Yamaha MX61 V2 still worth it?

[CyberGene]

I’ve been jamming occasionally with a few friends and my current setup is a CP88, a Sequential Take 5 on top with its audio going into the CP88, a MacBook Air with Logic using the CP88’s USB audio interface. We don’t have a drummer, so I play some Logic Drummer loops. 

 

We do stuff like “Streets of Philadelphia” where I play pads on the Take 5 and a single string line on the CP88 😀 Or, say, Raiders on the Storm where I have some simple Rhodes comping in the middle octaves. Or our own arrangements of famous electro pop stuff like Enjoy the Silence where again the Take 5 is my preferred keyboard while the CP is used for some piano octaves and a choir sound. 
 

But man, that CP tears my arms, so heavy to move and large to fit in my car… I can replace it with a Roland VR, or VOX Continental. But they don’t have audio interface. So: MX61 V2. Very cheap and very light. But are the sounds worth it? Is it easy to use on the spot without programming it at home? I like it has audio interface, so I can still use Logic, or my iPhone to play music while we learn it. It seems to also have some rhythms which can save me from having to bring my Mac at all. But are they any good? It’s all for fun, nothing serious, so I prefer a cheap solution. 

 

Suggestions? 

[uhoh7]

 

I think the DACs sound better than the MOXF, seriously, though it is missing other features of that board, but maybe nothing which would effect your gigging. Take along a QY100, you have a band in a box....

 

 

This might be the best selling Yamaha at the moment:

 

[CyberGene]

Hmm, just discovered the MX doesn’t have an instrument input, so I can’t use it as my main and only audio output for the mixer. 

[AnotherScott]

 

8 hours ago, CyberGene said:

Is it easy to use on the spot without programming it at home?

The "good" news is that unless you use an optional editor (i.e. the John Melas tools, or the defunct Vycro editor), there's almost no programming you can do, even if you want to. ;-) But in terms of live patch navigation, you would want to put a little time into arranging your most needed sounds for quick access, to minimize scrolling to get to the sound you want. (Its "Performance Direct Select" function allows you to use the 16 buttons to get 1-button access to your 16 favorite sounds and sound combinations, but you'd need to put in advance time to set that up.) Other than that, whether it's easy to use on the spot depends on what it is you're trying to do. Obviously, it's nothing like the CP88 in terms of the immediacy that comes with tons of dedicated front panel controls. 

 

6 hours ago, CyberGene said:

Hmm, just discovered the MX doesn’t have an instrument input, so I can’t use it as my main and only audio output for the mixer. 

It does have a stereo Aux In, you should be able to plug your Take 5 into that using a cable that breaks out the 1/8" stereo connection into two 1/4" monos.

 

Budget aside, for light weight, Logic/Mainstage integration, aux in, drum rhythms, and a whole lot more flexibility and programmability than the MX, you might want to look at a Fantom-06. It's a crappy action for piano, but not so much if you're comparing it to an MX61. ;-) You'd get a lot of real-time control if and when you want it, you'd get the organ that the VR09/Vox you mentioned give you that the MX doesn't, and better patch navigation than any of the above. Some sounds are better than MX and some are worse, but since you're using Logic, you can always get sounds from there, if need be.

[CyberGene]

24 minutes ago, AnotherScott said:

Budget aside, for light weight, Logic/Mainstage integration, aux in, drum rhythms, and a whole lot more flexibility and programmability than the MX, you might want to look at a Fantom-06

 

Thanks, I've been looking at the Fantom-06 this morning and it's an ideal solution indeed. Slightly above the budget though. Frankly, I should've kept the YC73 or even YC61 which both would serve me equally well as the CP88 that is currently heavily underutilized until some of my old mates call me for funk/jazz gigs and I doubt that would happen... With that in mind, I think I may entirely downgrade to a YC or even a VOX which on paper seems like exactly what I need, save for the lack of audio inputs but where I play we have a huge mixer, so I can just bring more cables after all.

[Yes the Yamaha MX is worth]

Yep! It was absolutely worth it. I have the MX88 but the 61 is just without the weighted keyboard and extra keys.

Check:

 

 

[CyberGene]

I’ve forgotten that I created this thread but I actually ended up with a Yamaha CK61 instead and pretty happy about it 🥳

[CHarrell]

I

21 hours ago, Yes the Yamaha MX is worth said:

Yep! It was absolutely worth it. I have the MX88 but the 61 is just without the weighted keyboard and extra keys.

Check:

 

 

 

I appreciate and respect that you're so passionate about this that you created a profile specifically to answer this question.  😂