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Yamaha YC61 Announced


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It seems to share the same basic software with the CP73/88 - so up to 4 zones for external instruments. So you will be able to plug in an iPad and zone the midi and the audio will come out of the YC. The CP update also allows you to use an FC7 to control iPad volume.

 

The big feature for me with the Electro is the sample section - I dont see this on YC. And Yamaha's track record providing new sounds for the CP is underwhelming.

 

The Electro on the other hand is not very flexible as a controller.

 

FWIW the guitarist in our band commented immediately on how good the CP piano sounded compared to my E5 and as the YC has the CFX and S700 then it bodes well. Last time he made a similar comment was when I replaced the E5 organ with the Gemini. I wonder how the action will connect piano wise.

 

Heres the manual

 

https://usa.yamaha.com/files/download/other_assets/4/1311174/yc61_en_om_a0.pdf

 

Its got portamento!

 

Its looking good:

 

3 separate engines Organ, Key A/Key B and FM

3 stage EG

LP Filter with resonance

Layer and splits

Flexible FX

4 zone controller keyboard

USB audio

 

and more...

 

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Lots of companies are aiming at this market. As someone who is dead in the middle of who this product is aimed at, here are my thoughts:

 

I"ve been looking for something to replace my Electro 4 without costing as much as the Stage 3 for years. I"ve always compromised and have regretted it. My Electro 4/MODX combo is good, but it"s not necessarily better than the Electro/FA combo I had years ago. I"d LOVE if one keyboard could replace both because I no longer have the time or space to programme 2 keyboards in my small apartment.

 

Personally, I need:

 

- A good B3/VOX emulation for the ska/funk band. Last gig we did was to 20,000 people at a fairly big gig. With gigs like that, I like having good, warm, playable sounds that I know sounds good in FOH and that inspire me in my ears. Roland"s synths did this, but their electro-mechanical sounds did not.

 

- Something with pitch bend/mod capabilities. When playing funk and jamming, you can"t disregard a good synth lead. Having a good organ without a good synth lead is no longer acceptable for a board aimed towards people who 'jam'.

 

-Bread and butter tones to cover weddings. While they aren"t that exciting, weddings are where many of us make most of our performance money.

 

-Something that has nice pianos and that filter sweeps like a BOSS. If it also plays well with Mainstage (ie. has it"s own interface), great: many contemporary gigs need only those three things.

 

Footprint is also an issue: 90% of the gigs I"ve turned up to this year have benefitted from the fact that I carried one keyboard on my back. Unless you"re headlining places, most venues and stage managers don"t want you carrying a lot of gear.

 

With that in mind, this instrument:

 

Has most of the above.

 

According to the YouTube demos (which are sometimes as helpful as a chocolate kettle) this thing has a decent organ tone. The Rotary actually sounds fine if you listen to all of the YouTube demos. The organ engine itself seems more customisable than the Nord Electro, and if you add a vent you"re likely to end up leagues ahead in terms of tone customisability (new word, ya"ll)

 

It has pitch bend. Needed for synth solos. Give me a funk gig without it and I"m a sad man.

 

It has 3 layer options. Enough to get by a wedding gig if needed. Ok, I won"t be able to do the filter sweep/riser on 'We Found Love', but from the sounds of it, very few keyboard players even try to emulate that part. If they get the gig, why not join them?

 

Reservations: The MODX amp sims and rotary sims are awful compared to the Electro. Is this a new engine, or is it recycled from the montage? If the latter, no thank you.

 

To me, it doesn"t matter if a keyboard"s layout matches Nord"s, or if they use several terabytes of sound. If a hardware keyboard"s 'multi-gigabyte library' can"t compete with the warmth of Nord"s 'several hundred megabyte library' , I don"t care how many GB of sounds that keyboard uses. Until now, Nord"s piano library and organ engine sound closer to the real thing/the best software emulation than any Yamaha/Roland/Korg have so far offered, IMO. Yes, Crumar are brilliant, but how many people outside of this forum have heard of them?? I know any seasoned player I speak to always raises an eyebrow when I mention the word 'Crumar'.

 

I hope this does well. If I play it and the finger to ear connection is there, goodbye Nord Stage 3. You"re relegated to the bottom of the list. But if 'several GBs of sounds used' is just marketing nonsense, and if the warmth and playability aren"t there...That"s unlikely. Hoping this thing has that. If not, it won"t be known as a competitor; it will be forever be known as a poor man"s Nord, and those who can afford the Nord will continue to buy them simply because they"re red, without ever auditioning something like this, no matter how good it may be on paper.

 

 

Hammond SKX

Mainstage 3

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Alright, here's the ball field...

 

Electro 6D - $2199

Yamaha YC61 - $1999.99

Hammond Sk1 - $1895.00

Roland VR-730 - $1599.99

Mojo61 - $1499.00

VR-09B - $999

 

What's going to make the YC61 standout?

 

I'm expecting Yamaha build quality including their better feeling action at this price point.

The built in audio/midi interface is a plus.

Do we know if Yamaha did MIDI right on the YC - starting with the drawbars sending the right MIDI controller information?

If so - not concerned with Nord's library or single layer sample synth. If the YC is a good MIDI controller a laptop will do everything else.

Having the sound engines in sections like Nord was smart for splits and layers as well as control of the layers in real time.

VCM has been great for FX like delay, wah, eq, compressors, chorus, phasers, etc. Itching to hear the amp sims.

Is this Yamaha's best attempt at organs off the Genos? And have they created a respectable rotary simulation?

 

[video:youtube]

 

[video:youtube]

 

 

Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560

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Do we know if Yamaha did MIDI right on the YC - starting with the drawbars sending the right MIDI controller information?

Yes, they send MIDI CC.

 

Alright, here's the ball field...

 

Electro 6D - $2199

Yamaha YC61 - $1999.99

Hammond Sk1 - $1895.00

Roland VR-730 - $1599.99

Mojo61 - $1499.00

VR-09B - $999

 

What's going to make the YC61 standout?

I listed advantages of the Nord (and vice versa) earlier in this thread. Left out that the Nord is available with 73 keys and has a pipe organ emulation.

 

Versus Hammond SK1, at least these: presumably better quality extra voices, more flexible split/layer (Hammond is 2-way, and 1 must be an organ), 4 zone MIDI control (vs. 3), pitch/mod controls, monophonic synth mode with portamento, FM sounds, envelope and filter controls, and possibly a better-than-Fatar action. Hammond has nice pipe organ, 73/88 key versions, separate organ out to Leslie (or other device), 10-keypad.

 

Versus Rolands, at least these: more flexibility in splits/layers (more than two sounds), effects (different sounds can have different effects), MIDI (4-zone controller and drawbars that send CC, among other things), FM sounds, specific Vox and Farfisa emulations (Roland has a generic "transistor" organ that doesn't actually emulate either), ability to have the sound instantly reflect the drawbar positions, and almost certainly better action than the VR-09 at least. Roland has full VA synth editable via iPad, and a 73 key version. And best priced.

 

Mojo61 is obviously the most functionally limited of the bunch, but will have its fans because of its sounds (few, but highly appreciated) and maybe action. And if it does enough for you, it's also well priced.

 

Compared to all of them, Yamaha also has the hybrid dual drawbar system. It and the Nord are also the only ones with internal power supplies. (It and the Nord may also be the only ones with seamless transitions between its sound combinations?) I think it and the Nord are also the only ones that support two foot switches and two foot controllers.

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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Hopefully, the keys are standard width, unlike most of their unweighted pro keyboards for the last couple decades which are 3/16 " narrower per octave. Maybe that stopped with the Montage/MODX...I jumped off the Yamaha train when I sold my MOXF so I can't speak to those newer models.

 

+100

 

Live: Yamaha S70XS (#1); Roland Jupiter-80; Mackie 1202VLZ4: IEMs or Traynor K4

Home: Hammond SK Pro 73; Moog Minimoog Voyager Electric Blue; Yamaha S70XS (#2); Wurlitzer 200A

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That brittle, digital overdrive makes this an instant nope for me.

 

Sure, but paired with a Vent or similar... this likely isn't in the cards for me, but I'm still curious to hear more.

 

I kind of can't believe that any manufacturer is still, in the year 2020, releasing keyboards that make players utter the phrase "but paired with a Vent," but alas, here we are.

 

Yeah I think this is basically it. If it can't stand on it's own in 2020, it ain't gonna stand at two grand. It shouldn't need aux outs and outboard gear to work. It should just work.

 

Listening through phones at home, I thought the overdrive was great - the two or three seconds of it that we got.

The final determination will have to be done by you guys with Vents (of which I am not).

 

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I must admit, it's an interesting product, especially from Yamaha -- but not aimed at me. This appears targeted towards performers who only want to take one primary board to a gig, vs. two or more.

 

You wouldn't buy it just for the organ emulations, there's likely better out there. You wouldn't buy it as an AP/EP piano instrument, the action is all wrong. And there doesn't appear to be any output routing flexibility. Yuck. So much for the Vent thing.

 

But if I was someone who had decided to bring a single board to a gig, it's a contender along with the Electro, the Roland and a few others. Certainly worth considering. I'm a one-and-a-half board player: weighted controller below, fully functional combo board above. Even with that proviso, this board seems a bit lacking vs. the Nords I'm used to. Yes, even though I'm a huge Nord fan, I'm always looking for something better.

 

I haven't found it yet. Some examples?

 

I'm not sure everyone appreciates just how useful the Nord piano section can be in a live situation. Not only do you get a wide choice of piano samples (each with its own distinct personality), the EQ buttons are great for shaping your AP/EP sounds. For example, one button is labeled "bright". A more accurate label would be "CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?".

 

And the newer dyno filters on the EPs are simply just huge funky fun. I'm guessing that sooner or later the nice people at Nord will invest in better EP samples. They seem to get better at sampling APs and EPs over time. Not a deal breaker.

 

I suppose I could say the same about the Nord sample synth section. Yes, it's single layer. Horns suck, for example. You're not going to fool anyone for very long.

 

But you have free access to literally thousands of samples. As an example, as I was cruising through the Yamaha YC manual, I noticed the voice listing has a single "accordion". Jeez, I have nine different ones loaded up on my Stage 3. And I use them. Not to mention recreations of hundreds of classic synth sounds. And a boatload of other useful stuff.

 

OK, a gigging warrior may not need all of that sample flexibility, but it's sure nice to have when you need it. Case in point? An audition with a short-lived band required me to decently recreate all the sounds in Uptown Funk. Found the sample set, loaded it up, did all the parts, no problem.

 

Can't do that with the YC.

 

Anyway, I'm sure Yamaha will sell a reasonable number of them. First, because it looks like they've invested the time to build an interesting, useful product. And then there's Yamaha's marketing and distribution prowess.

 

A bit off topic? Comparing published prices really isn't useful for me. I call the usual suspects and ask for "B stock". Usually I get an open box and an otherwise new instrument. They probably pay some kid to open the boxes and reseal them.

 

What I've noticed is that -- depending on vendor -- the discount levels will vary widely. Certain Behringer gear is amazingly discounted, Bose stuff not at all. I'm guessing that the Yamaha will be less discounted than, say, Roland or Korg, or even Nords.

 

I too am looking for real-world reviews, especially around the organ section.

 

Want to make your band better?  Check out "A Guide To Starting (Or Improving!) Your Own Local Band"

 

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Initial impression? Oh YEAH. Yes, in the vids the full out organ sounds a bit brittle but that can be toned down by EQ and speakers and who knows what controls we could have over that at this point?. That vid where the guy starts playing jazz sounded pretty good to me. I love B3's, had one for 25 years but I'm not a purist like some of you guys are. Unless somebody has a real Leslie on stage we're all left with various powered speakers or amps. None have the warmth of that big ole wooden box with the spinning horn in it. Nobody cares about those subtleties but us. Not the audience, not band members. The bandleader/guitarist on the NYE gig thought the organ on my FA06 sounded as good as my SK1. Hahahaha....I needed the FA because of the setlist. Too much AP, strings and synth stuff to use the Hammond and I couldn't double rack because of the restrictions taking the boat to Catalina. So far I think this Yammie organ sounds plenty good enough and the other sounds are really good. I appreciate the tons of great sounds available for the Nord but that organ does nothing for me.

 

My New Years Resolution is to thin the herd and the three keyboards I'm going to sell would easily pay for this new Yamaha. I'm not sold yet but first impressions are almost knocking me out right now.

 

Bob

Hammond SK1, Mojo 61, Kurzweil PC3, Korg Pa3x, Roland FA06, Band in a Box, Real Band, Studio One, too much stuff...
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I've only watched the five minute official demo so far, but it told me most of what I need to know. This in no way would replace my Hammond XK-1c, so I won't be buying it as an all-in-one studio keyboard. But it is now my first choice contender for an all-in-one gigging keyboard, if I start getting those calls again. I turned down some opportunities last year due to currently only owning the Hammond and the Moog, but I had a high-profile gig on bass right before the holidays that might lead to more sub gigs of that stature but also might follow up with a repeat request for adding live keys to their mix again (I said no the last time they asked, due to not having the gear anymore).

Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1,

Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager

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Interesting⦠This could be a replacement for my NE 5D 73 as a one board solution with pitch bend / mod control and better split / layer and synth capabilities. I'd be a lot more interested if there was a 73 / 76 key version.

Gigs: Nord 5D 73, Kurz PC4-7 & SP4-7, Hammond SK1, Yamaha MX88 & P121, Numa Compact 2x, Casio CGP700, QSC K12, Yamaha DBR10, JBL515xt(2). Alto TS310(2)

 

 

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Alright, here's the ball field...

 

Electro 6D - $2199

Yamaha YC61 - $1999.99

Hammond Sk1 - $1895.00

Roland VR-730 - $1599.99

Mojo61 - $1499.00

VR-09B - $999

 

What's going to make the YC61 standout?

 

especially against the Korg Vox Continental which you omitted from your list. :popcorn:

 

:nopity:
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No Poly Aftertouch. No Mono Aftertouch. No aftertouch at all.

 

So great in so many ways. Huge MIDI section in manual. Keys look good, etc. What a disfigurement to a beautiful thing.

RT-3/U-121/Leslie 21H and 760/Saltarelle Nuage/MOXF6/MIDIhub, 

SL-880/Nektar T4/Numa Cx2/Deepmind12/Virus TI 61/SL61 mk2

Stylophone R8/Behringer RD-8/Proteus 1/MP-7/Zynthian 4

MPC1k/JV1010/Unitor 8/Model D & 2600/WX-5&7/VL70m/DMP-18 Pedals

Natal drums/congas etc & misc bowed/plucked/blown instruments. 

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As others have noted, the MIDI implementation looks quite good. It looks like it can pull off the external keyboard trick I mentioned above. (Although it can't act as a USB MIDI host). And the inability to pan outputs is a black mark.

 

$2000 feels toppy to me. It doesn't give you enough over a VR09 or Vox Conti to justify that premium. I know development costs are easy to misjudge, but market raters gonna market rate...

 

Anyone know if there's a clav in there?

 

Cheers, Mike.

 

 

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As others have noted, the MIDI implementation looks quite good. It looks like it can pull off the external keyboard trick I mentioned above. (Although it can't act as a USB MIDI host). And the inability to pan outputs is a black mark.

 

$2000 feels toppy to me. It doesn't give you enough over a VR09 or Vox Conti to justify that premium. I know development costs are easy to misjudge, but market raters gonna market rate...

 

Anyone know if there's a clav in there?

 

Cheers, Mike.

 

 

The voice list in the manual has 'Clavi B" and 'Clavi S" in there.

 

Cheers

 

John

 

Nord Electro 6D 61, Wurlitzer EP200A, Neo Mini Vent, EV ZLX12P, QSC CP8.

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As others have noted, the MIDI implementation looks quite good. It looks like it can pull off the external keyboard trick I mentioned above. (Although it can't act as a USB MIDI host). And the inability to pan outputs is a black mark.

 

$2000 feels toppy to me. It doesn't give you enough over a VR09 or Vox Conti to justify that premium. I know development costs are easy to misjudge, but market raters gonna market rate...

 

Anyone know if there's a clav in there?

 

Cheers, Mike.

 

 

The VR-09s cheap action and build quality are enough that I never even considered it an option - even at its sub $1k price.

 

Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560

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As others have noted, the MIDI implementation looks quite good. It looks like it can pull off the external keyboard trick I mentioned above. (Although it can't act as a USB MIDI host). And the inability to pan outputs is a black mark.

 

$2000 feels toppy to me. It doesn't give you enough over a VR09 or Vox Conti to justify that premium. I know development costs are easy to misjudge, but market raters gonna market rate...

 

Anyone know if there's a clav in there?

 

Cheers, Mike.

 

 

The VR-09s cheap action and build quality are enough that I never even considered it an option - even at its sub $1k price.

 

But Vox is well build, with nice sounds and keyboard feel and the price in Europe is 999 euros, so half the price of YC.

 

Kurzweil K2661 + full options,iMac 27",Mac book white,Apogee Element 24 + Duet,Genelec 8030A,Strymon Lex + Flint,Hohner Pianet T,Radial Key-Largo,Kawai K5000W,Moog Minitaur,Yamaha Reface YC + CP, iPad 9th Gen, Arturia Beatstep + V Collection 9

 

https://antonisadelfidis.bandcamp.com

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No Poly Aftertouch. No Mono Aftertouch. No aftertouch at all.

 

So great in so many ways. Huge MIDI section in manual. Keys look good, etc. What a disfigurement to a beautiful thing.

 

Why would a clonewheel need aftertouch?

Hammond SKX

Mainstage 3

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Lots of companies are aiming at this market. As someone who is dead in the middle of who this product is aimed at, here are my thoughts:

 

I"ve been looking for something to replace my Electro 4 without costing as much as the Stage 3 for years. I"ve always compromised and have regretted it. My Electro 4/MODX combo is good, but it"s not necessarily better than the Electro/FA combo I had years ago. I"d LOVE if one keyboard could replace both because I no longer have the time or space to programme 2 keyboards in my small apartment.

 

Personally, I need:

 

- A good B3/VOX emulation for the ska/funk band. Last gig we did was to 20,000 people at a fairly big gig. With gigs like that, I like having good, warm, playable sounds that I know sounds good in FOH and that inspire me in my ears. Roland"s synths did this, but their electro-mechanical sounds did not.

 

- Something with pitch bend/mod capabilities. When playing funk and jamming, you can"t disregard a good synth lead. Having a good organ without a good synth lead is no longer acceptable for a board aimed towards people who 'jam'.

 

-Bread and butter tones to cover weddings. While they aren"t that exciting, weddings are where many of us make most of our performance money.

 

-Something that has nice pianos and that filter sweeps like a BOSS. If it also plays well with Mainstage (ie. has it"s own interface), great: many contemporary gigs need only those three things.

 

Footprint is also an issue: 90% of the gigs I"ve turned up to this year have benefitted from the fact that I carried one keyboard on my back. Unless you"re headlining places, most venues and stage managers don"t want you carrying a lot of gear.

 

With that in mind, this instrument:

 

Has most of the above.

 

According to the YouTube demos (which are sometimes as helpful as a chocolate kettle) this thing has a decent organ tone. The Rotary actually sounds fine if you listen to all of the YouTube demos. The organ engine itself seems more customisable than the Nord Electro, and if you add a vent you"re likely to end up leagues ahead in terms of tone customisability (new word, ya"ll)

 

It has pitch bend. Needed for synth solos. Give me a funk gig without it and I"m a sad man.

 

It has 3 layer options. Enough to get by a wedding gig if needed. Ok, I won"t be able to do the filter sweep/riser on 'We Found Love', but from the sounds of it, very few keyboard players even try to emulate that part. If they get the gig, why not join them?

 

Reservations: The MODX amp sims and rotary sims are awful compared to the Electro. Is this a new engine, or is it recycled from the montage? If the latter, no thank you.

 

To me, it doesn"t matter if a keyboard"s layout matches Nord"s, or if they use several terabytes of sound. If a hardware keyboard"s 'multi-gigabyte library' can"t compete with the warmth of Nord"s 'several hundred megabyte library' , I don"t care how many GB of sounds that keyboard uses. Until now, Nord"s piano library and organ engine sound closer to the real thing/the best software emulation than any Yamaha/Roland/Korg have so far offered, IMO. Yes, Crumar are brilliant, but how many people outside of this forum have heard of them?? I know any seasoned player I speak to always raises an eyebrow when I mention the word 'Crumar'.

 

I hope this does well. If I play it and the finger to ear connection is there, goodbye Nord Stage 3. You"re relegated to the bottom of the list. But if 'several GBs of sounds used' is just marketing nonsense, and if the warmth and playability aren"t there...That"s unlikely. Hoping this thing has that. If not, it won"t be known as a competitor; it will be forever be known as a poor man"s Nord, and those who can afford the Nord will continue to buy them simply because they"re red, without ever auditioning something like this, no matter how good it may be on paper.

 

 

 

Really?

"Danny, ci manchi a tutti. La E-Street Band non e' la stessa senza di te. Riposa in pace, fratello"

 

 

noblevibes.com

 

 

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I want to get my hands on one.....

 

The PB/Mod levers and drawbars sending the right cc"s are pluses that the Nord doesn"t have.

I"m an organ purist, mostly, but unless you're doing a jazz trio kicking sticks needing some crunchy warmth or a hi-energy rock gig and need a Jon Lord or Vanilla Fudge distortion, none of the clones except MAG, Mojo or Legend will get you any further than halfway there or 'ah, good enough for this gig'.

Knowing how good Yamaha is with piano actions (I have a CP88) I have faith that the YC will be equally responsive!

 

On evidence of what we"ve got so far, I think this is a better and more feature rich board than any Nord, and I"ve toured and recorded with all iterations of the Electro from the OG through the 5. Better Pianos for damn sure!! And for those complaining about a high price, it"s exactly competitive with Nord but better, as Nord"s vaunted Sample Library is USELESS without PB and Mod controls or cc"s. Plus the 200 price differential will take care of sales tax and be equal to NE61, if you decide to go for the YC.

Also, the inclusion of an audio interface means you can use it as full on controller in conjunction with Mainstage, Keyscape, Camelot, Cantabile, etc etc. and not be hobbled with no PB/Mod controls or cc"s like with Nord.

 

The form factor and weight are super great for travel, esp carry-ons!

 

 

"I have constantly tried to deliver only products which withstand the closest scrutiny � products which prove themselves superior in every respect.�

Robert Bosch, 1919

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What's going to make the YC61 standout?

especially against the Korg Vox Continental which you omitted from your list. :popcorn:

Advantages of Yamaha should be more flexible split/layers, fully tweakable organ (including access to all percussion and C/V combinations), FM, better MIDI functionality, eight single-button patch recall buttons instead of four, second pedal, internal power supply. Vox advantages appear to include better real-time synth controls, tube, 73 key version, XLRs, and I think Korg EPs tend to be better than Yamaha's. The different drawbar approaches could be personal preference, though Yamaha is more authentic, while still giving you some of what the Vox's LEDs give you.

 

This appears targeted towards performers who only want to take one primary board to a gig, vs. two or more.

I see your point (and a 73+ option would be very helpful there), but I could also see it as an organ+synth above a slab piano... more so than the Electro which is just too weak as a synth... no pitch bend or mod, no mono mode or portamento... which are the very same important basic synth attributes that are missing from many slab pianos. SK1 and Mojo don't have these things either. So for this purpose, the closest competitors seem to be the Roland VR and Vox Continental. Each with its pros and cons compared to the others.

 

The voice list in the manual has 'Clavi B" and 'Clavi S" in there.

I'm always surprised if a "vintage keys emulation" boards doesn't at least include all 4 Clav pickup positions (to say nothing of the EQ toggles). That's another place some of the other boards look better than the YC.

 

The PB/Mod levers and drawbars sending the right cc"s are pluses that the Nord doesn"t have...Nord"s vaunted Sample Library is USELESS without PB and Mod controls or cc"s...use it as full on controller in conjunction with Mainstage, Keyscape, Camelot, Cantabile, etc etc. and not be hobbled with no PB/Mod controls or cc"s like with Nord.

What's the issue with Nord drawbars? They do send MIDI CC.

 

But yes, MIDI is weak on Electros. I think only the 5 had even the ability to have an internal and external zone simultaneously. You could get around that with the apps you mention using Local Off, but it's still a compromise... still no pitch/mod controls, and you lose the high trigger point.

 

But I wouldn't by any means call the sample library useless w/o PB/mod. Sample library is used for WAY more than synth leads, which is the only place you're likely to really feel that absence. Not much of an issue for pads, mellotrons, strings/horns/winds, chromatic percussion, etc. So it would be more important for some players than others.

 

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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if you can get past the fact that it's not a hammond, the FM organ through the leslie sim when played with taste sounds absolutely wonderful, check the demo track "YC61 FM Organ F1Testify". I would totally enjoy using that!

 

 

liking that the drawbars also have led displays beneath them, kinda best of both worlds!

hang out with me at woody piano shack
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