Yamaha YC61 Announced

[ElmerJFudd]

[video:youtube]

 

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[pjd]

Go directly to "Yamaha YC61 Basic & Artist Sound Set". UJIIE is the man. Fifteen seconds of that guy from Andertons and I was screaming and swearing at the screen.

 

ICYMI UJIIE and YC61 at NAMM 2020:

 

All the best -- pj

[Al Quinn]

I"m liking the YC61 a lot. Pianos, synths, strings, and brass all sound very good. I"m not loving the B3: sounds too digital / not warm. It"s better than the 6D B3 though. The YC61 looks like the most promising all-in-one for my needs. I can upgrade the B3 using my HX3 Expander Module. The B-3X iPad app might be an easy B3 upgrade as well. I"ve only played with it for about 20 minutes so far but thought it sounded very good.

[KRK]

ciao

 

thanks for linking one of my videos!

as someone remember, I mainly go for the rock sound...

so no clean sound in my videos

(also... I'm NOT a musician!)

 

just for completeness of information, here the sound of model H2 (first linked video was with H1):

 

the 3 modeled tonewheels sound really different one each other... and each make the leslie sim and the saturation sounding in very different way.

so here a detailed (= NERD) comparison of how the different models sound and how the two leslie sims sound depending on the selected model.

(I focused on H1 and H2 organ models):

 

same detailed video with all other sounds coming soon in this dedicated playlist:

 

take care, stay safe

Marco

[AnotherScott]

What I like about this setup:

1) 110 keys and under 25 lbs total

2) keybeds very close together

3) keys are all same shrunk Yamaha size, so no recalibrating moving one to the other keyboard

4) stand is light and needs no assembly

Nice setup. I was going to respond more, but didn't want to derail this thread, so will start a new one for that.

 

Back to the earlier topic of how this compares to the Electro... one other point in the Yamaha's favor, it supports half-pedaling, the Nord doesn't. For those keeping score. ;-)

[Outkaster]

Good stuff.

[niacin]

Took this to rehearsal Wednesday night, so fist time in a live context, YC61 through a single Yamaha DBR10. Pianos failed the collapse to mono test and sounded harsh and brittle, EQ won't save them. In mono they're better just taking a line out the right side, but then of course the lower mids thin out. The overall sounds of the organ was ok but the bass was weak, even with the bass EQ cranked. Other sounds were fine. Not sure if this board is a keeper. I don't need the organ bottom end unless I'm playing left hand bass, but the pianos need to be run in stereo which will limit its usefulness. I think the Hammond emulation is comparable to Nord's, but Nord's Petrof Black Upright easily wins the piano in mono comparison.

[Adan]

I'm far from my YC but isn't there a mono AP among the selections? Unless I'm mistaken, the CP and the YC both have that.

 

I haven't run pianos in mono in ages, not even in rehearsal. Back when I used to do that, Nord always seemed best at collapse to mono game.

[pawelsz]

Korg has the dedicated mono sounds in boards like Grandstage, Vox Continental, SV-2

[niacin]

I'm far from my YC but isn't there a mono AP among the selections? Unless I'm mistaken, the CP and the YC both have that

 

The YC has 4 pianos: CFX, S700, C7 and a U1. I don't think they are mono, but hey maybe the U1 is, I'll have to check, it's not great though. In stereo the C7 is sweet.

[Adan]

If there's no mono piano then that's an inexcusable omission. Fixable in an update, but why wouldn't they have it in there from the beginning. It's not like this is a novel issue.

 

Lack of mono piano is not a big issue for me, but it will be for lots of folks.

 

As for the organ being weak on bass, I haven't tested that out myself. If I was playing left hand bass, that would mean I was playing in a format where I would want a better clone sound than what the YC can offer. In my case I'd use Mojo or B3X for an organ trio format.

 

As a YC owner, my assessment of the organ is about the same as when I was just listening to youtube videos trying to decide whether to buy it. It's a very useable clone, quite nice for some applications, but it doesn't do well in the battle for best in class. That's the same thing I'd say about the Nord organ. The strengths and weaknesses of the YC and the Nord are different, but their sum totals are about the same.

 

I do like the YC better in the metal than on youtube. Many of those videos sound pretty bad. Also, you can't fully appreciate the appeal of the YC until you experience the great semi-weighted action under your own fingers.

[AnotherScott]

If there's no mono piano then that's an inexcusable omission. Fixable in an update, but

I wouldn't assume it's fixable in an update. I'm not aware of any confirmation that the YC61 can accommodate newly downloadable sample data from Yamaha. It's very possible that it can, but AFAIK, we just don't know.

[kenheeter]

My YC61 arrived Friday. There's a lot to like but I'm kinda disappointed in the pianos. I need to spend more time but they seem very compressed and lacking in dynamic range. The organ is quite good and the Leslie sim is weird but I think I might be able to dial it in. One problem I see is when using an expression pedal to control the organ, if you switch presets the organ goes to full volume until you move the expression pedal. This might be a problem on stage. The Nords cleverly 'read' the expression pedal any time you change a preset unlike the YC61. The C/V is good but I would like to be able to dial it back a bit. I hope they will enable the high trigger function in a future update as well as introduce a hard pan feature to allow for external Leslie sim. I need to spend a lot more time before judging, so I'll report back in a few days. I have a Nord Stage 2 and a Mojo 61, a Seven and a Gemini module to compare. We'll see.....

[AnotherScott]

One problem I see is when using an expression pedal to control the organ, if you switch presets the organ goes to full volume until you move the expression pedal.

Good catch, and not the way a real tonewheel organ works of course.

 

I hope they will...introduce a hard pan feature to allow for external Leslie sim.

As mentioned earlier in the thread, you can apparently do this by using the autopan effect. If you set the Rate to zero, the pan becomes motionless, and the Depth knob can then be used to send the sound to the left or to the right.

[counterpoint]

"Lack of mono piano is not a big issue for me, but it will be for lots of folks."

 

Interestingly Live Set 2-6 is called "One Ear Upright". It is a mono piano but the way it was made that way was by using the "British Combo" distortion effect and dialing down the overdrive to 0. It does overlay a bit of a boxy EQ but it comes out as mono.

[kenheeter]

I may have been prematurely harsh on the pianos - after a bit of tweaking they are quite good. Still digging in.......

[jeffincltnc]

I am really banking on this board being usable as my carry out board. I plan to order one this month and I need it to get the job done as a rehearsal and jam board in the job of a Nord Electro plus some basic synth with pitch bend and mod. I"m hoping if there are any gaps that the built in interface will play easily with iPads and Mainstage.

 

If it doesn"t cut it for that job, I won"t be able to keep my Jupiter-X as a luxury and will need to put the cost towards a Nord Stage 3 as my portable.

 

YC61 doesn"t have to be the best piano, EP and organ for me but it needs to be pretty darn competitive with the red ones.

[counterpoint]

I am really banking on this board being usable as my carry out board. I plan to order one this month and I need it to get the job done as a rehearsal and jam board in the job of a Nord Electro plus some basic synth with pitch bend and mod. I"m hoping if there are any gaps that the built in interface will play easily with iPads and Mainstage.

 

If it doesn"t cut it for that job, I won"t be able to keep my Jupiter-X as a luxury and will need to put the cost towards a Nord Stage 3 as my portable.

 

YC61 doesn"t have to be the best piano, EP and organ for me but it needs to be pretty darn competitive with the red ones.

 

Jeff...pretty sure you will be very happy with your choice. I've migrated from an E4. Setting aside the fact E4 is monotimbral, comparing sounds I'd say the underlying Hammond emulations are comparable. I do prefer the Nord Leslie effect...hoping Yamaha can improve in an OS update. Edge in Transistor organs definitely goes to Nord...Yamaha didn't seem to put a lot of thought into those but again hoping they make some adjustments. Acoustic pianos are a toss-up in my mind and a matter of taste...both Nord and Yamaha have great choices and variety if you are a basic rock and roller like I am.

 

From there on out it's all Yamaha. EP's/Clav samples much more nuanced and detailed than Nord. All other samples on Yamaha are multi-sampled, layered and stereo. Synth sounds take a little menu diving sometimes but I've figured out a way to get everything I've needed for staple 70's/80's stuff....I guarantee having mono mode, glide, mod and pitch bend and the means to control them will put a smile on your face.

 

Will spare you reciting the hardware/architectural differences again...but do want to emphasize how well the YC integrates with my new foray into Cantabile/Arturia V Collection with the built-in interface and audio over USB. I'm quite sure Mainstage/IPad will work the same for you.

[AnotherScott]

Edge in Transistor organs definitely goes to Nord...Yamaha didn't seem to put a lot of thought into those but again hoping they make some adjustments.

Interestingly, Yamaha took a different approach from any other clonewheel-style board that includes transistor organ emulations... not modeling (or sampling), but FM synthesis.

 

EP's/Clav samples much more nuanced and detailed than Nord.

Though at least Nord provides all four of the primary Clav tones (AC, BC, AD, BD pickup positions).

[counterpoint]

EP's/Clav samples much more nuanced and detailed than Nord.

Though at least Nord provides all four of the primary Clav tones (AC, BC, AD, BD pickup positions).

 

True...YC only has two positions...but the sounds are more authentic on the YC IMO...especially the key on/off artifacts. I can't believe Nord hasn't updated and improved the Clav samples in over ten years.

[jeffincltnc]

That's good to know. Clav is always hard to nail just right and authentically to the Hohner instruments. I have a lot of good clavs here. Kurzweil Forte (stock sounds and with Purgatory Creek's Clavinet) are both good. I also have the Sonniccouture clav in my Mainstage setup, but it takes a very long time to load for live use and too long if you nee to dial it up in the moment.

 

At least in the contexts that I need on a portable board like a YC61 or Nord, clavs end up in a band context and I have found with a bunch of other players doing funk/rock/jam band music that the effects are somewhat more important than the basic clav tones. If I can get a decent wah effect, reverb and distortion dialed in, that probably has more of an impact than a good raw sample or release, pickup positions, etc. I'm not saying they don't matter, I just find that the effects matter just as much of not more for my use of clav in that context. But I have also learned behavior to cover mediocre clav sounds by drenching them with wah, reverb and distortion and slapping the keys to get the funky sound with whatever I have to work with as the base clav sound.

[AnotherScott]

What I like about clavs on the Nord (recent models, anyway) is that they have a low release point, which gives them a nice snappiness when you play them. Most boards don't do that. I don't know about the YC, maybe someone here can check to see if a clav "Note Off" happens at a lower point in the key's travel than a piano's "Note Off" as it does on the Nord. I doubt Yamaha implemented that, though, simply because they apparently didn't even implement the similar (and more commonly sought after) high trigger point for the organ.

[VanZea]

Here in the Netherlands there has been a noticable price decrease the last few days. Is there a YC73 approaching....?

[rogs]

One problem I see is when using an expression pedal to control the organ, if you switch presets the organ goes to full volume until you move the expression pedal. This might be a problem on stage. The Nords cleverly 'read' the expression pedal any time you change a preset unlike the YC61.......

 

I found this response from Yamaha on their forum as an answer to that expression pedal function:

 

"Press [MENU] > 'General' > 'MIDI Settings' > select 'Controller Reset'

Change the setting to HOLD.

The Foot Controller will now be 'live'

 

(Page 37 in the Owner"s Manual for more details)"

 

Seems to work fine....

[Pa Gherkin]

I may have been prematurely harsh on the pianos - after a bit of tweaking they are quite good. Still digging in.......

 

 

Ken,care to share what tweaks you've made to improve the YC61 pianos in mono?

[ElmerJFudd]

Yamaha Synth has been hosting tech talks on the YC-61

 

Here"s a link to the previous episodes...

 

 

There"s another on MIDI features scheduled for August 11, 2020

 

[niacin]

Like this guy's demos more and more, this one is easily the best demo/review of the YC61, imo:

 

[video:youtube]

[Tom Williams]

Well damn.

Wonder if we'll see a 73/76.

Kurzweil gives us 88 keys in the PC4, and we all (myself included) go boo-hoo that there's no 61 note version. Yamaha gives us 61 keys out the gate, and we want 73/76.

I guess there's just no pleasing some people....

[ElmerJFudd]

lol - in the 'old days' we"d get them all except the 73.

 

Low sales of one or another size surely drives the limited offerings. But it would be nice if data could predict how many of each they should build and offer them all again.

[rogs]

Nice Demo from Mex .... It does illustrate though just how poor the rotary sim is on the YC61 - at least the fast speed sim is pretty bad.

Increasing number of comments about that on the Yamaha forums -- Hopefully Yamaha will address the issue in the next firmware update?..

All the necessary 'tweak' controls are already there in the menus..... They just don't currently do what it says on the tin !

Anyone heard a YC61 through a Vent yet?...