Baby Audio BA-1

Written by Bytemapper

Few pieces of hardware kit inspire the same level of reverence and awe as the Yamaha CS-80. It wasn’t the only hardware subtractive synthesizer released by the Japanese conglomerate over the years, but aside from the DX7 and perhaps the TX81z, it has endured in the consciousness of synth fanatics for decades. 

The Yamaha CS-01 by comparison is nearly a toy in comparison to the massive CS-80. It came with a tinny speaker, basic controls, and was only monophonic compared to the polyphony of its bigger sibling. However, the good folks at Baby Audio have found something inspiring in the CS-01, and we’ve got BA-1 to show for it. 

All Killer No Filler 

With most subtractive synths with a feature set like this, I barely browse presets. Most of my evaluation time comes down to coaxing sounds out of it for my own purposes. I like dust, noise, and the natural fluctuations of analog mediums, and BA-1 certainly excels there. 

You’ve got a pair of oscillators featuring the usual suspects when it comes to waveforms. There isn’t any fancy trickery at play like FMing both oscillators to coax bell sounds out of it. There isn’t a ring mod or amplitude modulation section to contend with, what you see is what you get. 

This simplicity makes for something immediately usable out of the box, however, much like the SH-101 or Juno-60. You’ve got a single envelope to control both amplitude and your filter. A single LFO is present. At face value, you could take this for a one trick pony, but I see it more as a Telecaster with a single pickup. 

Sound and Motion 

BA-1 has an arpeggiator that functions quite well with most material. You don’t have a wealth of playback options, but it does the job. You can select monophonic or polyphonic operation, depending on closely you want to hew toward historical accuracy. 

Where things get interesting is with the FX section, which is worth giving a fair amount of lip service. You’ve got standard elements like overdrive, delay, chorus, and reverb. These all sound great with the synth itself, and can used as an external processor with the new FX strip introduced with version 1.5. 

However, the battery section is where things get wild. I can’t think of too many soft synths on the market that allow you to circuit bend the unit you’re using. You can starve it of power, listening as voices struggle to hold tune in chords. It makes for beautiful chaos, especially with a heaping helping of automation or external modulation to add a little chaos to it. 

Wrapping It Up 

So, is BA-1 worth the cost of admission? As the sole conventional synth in the Baby Audio oeuvre, I certainly think it is worth your time. This isn’t a synth tailor made for synthwave, but it certainly can position itself to do so. It’s a workhorse, a box for making bread and butter sounds with a sweet spot so large you could land an Airbus on top. 

With an asking price of $99, it is on the cheaper side for a quality software instrument. You can routinely find it on sale for how about half off, depending on the time of year. While you’re at it, you might as well snag Super VHS and Comeback Kid and have a grand time making dusty old sounds like you’re a broke bedroom producer in 1987.