Sunlight2

Thanks all! Great advice as ever

eric...the MODX is a little lacking in analog recreation, that was my thinking. For some songs of the early 2000s it doesn't quite cut it. But would the audience notice if I used a MODX patch? Probably not. Saving the money is a definite option, thanks for quelling some of the GAS! Mike...there is a bit of space on the right of the Electro - would one of the Roland boutiques fit there I wonder? also I do have an Ipad and have seen people hook this upto a MODX for added sound creation, but not sure what synth modules would give me similar to MicroKorg etc...

In a band playing primarily classic rock but some indie too (Killers etc) I have a Nord Electro 6 73 as my bottom board for piano/organ/sample synth section and a MODX7 for other bread and butter / synth duties on top. I'm happy with the rig but looking to add some more meaty synth/analog goodness and was wondering whether to sell the Nord and upgrade to a Stage for it's synth section, or wait for the Microkorg 2 and add that as a third tier. From what I've heard on YT the Stage synth section can sound warm but not v 'ballsy', but I stand to be corrected. The advantage of the Microkorg would be the flexibility plus the vocoder/vocal fx section (which I would use for songs like Mr Blue Sky etc). The other pro of Microkorg - likely be around £500, whereas I'd need to add at least £1,000 to my Electro 6 sale to bag a Stage 3 (i think 4 would be out of budget) Cons = the minikeys, but think I could cope with that. And also, carrying another synth, as small as it is. Any Stage users weigh in? Is the section synth powerful enough?

I'm looking forward to the 'MODX' variant of the M, which I'm hoping will be released in around a year. I'll get the 7 of that, for sure.

I still love my MODX (first iteration) and have found the Superknob extremely useful - however IIRC you have to first link whatever parameters you want to change to one of the four 'assignable knobs', and then assign the Superknob itself TO that knob, for it to work. So yeah, it's a couple of steps removed and not all that intuitive.

I'm very impressed with the videos above. I've been looking to upgrade my Yamaha P515 for some time and not quite sold on the lighter touch on the updated 525. These look and sound incredible at the price point - £2,000 for the top spec AP750 is remarkable value. If the new samples are a significant upgrade and the action at least as good as the Yamaha 515's NWX (which is now quite old), this could be all I need short of a hybrid NU1Xa, which are of course twice as much and then some.

Exactly my question. If these have the action of the GPs but in a smaller and more affordable form, along with new and better samples as suggested by Mike Martin, I'm very interested at the price point

The Chopin piano really is a bit gimmicky. Still uses the RH3 keybed and no speaker spec as far as i can see in that press release. Nice looking thing, all the same

Nord Electro 6, Bright Grand, often with the assignable piano filter eq set to 'mid'.

Most reviewers haven't really been able to discern a difference in the main CFX sample between the 515 and 525.

515 owner here, also played the FP-10. It's a considerable upgrade over that - v major. The action is the NWX action which some have said is stiff but I prefer for training my fingers for use on a real acoustic. In fact the latest iteration of the 515, the 525, features a lighter keybed and i will not be upgrading for that reason. If the price is good, go for it. I've owned my 515 since release in around 2014 and have no intention of replacing it yet.

Interestingly Andertons in the UK had this on pre-order for £899 last week - it's now £999

This. It was true of so many of the patches, they were 'built' from fairly meagre individual parts. It made creating patches quite a chore.

From a band point of view, I've been happy with my set-up of Nord Electro 6 73SW on bottom and Yamaha MODX-7 on top for a long while now. I buy the cover band soundpacks from Narfsounds as he gets so close to the originals and uses samples etc I'm too lazy to find myself. I'm still on the lookout for something small and analog I could balance on the Nord Electro 6, since the MODX is weak on that soundset, but it's apparently very easy to hook it up to an Ipad and utilise one of the many apps for that, which I'll likely do next.

I use the vocoder on MODX for both Mr Blue Sky and California Love. The great thing is you can incorporate it into a Performance using just one Part, leaving the other 7 open. So on Blue Sky, for that moment I just put the Vocoder ONLY on a new scene, muting all the other sounds - strings, Wurli etc. Then when finished hit another scene button and strings are back! The MODX is truly a versatile workhouse. I've had this setup, with a Nord Electro 6 73 for piano and organ underneath for years and it's serving me so well. It could use better ananlog leads of course, and that was what we were all hoping for in MODX+...I keep toying with the Ipad /app route as connectivity is so easy on the MODX, but haven't pulled the trigger yet

From what I'm hearing the organ in the CK would be fine for jazz/light organ duties, but it's going to struggle in any sort of classic rock setting.

Hoping for a successor to the Yamaha P515...feels like the right time in the cycle, with one of the updated actions from the CLP7 line.

I've never quite understood the concept of a 'rehearsal' board! When I rehearse I use the equipment I'll be using live on the gig - that's what I want to get acquainted with and practiced at using. I get if it's just basic jamming around on piano.organ etc, but for specific sounds/songs/sets, i'm gonna use my live set up

I remembered that and wondered the same thing...surely these can't be it?! I'm surprised and baffled by these CK boards. Giggging musicians can pick up a far more powerful MODX+7 for not much more. And anyone who uses organ is going to shoot for a YC73. These just seem to fall between the two stools.

I would agree on that, I literally only use the CFX sample in there. As we like to say, you only need one really good piano sample...

I was an early adopter of the P515 (around 5 years ago) and still haven't found anything within the same price range - I paid about £1,300 - that beats it. I'm classically trained and find it the best compromise between a small footprint and an action that keeps the fingers in shape, reducing the 'shock' of transitioning to a real acoustic. About a year ago it developed a strange software problem that meant some notes sounded 'fff', almost like what is reported on the NU1X. A Yamaha engineer in the North West of England came to my home and fixed it for free, even though the piano was out of warranty. That's great customer service. The question for any prospective buyers now is when Yamaha might consider updating the model. The CLP645 whose NWX action it uses has long since been superceded by the CLP745, which utilises the Grand Touch S action. I wonder if Yamaha might be working on getting that into a slab like the 515? I'd be all in on that. However, with the 515 still in demand as it is, maybe there's no need to fix what isn't broken...

Good point made above about waterfall v hammer action - your preferences here will decide it. I have an Electro 73 SW below a MODX7 and use the Electro for piano and organ. I was very interested in the YC73 as a replacement for the Nord for a few reasons, notably the decent synth section and the functionality with an Ipad (something i've not ventured into yet). However when it arrived I found it just a tad too heavy a schlep for my liking, no doubt down to the excellent hammer action keybed. The Nord is such a sweetspot when it comes to weight and I found the keybed fine for playing piano (I'm classically trained) in my rock covers band. If I was doing solo piano gigs I'd probably lean towards the Yamaha again but for band stuff, I'm sticking with the Nord. Oh and the pianos in the Nord sum to MONO very well with a dedicated button, although many have said the YC is fine if you use the Right output rather then traditional Left.

I have a MODX7 on top and a Nord Electro 6 SW 73 on the bottom. I tried the YC73 with a view to replacing the Nord but decided against. I found the YC actually a little heavy having got used to the Nord's light weight, but I guess that's the trade off for the Yamaha's weightier keybed. Then I had concerns about the Yamaha in mono, which is how I run my keys. The YC's pianos sounded pretty bad in mono, the Nord's aren't too bad at all (plus there's the dedicated MONO button). Obviously I'm someone who's fine with the Nord's semi-weighted compromise action for piano as well as organ. If you haven't tried it it's worth a go...really not too shabby at all and nothing like a 'synth' action like MODX etc, which I could not play piano on at all.

Obviously the pandemic has had a lot to do with it but it seems a long time since there was anything red on the horizon, including any updates to the library.

I was a little surprised by the weight of the Y73 compared to the Electro 6D 73 SW...it felt much heavier. Probably due to the better keybed.