Yamaha
HandySound HS-200 (polyphonic
squarewave mini-keyboard)
Did you know that beside the famous PortaSound keyboards Yamaha
also released an even smaller instrument series called HandySound?
This mini keyboard has no rhythm, but features 4 note polyphonic squarewave
sounds, which is quite unusual for such a tiny thing. The original German
retail price apparently was 139DM (about 69€, mentioned in advertisement
flyer).
main features:
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25 mini- keys
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built-in speaker
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polyphony 4 notes
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5 preset sounds {organ, violin, clarinet, piano, harpsichord} (selected
by slide switch)
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volume slide switch (6 steps)
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sustain switch
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sound generator based on squarewave tones with different digital envelopes,
those are differently low pass filtered through capacitors. The digital
envelopes (with mild zipper noise) are linear and thus sounds unrealistic
because they fade silent too soon.
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CPU "Yamaha YM-10080, 23 16 21" (16 pin DIL)
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jacks for AC-adapter & headphone
eastereggs:
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sliding the sound select switch into intermediate positions provides 3
additional preset sounds {brass, bright clarinet, bright piano}.
The main voice sounds of this instrument resemble much the Casio
VL-Tone VL-1 but feature no multipulse squarewave timbres. The
violin has a built-in vibrato. Unlike Casio VL-1, the harpsichord of the
HS-200 has a fast attack rate and thus sounds more natural. The sound select
switch internally selects the main voice sound and the corresponding capacitor
filter through different contacts, thus setting the sound switch into intermediate
positions play the preset sounds with "wrong" filter setting which produces
additional sounds. This way between "organ" and "violin" there is a duller
violin variant that resembles a dull brass sound. Between "violin" and
"clarinet" a brighter clarinet (pipe organ?) appears. Between "piano" and
"harpsichord" there is a brighter piano sound (like an e-piano or guitar?).
The sustain switch adds a quite long sustain.
When I bought mine at eBay, the "off" position of the volume
switch made a bad contact, thus the thing made funny blip noises when switched
off. Playing "Decathlon" on the switch a few dozen times fixed this. (I
haven't examined the hardware further yet.)
Like with the historical Yamaha PS-2,
also the HS-200 still has its function sections written on the PCB. |
An almost identical variant of the HS-200 with additional audiogames
and LCD was released as Yamaha HS-500.
| removal
of these screws voids warranty... |
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Like with the historical Yamaha PS-2,
also the HS-200 still has its function sections written on the PCB.