NAMM 2025: If you harbour even a passing interest in synth history, you'll know the CS-80: Yamaha's '70s classic is one of the most fabled instruments in music technology, an ambitious and formidably capable analogue poly renowned for its dual-layer multitimbral architecture, expressive ribbon controller and rich, cinematic sound.
Few of us will have the chance to play this legendary instrument, however: not to mention the fact that the CS-80 weighs as much as a baby elephant, it's also one of the most expensive vintage synths money can buy, regularly fetching sums that stretch well into five figures on the second-hand market. As such, it's no surprise that scores of modern developers have attempted to capture the CS-80's spirit in software, including Arturia, Cherry Audio and Softube.
The latest to take on Yamaha's beloved behemoth is French developer XILS-lab, who has announced the release of a CS-80 emulation that balances an authentic recreation of the instrument's vintage character with a handful of contemporary bells and whistles, promising to give you a taste of "virtual Vangelis".
Though The Eighty is based on "meticulously modelled" oscillators and filters built from the ground up to mimic the CS-80's sonic characteristics, the synth's capabilities have been expanded with the addition of a third timbral layer which can be blended with the other two via its mixer section. Each layer has access to a single oscillator, along with zero-delay 12dB resonant high and low-pass filters, two envelopes, and an LFO, which can be routed via its mod matrix.
Like its weighty forebear, The Eighty is equipped with polyphonic aftertouch, but features additional effects that go beyond the original's versatile chorus with delay, phaser, reverb, ring mod and EQ, complemented by independent routing options for extra flexibility. Also on the receiving end of an upgrade is the CS-80's arpeggiator, which XILS-lab has reimagined as a modulation tool as well as a melodic sequencer.
Available in AU/VST/VST3/AAX formats for macOS and Windows, The Eighty is available now for a discounted price of €89 until January 31st.
Find out more on XILS-lab's website.
