KVR Audio

J4R1O · Post by **J4R1O** » Wed Jul 18, 2018 3:34 pm

Hi,

I'd like to buy a good CS-80 vst instrument, but not sure which one... Arturia CS-80 V or Memorymoon ME80?

Is Arturia (MSRP 149 € - a little bit too much for me...) any better than Memorymoon? I've read that it has some bugs, is that true? How often Arturia is havin' sales?

generaldiomedes · Post by **generaldiomedes** » Wed Jul 18, 2018 3:50 pm

I would go with a sampled VST until someone comes out with a modern emulation

Radiophobic Workshop · Wed Jul 18, 2018 4:00 pm

I like the arturia one, however, I wouldn't pay full retail for it.

Peter - IK Multimedia · Wed Jul 18, 2018 4:01 pm

generaldiomedes wrote:I would go with a sampled VST until someone comes out with a modern emulation

Syntronik's V-80 instrument would be an example of this. It also includes the GX-1 and CS-01.

There are some video and audio demos available too.

Vortifex · Post by **Vortifex** » Wed Jul 18, 2018 4:01 pm

Lotuzia · Post by **Lotuzia** » Wed Jul 18, 2018 4:06 pm

A -good- sampled based instrument will bring you some nice presets, but nowhere near the real experience of a CS-80. So until now, you best choice is imo between the Arturia and MemoryMoon. I'll personnaly rate the Arturia a bit above it's contender. More pricey too.

EvilDragon · Post by **EvilDragon** » Wed Jul 18, 2018 5:03 pm

ME-80.

fluffy_little_something · Wed Jul 18, 2018 5:19 pm

Does it have to look like the CS-80? If not, I am not so sure you have to limit yourself to those two or three options because in terms of features the CS-80 was not really that unusual.You might get very similar sounds with other synths that don't have anything to do with the CS-80 at first glance.

The ribbon controller for instance, does that even work well with the virtual mouse-operated version?

And you need a keyboard with polyphonic aftertouch, which was very important with the hardware.

greggybud · Post by **greggybud** » Wed Jul 18, 2018 5:53 pm

I own the Arturia V5 CS-80, the older tiny GUI version, and the ME80 for quite some time. IMO it's quite subjective. I have never played a real CS-80.

For years I was very frustrated with Arturias lack of a decent sized GUI until they released the V5 collection. So several years prior to the V5 release I read good reviews about the ME80 and for the low cost decided to purchase it. I like the different ME80s versions because one GUI is very large and comes in handy on occasion. The drawback however is the load/save libraries are not interchangeable, but that's not a big issue for myself.

Also there were some fabulous ME80 Vangellis-type factory patches that I have never found on Arturias version.

The support is from the developer, and he replied within a day to my questions. No tickets, no auto-reply, generic bs, just timely direct honest answers.

My vote is for ME80. However you can decide for yourself since there is a demo.

J4R1O · Post by **J4R1O** » Wed Jul 18, 2018 6:07 pm

Thanks for your replies!

So maybe it's ME80 + Xkey 25 then (since I have no MIDI-controller with a polyphonic aftertouch).

J4R1O · Post by **J4R1O** » Wed Jul 18, 2018 6:10 pm

Peter - IK Multimedia wrote:
generaldiomedes wrote:I would go with a sampled VST until someone comes out with a modern emulation
Syntronik's V-80 instrument would be an example of this. It also includes the GX-1 and CS-01.

There are some video and audio demos available too.

Thanks, Peter! I will check that out too!

J4R1O · Post by **J4R1O** » Thu Jul 19, 2018 5:16 pm

Demoing the ME80... is the GUI resizable? Can't use this small one... it's giving me a headache.

greggybud · Post by **greggybud** » Thu Jul 19, 2018 6:21 pm

There is a very large one. Ask the developer if it has a demo and verify that it is included in the purchase.

If you think that's small, you should have seen Arturis before V5.

voidhead23 · Post by **voidhead23** » Thu Jul 19, 2018 7:17 pm

i've owned both the Arturia emu and the ME80. i absolutely despise how the Arturia CS-80 sounds...horribly thin and useless. But plenty of awesome people use it and love it (i'm thinking especially of Tycho at the moment), so it's entirely subjective. The ME80, on the other hand, sounds fantastic. Not sure if it sounds like an actual CS-80, but it sounds musical and beautiful, so who cares?

However, as fluffy pointed out, what made the CS-80 so revered in its day was not so much the sound of it, but its expressiveness via poly aftertouch, ribbon controller, and some modulation tricks. It reacted like a more traditional instrument and was more 'playable'. Something like Diva coupled with a MIDI controller with aftertouch will get you those sounds plus a lot more.

wagtunes · Post by **wagtunes** » Thu Jul 19, 2018 7:23 pm

If you want an "authentic" Yamaha CS 80, buy one. You're never going to get it from a VST. Now now, not ever.

That's one of those instruments that can't be duplicated in software.

Yamaha CS-80 vst