Plus, the CS-80 was only 220 lbs.!

I really liked it's weighted (more like semi-weighted) keyboard and the poly aftertouch (as well as very good velocity response)...rumor has it, there is a working CS-80 still at Yamaha Canada in Ontario...probably the same one I trained on.

It was updated a few times, but tuning was still an issue, and it is definitely more of a studio instrument than for stage but hey, Stevie Wonder and Vangelis knew a good thing when they heard and played it. Stevie Wonder used to do trills on it with the pitch strip....a very cool feature.

A friend recently purchased a really groovy VST...Arturia's CS-80V. It's an amazing, very authentic software synth plug-in that is modeled after the CS-80...major enhancements include stereo voices, non-drifting oscillators, advanced modulation abilities, MIDI/Tempo sync, patch memory (the CS-80 would only hold six patches), total recall, controller automation...all very useful, indeed.

There are a few synth patches on my Tyros4 very reminiscent of some of those I could create on the CS-80, but they just don't have that rawness that the latter could produce, but, they are close enough for my ears and usage, and, if I want more like the real deal, I can always spring for the VST.

Getting back to Mark's topic, music was too much "in my blood" for me to stay away from it for any length of time...I hope he finds a solution instead of giving up.

Ian