Yamaha REFACE CS Portable Analog Modeling Synthesizer

Firstly, was surprised to get this - I assumed it was totally unavailable other than secondhand but no, this took a little while to arrive but it did. Well packaged in the company's box though no outer protection beyond that but it was in perfect condition. Doesn't come with much beyond the actual synth and the manual (and that doesn't come to much as it just tells a little about the functionality of each but as you can combine them in billions of ways to create all kinds of different sounds, probably would be hard to say in a manual - a youtube etc tutorial or two will help more than the manual, certainly did for me. The sound from the tiny speakers is fine, not too loud but not too quiet so I was happy with that, certainly don't want the neighbours banging on the wall as I make my latest composition. The keys are small but frankly, got used to that in a fraction of a second, didn't bother me at all. The different sounds, different knobs etc all add to a wonderful sound and the music can also be fed off elsewhere (which is something I perhaps explore later). I was thinking about getting one of those super beasts where all kinds of sounds and effects can be added but personally, the limitations (and experimentation) of this synth are fine and I love the themed '1970s / 80s' sound, so much so I may go for the other reface for the 60s sounds. Really pleased I bought this and it will be great to play at home as well as elsewhere

This is really nice & has the DX sounds I decided a large controller was better for my purposes as I have lots of soft synths If you want a great Portable version of A DX7 that’s easy to use though with the Yamaha name this represents great value

Brilliant sounds. The Reface is professional quality. The controls allow a vast amount of variations on the 5 organ voices. The H organ is beautiful, Church organ sounds all the way. The other voices are great too. Big sounds from a small keyboard and small cost. This is the sixth Yamaha instrument I have bought and like the others it doesn't disappoint.

Nice. Looks and sounds great

Prompt delivery and genuine product though the packing was not good and part torn.

Sturdy, well built. I didn't love the minikeys at first touch but they grew on me. Definitely a league above other minikeys. Something about the key action makes it easier to avoid mashing multiple keys than other minikeys I've played. The sounds are just incredible, my favourite is the wurli, though I found myself gravitating to the CP80 a lot which I was not expecting. Of the two Rhodes sounds I prefer the 1st one, which emulates an early 70's Rhodes though it's a bit gentle compared to the other instruments. You may need headphones or a speaker setup to appreciate soft notes on this setting. The other (late 70s style) Rhodes is much brighter and pluckier on the built in speakers which are surprisingly loud. The toy piano is an interesting quirk that I've yet to fully explore uses for. If you are creating ambient soundscapes (easy thanks to some amazing delay + reverb effects) it is useful but I'm not sure where to put it in a tune just yet. Pretty much every review and thread on this device has mentioned the hidden piano you get by turning it on while the instrument dial is between rd1 and rd2, or if they don't mention it the comments sure will. I must say this hidden piano's sound is not amazing and kinda cheesy despite what I've read about it. It feels like it really is just for internal testing at Yamaha and not an easter egg for us. I'm no piano expert by any stretch but I use the Pianissimo vst with my DAW and it sounds way better than this hidden piano. On the contrary I also use the Lounge Lizard vst for a Rhodes sounds and it's not a patch on the expressiveness of the Reface imo. People have been reporting that is lasts about 7 hours on the 6 AA batteries. I've had it plugged in most of the time but have also used battery power for couch sessions of about an hour multiple times and it's still going on the first batteries I put in there. I think that's pretty impressive considering how loud it is.

Attached this via a midi cable to my full-sized Yamaha Clavinola PFP-100 so that I could add the Rhodes/Fender electric piano and Wurlitzer electric piano sounds to my Clavinola. It has worked brilliantly. The Yamaha Reface CP contains very authentic reproductions of those 1960s/1970s electric piano sounds and with a simple midi connection you can add those sounds to your full-sized keyboard. I would highly recommend it.

An updated version of this would be nice, maybe needing fewer batteries and having longer runtimes, improved patch management/software etc. Money well spent nonetheless!