Yamaha CK61 and CK88

[AUSSIEKEYS]

6 hours ago, 16251 said:

sidebar: I just called closest Guitar Center (Danvers, MA,) person said he could help after asking to talk to keyboard specialist. He came back to me to say they that two CK88s. I asked if one was set up, he said they came in yesterday so they are "probably" in boxes. I asked to be transferred to keyboards, he said they were too busy, so I said, hey I just want to know if one is set up so I could go there.  He said it's 98% sure that they are still in box. I asked are you sure? he said: No.  I thanked him. 

 

Ahh you were lucky you actually got onto the store manager directly. 

[AnotherScott]

Updating my earlier chart, including the new YC update and some more detail...

 

 

[Paul Woodward]

2 minutes ago, AnotherScott said:

Updating my earlier chart, including the new YC update and some more detail...

 

 

Not much between the CP and YC now, especially with the 88 key. I could live with missing three pianos for all the extras and the option of a 61 key waterfall keybed.

[AnotherScott]

1 hour ago, Paul Woodward said:

Not much between the CP and YC now, especially with the 88 key. I could live with missing three pianos for all the extras and the option of a 61 key waterfall keybed.

 

the advantage of the CP (other than price for a 73/88) is in interface/ergonomics, e.g.:

 

...on the CP there are 3 sound sections, and you see and have instant access to every control for all 3 sections at all times. On the YC, there are also 3 sections (organ, keys A, keys B), but Keys A and Keys B share the same controls, and you use a toggle switch to change which sound you're controlling.

 

...on the CP, you have direct-dial access to 12 sound categories (Grand pianos, upright pianos, CP elec pianos, layered pianos, Rhodes, Wurli, clav, DX EP, pad/strings, organ, chormatic percussion, and others)... YC has direct category access to only organ, piano, EP, synth, and others (all the rest are subcategories of those), which means it takes more time and effort to find something, with a lot more scrolling.

 

...the CP has far fewer available effects, but each of the effects is directly accessible with a labeled, front panel knob position, whereas on the YC, you have to scroll through a long series of two-letter abbreviations (though as you scroll, the full names do come up on the main screen, which helps a lot but it disappears too quickly, and it's still a lot of scrolling, and you kind of having to remember what's there and where).

 

In the end, I'd say the YC is much more capable, but if the CP does enough for what you need, it's more immediate, more fun to navigate.

[Chummy]

@AnotherScott Do you still have your YC73 or did you sell it? I wonder what were your impressions of it^^

 

--

 

In some ways the CK is better than the CP which is mind boggling to me - especially considering the price...

an Organ engine with physical drawbars on the CK, but they couldn't get one half decent organ preset on the CP? Even Crumar and Viscount, tiny companies in comparison, have pretty good organ presets on their non-drawbar stage boards. I don't know what Yamaha was thinking. 

The CP has a great UI but is heavily crippled in terms of software - much more than it should IMO.

[time4jazz]

2 hours ago, AnotherScott said:

In the end, I'd say the YC is much more capable, but if the CP does enough for what you need, it's more immediate, more fun to navigate.

I feel the same way about the CP. It would certainly be nice, though, if the CP had some flexible amp sims and the EQ save capabilities of the CK. I wonder if Yamaha could (or would) add these in an update…

[AnotherScott]

4 hours ago, Chummy said:

@AnotherScott Do you still have your YC73 or did you sell it? I wonder what were your impressions of it^^

 

Having bought and returned a CP73 (before they added the touch sensitivity adjustments) and a YC61 (before they updated the Leslie), I ended up buying and keeping the YC73. It's a really nice board, I've gone back and forth about selling it as I've played with different combinations of things, but yeah, I'm back to selling it. As much as I like it, I have other "bottoms" that better suit my needs at the moment. Maybe a topic for another thread.

 

4 hours ago, Chummy said:

In some ways the CK is better than the CP which is mind boggling to me - especially considering the price...

 

Four years of design progress. And to be fair, there are still significant ways the CP is better, e.g. its variety of piano and Rhodes voices, smoother seamless transitions, the quality of the action(s), LED-circled endless encoders, the more pro level build (metal case, balanced outs, internal power supply). So while they added new capabilities, they also took out a lot of stuff to get that price down.

 

4 hours ago, Chummy said:

an Organ engine with physical drawbars on the CK, but they couldn't get one half decent organ preset on the CP? Even Crumar and Viscount, tiny companies in comparison, have pretty good organ presets on their non-drawbar stage boards. I don't know what Yamaha was thinking. 

 

I didn't think Crumar had any organ on their non-organ boards...? But anyway, one problem there is that I suspect there would be little agreement as to what constitutes "one" half decent organ sound. A jazz player, rock player, gospel player, might have different ideas about what qualifies. But rompler organ sounds are rarely impressive. I'm glad that when they decided to come out with a variation with an organ engine, they did develop the YC engine, instead of just putting their Reface YC engine in it.

[SonicKeysII]

Anyone have an opinion as to whether the CK61 is a better top board than a Roland Fantom 06?  The Fantom is more expensive but offers a lot.  I am not an expert.  I am trying to determine whether I buy the CK61 as a light small utility board for whatever or step up a little bit.  Any more feedback on the keybed action on the CK61?  I have a 20 plus year old Yamaha PSR 2100 which was a serious 61 key arranger board in its day.  It has non-weighted keys which are playable although I always played it as a second tier board along with the big and heavy Yamaha S-90 when I was using it.  If the keybed on the CK61 is similar to the PSR 2100, that would be a positive from my point of view.   I bought earlier versions of the PSR line for home use and to give to the kids.  I think the action was the same.  Not bad for a non-weighted board.  

[Sam Mullins]

17 hours ago, AnotherScott said:

 

Four years of design progress. And to be fair, there are still significant ways the CP is better, e.g. its variety of piano and Rhodes voices, smoother seamless transitions, the quality of the action(s), LED-circled endless encoders, the more pro level build (metal case, balanced outs, internal power supply). So while they added new capabilities, they also took out a lot of stuff to get that price down.

 

 

I was debating between YC73 and CK88 since they are approximately the same weight.  I would have loved to have the action, better organ, and better build of the YC73.  But the things that made me choose CK88 were:

 

- Decided I really needed have 88 keys to easily cover all the splits I do on some songs.

- I wanted the expanded sound palette.  As I said earlier, this is part of a larger project to replace a Stage/Kronos rig with CK88/Arturia controller/iPad.  I'm heavily dependent on the Kronos for non-keyboard sounds.  So in the event of of iPad flakiness I wanted to cover the majority of the songs with just the CK88.  That would not have been possible with YC73.

 

It's illustrative of a larger principle:  it could be reasonably argued that the YC73 is a "better" keyboard than the CK88 for traditional live usage.  But the CK88 just fit my use case better and I have to live with the compromises (mostly the action.)

  

[dtb200]

23 hours ago, SonicKeysII said:

Anyone have an opinion as to whether the CK61 is a better top board than a Roland Fantom 06?  The Fantom is more expensive but offers a lot.  I am not an expert.  I am trying to determine whether I buy the CK61 as a light small utility board for whatever or step up a little bit.  Any more feedback on the keybed action on the CK61?  I have a 20 plus year old Yamaha PSR 2100 which was a serious 61 key arranger board in its day.  It has non-weighted keys which are playable although I always played it as a second tier board along with the big and heavy Yamaha S-90 when I was using it.  If the keybed on the CK61 is similar to the PSR 2100, that would be a positive from my point of view.   I bought earlier versions of the PSR line for home use and to give to the kids.  I think the action was the same.  Not bad for a non-weighted board.  

CK61 keyboard is better than MODX6/7 but not as good as Montage (unsurprisingly given cost etc). CK61 packs a lot in and has a good UI.  I have one but may exchange it for a Roland VR-730 for the 73 keys and for a different (slightly weighted waterfall) action. 

[SonicKeysII]

Thanks for your comments.  Ironically, I am currently using a Roland VR-09 as a top board and thinking of getting the CK-61 to replace it.  Not sure if that is the right way to go or not.  Thinking of a Numa X Piano 73 as a replacement bottom board.  Looking for light and compact equipment.

[LarsHarner2]

On 4/25/2023 at 10:47 PM, SonicKeysII said:

Thanks for your comments.  Ironically, I am currently using a Roland VR-09 as a top board and thinking of getting the CK-61 to replace it.  Not sure if that is the right way to go or not.  Thinking of a Numa X Piano 73 as a replacement bottom board.  Looking for light and compact equipment.

For me right now, it has been a good choice. The ability to have speakers built in as well as batteries opens up more flexibility for me. 

[allan_evett]

Curiousity overcame the 2+ hours one-way drive, so I made the trip to check this out yesterday (among a couple other options). I've been looking to do some herd-thinning/rig condensing.  I can work with the action, especially for stage gigs; was pleasantly surprised at that, considering some of the press received so far.  The sound is quite good, stellar for quite a few patches.  Though the organ tones are not model-based -  like the YC88, the rotary sim is stronger than I expected; option B is very capable choice.  

This instrument says, " Put me under one arm and walk into a jam night "; though it could easily cover most pro situations I've encountered. 

Yep, I brought one home...

[Docbop]

Congrats on picking one up.     I keep thinking about the CK61 at only 12 pounds with speakers as perfect practicing and experiment anywhere board.   

[Sam Mullins]

1 hour ago, allan_evett said:

 

I can work with the action, especially for stage gigs; was pleasantly surprised at that, considering some of the press received so far.  The sound is quite good, stellar for quite a few patches.  Though the organ tones are not model-based -  like the YC88, the rotary sim is stronger than I expected; option B is very capable choice.  

This instrument says, " Put me under one arm and walk into a jam night "; though it could easily cover most pro situations I've encountered. 

Yep, I brought one home...

Congrats!  I’ve definitely decided to keep mine.  Next Saturday will be last gig on Stage/Kronos.  After that will be CK88/Arturia Keylab/iPad. 

[pawelsz]

Comparison between CK61 and CT-S1, CT-S1000V, FANTOM-06, PSR-E373, Reface CP. You may find this interesting especially CK61 vs Fantom-06 or Reface CP.

 

 

[N28]

Which is powerful Keyboard YAMAHA MODX+ or YAMAHA CK ??

[ProfD]

16 hours ago, N28 said:

Which is powerful Keyboard YAMAHA MODX+ or YAMAHA CK ??

MODX+ is more powerful as it offers synthesis, sample import and sequencing capability.😎

[AnotherScott]

3 hours ago, ProfD said:

MODX+ is more powerful as it offers synthesis, sample import and sequencing capability.😎

and even more than that!

 

MODX+ is about tons of flexibility, CK is about addressing the most common performance-related needs most easily.

[Jose EB5AGV]

Just released by Yamaha Synths

 

Dan Rouse CK61 - Perplexed

 

 

 

[CyberGene]

1 hour ago, Jose EB5AGV said:

Just released by Yamaha Synths

Wow, very nice! The Moogish lead at 2:31 is wonderful.

 

Has anyone tested how loud the speakers are? Are they enough for playing with non-amplified instruments such as an acoustic guitar and bass? Or are they just for convenience?

[Sam Mullins]

18 minutes ago, CyberGene said:

 

Has anyone tested how loud the speakers are? Are they enough for playing with non-amplified instruments such as an acoustic guitar and bass? Or are they just for convenience?

Yes, if you want to practice or perform for 10 people in a living room.  For a coffee shop gig (with background noise), I would say no. 

[ewall08530]

57 minutes ago, CyberGene said:

Wow, very nice! The Moogish lead at 2:31 is wonderful.

 

Has anyone tested how loud the speakers are? Are they enough for playing with non-amplified instruments such as an acoustic guitar and bass? Or are they just for convenience?

I have the CK 61 and I believe there’s enough volume from the internal speakers to keep up with a couple acoustic guitars or acoustic and upright bass. 

[Jose EB5AGV]

Another demo:

 

 

[franky64]

On 4/26/2023 at 4:47 AM, SonicKeysII said:

a Roland VR-09 as a top board and thinking of getting the CK-61 to replace it.  Not sure if that is the right way to go or not. 

thought about the same for a brieve moment, for 'upgrading' to an all-in-one board with usable acoustic pianos        
Under this aspect it's probably a good choice when compared to VR 'factory-only' options.
BUT the short gas attack was followed by 'grouding': with its hidden options VR is an unbeatable beast, I'd miss the dbeam, I'd miss the joystick-leslieswitch - and as it's combined to a stage-DP, the horrible VR-APs might be annoying as such, but in the real world setup they aren't used anyway.

 

[AnotherScott]

On 4/25/2023 at 10:47 PM, SonicKeysII said:

I am currently using a Roland VR-09 as a top board and thinking of getting the CK-61 to replace it.  Not sure if that is the right way to go or not. 

 

off-hand... I'd give the Roland the edge on organ and (of course) VA synth. Sampled sounds are a mix... I'd say Yamaha for pianos/EPs, and for the rest, I'd probably prefer some sounds on one and some on the other. The biggest CK advantages might be in functionalities, as opposed to sounds. Like...

 

... 3 split/layered sounds, each with their own effects (as opposed to 2 split/layered sounds*, with shared effects)

... 8 direct patch select buttons vs. 4, and patches also selectable over MIDI

... 4 external MIDI zones instead of 1 (but, alas, no front panel volume controls for these sounds, on either board)

... built-in speakers

... built in audio interface

 

( * - you can go beyond the 2-sound limit with the excellent freeware editor, but you still have limitations, e.g. in terms of the effects, or not being able to independently adjust the levels of the split/layered sounds during performance)

[Adan]

My CK61 arrived a couple hours ago, just in time for my outdoor gig tonight.  I might be able to run power to my rig tonight but it's uncertain and with the CK I have a solid battery backup lan.  I mostly got the CK for future gigs where battery power will be a necessity, but just to enjoy that out-of-the-box-and-onto-the-stage buzz, I'll take it tonight.

 

First impressions: the action is different and I'd say a bit better than the MODX.  I'm thinking mainly of the dynamic control for piano, which on the MODX is pretty challenging.  The CK 61 is better in this regard, though it's also noticeably inferior to the unweighted keyboard of the YC61.  But for this price point it's a decent feel and the mechanism is quieter (less clacky) than the MODX.  Keys are standard Yamaha size (smaller than other brands).

 

I much prefer the keys of the CK to the Roland VR09.

 

The operating system is very easy intuitive.  This is a well-designed stage keyboard.

 

One of the first things ai did was run BX3 via USB including drawbars.  Works very nicely. 

 

That's important because, through headphones at least, I'm not jazzed about the onboard Hammond/emulation.  The chorus and leslie seem are improved from the Reface YC, but that's a very low bar to exceed.  The Leslie sim sounds too pronounced (i.e., close-mic'd) through headphones.  First impression is I'd use the organ only in a pinch if B3X or VB3 flakes out.

 

I played through the speakers for a minute.  First impression is I wouldn't want to use them for any performance, and they wouldn't be loud enough anyway, but for rehearsing with a couple guitar players they're more than adequate.

 

I think the CK61 is a keeper.  As a battery powered gig-worthy keyboard, I feel this is probably the best I can do.

 

OK, off to the gig . . .

[HSS]

7 hours ago, CyberGene said:

 

Has anyone tested how loud the speakers are? Are they enough for playing with non-amplified instruments such as an acoustic guitar and bass? Or are they just for convenience?

I played a Yamaha CK88 next to Yamaha P125 at a local GC last week.  IMO the P125's speakers were noticeably louder and had more bass response than the CK's. 

 

FWIW... The published specs for the speakers on both boards support my impression.

[AUSSIEKEYS]

5 hours ago, Adan said:

My CK61 arrived a couple hours ago, just in time for my outdoor gig tonight.

OK, off to the gig . . .

 

Please report back. Cheers

[Adan]

well I had a good experience on the first gig with the CK61.  Really enjoyed playing B3X with it, everything works as it should and is easy.  Only took a few minutes to set up splits with B3X and pianos, rhodes, and wurly, which was all i needed for this gig. 

 

I tried out the CK's organ to see how it would sound through speakers in a band environment.  Not very pleased with it.  The basic tone is fine, but aside from the that pretty much everything else is flawed to a degree I can't ignore.  You can take that with a grain of salt, given I'm a typical Hammond snob who's owned the real thing, and currently has a Viscount Soul (which was not worth bringing out for this little gig).  On the other hand, I've gigged with the organ on the VR09 and found it acceptable, so my standards are not totally inflexible.

 

But if you're willing to spend the money on an app, even just the VB3, and plug your phone in, those issues fade away.  My setup had the CK's organ ready to go on backup, with the volume at zero.  If B3X had kicked the bucket, as it sometimes does, I would have have been playing the CK's organ in a matter of seconds.

 

I found the action on the CK worked very well for rhodes and wurly.  Piano was more of. a struggle, but that was consistent with my expectations.  As I said above, I think the CK's keyboard is a bit better for playing APs than the keys on the MODX.  The shortcomings would be exposed on a solo piano gig, but not so much in a band context.