CS01

Back in 1982, this pocket-sized powerhouse was Yamaha's answer for beginners wanting real analog synth action on the go, complete with a built-in speaker and battery power that let you jam anywhere without plugs.

Its single VCO pumps out triangle, sawtooth, square, pulse with PWM, and noise across 4' to 32' ranges, feeding into a punchy 12dB/octave resonant low-pass VCF with sliders for cutoff, resonance (switchable low/high), and envelope amount. An ADSR envelope shapes both filter and VCA, while LFO modulation hits pitch or volume via a wheel, plus glissando control and pitch wheel for expressive bends. The 32 mini-key board sits on a super-portable black-and-silver slab—just 489x36x160mm and 1.5kg—with mono out, breath controller input for dynamic VCF/VCA tweaks, and simple front-panel sliders that make fat, bubbly bass lines a breeze to dial in.

Over the years, players like the Dust Brothers, Underworld, and OMD have tapped it for its growly, vintage monosynth character, praising the easy workflow despite the toy-like keys—though some note the fixed resonance switch as a quirk before the MkII improved it.