counterpoint

If you check out the Yamaha Synth Forum and IdeaScale you'll see a couple good discussions about the Leslie in general and this particular issue referred to. My unscientific observation is that the underlying organ tones are EQ'd a little differently than other clones with the upper-mid frequencies emphasized slightly more giving it, comparatively, a bit of a nasal sound...(which I actually like). In particular there seems to be a peak around 1,500 hz (F6 - G6). That frequency seems to be interacting with the Leslie sim somehow and creates the overtones and "harmonic beating" that you hear. I'm betting if they re EQ things it will help with at least that problem. You can tamp it down if you use the on-board EQ but it kills the underlying sound. Beyond that, agree that they need to add a mic placement option for increased depth. I hope though they can maintain the overdrive sound...I like it much better than the Nord.

What blows me away is the clarity of the video....I felt like I was in the studio with them shooting the clips on an IPhone! I know nothing about videography or video clean-up software but, like the advances in audio clean-up software, the advances in video clean-up software will make this a very special film to watch beyond its musical content.

The site was down for a couple hours yesterday and when it came back up the reference to the additional models had been removed. They also removed a post I made on the Yamaha Synth forum asking about it.

Managed to get through earlier and things are veeeery slowly downloading. It got stuck on Analog Lab so I paused that and everything else started coming through. Just started to dabble...IMO the Stage V2 is a big improvement over the previous version but I'll let the experts decide where it ranks among the competition. Some nice presets alluding to the sounds of particular artists and/or songs.

Interesting...I went to the YC61 download site this AM in a search for an answer to Scott's question above about whether the USB Audio interface would work with an IPad w/o a driver...and it had a slight change... The heading listed not just the YC61 but the "YC series" including a YC73...and a YC88. Hmmm...

Yes...with a number of others. But I think IdeaScale is sort of like a "Close Door" button on an elevator...it's there more for psychological than functional reasons. Any output from the keyboard engine goes both to the internal USB audio and the main outputs. The output from the USB audio is sent to the main outputs and blended with the keyboard output. You can control the level of the USB Audio going to the main output but not the level of the keyboard engine independent of that. As a result, if you use a virtual rotary sim with the internal Steinberg USB audio, the main outputs from the YC put out an inseparable combination of the processed and unprocessed signals. Hope I explained that well enough.

Grabbed the B3X on the Black Friday Sale and have mapped YC to control it...used Cantabile to translate Sys Ex to MIDI CC for Vibrato/chorus and percussion...so I guess it's a sample of three...which I agree does not reach statistical significance. It works great but it's all academic anyway right now as I'm just entertaining myself with possibilities and not realities. Honestly, I think even if the YC had a much better rotary sim, there would and will be some who will still want to use different organ or rotary VST's in different situations...and the YC could be a great controller with a couple tweaks. I have written to Yamaha suggesting that that they assign CC Tx to the Vibrato/Chorus and Percussion switches. I also suggested that they put in a kill-dry so that you can run the YC unprocessed organ sound through a virtual rotary without the need for an outboard mixer/USB Audio device.

It's interesting that the YC seems to be being used more as a MIDI controller for another organ source than for its own internal organ sounds. The internal rotary sim remains a problem and Yamaha has yet to issue an OS update to address it.

Niacin...how did you get the Chorus/Vibrato and Percussion sections from the YC to control the HX3 when they only send out sys ex commands?

At the lower end of the OP's price range...is a Casio PX560 or S3000 worth considering?

I have the YC but looked at the CP manual and it looks identical to me (see page 36). You can assign sustain pedal to be active or inactive per Voice section under Settings/Controllers/Receive SW. The default is "On" for all Voice sections. To the extent you assign one Voice section on one side of a split and another on the other, you could have sustain on one side but not the other....or on both or neither.

Not an expert, but the sound quality of the Steinberg interface in the YC61 playing soft synths sounds fine...at least in a live setting context. My concerns are more about the functional limitations as compared to an "outboard" interface. Let's say you want to run the organ from the YC through a virtual rotary sim. With any outboard interface I know, you could/would kill the source signal and only take the processed signal back from your computer/iPad. On the Steinberg interface for the YC61 there's no way to kill the source signal from going through to the outputs so you get an uncontrollable blend the clean organ and the signal processed by your computer/iPad through the outputs. I've sent a note to Yamaha asking if there is any way to add control as to whether a source signal goes to the USB output, analog outputs, or both through an OS update. Also, the Steinberg interface is very selfish...it does not function properly if you have any other USB devices plugged into your computer at least (using a Surface Pro w/Windows 10). Couple of other minor issue beyond these...but the trend of adding these into keyboards is a great thing IMO. Definitely would be near the the top of my "Swiss Army Knife" list.

For the fun of it, using Cantabile, I set up the YC to control the Arturia B-3 V2. It was a bit complicated (for me at least) as the vibrato/chorus and percussion sections from the YC only send out sysex but once I set it up it was pretty cool to be able to control all of the elements of the B-3 V2 with controls that were designed for that purpose.

Yes...there's a shortcut. Hold the [Exit] button down and press the Lower/Upper button. See page 31 of the manual..."Special Operations".

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.

Got me thinking too and I set this up using Cantabile today, Definitely sounds better than the YC Leslie sim IMO. Of course, if you have a layered/split setting, everything gets the IK Leslie treatment. All the more reason to hope that Yamaha gives us a way in an OS update to allow the different engines to be easily hard panned so you can run organ to one side and everything else to the other. I posted that suggestion on Ideascale a couple months ago. Would be good if they coupled that with a good mono piano voice....or even better, if they improve the YC Leslie sim.

UVI has one as part of their Key Suite Electric package. I have it on PC...guessing there's a Mac version.

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.

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.

"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.

I have a Presonus AR8...think it checks all of the boxes from your OP. Works well for my small studio set-up and if needed, for live use. Has a "Super Channel" (7/8) with Bluetooth...I actual have Bluetooth devices, a tape deck, turntable and my computer all running through it freeing up the six other inputs for keys and guitars. Has 4 channel USB audio output but it's set up in stereo pairs (5/6 and 7/8) so you need to get a little creative to use it for backing tracks and the like.

A belated thanks for this amazing in-depth review of the CP88/73. Just received my YC61 last week and have been in a deep dive figuring it out. I was looking for a place to cross check how I was setting it up and with no in-depth reviews on the YC yet I decided to look for CP reviews because the architecture is virtually identical....other than the organ section of course. The vast majority of the above is applicable to the YC as well. Looking forward to your getting your hands on a YC...will be very curious to see how you feel about the organ section. Compared to Nord at least, Yamaha has taken quite a different approach to creating the basic sounds of the underlying organ and the Leslie sims.

That will test my technical skills but I will try over the next couple of days. Couple of other differences I notice comparing the sound of the organs. UnEQ'd or amped, the Nord seems centered at a lower frequency than the YC so the YC sounds a little more nasally and forward. I'm not a B3 aficionado so I can't tell you which one is more "authentic". The Leslie sims are very different to my ears. At fast speeds the Nord is effect is stronger and smooth while the YC is more subtle and has undertones of half and double time beating. Even with adjustments I've made so far I can't get the YC to sound like anything close to the Nord. Again, I haven't sat in front of a Leslie in probably 40 years so I can't tell you which is more "authentic". For me either is fine but I know this is a huge issue for some of you.

Kenheeter...just A/B'd it with my NE4. To me the Vibrato is virtually identical. The Chorus sounds slightly lighter on the YC. It is not adjustable on the YC. Oh, yes, those are two more pretty significant YC61 advantages over the Electro that I hadn't mentioned. I'm guessing the knobs endless encoders? Yes...the knobs are endless. An additional benefit is LEDs showing speed and position of Leslie rotor and horn.

They just started being distributed here in the US through on line sales. Received mine on Saturday. Have to say I agree with pretty much everything that Niacin said in his short form review from a couple weeks ago. Keyboard feels great to me....much better than my Nord Electro 4. Still tweaking the Leslie Sim...slowing down the fast horn is a must...but it can be done to whatever number you want. Leslie also sounded a little "weak" compared to my NE4 and there is no "Close mic" option...but they do have separate volume controls for the rotor and horn and turning those up seems to roughly be the equivalent. I like the Rhodes and Wurli emulations...and the other instrument samples, although somewhat limited in number, are all of very good quality. The synth section is no Nord Stage but it is very functional for cover band stuff IMO....I actually like the shared EG/Filter knob...I have already found myself using it quite a bit to quickly dial in sounds. You do need to menu dive a bit for a couple things. It seems pretty clear there will probably be some FM voice expansions in future OS updates as the FM voice selection is rather limited right now for an eight operator engine....although there are seven different FM EP's...that was enough already...was expecting to see David Foster walk into the room. Two other things it doesn't have that the Nord does in addition to the things AnotherScott pointed out in a previous post is sympathetic resonance for the acoustic pianos (YC does have a damper pedal resonance "effect") but I'm still very happy with the acoustic sounds...and strangely the vibrato doesn't function with the transistor organ emulations, but you can use effects to imitate. Other than that, functionally, it's all upside compared to the Electro IMO. It has the pitch and mod levers, the combo Drawbars/LED's. I really appreciate having lit markers on every knob so you know exactly where you are....that drives me crazy with Nord...they seems so hung up on making the Electro a strictly by-the-ear instrument. The internal Steinberg USB Audio interface works great...so my computer VST's can be controlled by and pumped through the YC into its outputs. There is a much broader set of effects and ways to chain them. I definitely like the layout better than the Nord...it's more intuitive to me at least...I'm not really a knob grabber while I play but it quickly had me doing a lot more of that. All-in-all I'm very happy with it so far...definitely the right choice for my needs...with this I can be a one very light weight board/no mixer guy.