Yamaha RY30 Rhythm Programmer (1991) Owner's Manual

Here Yamaha RY30 Owner's Manual

Yamaha CS-80 (1976)

A very old and very huge classic synthesizer. Considered Japans first great synthesizer. It had some pretty amazing features for its time such as eight voice polyphony, patch memory storage and polyphonic aftertouch. It can generate great analog strings, brass, drones and pads with that instantly recognizable classic polysynth sound. No synth sounds greater. Some examples of its extremely fat sound can be heard in "Blade Runner" and "Mutiny on the Bounty" by Vangelis as well as "Dune" by Toto. The thing that really made this synth sound so powerful was its "natural" detuning....thus its brass and string sounds were unparalleled not only for authenticity, but for pure width! Unfortunately for the CS-80, it was released the same year as the more programmable and cheaper Prophet 5. 

With two analog oscillators per voice, the CS-80 has the potential for some really thick sounds. A great VCF filter with independent hi pass and low pass resonant filters, a powerful ring modulator and plenty of modulation controls further enhance the CS-80's sonic potential. There are 22 preset sounds (6 user) selected from bright and ugly colored buttons above the keyboard. The keyboard is weighted and has a full 61 keys with performance controllers for vibrato, pitch, brightness and volume. Surprisingly there's also a long ribbon controller for the pitch-bending, located above the keyboard. There is no MIDI or CV/Gate control. The only way to MIDI it is via a rather complex retrofit receive-only kit from Kenton. 

Yamaha CS-15 (1979)

The CS-30 is a large, knob infested, black analog synthesizer with traditional features. It is a monophonic synth with extensive analog control and shaping. It has two oscillators with separate outputs, two VCF resonant filters, two VCA amplifiers and three envelopes. It also features a ring modulator, external audio triggering and a simple but useful 8-step sequencer for use as a sketch pad, pattern or arpeggio effect. The CS-30 does not have any on-board effects, memory nor MIDI. Although the CS-30 is just a monophonic synth with a short 44 note keyboard it offers a lot of programming flexibility, and plenty of knobs.

This synth really has its own sound. The CS-15's got style. Built like a tank with a lot of nice knobs and best of all, not one but two of those funny sounding multimode filters. It's actually a duophonic / bitimbral synth but you have to connect it to CV (Hz/V like Korg not V/Oct) to get the extra voice. Each of the two VCOs has its own CV/Gate control.