counterpoint

My experience, like yours, is that you need to press the on/off switch more slowly compared to other keyboards (the PX5S switch is that way too). No doubt there have been many quirks to the Numa X but they seem to be ticking them off and not burying their head in the sand like some other manufacturers do. I have had some issues along the way, but Gianni is very accessible and responsive and Studiologic has been great about not sitting on firmware updates to fix things. I had thought about returning it but held on to it because I see and believe there is a strong commitment on their part to get it right. Just a comment on the keybeds for the CP88 versus the Numa X 73...I believe the former has graded hammer action while the latter has a balanced hammer action so it should feel different because of that alone. No doubt I noticed this when switching my bottom board from a PX5s to the Numa...but having played a Rhodes for many years in my youth, it didn't take me long to get used to it....and knowing I have the same TP 110 keybed as the Nord Piano 5 at less than half the price makes it feels even nicer! My top board is a YC61 which allowed me to listen to the pianos comparatively. I generally agree with Gene's assessment of the Numa X piano sounds but one of the things that attracted me to the Numa X was that it would have different piano sounds based on the model/sample approach. I like having a diverse choice. The Numa is also a great controller for the YC pianos.

Please include a "Guitarist Volume" knob....

An amazing musician/composer who has left us all the gift of an enormous body of work that combined infective melodies, complex chord progressions and interesting rhythms. RIP.

I like Slash's comment on this...apropos to the topic... https://tonedeaf.thebrag.com/man-breaks-world-record-longest-guitar-solo/ I wonder if there's a world's record is for the longest keyboard solo...?

Neil Young guitar solo on Southern Man...

Not an expert but I would guess both boards have the same memory capacity given how many other structural similarities there are between them. The latest CP update (10/21) was 1.66 GB and the last YC update (2/22) was 1.03 GB so it would seem there's plenty of room to add things to the YC at least. My guess would be the difference in memory use is largely the Bosendorfer and felt samples. It will be interesting to see how Yamaha cycles these products...at some point you need to sell new hardware to make money and the question is can firmware updates be made that can bring in a wave of new buyers for the existing product. The last YC update improving the rotary sim probably brought a substantial boost in sales... Wonder what's next...plenty of room for innovation particularly on the FM aspects (memory not needed for that). Yamaha does have a pretty good history of product support/firmware updates...even if it's not the every-eight-months cycle that they have whispered at points.

Jim...you hit the nail on the head. Kudos to Clavia for innovations that changed the standard of and set a new direction for what a great keyboard could and should be. That earned them, for a long time, "reserve status" (like the US Dollar) hence being able to charge a premium price for their product. I'm guessing they are struggling with where to go next as their competitors have largely matched their sound quality and taken things to a higher level with innovations like integrated USB Audio, more flexible effects routings, no splits limitations, etc. They seem to be stubbornly hanging on to the belief that they make the rules and set the standards but, in reality, they are now playing catch-up. Perhaps they still have a trick or two up their sleeve though. Has to be an E7 coming out...will we see all these things in it...and maybe an innovation or two that pushes them back in front? For me...I went from an E2 to an E4...and when it was time for me to upgrade from there a couple years ago, the YC61 was a much better (and less expensive) choice than the E6 for my needs.

Dave, really wish Kurzweil would come out with a 73 key weighted action version of the new SP7 like Nord has with the Piano 5, Yamaha with the CP & YC and Numa with the Piano X. I am somewhat luke warm on the Numa but will probably keep it as it is a solid controller for the YC 61 piano sounds, and it has sounds that are good for enough back-up or filling in a few gaps in multi-part songs. I'm guessing the SP7 has a substantially superior sound set compared to it though. Interesting that you consider the PC4 SE as the SP6 replacement and not the SP7.

Just got a Numa X Piano 73 yesterday to replace a PX5S. Wading my way through it...it's a very interesting board. The architecture is radically different from anything I've had before so it's a learning curve. Programs/sounds not nearly as editable as the PX5S, but the process to do so is much easier...which is what I was looking for. TP110 on Numa is a different feel from PX5S but I think I will get used to it. More AP variety in Numa...(of course modeled versus variation on I believe just one sample set in PX5S). Rhodes-based EP's definitely a step up from PX5S....Wurly not so much. Fewer ancillary samples in Numa than PX5S but generally of better quality...although generally not as good as Yamaha (I have a YC61 that I'll be pairing it with). You can't really create the synth sounds you can the PX5S...no portamento for example and only an A/R amplitude envelope. Based on your post, that doesn't seem to be something you used however so probably no loss there. You may want to put it on your list to check out. Good luck and enjoy the process!

Just rechecked it. Not sure it's a half pedaling issue as it does what I am saying regardless of whether half pedaling is on or off. Please check it out when you get a chance. Press down a key, press down the sustain, take you finger off the key and then fully release then reapply the sustain pedal.

Love the YC but here's what bothers me about the sustain. If you play a note/chord, press the sustain, release the note/chord then release and reengage the sustain, you'll find the release of the sustain doesn't totally kill the note/chord like it would on a real piano. If you release and reengage the sustain several times, you will hear it going through its long sustain process off and on. This bothers me in particular playing the EP's. If you're playing a legato chord progression lifting the sustain pedal between chord changes but then reengaging it for the next chord, it gets muddy as the previous chord is still somewhat present underneath it. Not sure I'm describing this well...maybe someone else has noticed this. This goes beyond the pianos and applies to all of the sampled instruments on the YC that have a sustain component...but not the FM-based sounds.

For the YC, did you try factory preset 2-1 - One Ear Piano or did you just use the mono out? It is a bit strange, but the way Yamaha summed it mono was by applying a mono amp effect to it. To my ears it sounds pretty good to the extent any mono piano patch sounds good ...didn't hear that phase cancellation boxy sound. That said I don't run in mono (and will say nothing more to avoid reopening that can of worms...🤫). Re using the Nord SW keybed for piano, I have the NE4 SW 73 which I think has the same keybed as the NE6. I find it intolerable for piano...way too much up pressure...and I am really not picky about actions having played the accordion for many years before I ever played a piano. While not my first choice, I don't mind playing pianos on the YC 61...it's a much softer action. No right or wrong of course...just shows how we are all wired a little differently, I guess.

With you on the YC61...just about to order a Numa X Piano 73 for lower tier replacing a PX-5S. Will use Arturia V Collection for any synths/samples the Numa X/YC combo doesn't cover. Both Numa & YC have USB Audio...will be interesting to compare & figure out best set-up. I thought about the YC 73 as a sole board but there's just not enough real estate for my needs...and the 88 is too heavy for this old man.

For those interested, Kurzweil posted the manuals for the SP7 Grand. I have not reviewed in complete detail, but an interesting feature appears to be that you can run sounds from an external keyboard and/or a computer into the SP7 Grand and apply the SP7 Grand effects to those signals. I know I the Yamaha YC series you can't do this... the signals are throughout to the YC output as they enter it. If Kurzweil released a 73/76 version of the SP7 Grand with the TP110 under 30 pounds I would grab it fast to replace the PX5S I currently pair with my YC 61...but I expect they will release a semi-weighted version of this or the regular SP7 at some point as they've done with the SP and PC series. https://kurzweil.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/SP7-Grand-Getting-Started-Guide-English-221007.pdf https://kurzweil.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/SP7-Grand-Users-Manual-English-221007.pdf

Did I miss it or has nobody mentioned this one yet? Joe Cocker/Jennifer Warnes - Love Lifts Us Up

It was even worse before they rebuilt the 4/17 interchange about 20 years ago. They are finally rebuilding the 3/46 merge after talking about it for 30 years.

Spent a lot of time in the Paramus Sam Ash. Bought a Korg Polysix there back in 1981 and few keyboards after that. Of course you took your life into your hands trying to get back onto Rt 4. Worked in Manhattan then too and used to go to Manny's and the Sam Ash then right across from each other 48th street. I was back up in Northern NJ a few months ago, drove by Robbie's on Rt 46...it was still there. A couple weeks after that...was driving back from down south and stopped at Chuck Levin's in DC...definitely cut from the same era. Anyone been to Three Wave in Hawthorne NJ recently?

Curious...are all of you just using separate keyboard mixers to reduce your outputs from multiple keyboards/sources to one or two for FOH? Maybe that plus creating some kind of hybrid monitor mix for yourself like kenheeter? Anyone using one for extra EQ-ing, effects, signal processing or something else? In my effort to lighten the load and streamline my set-up, between the ability of the YC to mix itself, another keyboard and a USB audio source and having a digital mixer for FOH that lets you bring back and control whatever monitor feed you want directly from that mixer, I have gladly shed mine.

Just a cover band guy. A two-keyboard set up currently: YC61 over a PX5S. I have the PX5S outputting into the YC then from the YC into the mixer...so that's one submix (I use the PX almost exclusively as a controller). Straight forward enough there...no outboard mixer needed. Working VST's back into the mix. Previously used the USB audio in the YC to do so which effectively made the YC my complete submixer...but bought a Presonus Series III 24r a couple months ago to use for the entire band. Reconfiguring the computer to output the VST's into two different channels of the 24r (via USB connection) than the YC/PX5S. Using 2 of the 12 aux outputs on the 24r for stereo In-ear monitoring controlled via Q mix-UC app so I can bring the feeds back however I want. Gives separate control for YC and VST's (and/or backing tracks) to FOH (which leads to other questions better in separate thread). Anyway, perhaps that is something similar to what the OP's friend was thinking when he/she was thinking of using the X32 as a keyboard submixer...maybe it's for more than just the keys? Otherwise. if it's just for the keys...yes...definitely overkill...

Bought the Presonus Series III 24r about a month ago. Capabilities are incredible but there is a learning curve. Used it at a gig weekend before last. Thought I had it all set up but it wouldn't work at first...no input signals. Finally figured out inputs had all been switched to "digital" from "analog" somehow in UC...some very nervous moments but worked through it and it was great for the gig. All five of us had stereo in-ear monitors under our own control (and room for one more...or up to 12 mono of course) and people said the FOH sounded great. Was a piece of cake to label all the channels in UC and assign a Presonus "Fat Channel" to each input preset for that instrument. Also made a track-by-track recording of the gig on Capture with just a couple of clicks and am working through editing it all in Studio One...and it automatically carried over all the channel assignments...lots of fun. For those of you doing backing tracks (we're not there yet), it's great because even though there are only 24 inputs, you can feed backing tracks and click to channels 25 - 32 in UC from your computer and not use up any inputs. Still a learning curve but that will always be the case with equipment with those kinds of capabilities.

Can I apply reverb to the B4000+ within the PX5s? NO Is the PX5s powerful enough as a synthesizer to play 80s tunes? YES

A less-than-perfect work-around... Select piano voices for both Keys A & B. For either Keys A or B, go to the P Mod setting, put the Depth at about 64, the speed at -64 and the Initial at about 5. It rolls the modulation back and forth very slowly to keep the two voices slightly out of tune. You can push the Initial amount up to 8 or so for a deeper effect but you'll start to hear the rolling back and forth of the modulation more as well. Sounded best to me with the U1. Too bad -64 doesn't freeze the modulation totally as that would be the same as a fixed fine tune. You would think that's an easy OS change but I thought the same for the fix panning as well. Add: Just played around with this more. Try this too: with just one voice, set the Depth at about 5, the Speed again at -64 and the Initial at around 100. Strangely, each note you play seems to start at a different point in the modulation cycle therefore is slightly out of tune with the other notes giving you the same effect. Maybe somebody with tech/architecture can explain how/why it works that way. You would think the pitch for the entire keyboard would be at the same point of the cycle at the same time but it's not.

Yes..."Studio" rotary is a big improvement! A very organ-centric update...some interesting stuff.

New post on Facebook about a Yamaha Tech Talk scheduled for 2/22 @ 4:00 PM to discuss "great new features coming to the YC Series". Could it be that the long-awaited OS update is imminent? Warming up my USB thumb drive...

I wasn't at all happy with the piano sound from the SSV3 alone but not because of a lack of bottom end...just too many muddy mids. I purchased a pair of ZXA-1's that sound great but I have a gig in a few months that will be on a larger stage with lots of band members. I'm going to need to use one of the ZXA's for something else so I've been experimenting with the other ZXA in combo with the SSV3, wired the same as timwat but placing the front speaker of the SSV3 face down to mute it and the A-B speaker sideways 90 degrees to the ZXA. Everything including the piano sounds are improved with that arrangement compared to the SSV3 alone, but I'm really struggling to get the right balance between the ZXA and the SSV3 side speaker. I'm also concerned that when I get into the room for the gig, I'm going to have to spend a lot of time recalibrating. It will just be used as a monitor for me as I will go direct for FOH....but I still want it to sound decent.