osc type: Osc = Saw wave - The LFO modulates only the pitch of the main osc, not the sub (from the texture slider) Osc = Square wave - The LFO modulates the pulse width, giving you pulse width modulation (PWM) Osc = Osc sync - The LFO modulates the osc sync level Osc = Ring mod - The LFO modulates the pitch of only one of the oscillators in the ring mod osc type Osc = Sine wave/FM/Noise - The LFO modulates the FM amount. 8:57 - The text added at this point to the video incorrectly says "LFO" when it should say "ADSR" instead. (The slider has nothing to do with the LFO.) If the slider is at zero, then the ADSR controls of the EG (envelope generator) does nothing to the filter's Cutoff point. Then the ADSR sliders are only controlling the amplification (sound volume) over time. However, when the slider is moved upwards then the ADSR is more and more controlling the filter's Cutoff. (Separate ADSR sliders for controlling the filter's cutoff or the oscillator's pitch is always preferable.) 10:15 - I really like the effects... The chorus has also a very usable flanger effect included. If you want to use the flanger you only need to raise the depth of the chorus very high. You can hear when the effect changes to a flanger from the chorus. There are many other things I could say but I'll just mention that the delay is very vintage sounding. It's always fun to adjust the delay rate while playing. You can even feedback it with the sliders and create some FX using only the delay. The same could be done with a vintage Roland Space Echo for example. This is a nice option to have. 10:30 - That's NOT all you can do with this synthesizer. :-) Thanks for the effort though. You were still right about many things... There seems to be lots of confusion with some of the sound changing options in synthesizers in many RU-vid videos. You're not the only one.

I don't know why RU-vid only suggested this video just now. After several years the CS is still my favourite _keyboard_ synth (the Roland AE-30 wind synth has now stolen "favourite synth" from the CS). I actually like the interface because they designed the reduced control set so well; very fast to dial in great sounds. I backup patches to my old laptop but only for recall purposes in case I need to redo a part. Generally I create new sounds every time.

I'm a musician and I've been designing sounds with synthesizers for quite some time. I own the Reface CS together with some more vintage synthesizers. When I bought the Reface CS I was really surprised. It's a very useful and fun little synth! The filter is very versatile and it has many sweet spots. If you're wondering if you should buy this synth then it's always best to test it yourself. Don't just rely on one or two RU-vid demos.

Amazing run-through, Alex!

I got a cs for Christmas 😁😁

from my research the reface cs is actually velocity sensitive. it is setup such that it automatically effects the volume. obviously it's not the best implementation and it would be nice to have options to control the filter and such, but it's better than no velocity sensitivity i'd say. also, i have a question: would setting a really fast delay emulate a reverb sound on it? i'm super close to buying one of these

I had one and I miss it a little. It sounded Fantastic much better than the ultra/mini nova, micro korg, or the volcas (except the keys which sounds pretty good but is very limited). For me the lack of patch storage, reverb, and second oscillator were the major drawbacks. I’m hoping the modal skulpt sounds as good. ( edit I rebought one. I’ll never sell it this time around. )

The third oscillator waveform is not using ring modulation on texture/mod, it's hardsync.

I will be getting CS and DX ,later on CP.they really sound very good.But I disagree with Big Bad Wolf that it sounds better than microkorg,microkorg has hi fi sounds and apregios that are impossible on the CS,I love the CS and will buy it,but they're two different animals.

could you explain the multi-itiberal vs polyphonic aspect? thats a bit confusing... thanks!!!

Are the speakers any good ? Do you feel any bass coming out of them ? What is the battery life ? I ask because this is the reason these things were made in the first place, and nobody is talking about it. And that may be the only reason to buy them.

Great video! Thanks a lot

Great intro!

Great video! Side note - better fix your wedding ring before your finger choke 🤨😂

Heeey, so I heard that there was some audible stepping when moving the cutoff fader back when the CS was released. Is that still an issue, or did they fix that in some software update?

It’s not velocity sensitive?? Deal breaker :/

How does this compare to the Novation Mininova?

I considered buying one of these, I even had crazy thoughts about maybe splurging on all the Reface synths, thinking they were probably circa $99-$149 each. Then I saw the price. That's a big fat 'no' from me.