I don't really like the sound of the Kronos, but I like the way you can put into this keyboard all the stuff that you make with other keyboards in the studio and your previous gear. This new yamaha instruments seems really good to me for live use, I love the live sets, the lights, the easy way you can assign parameters to controllers and multiple parameters to this knob it's inspiring for me. I only can't understand why the flash memory is so small, the cost of these memories is so small nowadays. giving the fact that it has not sampling function onboard, I hope they will develop a software like the "nord sample editor" that is capable to do that. Integration with mobile device would be also welcome
People comparing the two synths Montage and Kronos are so lame. This is not a race of superiority. This is about music and expression. Learn to respect and understand differences. Both have immense potential. Stop the comparison and just love the sound and music.
+Avi Hi! In my experience workstations in general are some of the most non expressive and soulless musical instruments out there. They most often sound overly bright and flat, no organic sound, no tight sound, no character at all. When it comes to the music production workflow a decent laptop + DAW + midi keyboard has far more potential. And is cheaper. And is more portable. And if your a musician on the road you would go for a good stage piano. Good stage pianos has focus on sound quality, easy of use, tweakability and portability. Workstations are purposely built like big freaking dinosaurs. Purposley, because we (falsely) believe that size matters. They just capitalize on those beliefs. And that super knob.... What is that?
What we will need is an advanced FM Synthesis computer Editor. I assume all the 8 oscillator (8 of them...This is super!) FM operators and algorithms are accessible and programmable via SysEx msgs via the USB connection buss. So it can be done, if there is a will.
Sequencer? No sequencer, Just a simple sequencer with no edit function, No Editor for any Daws, No Expansion, No Hard Drive, No Sampling function, No Daw Remote Function...(Straight From their FAQ) We waited, waited & waited then Yamaha did a half ass job sorry to say - We wanted something to say wow to & not have Kronos owners laughing @ us & Boom they gave us a Super Knob...a Touch screen that's not multi touch, I can do all that crazy motion sequence non sense with Omnisphere & a nice pack from The Guru. Urghhhrrr - I'm pissed. Kronos it is. Jesus Christ I just don't get it. What's wrong with Ya'll?
+phanjazm j You need a good board or controller to get the best out of Komplete, which one did you get. I already have Komplete, was hoping for someone to build a quality keyboard quality (not quantity) sounds, lots of engines in a keyboard only instrument, with maybe say ipad for the touchscreen functions. It appears Yama has found away to get 10 times sample compression without quality loss, so that would make the puny non expandable 1.75 GB you get 17.5 actual GB, which is not bad, but come on its 2016 anything under 240GB is super small. and ssds that size are only $70. I will wait to here it in person I bet it sounds great and plays all the es xf xs dx tx sounds, but I know it will be overpriced and I am already underwhelmed. $1499 would be great because Yamaha I believe have the best keyboard feel.
Honestly they (Yamaha) pretty much tried to put out their version of the Kronos which, aside from the screen, looks terrible aesthetically. &idk if it's the mono recording but it sounds like they've taken a step backwards in the sound quality department. My s90xs sounds way better smh
Yeah the same opinion, I own a kronos73 and I owned s Roland fantom g8, definitely it's a step backward for Yamaha , it's impressive what they've brought up, however in this day and age, it will not go against "the competition"
No thanks, I'll keep my Steinway D, Hammonf B3 and Leslie 800, Hohner D6 Clav, Dyno Rhodes, Jupiter 8, Mini Moog, and DX7. For everything else it's Kontact on the computer with Roland JD800 and RD-700 for controllers, and mostly these days the intimate workflow of iPads and an iRig Keys. Really the only thing that ever excited me from Yamaha was the six operator DX7 back in the day.....well that and and concert grand I played at a gig once :) Anyone here at NAMN the year Steve Pocaro and James Newton Howard were playing at the Yamaha booth introducing the FM keyboards? Those were exciting days!
FYI, only 16 channels of 44.1KHz via USB, no 48KHz no 96KHz or 192KHz out. They do sample up to 192KHz. No mention of what A/D converters they use, nothing.
Bought one last year. when I compared it with my Motif ES side by side the Motifs fidelity was much more clear and loud. the Motif had way more punch with bass, drums, and horns. Way fatter sounding pianos, EPs Flute(with way better velocity breath tones) synth and vibes/marimba. the clavinet sounds on the Motif absolutely destroy those on the Kronos. better effects way more simple to use and sample with. Kronos had good strings and a couple of guitar sounds. the Kronos sequencer and sampling are very difficult to use. my Kronos burned in a fire. I don't miss it. just my view
Allen Smith I have an XF and just got word a Montage is coming my way in about 2 weeks. I already looked at the Kronos and it didn't make sense to try to understand 2 different operating systems. I'm used to the Yamaha sound and feel in a workstation. Once I got the pattern sequencer understood, I could make logical use of it. Having both (the XF8 & Montage) covers all the bases (sample import where needed)...I think. I did own a Triton for about 4 months (ex-brother in-law walked out on my sister and told her he didn't want anything he left behind...my sister said I could have it....then once he settled in another town...decided he DID want the Triton back). Still have a Jupiter 6 from back in the day. I just get tired of the Ford vs. /Chrysler vs. /General Motors-like arguments that exist in the Korg/Yamaha/Roland arena (and Nord to some extent). I have owned various boards of various strengths & weaknesses from all 3..and some off-brand stuff as well. Most did the job I needed done. Take care!
+Filthy McNasty I actually MIDI clock the Korg and Yamaha together combining the arps and the Karma. Together things happen that neither can do alone. I will buy a Montage eventually. But my Korg rules now specifically with the EPs and Setlist.
I don't get it, why is the touchscreen passive? We live in a day and age where everyone has an iphone or android, this thing costs 4000 dollars but they couldn't put a proper 100 touch screen on it? Count me out. At least Nord Electro is using an OLED screen.
no vl? no an? no sampling? no ssd? no user expandable memory? no sequencer? how can you make complete songs? no usb 3 (not sure)? no thunderbolt, 2 or 1? Any digital outs? no breath controller? Are the samples 24 bit 96 yet? The good compatible wif motif es (not plugs)xs xf and dx sounds giving it the largest library available, now how do you save those sounds? yamaha quality build and keys and the new features. seems like it should cost less than the motif XF? I think they will have to keep selling thier proven XF with this. Most people were hoping for was all yamaha synth engines an, vl, fm, awm3, etc.+ 24/96 16 midi+16audio sequencer, ssd, expandable memory (non flash+flash) and user sampling, digital outs. basically something ;like Natives instrument Komplete Ultimate in a keyboard without needing a separate computer. Unfortunately right now a good Controller and good i7 quad laptop ssd/hd combo with audio interface will blow this away all for under $2000. Korg is the closest to giving us that dream,will someone else step up to the plate?
Been hearing about this board for a while. They should've been put this out. The sounds still sound stock smh. Yamaha use to be my thing I'm disappointed. My Roland Jupiter 50 is killing this thing
+Filthy McNasty to be honest like I said I'm disappointed you can't tell me there's a huge difference between this board and the xf overall the only difference is the touch screen. So basically people waited for Yamaha to come out with a xf with built in touch screen not impressed with this at all its not even close to the Kronos. Ima wait to see what their next board will be like hopefully it's ten times better than this. I got homies on tour that are still taking the xf over this lol and they have the Montage as a back up board lol
Tommie Garrett "you can't tell me there's a huge difference between this board and the xf overall the only difference is the touch screen." Huh? 1 mode vs 4...built-in flash memory..over 7x ROM...True FM engine with 128 voice polyphony...32 out/6 in USB channels...the whole Motion Sequencer...hundreds of combinations of effects & controls routings (including bi-directional changes)...operation as a sound card...16 vs. 8 part insertion effects...Library storage...AFM-2 128 Stereo polyphony But you're right...it's only the touch screen. "So basically people waited for Yamaha to come out with a xf with built in touch screen " No they didn't. A majority wanted something new. There were always catcalls when the newest Motif came out as nothing more than the previous version with a few bells and whistles. Sound familiar? " I got homies on tour that are still taking the xf over this lol.." Your homies aren't too bright. Why would they have Montage (a performance synthesizer) as a backup board to the Motif XF (a workstation)? The MOntage has only been out for 3 weeks. Your homies haven't worked with it long enough to know what it is all about. lol But DO go on insisting that a touch screen is the difference between the two. I'll post your comment on Motifator and Yamahasynth and sit back to watch others laugh at your remark.
Too many electronic effects that long-disturb, the knob that Blinks always bothers much to replace in the next edition and must take better care of the effects hammod B3 organ unsatisfactory much can be done. styles accompanying do not know no clear bass, drums etc. This is also a workstation or not?
I was hoping Yamaha got all the best acoustic instruments and resampled them at 24/192, with their no loss compression that only takes up 1 / 10th the space this would have been revolutionary. Than get fast cpu i7 or better good amount memory 16GB or better, ssd, and have there vl, fm, analogue technology updated to take advantage of that, Get the best programmers, and program the best sounds, and of course a real sequencer for audio and midi (ala Kronos) And sound editors for osx and windows for the engines. For a touch screen they could save money and have an ipad option. Remember they will charge $3000 for this, so I dont think I am asking to much. Thunderbolt 1 or 2 or at least usb 3 No sampling no sequence no upgradeable memory of any kind screams cost cutting to me! Even with all that said this may be the best sounding keyboard out now, I know the xf and kronos both equally sound awesome and hold their own to mega gigabyte computer based sounds to this day. Which ius remarkable in itself
Just an FM-X 20 year old technology and AWM2 and miserable 1.75Gb Flash, where you can get a flash disk of 64Gb for $19.95 at Costco. No sequencer, not much of anything, and this super know with a LED set from your night light plugin. This is a really poorly thought out product. Yamaha was famous for their acoustic, string, brass, and analog synth engines but all we got is this? This little for that high price? It's geared more towards live set, not studio. These sounds you can get with two synths for much lower cost than the montage. How many years in a row will yamaha repackage old stuff? I had Ex5, Motif XS upgraded to XF, but now this? I think this montage will be as popular as Roland's Fantom G. Roland is going in the right direction and so is Korg. Yamaha, sorry huge disappointment. I've been looking so much forward and dreamed about a synth that will have any features of Kronos, combined with Tyros5 and some of EX5 with acoustic engine, virtual analog and all the goodies. I was ready, but this is a huge let down. I think Yamaha misspelled the word Mortgage and spelled it as Montage.
+Olakunle Odebode, there is a way to turn it off. That's the only good part. I like the LED lit encoders and so on. Korg Oasis had that. Kronos does not have it, it's not a must, it was an eye candy. One thing that Kronos lacks is the ability to tilt the screen, OASYS had it. I upgraded my internal SSD to 1TB and pretty much bought all the expansion libraries from Korg and some other 3rd party vendors. I loved Yamaha, until Motif XF. I felt that paying 250 dollars for a PCB with 20 dollars worth of parts was a highway robbery by yamaha. I thought about giving them where it would hurt them, do an x-ray of the PCB, read in the layout, copy the authorization code off their flash onto the new boards, and start to sell their 1GB Flash for their synths and Tyros for 100 dollars while I would get about 50 profit for each. But then I didn't want to get into the legal stuff. I was digging for specs and the best output you can get out of Montage is 44.1KHz digital via USB. I wonder about the D/A converters on the balanced out ports. No mention about it anywhere. I wouldn't be surprised if it's the same as the USB digital chain. Since they are "capable" (wonder what the means) of sampling up to 192KHz why install such a pathetic amount of flash. I do board design for living, and flash on digikey is pennies. Why so little? Obviously they run an imbedded OS on their own limited CPU which can't address anything that would be considered minimum these days. Imagine a smartphone coming out with 1.75Gb of Flash for your music and apps. Pathetic. Yamaha has two weaknesses that needs to fix. Migrate to new keyboard management, CPU architecture to utilize today's off the shelf components and give users more of a limitless future proof architecture which manages real synth engines, which can access large amounts of data, storage, and interface with todays portable media, add WiFi or bluetooth for Midi/librarian, and detailed sound editor connectivity. And if you want to do it like Korg with a computer, so be it. And then bundle your synth engines. Updated virtual analog with possibly some real analog circuitry or good emulation AN1X, a good FM synth, killer no looped more like SSD streaming classical instruments with the Tyros4 or 5 articulation, some stuff from EX5, and huge storage. And what's up with those pathetic 7" screens. Give us an iPad size touch screen. That tilts, or the whole thing till like a Moog. And some real high fidelity ours like 96KHz or more. And some killer A/D and D/A converters. For that I would spend up to 8K.
Sorry to disagree with you. SSD can be done like Yamaha did on the Tyros 4/5 and the XF series. Regular few dollar chips on a 4 layer PCB that itself was about 10 dollars to make in decent volume. Did you see those Flash PCB for Tyros or XF? Check them out, lookup on digikey and you'll see the cost. I am electrical Engineer so I kind of do understand it, since I design those things into digital cameras, video systems and telecom equipment.
Christian Ratajczak Then you should know that the flash disk of 64Gb for $19.95 at Costco that you referred to doesn't have the bandwidth to be used in this type of application.
I used a Costco comment just to show how inexpensive Flash is. You can use the Parellel flash like this one 557-1538-1-ND from digikey which is $13 at high volume. IC FLASH 64GBIT 48TSOP That's 8GB capacity 8 bits per byte. No? If you buy smaller capacity chips in order to speed up the transfer rates, they are less expensive, connect them to a memory controller, serialize them and you got the bandwidth you need. Wouldn't you agree? Then tell me why does Yamaha charge arm and a leg for the same 48TSOP chips on their expansion boards for Tyros or XF?
You obviously don't have a korg kronos. The Kronos destroyed the motif FX and you have a es. I have seen the es you brag about. That board is weak. bro.
What is it with these workstations? Even today, almost 30 years since the M1, they (korg, yamaha, roland) still can't make one that is even close to the sound of a finished mix. Sound is just boring, one dimensional and always way too polished. No character whatsoever.
+J Blair not my point. workstation creators always claim to be able to make it all in the box but they don't. They just (for some reason) tend to sound just sterile and non organic and my point is they really could make everything sound more finished and tight but for some reason they don't want it to be like that. And that is what i don't like.
+Fredrik W but for some reason they still manage to sell them quite well, maybe for many keyboard players that dont care too much about cutting edge sounds but rather portability and 'easy to use' workstation is the better option.
+David C. ll bet they would sell even more if they actually sounded good. By good I mean the opposite to the overly clean and bright sound they use to make that first wow factor impression but at the end is just flat and fatiguing to listen too. They claim to have a complete solution to making a music production but they never sound convincing compared to a decently mixed track. So why don';t use a laptop with a midi keyboard instead? Much cheaper and you spare your self a lot of work getting that audio into your mixing environment. And if you're a keyboard player primarily you don't need a workstation, you only need a bunch of good sounds and a good quality key bed. Portable? No this one is not portable. Not in comparison with many good stage pianos already out there. And that super knob?!? Come on that is jus BS marketing. No keyboard player will use that one. You want your hands to be where they need to be and use your foot instead for manipulating sound changes etc.
Disappointing on every level! It weighs a TON, and the sounds are no different from that which came in the Tyros from 2005. Seriously! Been waiting for a better breed of synth from Yamaha, but alas, I am switching to Korg Kronos 2 and Nord Stage 3. Good luck slumping this beast around. The sounds are really mediocre and disappointingly old.
korg yamaha and roland now adays they are only making money. they only tweak a the sounds and features. nothing special. save your money guys. and do more research before buying.
![YAMAHA MONTAGE Demo & Review [English Captions]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/wfAxxav4PUU/mqdefault.jpg)
The KING OF KINGS THE MONTAGE. THE BEST OF THE BEST. El teclado REY DE YAMAHA. SALUDOS FROM CULIACÁN SINALOA MÉXICO
WOw. And yet again, Yamaha does a great job. Nice review.
+Albert Peka You are so mean :D
Great !
Why is this vid in mono? Just cause guitars are mono too?
I really want two Super Knobs, one on each side of the display...just like my girl friend has.
+Trumpet Player LOL
I don't really like the sound of the Kronos, but I like the way you can put into this keyboard all the stuff that you make with other keyboards in the studio and your previous gear. This new yamaha instruments seems really good to me for live use, I love the live sets, the lights, the easy way you can assign parameters to controllers and multiple parameters to this knob it's inspiring for me. I only can't understand why the flash memory is so small, the cost of these memories is so small nowadays. giving the fact that it has not sampling function onboard, I hope they will develop a software like the "nord sample editor" that is capable to do that. Integration with mobile device would be also welcome
People comparing the two synths Montage and Kronos are so lame. This is not a race of superiority. This is about music and expression. Learn to respect and understand differences. Both have immense potential. Stop the comparison and just love the sound and music.
+Avi Hi! In my experience workstations in general are some of the most non expressive and soulless musical instruments out there. They most often sound overly bright and flat, no organic sound, no tight sound, no character at all. When it comes to the music production workflow a decent laptop + DAW + midi keyboard has far more potential. And is cheaper. And is more portable. And if your a musician on the road you would go for a good stage piano. Good stage pianos has focus on sound quality, easy of use, tweakability and portability. Workstations are purposely built like big freaking dinosaurs. Purposley, because we (falsely) believe that size matters. They just capitalize on those beliefs. And that super knob.... What is that?
This isn't a workstation.
You missed the boat.
What we will need is an advanced FM Synthesis computer Editor.
I assume all the 8 oscillator (8 of them...This is super!) FM operators and algorithms are accessible and programmable via SysEx msgs via the USB connection buss. So it can be done, if there is a will.
Very nice!!!!!
Sequencer? No sequencer, Just a simple sequencer with no edit function, No Editor for any Daws, No Expansion, No Hard Drive, No Sampling function, No Daw Remote Function...(Straight From their FAQ) We waited, waited & waited then Yamaha did a half ass job sorry to say - We wanted something to say wow to & not have Kronos owners laughing @ us & Boom they gave us a Super Knob...a Touch screen that's not multi touch, I can do all that crazy motion sequence non sense with Omnisphere & a nice pack from The Guru. Urghhhrrr - I'm pissed. Kronos it is. Jesus Christ I just don't get it. What's wrong with Ya'll?
I throw Cubasis on an iPad and I have a sequencer far more powerful than the one on the Motif.
Just bought Native Instruments Komplete 10 / imac 27.. Done with keyboards.
What's your slave board?
You've made the best decision ever! Congrats! Did the same!
+phanjazm j Will never give up keyboards.
+phanjazm j
You need a good board or controller to get the best out of Komplete, which one did you get.
I already have Komplete, was hoping for someone to build a quality keyboard quality (not quantity) sounds, lots of engines in a keyboard only instrument, with maybe say ipad for the touchscreen functions.
It appears Yama has found away to get 10 times sample compression without quality loss, so that would make the puny non expandable 1.75 GB you get 17.5 actual GB, which is not bad, but come on its 2016 anything under 240GB is super small. and ssds that size are only $70.
I will wait to here it in person I bet it sounds great and plays all the es xf xs dx tx sounds, but I know it will be overpriced and I am already underwhelmed.
$1499 would be great because Yamaha I believe have the best keyboard feel.
colbalt95 Korg MicroKey and Motif 88 (the original).
im a yamaha fan boy but i own a kronos and im sad to say so far im not that impressed seems like an xf with a touchscreen and a superknob....
Honestly they (Yamaha) pretty much tried to put out their version of the Kronos which, aside from the screen, looks terrible aesthetically. &idk if it's the mono recording but it sounds like they've taken a step backwards in the sound quality department. My s90xs sounds way better smh
Yeah the same opinion, I own a kronos73 and I owned s Roland fantom g8, definitely it's a step backward for Yamaha , it's impressive what they've brought up, however in this day and age, it will not go against "the competition"
+Pedro Caballero Clemente not to mention the 61 is $3k...that's more than the Kronos 61 smh
+JB Smoove I think the video is mono. It sounds great wheb the Old Man for the Yahama respresentive does it
+colbalt95 I said the same thing
No thanks, I'll keep my Steinway D, Hammonf B3 and Leslie 800, Hohner D6 Clav, Dyno Rhodes, Jupiter 8, Mini Moog, and DX7. For everything else it's Kontact on the computer with Roland JD800 and RD-700 for controllers, and mostly these days the intimate workflow of iPads and an iRig Keys. Really the only thing that ever excited me from Yamaha was the six operator DX7 back in the day.....well that and and concert grand I played at a gig once :) Anyone here at NAMN the year Steve Pocaro and James Newton Howard were playing at the Yamaha booth introducing the FM keyboards? Those were exciting days!
How do you split the sounds on the montage 8? For example, say I want to play base on the left side and piano on the right side. How do you do that?
What happened to the Yamaha designers? Have they been kidnapped and they need our help?
Huh?
FYI, only 16 channels of 44.1KHz via USB, no 48KHz no 96KHz or 192KHz out. They do sample up to 192KHz. No mention of what A/D converters they use, nothing.
This keyboard needs pads on the side of the keyboard….But after the xf what else is there to get?
I see nothing there that would make me want to sell my Kronos...
At 3k you would expect a machine to stand alone and not require an external DAW to produce a full track. Is that the case with this board?
I throw Cubasis on an iPad and I have a sequencer far more powerful than the one on the Motif.
Yamaha makes the best sounding solidly build keyboards
Lol. Well I guess you have not played a Korg kronos
Bought one last year. when I compared it with my Motif ES side by side the Motifs fidelity was much more clear and loud. the Motif had way more punch with bass, drums, and horns. Way fatter sounding pianos, EPs Flute(with way better velocity breath tones) synth and vibes/marimba. the clavinet sounds on the Motif absolutely destroy those on the Kronos. better effects way more simple to use and sample with. Kronos had good strings and a couple of guitar sounds. the Kronos sequencer and sampling are very difficult to use. my Kronos burned in a fire. I don't miss it. just my view
Lol. Yeah right
+Jerod Gamble Yea he F.O.S.
Just my view. and I didn't insult nobody.
A logical, safe path for staunch Motif loyalists. But anybody who has played a Kronos knows that this won't break the lead Korg has opened.
Lead? Oh, you think it's a race. All fanbois do.
+Filthy McNasty Typical answer from the #2. No hate intended. I keep both usually. Kronos is better now. Motif XF put the M3 to sleep.
Allen Smith I have an XF and just got word a Montage is coming my way in about 2 weeks.
I already looked at the Kronos and it didn't make sense to try to understand 2 different operating systems. I'm used to the Yamaha sound and feel in a workstation. Once I got the pattern sequencer understood, I could make logical use of it. Having both (the XF8 & Montage) covers all the bases (sample import where needed)...I think.
I did own a Triton for about 4 months (ex-brother in-law walked out on my sister and told her he didn't want anything he left behind...my sister said I could have it....then once he settled in another town...decided he DID want the Triton back).
Still have a Jupiter 6 from back in the day.
I just get tired of the Ford vs. /Chrysler vs. /General Motors-like arguments that exist in the Korg/Yamaha/Roland arena (and Nord to some extent).
I have owned various boards of various strengths & weaknesses from all 3..and some off-brand stuff as well. Most did the job I needed done.
Take care!
+Filthy McNasty I actually MIDI clock the Korg and Yamaha together combining the arps and the Karma. Together things happen that neither can do alone. I will buy a Montage eventually. But my Korg rules now specifically with the EPs and Setlist.
I guess when the tyros 5 successor maybe the GENOS it will have the engine too :D
Very upset that I got the motif xf then 3 months later the montage drops
Info Yamaha designs have been the same since the Yamaha sy series
I don't get it, why is the touchscreen passive? We live in a day and age where everyone has an iphone or android, this thing costs 4000 dollars but they couldn't put a proper 100 touch screen on it? Count me out. At least Nord Electro is using an OLED screen.
This video is mono!!
+zi1024 Finally someone that notices this too. Sounds like crap like this. What a bunch of amateurs. ;-)
Oasys is still king. Better than anything ever built since, even Kronos.
They got rid of the large transport buttons eh?
no vl?
no an?
no sampling?
no ssd?
no user expandable memory?
no sequencer? how can you make complete songs?
no usb 3 (not sure)?
no thunderbolt, 2 or 1?
Any digital outs?
no breath controller?
Are the samples 24 bit 96 yet?
The good compatible wif motif es (not plugs)xs xf and dx sounds giving it the largest library available, now how do you save those sounds?
yamaha quality build and keys and the new features.
seems like it should cost less than the motif XF?
I think they will have to keep selling thier proven XF with this.
Most people were hoping for was all yamaha synth engines an, vl, fm, awm3, etc.+ 24/96 16 midi+16audio sequencer, ssd, expandable memory (non flash+flash) and user sampling, digital outs. basically something ;like Natives instrument Komplete Ultimate in a keyboard without needing a separate computer.
Unfortunately right now a good Controller and good i7 quad laptop ssd/hd combo with audio interface will blow this away all for under $2000.
Korg is the closest to giving us that dream,will someone else step up to the plate?
glorified PSR-xxx
can you load samples?
My suggestion is musicians who have the motif Es I would upgrade to this
Nice, but do I really need all these effects?
I'd say: Kronos is Music - Montage is Noise...
Kronos is tinny music.
Been hearing about this board for a while. They should've been put this out. The sounds still sound stock smh. Yamaha use to be my thing I'm disappointed. My Roland Jupiter 50 is killing this thing
BWAHAHAHA!! You haven't even seen this beast in person.
actually i have lol
Not to be making that comment.
+Filthy McNasty to be honest like I said I'm disappointed you can't tell me there's a huge difference between this board and the xf overall the only difference is the touch screen. So basically people waited for Yamaha to come out with a xf with built in touch screen not impressed with this at all its not even close to the Kronos. Ima wait to see what their next board will be like hopefully it's ten times better than this. I got homies on tour that are still taking the xf over this lol and they have the Montage as a back up board lol
Tommie Garrett "you can't tell me there's a huge difference between this board and the xf overall the only difference is the touch screen."
Huh?
1 mode vs 4...built-in flash memory..over 7x ROM...True FM engine with 128 voice polyphony...32 out/6 in USB channels...the whole Motion Sequencer...hundreds of combinations of effects & controls routings (including bi-directional changes)...operation as a sound card...16 vs. 8 part insertion effects...Library storage...AFM-2 128 Stereo polyphony
But you're right...it's only the touch screen.
"So basically people waited for Yamaha to come out with a xf with built in touch screen "
No they didn't. A majority wanted something new. There were always catcalls when the newest Motif came out as nothing more than the previous version with a few bells and whistles. Sound familiar?
" I got homies on tour that are still taking the xf over this lol.."
Your homies aren't too bright. Why would they have Montage (a performance synthesizer) as a backup board to the Motif XF (a workstation)?
The MOntage has only been out for 3 weeks. Your homies haven't worked with it long enough to know what it is all about. lol
But DO go on insisting that a touch screen is the difference between the two.
I'll post your comment on Motifator and Yamahasynth and sit back to watch others laugh at your remark.
Does this have a sequencer?
+Smoove B. Yes it does..
+Smoove B. Yes. But it's not like the Motif sequencer. No Pattern or Song mode.
Kronos 1
Montage 0
Too many electronic effects that long-disturb, the knob that Blinks always bothers much to replace in the next edition and must take better care of the effects hammod B3 organ unsatisfactory much can be done. styles accompanying do not know no clear bass, drums etc. This is also a workstation or not?
sounds like yamaha borrowed Korg radias technology
I was hoping Yamaha got all the best acoustic instruments and resampled them at 24/192, with their no loss compression that only takes up 1 / 10th the space this would have been revolutionary.
Than get fast cpu i7 or better good amount memory 16GB or better, ssd, and have there vl, fm, analogue technology updated to take advantage of that, Get the best programmers, and program the best sounds, and of course a real sequencer for audio and midi (ala Kronos)
And sound editors for osx and windows for the engines.
For a touch screen they could save money and have an ipad option.
Remember they will charge $3000 for this, so I dont think I am asking to much.
Thunderbolt 1 or 2 or at least usb 3
No sampling no sequence no upgradeable memory of any kind screams cost cutting to me!
Even with all that said this may be the best sounding keyboard out now, I know the xf and kronos both equally sound awesome and hold their own to mega gigabyte computer based sounds to this day.
Which ius remarkable in itself
The webinar audio is terrible muffly and too much bass, no high end?
Just an FM-X 20 year old technology and AWM2 and miserable 1.75Gb Flash, where you can get a flash disk of 64Gb for $19.95 at Costco. No sequencer, not much of anything, and this super know with a LED set from your night light plugin. This is a really poorly thought out product.
Yamaha was famous for their acoustic, string, brass, and analog synth engines but all we got is this? This little for that high price? It's geared more towards live set, not studio. These sounds you can get with two synths for much lower cost than the montage. How many years in a row will yamaha repackage old stuff? I had Ex5, Motif XS upgraded to XF, but now this?
I think this montage will be as popular as Roland's Fantom G. Roland is going in the right direction and so is Korg. Yamaha, sorry huge disappointment. I've been looking so much forward and dreamed about a synth that will have any features of Kronos, combined with Tyros5 and some of EX5 with acoustic engine, virtual analog and all the goodies. I was ready, but this is a huge let down.
I think Yamaha misspelled the word Mortgage and spelled it as Montage.
+Olakunle Odebode, there is a way to turn it off. That's the only good part. I like the LED lit encoders and so on. Korg Oasis had that. Kronos does not have it, it's not a must, it was an eye candy. One thing that Kronos lacks is the ability to tilt the screen, OASYS had it. I upgraded my internal SSD to 1TB and pretty much bought all the expansion libraries from Korg and some other 3rd party vendors. I loved Yamaha, until Motif XF. I felt that paying 250 dollars for a PCB with 20 dollars worth of parts was a highway robbery by yamaha. I thought about giving them where it would hurt them, do an x-ray of the PCB, read in the layout, copy the authorization code off their flash onto the new boards, and start to sell their 1GB Flash for their synths and Tyros for 100 dollars while I would get about 50 profit for each. But then I didn't want to get into the legal stuff.
I was digging for specs and the best output you can get out of Montage is 44.1KHz digital via USB. I wonder about the D/A converters on the balanced out ports. No mention about it anywhere. I wouldn't be surprised if it's the same as the USB digital chain. Since they are "capable" (wonder what the means) of sampling up to 192KHz why install such a pathetic amount of flash. I do board design for living, and flash on digikey is pennies. Why so little? Obviously they run an imbedded OS on their own limited CPU which can't address anything that would be considered minimum these days.
Imagine a smartphone coming out with 1.75Gb of Flash for your music and apps. Pathetic. Yamaha has two weaknesses that needs to fix. Migrate to new keyboard management, CPU architecture to utilize today's off the shelf components and give users more of a limitless future proof architecture which manages real synth engines, which can access large amounts of data, storage, and interface with todays portable media, add WiFi or bluetooth for Midi/librarian, and detailed sound editor connectivity. And if you want to do it like Korg with a computer, so be it. And then bundle your synth engines. Updated virtual analog with possibly some real analog circuitry or good emulation AN1X, a good FM synth, killer no looped more like SSD streaming classical instruments with the Tyros4 or 5 articulation, some stuff from EX5, and huge storage. And what's up with those pathetic 7" screens. Give us an iPad size touch screen. That tilts, or the whole thing till like a Moog. And some real high fidelity ours like 96KHz or more. And some killer A/D and D/A converters. For that I would spend up to 8K.
You need to understand more about Flash memory to make such a statement.
Sorry to disagree with you. SSD can be done like Yamaha did on the Tyros 4/5 and the XF series. Regular few dollar chips on a 4 layer PCB that itself was about 10 dollars to make in decent volume. Did you see those Flash PCB for Tyros or XF? Check them out, lookup on digikey and you'll see the cost.
I am electrical Engineer so I kind of do understand it, since I design those things into digital cameras, video systems and telecom equipment.
Christian Ratajczak
Then you should know that the flash disk of 64Gb for $19.95 at Costco that you referred to doesn't have the bandwidth to be used in this type of application.
I used a Costco comment just to show how inexpensive Flash is. You can use the Parellel flash like this one 557-1538-1-ND from digikey which is $13 at high volume.
IC FLASH 64GBIT 48TSOP
That's 8GB capacity 8 bits per byte. No?
If you buy smaller capacity chips in order to speed up the transfer rates, they are less expensive, connect them to a memory controller, serialize them and you got the bandwidth you need. Wouldn't you agree?
Then tell me why does Yamaha charge arm and a leg for the same 48TSOP chips on their expansion boards for Tyros or XF?
Mono sound? Really?
You obviously don't have a korg kronos. The Kronos destroyed the motif FX and you have a es. I have seen the es you brag about. That board is weak. bro.
+Jerod Gamble If you say so, player.
What is it with these workstations? Even today, almost 30 years since the M1, they (korg, yamaha, roland) still can't make one that is even close to the sound of a finished mix. Sound is just boring, one dimensional and always way too polished. No character whatsoever.
+Fredrik W Neither do they seem to be able to emulate classic beasts like the CS80
+J Blair not my point. workstation creators always claim to be able to make it all in the box but they don't. They just (for some reason) tend to sound just sterile and non organic and my point is they really could make everything sound more finished and tight but for some reason they don't want it to be like that. And that is what i don't like.
+Fredrik W but for some reason they still manage to sell them quite well, maybe for many keyboard players that dont care too much about cutting edge sounds but rather portability and 'easy to use' workstation is the better option.
+David C. ll bet they would sell even more if they actually sounded good. By good I mean the opposite to the overly clean and bright sound they use to make that first wow factor impression but at the end is just flat and fatiguing to listen too. They claim to have a complete solution to making a music production but they never sound convincing compared to a decently mixed track. So why don';t use a laptop with a midi keyboard instead? Much cheaper and you spare your self a lot of work getting that audio into your mixing environment. And if you're a keyboard player primarily you don't need a workstation, you only need a bunch of good sounds and a good quality key bed. Portable? No this one is not portable. Not in comparison with many good stage pianos already out there. And that super knob?!? Come on that is jus BS marketing. No keyboard player will use that one. You want your hands to be where they need to be and use your foot instead for manipulating sound changes etc.
This isn't a workstation.
He audio is not good enough For su hijo a synth
Not impressed. I will keep my Kronos. Light years ahead.
+Ron Solomon Ooooh YES - I agree !!!!
Don't get me wrong. I love Yamaha. I just thought they would do something much bigger.
My Oasys is eleven year old technology and still better than this. This is a poor copy of an Oasys.
+BLUESBOYBENFIELD Absolutely right. I own two OASYS for nearly 10 years now and they still do their job better than any YAMAHA Synth could do.
Disappointing on every level! It weighs a TON, and the sounds are no different from that which came in the Tyros from 2005. Seriously! Been waiting for a better breed of synth from Yamaha, but alas, I am switching to Korg Kronos 2 and Nord Stage 3. Good luck slumping this beast around. The sounds are really mediocre and disappointingly old.
horrible
Well this was dull :(
korg yamaha and roland now adays they are only making money. they only tweak a the sounds and features. nothing special. save your money guys. and do more research before buying.
My Oasys is eleven year old technology and still better than this. This is a poor copy of an Oasys.