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I did a thing. New Yammy YC61


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Hey, I anticipated wanting to play the Vox as soon as Korg announced it. Sadly I"ve yet to see one on a showroom floor to try out. It looks compelling. I wonder if Scott has had his hands on it? Short of the physical drawbars it looks very similar to what the YC is going after. I like Korgs CX-3 engine and although they didn"t include a programmable Synth you know the misc. pad /layer is going to packed with a lot of great Korg synth sounds. Layout looks very simple to navigate. What did they do on the left end cheek - it looks like an assignable fader for Pitch or mod. Is it spring loaded?

Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560

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This thread actually introduced me to the YC-61, what a cool gig piano for the money. Is there a reason Yamaha uses the shortened octave for keybeds like this one? It seems like it generates nothing but complaints so why not go full size? I mean it's not a deal breaker for me personally, but it does make me second guess how it would affect my playing in a multi-keyboard set up.

 

I know the keyboard is organ focused, but I'm actually quite impressed with the quality and variety of the other included sounds as well as the simple layering and split capabilities. I'd love to have this to replace my cruddy old Yamaha YPG.

 

I really enjoyed this demo.

 

[video:youtube]

Keyboards: Nord Electro 6D 73, Korg SV-1 88, Minilogue XD, Yamaha YPG-625

Bonus: Boss RC-3 Loopstation

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Excellent demo! What a great sounding axe. Ironically the only think that doesn"t blow me away is the organ.

 

I was not only moved by this guy"s playing but I was also impressed that the YC61 action supported his nuanced piano playing. I think I"ve got a YC61 in my future to replace my Electro 4D.

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I think that's the best demo I've heard so far -- nice player. (Maybe if I had fingers that long, I could play my YC61 better? :) )

 

He doesn't make a big deal about the organ -- and hides the weakest feature well (the rotary speaker on fast - with no chorus or vibrato - is not good -- as has been mentioned many times already)

 

He illustrates just how well some of the other sounds can be mixed and layered - and how Yamaha's new waterfall keyboard can be used really quite effectively on piano.

 

It is a nice board already ... if Yamaha fix some of the annoying little snags, I reckon it could be really very nice!..

Yamaha - YC61 - P105 - MOX6 - HC2 -- Neo Vent 2
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I bought the YC61 primarily to pair with my Crumar Seven. I figured on playing its acoustic pianos from the weighted action of the Crumar and organ and other sounds from the YC61. I've had it a month or so and it has really surprised me. I enjoy playing piano on the YC61 and all of the sounds are very good and usable. It is a very capable controller and functions well as a slave also. It's amazing to me that it is promoted as primarily an organ with other sounds but the organ section is its weakest feature. There is no high trigger function. The chorus vibrato is too heavy and not adjustable. The rotary simulator is awful. After playing it for many hours I'm certain I could cover many gigs ( remember gigs? ) with just the YC61 if they would just fix the shortcomings of the organ section. I'm waiting and hoping for an upgrade that solves these things but it sounds and plays so well that I have no regrets about my purchase. It's so close!
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I think that's the best demo I've heard so far -- nice player. (Maybe if I had fingers that long, I could play my YC61 better? :) )

 

He doesn't make a big deal about the organ -- and hides the weakest feature well (the rotary speaker on fast - with no chorus or vibrato - is not good -- as has been mentioned many times already)

 

He illustrates just how well some of the other sounds can be mixed and layered - and how Yamaha's new waterfall keyboard can be used really quite effectively on piano.

 

It is a nice board already ... if Yamaha fix some of the annoying little snags, I reckon it could be really very nice!..

 

Pretty glaring omissions/faults/bugs/annoyances for a $3k board!

There is no luck - luck is simply the confluence of circumstance and co-incidence...

 

Time is the final arbiter for all things

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Pretty glaring omissions/faults/bugs/annoyances for a $3k board!

 

Yamaha (along with most manufacturers it seems) are not good at rotary (Leslie) sims. Even the sim in their flagship Montage board is not good - and that has already undergone revision!

 

Looks like Vent sales are not likely to take much of a hit any time soon...

 

(Has anyone tried a YC61 through a Vent yet?)

Yamaha - YC61 - P105 - MOX6 - HC2 -- Neo Vent 2
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Let"s put it this way - the $6k Yamaha Genos doesn"t have a Neo Ventilator class Leslie sim. Nor do the Hammond SK1 or Nord Electro or Roland VR-730 which are similarly priced to the YC-61. One of these guys should just buy Neo Instruments. The company is so niche they can"t possibly sell enough pedals to ignore a decent offer. But who knows, maybe they just like owning their business. With better quality simulators showing up in VSTs - one would expect the next wave of hardware instruments to be able to do the same.

 

With that said, on a jack of all trades board the Leslie sim is hardly the only consideration. If the YC or it"s competitors were just focusing on Hammond organ and the Leslie it would be more disappointing. Solution stays the same, pick up a Vent. Or in Dave"s case where he runs MainStage anyway - use an AU/VST.

Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560

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Let"s put it this way - the $6k Yamaha Genos doesn"t have a Neo Ventilator class Leslie sim. Nor do the Hammond SK1 or Nord Electro or Roland VR-730 which are similarly priced to the YC-61. One of these guys should just buy Neo Instruments. The company is so niche they can"t possibly sell enough pedals to ignore a decent offer. But who knows, maybe they just like owning their business. With better quality simulators showing up in VSTs - one would expect the next wave of hardware instruments to be able to do the same.

 

With that said, on a jack of all trades board the Leslie sim is hardly the only consideration. If the YC or it"s competitors were just focusing on Hammond organ and the Leslie it would be more disappointing. Solution stays the same, pick up a Vent. Or in Dave"s case where he runs MainStage anyway - use an AU/VST.

 

Can Yamaha even revamp the rotary sim in an OS update? Very little knowledge of hardware vs software in these machines. Regardless, we are all blessed with the availability of multiple options for many things keyboard-wise these days including hardware and software versions of rotary sims....and everyone has a personal preference. All the more reason that Yamaha should provide a straightforward fixed panning option in an OS update so that a user can apply the rotary effect of their choice to the organ section alone. If you have a YC and this is important to you, I posted an "idea" on the IdeaScale site for Fixed Panning a couple months ago...please go there and up-vote it. An even cooler step IMO would be to be able to separate which sounds are sent directly to the analog outputs versus the USB output. This would allow the organ to be processed by a computer-based rotary sim and the other sounds unprocessed by the virtual rotary to still be output in stereo.

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Sure they can, it's software. If they have a better design they can push it out via firmware. Actually, they did this last year on the Montage - the current Leslie sim was updated by firmware with some tweaks.

 

My understanding is that Yamaha doesn't engage here on KC. YC61 owners and prospective buyers can communicate what improvements they would like to see at https://yamahasynth.ideascale.com/ Register so you can express your impressions on the YC61 to them.

 

If the panning solution for using a vent is important to you, find a thread and comment or thumb it up. If there isn't one, create it and let us know here you've done so.

They can't make improve things if they don't get feedback.

Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560

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After playing it for many hours I'm certain I could cover many gigs ( remember gigs? ) with just the YC61 if they would just fix the shortcomings of the organ section.

 

Unless your gig is for a room full of jazz and rock musicians, chances are no one will notice or care about the deficiencies in the organ.

 

But it's important to be clear on what the YC is not. It is not the latest and greatest clone. It's a useable clone packaged with a lot of Yamaha's best sounds, in a highly portable and gig-friendly form.

 

The YC is a little bit analogous to the Vox Continental in that it's marketed as organ-forward when it's greatest single strength, at least arguably, is how well the pianos play from its semi-weighted keys.

There may not be tons of people who say "oh, that's exactly what I need!" The Vox has never sold well. On the other hand, the YC is much more versatile when it comes to splits, as a controller, etc. So relative to the Vox it's got a few more tricks up its sleeve.

Gigging: Crumar Mojo 61, Hammond SKPro

Home: Vintage Vibe 64

 

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I tried one of these at the local music store around the corner from my new house. I have a CP88 so it wasn't that hard to find my way around it. I have most of these bases covered already but what a great little board the YC is.

"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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Hey all, had a rehearsal last night for an upcoming show.

 

It was the first time I used the YC with the band. They guys loved the sound of the organ, and in that band setting, the not perfect Leslie sim sounded just fine. One thing of note, you can go menu diving and adjust upper and lower rotor speeds, and this helps.

 

Blake Angelos from Yamaha suggests running the Rotary Effect in Mono, and using eq to get close to what one wants.

 

Anyway, as far as my use goes, it sounds fine, and as I said above, the guys and our sound engineer thought the organ sounded great

David

Gig Rig:Casio Privia PX-5S | Yamaha MODX+ 6 | MacBook Pro 14" M1| Mainstage

 

 

 

 

 

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I don"t think a Y61 adds anything to my (Korg) Vox Continentals, but I"d gladly be proven wrong.

 

Drawbars instead of drawbuttons? :idk:

Dang.

other features: more flexible split/layers, fully tweakable tonewheel emulation (including access to all percussion and C/V combinations), better MIDI functionality, eight single-button patch recall buttons instead of four, additional pedal, internal power supply, and a more informative display that can (for example) let you see the names of the sounds you're selecting. OTOH, Vox gives you more synth controls, the tube, and the XLR outputs.

 

In action, it looks to me like Vox has the edge. Both seem to be considered among the better semi-weighted actions for piano playing, that might be close enough to be a simple mater of personal preference, but the Dynamics knob of the Vox is surprisingly useful in letting you tailor that action in real time. More objectively, Vox has the high trigger point for organ, and the keys are full width instead of the slightly narrower scale Yamaha uses. And of course, Vox has a 73 key version.

 

Soundwise, besides the organs, Yamaha provides 139 sounds (mix of sampled and FM), and 160 locations for storing your own tweaks and combinations of them. Vox has 169 sounds (mix of sampled, virtual analog, plus modeling in the EPs), though only 64 locations for storing your own tweaks and combinations of them. As for which sounds better, that's of course where things can get most subjective, and will almost certainly vary depending on which sounds you're comparing.

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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I can think of lots of areas where the Vox is stronger. Scott's post above covers many of them. But if you're looking for an all-in-one keyboard, the Vox, in my opinion, just isn't in that category, because of it's very limited splitting abilities. As a board to be paired with others, either top or bottom, I think the Vox has a lot of advantages over the YC, not least of which is the cool factor.

Gigging: Crumar Mojo 61, Hammond SKPro

Home: Vintage Vibe 64

 

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I can think of lots of areas where the Vox is stronger. Scott's post above covers many of them. But if you're looking for an all-in-one keyboard, the Vox, in my opinion, just isn't in that category, because of it's very limited splitting abilities. As a board to be paired with others, either top or bottom, I think the Vox has a lot of advantages over the YC, not least of which is the cool factor.

Yes, but also, really, not everyone needs splits, even if they're using just one board. I've seen a number of giggers with nothing but an older (non-splittable, pre-5) Nord Electro, or a Korg SV1... it depends on the player and the repertoire. Heck, tons of gigs have been done on nothing but a piano or nothing but an organ. So while I certainly see the YC's split capabilities as an advantage, I also think it's not so important to everyone. Especially since splitting a 61 is kind of limiting in the first place.

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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Let"s put it this way - the $6k Yamaha Genos doesn"t have a Neo Ventilator class Leslie sim. Nor do the Hammond SK1 or Nord Electro or Roland VR-730 which are similarly priced to the YC-61. One of these guys should just buy Neo Instruments. The company is so niche they can"t possibly sell enough pedals to ignore a decent offer. But who knows, maybe they just like owning their business.

Maybe. But as long as we're spitballing possible reasons... Some companies have a strong bias against NIH ("not invented here") and feel that they either already have or are capable of creating products that are equivalent or better. Or, maybe the product is so niche (as you say), that they don't feel owning that company/technology would ultimately increase their bottom line enough to make it worthwhile. Also, larger companies with more substantial overheads often require larger markups. It's not impossible that a $500 bit of technology from Neo would turn into a $750 bit of technology from Yamaha or a $1000 bit of technology from Nord... further reducing its marketability. But yeah, who knows. ;-)

 

With better quality simulators showing up in VSTs - one would expect the next wave of hardware instruments to be able to do the same.

The raw processing power available is very different in these environments, so I'm not sure. Plus there's still the part of this that seems as much art as science.

 

Tangentially related... I remember when Kurzweil came out with one of their improved (but still not first rate) rotary sims... it used up 10 available effects units in the machine, IIRC, just to do the one effect. I suspect this may be why Yamaha's architecture makes it harder to do this kind of thing. The Montage has 32 effects units, allocated as two effects per part x 16 parts, but there is no way to make use of excess, unused effects processing capabilities from unused parts to allocate more effects processing capabilities to some other part. I'm not saying that a Kurzweil effects unit directly corresponds to a Yamaha effects units... I'm just illustrating that some architectures are more flexible than others in how their DSP functions may be allocated, and a board either may not have the resources to do what a Vent does, or even if it does, may not architecturally have the ability to dedicate all its DSP processing power to a single effect at the expense of others, even if that's what the user would like to do.

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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Hey all, had a rehearsal last night for an upcoming show.

 

It was the first time I used the YC with the band. They guys loved the sound of the organ, and in that band setting, the not perfect Leslie sim sounded just fine. One thing of note, you can go menu diving and adjust upper and lower rotor speeds, and this helps.

 

Blake Angelos from Yamaha suggests running the Rotary Effect in Mono, and using eq to get close to what one wants.

 

Anyway, as far as my use goes, it sounds fine, and as I said above, the guys and our sound engineer thought the organ sounded great

 

I think the deficiency of the organ sound is overblown. The organ section of the YC-61 is quite strong, IMHO. It isn't meant to trick audiophiles into believing there are real organs in a studio recording, it's meant to jam live and offer a great deal of versatility in addition to the organ sounds.

 

In every enthusiast forum, the commentary is always so dramatic. Lmao. It's even worse in the car world. You haven't lived until you read about two insane new sports cars and the "worse" of the two is described with hyperbole like it's a failed relic of 80s engineering.

 

I am not above drooling at new retro-styled keyboards like the Crumar Seven and Viscount Legend stage piano, but I've never had a complaint jamming with my SV1 (quite the opposite, actually) and it's far from cutting age anymore. I think the YC-61 organ tones will blow minds at a live show.

Keyboards: Nord Electro 6D 73, Korg SV-1 88, Minilogue XD, Yamaha YPG-625

Bonus: Boss RC-3 Loopstation

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It"s been said here many many times. There are lots of keyboards that do the basic tone wheel sound, key click, and all that very well. There are also models that do a great job on chorus, vibrato and distortion. We"re just nit picking the quality of the onboard Leslie simulation on these do it all boards. It"s just a small part of the equation when making a selection. How important really depends on how much organ you"re playing and how picky you are about not having the real deal with you. There"s always compromises. But each generation the list gets smaller.

Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560

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It is totally NOT about what tin eared audience members can detect.

 

I sat behind a B-3 and leslie for years and years gigging. Organ is my first instrument.

 

What it actually IS about is having the organ emulation sound good enough to the player to let them stay in the moment.

Moe

---

 

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It is totally NOT about what tin eared audience members can detect.

 

I sat behind a B-3 and leslie for years and years gigging. Organ is my first instrument.

 

What it actually IS about is having the organ emulation sound good enough to the player to let them stay in the moment.

 

Moe I think we can all agree you're not the intended market for the YC.

 

I'm not either, to some extent. If, in my hypothetical future gigging life, I have a gig where organ really matters, you can bet I'll take the Mojo not the YC. But I also know I'll have gigs where it doesn't matter all that much because I'm only on organ 20% of the time, or because it's just a quick and dirty gig that I'd rather be in and out with one lightweight keyboard. If I'm taking the Mojo, then I'm probably also bringing the SV2, and it's a different endeavor logistically.

Gigging: Crumar Mojo 61, Hammond SKPro

Home: Vintage Vibe 64

 

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