Yamaha Reface CS Virtual Analog Synthesizer Reviews

I'm just dipping my toes into the world of synth, and in my research I found out this is based on the original CS Vangelis used on Bladerunner. So this is my first synth.
It comes and l have like 10 minutes to try it before work…I'm playing with sliders and there's a minute where I'm not even sure if it works but it comes to life and it's cool.
So I get home from work and now I have time to mess with it and the Soundmondo app. Search "Blade Runner", "Vangelis", "John Carpenter"…
Dude! Instant gratification! If you're considering this, get the app and explore it….it also works with a bunch of other Yamaha keyboards!

Making a pattern=easy! Midi In and giving the CS's voice to a Sequencer's pattern/arpegio=easy!

THIS THING IS COOL!!!

It's phenomenal.

i love this synth. the looper is very useful for producing never before heard noises.

This is a really cool machine. It's great to be able to buy a revisioned version of a CS-80 at this price. It sounds great and with no presets it's a great tool to learn on. The fact that it has a battery option and built-in speakers makes it excellent for travel. It would be cool maybe if there were some presets from famous songs that use it… and if the speakers were a little louder. But it's a lot of fun and the sound is excellent so I'm giving it five stars.

I don't really know what else to say. This synthesizer is awesome.

Really accessible synth. While the purists will prefer true fat analog sounds, it's still fantastic for the hobbyist and also a reliable option for anyone who gigs. There's a reason you'll find many popular high level producers on Youtube having one of these lying around in their studio when they record their videos.

The keys may be a little small, so you might have to be a little more accurate. But if you're already an experienced player, you'll regain your abilities from playing on a full-sized keybed in no time.

It was GREAT value when I got it early last year (during a sale), but even around the $ range today after covid-inflation, it's still very competitive in its offering. It's so fast and easy to get a wide variety sounds just working with the sliders.

Best of all, you can quickly create old school video game sounds... :)

This synth is very easy to use and very simple, yet complex enough for a skilled player to enjoy. The recording and looping feature is very useful and easy to use as well. It has all the fundamental things a good synth needs and the 8 voice polyphonic mode is a great plus. Overall it's a great synth for anyone regardless of skill or experience.

I'm an audio engineer, arranger/producer type, piano player band leader type, lots of live sound and A/V work, live streaming bla bla bla. I've always used "normal" keyboards, my favorite being Nord Electro...etc.

When I make pads, I always use things like Cello samples or string samples, running tons of effects etc. I never understood how people could get beautiful pad sounds from the sin wav stuff made by synths. I knew they were great for 80s style stuff, but for an actual, timeless sounding pad effect, nah.

Anyway, I've always LONGED to get into "real" synth, tweaking away at the attack and decay, filter, LFOs, etc. I just never had a "need" for it, so I've always just had a "hands off" cursory knowledge of this stuff. I never got the chance to actually have one and play with it. (I've done lots of sample editing, EQ

Finally, sort of arbitrarily, I got this thing. It looked perfect for me: small, well loved, built in looper for creating pads on the fly, then being able to grab my guitar and play over it, etc.

This thing came in the mail, and within 10 minutes, I feel like I've made the best purchase I've made in 10 years. I was immediately able to create smooth, lush, evolving pads (using mostly the bottom wav form..the one with two little mountains?

Just so nice and makes me so happy. There are so many things I can do with this thanks to the MIDI.

My favorite thing is the hands on, tactile control (which is why I love Nord btw) I know enough about synths, LPFs etc to not worry about presets. I can dial in whatever sound I want quickly. Makes me feel like a total nerd. I love it.

So what I'll do it create a sort of "pedal board" with this...hook it through a delay (not needed btw) and my Hall of Fame reverb pedal, and maybe my Source Audio C4 pedal haha. And create a sort of "suitcase" that I can take with me to gigs and quickly set up and use as needed. It's so fun and happy to use, I feel like I'll be finding a spot for this thing in all my arrangements and projects for all my clients, and myself.

I will say, sweetwater always puts in that little bag of candy and sticker swag in the box. My kids get little treats when I buy stuff from here, so it's a win win.

This is the first synthesizer I've ever purchased and it did not disappoint. It's exceeded all my expectations and even helped me in learning sound design with my virtual synths. I reccommended this to a friend I'm relearning music with and he's getting one soon as well.

My dad was a professional jazz trumpeter for a few years. My brother plays several instruments. But I never learned one because my first and last music lesson was crushingly boring. But synthesizers have always fascinated me. I recently turned 68 and decided if I don't buy one now, it will soon be too late.

This CS is astonishing. I had no idea so much could be put into such a small package. I'm guessing I have not scratched the surface of what can be done with one of these.

I was talking to a co-worker today. She didn't seem to know what a synth is. So I told her I'd record some sounds from mine. I sat down after work. I was stunned when I realized I'd been "noodling" for 30 minutes.

I am so happy I bought this and the Tascam Pocket-Studio from Sweetwater. Having a blast...

I love the versatility of this thing. If I could pay more for a built in step sequencer or full size keybed I would, but at this price I have no complaints.

I've owned lots of various synths over the past 30 years, and I've learned that in order to become a "keeper" for me it has to meet two important qualities: 1) It has to sound good, and 2) it has to be easy to use. The Reface CS gets top marks in both of those categories.

Other reviewers have said this, but I'll repeat it - this synth is so much fun to use. I can get a wide variety of sounds out of it with just mere seconds of tweaking some sliders. The design is very well thought out and it invites you to "play" the parameters on the fly while you are also playing the keys.

Even though the keybed is mini-sized, it is the best feeling mini keyboard I've come across. Much better than the mini keys on various Korg synths I've owned. The whole device feels like it is solid and constructed well, despite being plastic. It comes with a MIDI breakout cable and power supply, but also runs on 6 AA batteries.

The sound quality of Yamaha's virtual analog engine is top notch in my opinion. Even going back to the original AN1x keyboard, their VA tones can sound very close to real analog, and I can hear that foundation of sound in the Reface CS as well. At times it can do a convincing copy of some older Roland machines. Use the "Multi-Saw" oscillator type, add some chorus, and you can get excellent Juno-type pad sounds. With 8 voices of polyphony too! (Unlike the Roland Boutiques, which only have 4 voices). Using the same "Multi-Saw" oscillator, if you turn up the "Texture" slider to add in the Sub-Oscillator, then switch the synth into monophonic mode - it instantly sounds a lot like an SH-101 bass/lead sound.

The other oscillator types can offer some surprising results, especially Ring Mod and FM. The function of the "Texture" and "Mod" sliders will change depending on the oscillator type. It's a very efficient way to get a lot of variety with just those 3 different controls. And all of the parameters seem designed to offer the widest "sweet spot" range, because no matter how you set the sliders this synth just sounds great.

Other features - the effects sound good, especially the delay, and I just consider those a nice little "extra" to use occasionally. It has built-in speakers for easy portable use. Modulation is limited to one envelope and one LFO, so it's not for deep programmers. You can't even save patches on the synth itself. It can be done using the smart phone app and the optional Bluetooth adapter. But it's so easy to dial in sounds on the panel I don't bother using the app.

My one and only complaint is that the "Phrase Looper" is not easy to use. Sliding it from "Record" over to "Play" can be tricky to do with the proper timing while playing. It might have worked better if they had made those buttons instead of a slider. Also, the default setting on the Looper is unquantized. It's very helpful to turn on "Quantize Mode" unless you are a very precise player (which I am not). Check out the the v1.3 supplementary manual for instructions about how to turn Quantization on (and you might also need to update your software version).

Overall I'm very happy with this synth. Sometimes I think I am more productive with this thing just sitting on my sofa, as compared to trying to write a song in my home studio. Sometimes a more limited set of sounds an options can inspire creativity. And the Reface CS sounds more than good enough to make the final cut - I rarely wind up replacing synth lines I've recorded with this over the bigger and more expensive keyboards in my studio.

I have always loved Yamaha stuff. I still have a Yamaha FX-10 console organ from 1983 that's in perfect working condition and I play all the time! I must confess, I bought the reface YC organ first last year, then quickly the CP piano. I loved those so much that after a year, I had to have them all, and ordered the DX and this CS synth! I love the way the can play full-range (not just the three octaves on the keys themselves) on a MIDI keyboard controller, so I rigged up all four to play thru my Dexibell Classico L3 73-key keyboard. I can mix in one or all four! This is truly a "wall of sound" now! I can make any sounds imaginable, and with the reface series, you can use your iPad with the Soundmondo app, and store/upload/download your favorite preset sounds or make up your own set lists! With this setup, it's also easy to take any of the reface keys out for a show, or jam session, or just to play battery operated in the back yard! These will inspire you be creative and sound great anytime, anywhere!

I love this synth. I love the immediacy of it. You move a slider and the sound changes. Simple as that. I own a Grandmother and 100% understand these are different beast but I prefer to play my reface CS much more because of the immediacy. The price point is great for what you get. I honestly would have paid twice the amount for it. The build quality is solid. The sound is great. Simply love it. Definitely buying all the refaces.

(Writing this after having this product for about 4 months)

This was my first synth purchase of any kind, and I am really happy with it. I have an extensive background in music as a hobbyist, but nothing more than amateur. I primarily play genres in a range from funk, metal, and pop, to give an idea of how I use it.

For my first synth, it was surprisingly easy to learn and fully understand the settings and how to use them to shape the sound I wanted. I went from no understanding of sound modifying or waveforms to a great understanding of how to make the sound I want within a month.

The keyboard is extremely solid and well built, no part of it feels flimsy. I absolutely love how easy it is to transport with a mini amp and get great sound.

Below are the cons that I can think for this synth, but overall it's an incredibly well made instrument for the price.

-Looper function is not very flexible, hard to find a real use for it due to the inability to synch it properly with rythym
-Built in speakers lack bass range, I strongly recommend using a mini amp/PA/headphone system to hear the full sound

Everything else about it is great, I'd highly recommend it

Great little mini-synth that models the analog synth sound very well.
All the basic waveforms (save triangle) are here and easy to modify with the touch of the slider.
Very easy to use and, like the DX model, has effects that are fully adjustable to create sounds to your liking.

Another "Best bang-for-the-buck" mini-synth by Yamaha!

wow what a synth,have had this for a few days can't keep my hands off of this,even the looper is great,thanks again sweetwater your the best.

This is really just a unique, great sounding synth. I've used on almost every recording I've done. Also Have used it live. You can create some really soft full sounding ambient pads with the board. Also, it's great for unique sounding Bass lines. I would recommend to anyone wishing to own a synth with a clean, full sound. It is built quite well too. I own numerous synths and this has become one of my favorites Also has FM capacity. The review on Sonic State is quite good. Once again an overlooked piece of equipment. It would be nice to have a full size expanded version, but at the same time this is just so much cheaper. Also visually minimal, and artistic looking. Sound is most important, but it's nice to have such a beautiful looking visually minimalist instrument that would fit at home in the space clinical conapt's of Kubrick's 2001 or Tarkovsky's Solaris.

Not best synth ... best instrument purchase in many years. I can't overstate how useful this little guy has proved in the few weeks I've had it. I use it every day in scoring / sound design work and it's showing me something new every time. Lack of presets forces creativity and understanding - endless permutations of sounds/textures/effects evoking endless moods/vibes/periods. Looping function is a huge added value, but even without it I'd still rank this my top most useful musical tool at the moment. GET IT! YOU WON'T REGRET IT!

You will not regret buying this. The range of sounds you can make with this is unprecedented. Sound is on par with a Nord. All the demos of the looper are terrible, but it is actually very musical and creative, especially for ambient type music. LOVE the super saw. Run it through your favorite reverb and marvel. Even had some success making analog drum sounds. WAY more than advertised.

I've used a lot of synthesizer plugins, but this is the first actual synthesizer I've owned. After watching countless videos (check out Dorian Concept's use of this on YouTube), I fell in love with this synth - and when it arrived I was ecstatic.

I've spent probably 15 hours playing it thus far, and I think it's the perfect synth because you can find sounds you like within the first 2 minutes of playing with it, but I still feel like I've barely scratched the surface of what I can do with this thing. Most synths I've messed around with (and even my synth plugins) have always really intimidated me, but after being able to move the faders and hear changes in real time, analog synths started to make sense in my head. I went back to my synth plugins after spending a few hours on the CS, and I felt like I had taken a full course in synthesis.

What I would change about this instrument (in order):
1. The looper is not like having an external looping pedal. If you look at the faders in order from left to right, the looper falls near the very beginning. That means any change you make on a fader to the right of the looper affects the recorded loop. So you can't lay down a fat square bass and then play a sawtooth lead above it. The waveform and all effects change for the loop as well as what you're playing live.
2. I hate to say it, but it is a little small. The number of keys is perfect, but if it were slightly larger it would feel more versatile.
3. The keys are not weighted, nor is there any velocity information sent through. This isn't a big deal, but again, if I could play with dynamics without having to change the envelope or volume slider, that would be fun.

At $... I definitely haven't seen a better option. I can't wait to teach my daughter how to play around with this, because it breaks down synthesis and sound waves in a super teachable way.

the yamamha reface cs is still the best synth,i love it even more just hooked up exterior speakers,but dont worry the built in speakers work fine.i just wanted to try my new speakers out.

yeah it's pretty cool

I'm a hobbyist musician and gear collector, and I've had my Reface CS for almost a year now. I own a few synthesizers (Reface CS, DX, Roland D-50, JX-3P, Deepmind 12), and as amazing as this may sound, I spend more time playing with my Reface CS than any of the others. I'm not saying it's better than the others - each of my boards has its strengths and weaknesses - but the CS is just plain fun to play around with. The variety of sounds I can coax out of this thing never ceases to amaze me. The mini keyboard has a great feel, and the unit is solidly built. I like the fact that with batteries I can take it anywhere. The SoundMondo app makes it easy to save, recall, and share sounds.

The CS has a few shortcomings though: the keyboard itself is actually velocity sensitive, but unfortunately, the synth engine does not recognize any change in velocity - just key on/off. Also, I would have preferred reverb over a flanger, and maybe some more options for the LFO. Mono mode does not appear to provide any thickness/layering to the voice, it just makes it monophonic. I would have also liked a noise generator.

But it all comes down to sound quality - and the CS delivers: celestial pads, bright brass, silky strings, bells, electric pianos, UFO sounds, you name it. Huge sound from a small package. I'm not a gigging musician anymore - so I can't attest to using the CS in live performance. All I know is that my Deepmind 12 and other synths are gathering dust, while the CS gets played just about every night.

And the price has come down in recent months. There is nothing else I know of that delivers this much sound variety for such a small investment.

A brilliant little synth that requires you to create (or download others' creations). I like the fact that there are no presets, so I have to work for a sound. An excellent learning tool, but also sounds amazing on a recording. The Soundmondo app is a great way to store your creations, and see what others are doing with the CS (or the other Refaces). I uploaded a dozen patches so far, and it's pretty cool when someone checks out your patch and actually uses it. I would recommend this to beginners as well as those that are more advanced. I would have liked a reverb as an effect, and the ability to run two effects at once, but there is only so much space on the panel. Solidly built, and the best mini-keys I've ever played (I hate mini-keys). The built-in speakers are good, but I mostly use headphones. The under-the-panel controls are pretty easy, and they include an actual manual, which is cool. I'm actually tempted to do an entire album with just this synth.

For a synth at this price and size, this little guy is amazingly deep in sonic possibilities, full of warmth and sparkle, and with a solid amount of control. I particularly love the smoothness of the mono mode when playing arpeggios, the feel of the keys, and the insanely wide range from warm basic tones to wild, pitchy, harmonically dense tones. I took off 1/2 star only because I do feel the EG when applied to the filter is a bit clicky, and there isnt a transparent transition between OSC choices. So there are limits, but consider the price - ultimately it's a powerful little machine that I'm already using for music and sound design.

It is rather like a Roland Gaia SH-01 with the polyphony of a micro-KORG and it even resembles a scaled-down Roland Gaia for appearance and instrument panel! But with a pair of built-in speakers!

This serves to work with some of my software synth as A sound design station. It compliments the Arturia CMV especially. On its own it comes up with great sounds to mesh abd blend in A recording. Another winner.

I have all four of the Reface Series, from Yamaha, but this review is for the Reface CS. Let's get started...

The Reface CS is a virtual analog synth that follows the build format of the other three Reface units, except this one is in a white case. It is lightweight, and features 37 small keys. It can be battery powered, feaures a joystick (for pitch bends) and LOTS of sliders. Just about everything you need to program this thing is right on the front face of the unit. There are keybed presses while powering on the unit for additional functionality, and the manual clearly explains these. The Reface CS also features 8 notes of polyphony. That should be enough for most pads and certainly enough for soloing. It also has built-in speakers, but they are for personal practice only. You will need an external amp/mixer to be able to hear this in a band situation. It comes with a wall-wart power supply as well. It also comes with a MIDI breakout cable, but it is a bit fiddly. It has stereo 1/4" outputs, and also features a 1/8" AUX input.

How does it sound? Very good! You have a lot of options for sound building on this and it has 5 different 'oscillators' that feature saw waves ring mod to FM synthesis. It can get pretty deep and because all of the sliders are right there, you will be making sounds all of the time. There is no patch storage on this unit, so make sure that you take note of the slider positions for any sounds that you want to redo later. This is not a preset machine - this is a machine that begs to be messed around with to get the sounds you want.

It has an octave slider as well, so you can span the range of a full-range keybed. It also feaures polyphonic and monophonic modes, and also has a portamento feature. These work well. Depending on the 'oscillator' that you are using, there is also a slider that brings in different characteristics for that 'oscillator'. A good example of this is when using the saw wave. If you mess with the 'Texture' slider, you will notice that a sub-oscillator comes into the mix (pun intended). For each 'oscillator' the texture slider will do different things.

I will not go into detail for every slider, but they all do something that effects the sound. It is real-time and effective.

I can make pads on this, leads on this, sound effects on this, and other sounds that are more organic-sounding. It is really versatile and I am glad that I got it.

The Reface CS also features a looper/recorder in it, but I have not used it and cannot comment as to how it works. I doubt that I would use that feature, to be honest.

What are my dislikes? There are not many, but I would point to the EFX section for my main gripe. For EFX, it features, Phaser, Flanger, Chorus, Delay, and Distortion. Nowhere in there does it have a Reverb effect! With that said, all of the EFX have a Depth and Rate slider, but there is no Reverb at all. This means that you need an external EFX processor to get Reverb. I have done this in the form of buying a Korg NTS-1 and am using it for the EFX for the Reface CS.

Another dislike is the MIDI breakout cable. It is fiddly and pretty much proprietary. I would recommend purchasing a couple of backup cables, because they can easily be lost. You can get these online, just like I did.

Another gripe, which I addressed in my review of the Reface DX, is the small form factor and how to fit one (or many) of these on a keyboard stand (like the columnar Apex, Stay, or SPider type keyboard stands). It caused me to fashion a custom setup that cost me an extra $150 for the parts. No worries, but it is something to keep in mind when wanting to use these live with a stand...

There is one more concern and I hope that a company will produce something that will fix it. ALL of these Reface units come with wall-wart power supplies. While you can use batteries with these units, playing a full gig with these would really require one to use the power supplies. NO ONE that I am aware of makes a centralized power station/power brick that could power all 4 of these units together. THAT would be cool to have. I am thinking something along the lines of a power brick; something similar to what guitar players use for their pedalboards, but for the Reface instead. This would make powering all of these units so much easier and centralized. It would also clear up the clutter of cables for these units. I am fashioning a box that houses a power strip that will have the wall wart supplies in the box, but something designed purposely for the Reface (and maybe other units) would be much better.

Other than that, I would recommend the Reface CS - all of them, really. They will add to your sound and give you options that otherwise could cost you a lot more money by purchasing other options.

Great sounds and intuitive to use. Limits are one handed sequence writing and saving patches if on Android platform.

If you need portability, physical controls, and polyphony, this synth is the only game in town. I own like 5 different synths but this one gets the most use, simply because it's so much easier to just turn on and start playing. No messing around with plugs, cables, audio interfaces etc.

Buy a nice set of rechargeable batteries with this and you'll have a blast.

The oscillator section seems weird and limiting at first, but upon use proves to be fun and versatile. You won't be able to perfectly recreate any patch, but you can get closer than you'd think. A real 2-oscillator setup would've been beautiful though.

The filter sounds great, really fun.

The onboard effects are awesome, but I really wish they would've had reverb.

The looper is super fun, but I wish there was a way to "undo" a bad take. The current way it works makes you have to clear everything and start over from scratch if you flub a take.

I knocked off a star because there's currently a weird bug where if you have high attack and release and are playing in poly mode, sometimes the voice stealing won't work right, and when you hit a new key there will be a slight delay before the note sounds.

Hopefully yamaha can fix this in a firmware update and if they do I will boost it to 5 stars.

The Reface CS has a lot going for it. I enjoy having a simple synth with all the controls on the front panel.

The designers cleverly minimized the number of controls by making some of them multi-purpose. The CS is nominally a one-oscillator synth but some features use two (or more) oscillators under the hood.

The case is attractive, solid, and heavy enough to stay in place on a table.

I have repetitive strain injuries and find the light-touch mini keys to be much easier on my arms than standard keys.

Here are a few features that aren't noted in the manual:

* Mono mode is legato with last-note priority

* Portamento is a 5-position switch, not continuous, with the top three positions being too extreme for my taste

* The maximum time for each envelope stage is quite long

Some of the online information about the CS is out of date. I'm guessing that some of the initial issues were fixed with firmware updates. Additional configuration options were also added.

I bought with confidence from Sweetwater and received great service from Ryan Ashby.

I read and watched every review/video before getting this one. Lots of controversy on the mini-keys, it's toy-like plastic nature, etc.... I agreed that it was too much at $499, but $399 makes it a decent deal. Grab one, you won't be disappointed.

I totally get the thing. It's a very well-built, small, portable instrument with very big sound, somewhat in the spirit of the CS-01, but of much higher quality.

The sound is great, the only thing sort of missing is keyboard tracking for the filter. It can get a bit shrill in the higher octaves, and that would tame it. Many timbres from the oscillator, and the filter is fat and resonant. The effects are very good. I think any analog synth enthusiast could find something to like about this one.

It goes without saying that Sweetwater has the best service in the industry. Keep up the good work.

I've had this little synth for almost a year now and I must admit, for the price it's quite impressive. It's built very well and it runs on both DC and batteries. My main gripes about the build are the fact that Yamaha went with mini midi ports and faders instead of knobs. They feel unsteady like they might come off.

For the price, there is no other synth with 8 voices and an FX section like the CS. I like the distortion and delay bu I find the phaser a little weird and the way that they combined chorus and flanger makes them practically unusable. Maybe instead of a phaser they could have added a reverb.

Even though it has a digital engine the LFO sounds great. I hardly hear an aliasing. I think the most unique part of the LFO has to be the way it modulates the oscillator.

As far as I can tell, putting the synth on mono mode does nothing to fatten the sound. The only thing it does is add portamento, which can sometimes be useful. A sub oscillator in mono mode would have been nice.

The most annoying thing about this synth is the oscillator section. First of all, there's only one which is a limitation in itself. Second, you can't tune or detune these oscillators at all, so if you want to go unison, too bad. The way you modify these oscillators is very unique. Depending on the oscillator chosen, the texture and mod faders will do something to the waveform (eg, texture will add a sub on the saw wave and mod will layer multiple saws for a nice, pad like sound. On the square, however, texture will add a tuneable sub and mod acts as PWM) I do think that the way the oscillator works can be quite limiting however. You can't choose what kind of subs you want, for instance. The classic oscillator section that you find on something like the minilogue or mother 32 is a lot more versatile.

The looper is ok I guess. I would rather have a step sequencer or an arpegiator, but I can settle for second best.

I'm actually quite impressed by the eg and filter sections. I think that they work very well for a budget digital synth and the filter sounds very analogue. It even self resonates!

Over all, this synth is great if all you want to do is fool around and learn the ways of the synth. It's a great way to get started, but it won't carry you very far because of its lack in the oscillator department and the absence of a sequencer/arp. When looking closely at it, there are only a few problems, but they are all easily fixable by Yamaha and to me they are what separates this synth from an amazing and budget friendly poly synth. If you son't plan on making much music with it, go ahead and buy it and you won't be sorry. But if your looking to build a studio, there are plenty of other good options in this price range that you would be better off with, such as the microfreak, a volca or if your willing to spend more, a minilogue.

This review probably sounded ranty, but trust me, this is the best 8 voice synth that you can buy under $500, and dare a say, the only one. If having that much polyphony doesn't matter to you, I think you would be better of with a microfreak or minilogue.

A friend of mine purchased one of these recently, and I had some time to fiddle around with it.

Firstly, this is extremely easy to program. It has its limitations, but within those limitations creating sounds is incredibly easy and straightforward once you understand all the functions.

The major issue I found with this synth was something that surprisingly never seems to be mentioned. I don't know if it's been fixed in a firmware update (he hadn't updated it yet,) but there are many instances where pitch stepping is very noticeable. On a real analog synth (and many digital ones for that matter,) when you move a control, the sound changes continuously, I.E. a smooth sweep. However, on the Reface, things such as oscillator sync and ring mod are not smooth, they adjust in stepped increments. If you do not plan to adjust these things while you play, it probably won't be an issue, however I feel it should be mentioned for those who do. Even worse is that the pitch lever also exhibits this stepping.

There is no detune knob. The square wave includes a second wave adjustable in semitones, but if you simply want to detune slightly, well, you're out of luck.

The keyboard actually feels very responsive as does the pitch lever. I had never played on mini keys before and I didn't have much trouble adjusting. However, the lack of a mod wheel is a curious decision and I would prefer them to remove the mod depth slider and replace it with a wheel next to the pitch lever instead.

The filter is very nice-sounding to my ears.

The envelope amount slider moves between the filter and amplitude; in the center it applies the envelope to both equally. It's a little weird at first but works better than I was expecting.

Effects are decent. The star is the delay, but the distortion is also useful. The chorus/flanger is a bit odd due to both effects being crammed together, and the phaser is not my favorite variety (I prefer the classic MXR and EHX style phasers.)

For their size, the speakers are not bad at all. Obviously you won't get a lot of power or huge low end out of them but for chilling at home they're definitely useful.

Overall, this is a great beginner synth which is a lot of fun to play despite its shortcomings, and I don't think there is anything else like it without moving up a few hundred dollars in price.

This is my first synthesizer, here are my thoughts:

(+) Simple
(+) Low price
(+) Portability/Weight

(-) Looper
(-) Octave Volume

This synthesizer is a lot of fun, it can easily be packed in a bag or left on a desk to jam with others. The price point makes this a very good deal.

The looper is horrible, but I use it.

Changing the octave will make your sound either too quiet or too loud with no wiggle room. Plugging headphones in only slightly fixes this issue but using an amplifier is the best solution to mitigate this problem.

At the end of the day, this is an entry-level / low-price / portable music machine that is a blast to play with friends. Keep these trade-offs in mind when purchasing.