It is official: the MONTAGE is OVER!

[Jose EB5AGV]

MONTAGE Sayonara

 

and there is a final gift!

 

Character Pianos for MONTAGE (free)

 

So, what the new synth will have?. Time will tell!

 

Jose

[DroptopBroham]

MODX+AT, a total game changer.

 

That Matt guy from Jamiroquai recently mentioned that he had been filming a video for Yamaha but that it was top secret. He must've been putting the new AT through its paces.

[Jose EB5AGV]

12 minutes ago, DroptopBroham said:

MODX+AT, a total game changer.

 

That Matt guy from Jamiroquai recently mentioned that he had been filming a video for Yamaha but that it was top secret. He must've been putting the new AT through its paces.

 

Is that MODX+ AT a wishful thinking or is there any news about it?

 

I guess Matt was talking on the new MONTAGE. The MODX+, IMO, will be kept as-is by Yamaha to capitalize on the MONTAGE technology investment.

 

Jose

[OAkeys]

That website says the next generation montage is coming in october. Interesting to see what it has to offer.

[Jose EB5AGV]

17 minutes ago, OAkeys said:

That website says the next generation montage is coming in october. Interesting to see what it has to offer.

 

We can get back to the speculations... VA engine? 🤣

[stoken6]

26 minutes ago, Jose EB5AGV said:

 

We can get back to the speculations... VA engine? 🤣

I'd love that! Joking apart, I wonder if we're due a MPE-enabled workstation?

 

Put the YC organ model and drawbars in there for a win (rather like Roland's Fantom).

 

Cheers, Mike.

[Jose EB5AGV]

BTW, this announce will mean a flow of used MONTAGEs for sale... and that will mean lower prices. I got both of my units barely used at about 50% of dealers price, so they were very good buyings. But usually, used prices used to be higher.

 

I guess now they will be like that, or even lower in some cases. So it maybe a good time to grab a good condition used unit. The MONTAGE/MODX/MODX+ have lots of power and, at low prices, quite a bargain, IMO

[jazzpiano88]

My interpretation is it died due to equal combination of support and maintenance costs and low sales volume.  

The former was likely brought about by the fact that it completely missed the mark in the initial release, and as a result, largely turned into another instrument by subsequent firmware upgrades, probably turning its code base into a complete nightmare.   As much of a nightmare it is for the user, imagine the nightmare the developers had to go though.  
 

Will the replacement be workstation or synth focused?  

[Stokely]

There have been what I'd call some pretty good sales looking at used guitar center.  Not sure the Montages are going to go much lower than that (around $2k was lowest) but probably a bit lower.
  
I'd be more interested if I hadn't really settled into my new (used) NS3 compact, which has all the "workstation" capabilities I need (none)!  I do occasionally hit the limit of two sample/synth sounds per program, so I have to make a 2nd adjacent program, but no biggie.    This new Montage will surely be about $2k over my personal price limit anyway.   Last 4 out of 5 gigs have been single keyboard ones and I'm digging it (With the Modx7 in the car for peace of mind).

[ProfD]

I always felt the MODX+ cannibalized and signaled the end of Montage. 

 

IMO, 8 or 9 years ago, the Montage would have done better because there was less competition.

 

Nowadays, a $4k keyboard has to deliver something whether it's 1) nostalgia (vintage synth) or 2) workstation features and capabilities (Fantom) or 3) DP on steroids (Nord).

 

The Montage was a bowl of vanilla ice cream. It didn't have enough flavor and/or toppings to make it a must-have synth especially given the competition including its siblings.

 

I believe that if there is a Montage successor, it will be a limited production model appealing to a Yamaha loyal customer base willing to pay almost 2X the price of a MODX+ for essentially the same thing.😎

[Stokely]

Well...sorta, from my perspective.  I was considering buying a used Montage to replace/augment my Modx7.   I'm one of those--for better or worse!--that loves good build quality and hates wall warts.   Don't mind weight, to a point--in fact, the Modx7 being so light has caused issues at a couple windy outdoor gigs.    More practically, the better key action would make it easier to play piano.   The extra outputs on the Montage could be very useful for some people, including me if I wanted to use my Lester K to replace the lousy leslie on board.

 

All that said, that's a lot of dough for "nice to haves" and that's why I was considering used.

I've also got a problem with one output of the Modx--both in headphones and the line out, which means it's not the jack--but for all I know the same thing could have happened to the Montage.

Nord manages to have metal and wood construction and power supply with light weight,  though to be fair it's with the compact action.  Happily I've gotten on well with that action.   But you pay there too, so I bought used.

I think the Modx/Montage sounds excellent.  Biggest beefs I had were with stock synth patches and the b3 organ.  Fixed 1) with Analog Xperience and some custom programming and 2) with an ipad.   I'm one of those who got on well with the operating system, which of course is very subjective.

[jazzpiano88]

Some amount of consensus indicates addition of an analog synth engine with CS80 emulation. Wasn’t there some market survey from Yamaha along this line a while ago?

 

Poly AT would certainly be a slam dunk.  

So would a beefed up FM engine to something like the Halion FM Zone. 

[Moonglow]

I’d love to see them combine their stellar pianos, YC organ (with drawbars/faders), a knobby VA synth, a full stable of high quality rompler patches, and a “setlist” type mode. Sort of like what Roland has done with the Fantom.

[dalpozlead]

I'd be very happy if the replacement came with same great synth action keybed, less bulky and (pleeease), kill the "too much post processed" sound feel....

[Docbop]

I wonder if they will make a higher end MoDX now.   Internally the Montage and MoDx are almost the same, one less processor chip is the main difference.  They could add that processor chip and internally the MoDx would internally the same.   That's kind of what Korg did with the Kronos and Nautilus internally basically the same, but Nautilus got some OS and software enhancements.    So both flagships sail into the past and the little brothers carry on. 

[ProfD]

So far, the Montage redux wishlist includes:

 

Knobby VA engine

MPE-enabled workstation

YC organ model and drawbars

Best build quality

Internal power supply

Best key action

Extra outputs

Better synth patches

Better B3 organ

CS80 emulation

Poly AT

Beefed up FM engine

High quality rompler patches

Set-list Mode

Less effect processing

 

The question is how much $K would one be willing to pay for this unicorn.😁😎

[Docbop]

2 minutes ago, ProfD said:

The question is how much $K would one be willing to pay for this unicorn.😁😎

LOL   you know they're going to want it to be cheaper and no matter what they do people will still bitch.... but they didn't do this one thing so I will never buy one.  

[pjd]

1 hour ago, Moonglow said:

I’d love to see them combine their stellar pianos, YC organ (with drawbars/faders), a knobby VA synth, a full stable of high quality rompler patches, and a “setlist” type mode. Sort of like what Roland has done with the Fantom.

 

Count me in!

 

I've been shopping for a DP. Put all those good pianos in one place, sprinkle VRM on them, and I'm a fish on the hook. 😀

 

Just occurred to me a few minutes ago -- Yamaha are updating virtually every DMI product line this calendar year. Stunning. Patience is a virtue.

 

All the best -- pj

 

P.S. Posted a new blog with a few MONTAGE thoughts: http://sandsoftwaresound.net/montage-thank-you-for-playing/

 

[konaboy]

if anyone has the time or desire to watch an old geezer rambling for 10 minutes....

 

 

[Stokely]

Their pianos are awful in mono, is one thing I've noticed (most of the ones in the Modx at least).  More awful than most in my experience.   That is kind of a killer if you have to run mono as I often do.

Montage with VA synth and YC organ would be formidable, no doubt.  And I'd expect they'd keep their built-in audio interface, which sets them apart from most other manufacturers.

Speaking of a "set list", they already have that with the Live Sets (?)  I'm not familiar with the Fantom's, so maybe its different.  One thing that would be nice in the live sets would be a way to organize the sets, inserting performances (there's no way to place a new performance into the live set and have everything move down a spot) and generally making them easier to edit.  

 

[David Barrickman]

Long time lurker here, registered awhile back but this is my first post in KC. I’m so very grateful for this community and forum!
 

I was one of those who passed on the Montage 8 due to weight, went with Roland RD-800 with Montage 6 top tier (prolly would have done the 7 instead if keyboard was C-C instead of E-G).

Later when the MODX dropped I purchased the 8 model the day it came out, once again trying to reduce weight. After over a year of trying to make the MODX 8 work for me I sold it and later decided to sell my Montage 6 and RD-800 too. 

Currently gigging with a Roland RD-700gx (on kind loan from a church I play for) and have purged all the hardware I bought in the 2010’s (RD-800, Montage 6, MODX 8, original Kronos 61)…will be watching what Yamaha  does this time around in the fall for sure…like others have mentioned, VRM  for the pianos; ANX w/poly aftertouch, VL engine (?) and a weight reduction for the 88 key model (69lbs Montage 8 uggh my RD was 50lbs) might push me over the edge to purchase in Oct. I’ve had back problems since age of 12 so reducing the schlep is a priority for me. Hoping to integrate a very recent iPad purchase into my music work too!

edit: forgot the mention the YC organ and updated rotary effect, if they include that in their new flagship (as Roland did with the Fantom) it would make this hard to resist for me in the fall…wonder how much the price will increase…

[zephonic]

25 minutes ago, Stokely said:

Their pianos are awful in mono, is one thing I've noticed (most of the ones in the Modx at least). 

After nearly five years with the MODX8, I kind of have to agree. Pianos are nice in stereo, but in mono playability suffers a bit.

[Mighty Motif Max]

Very curious what they will cook up next.

 

43 minutes ago, zephonic said:

After nearly five years with the MODX8, I kind of have to agree. Pianos are nice in stereo, but in mono playability suffers a bit.

Agree for the most part. I added the Synthogy American Grand library and it made an improvement - that and the S6 are the two piano samples I can stand using in mono.

 

An interesting side-effect of this is that MODX users should be able to load that Character Pianos sound library into their keyboards as well. That appears to have the Nashville C3, U1 Upright, and the Felt Upright from the YC/CP lines.

[Motif88]

hmm…I had 3 predecessors to the Montage - Motif8, MotifES8, MotifXS8. I got fed up with the OS. Not having owned a Montage, I can only hope the (current) OS got a lot better and whatever the “new” Montage is, improves up on the current OS… Always reminded me of a command line AS/400, DOS like interface. 

[jazzpiano88]

44 minutes ago, Motif88 said:

hmm…I had 3 predecessors to the Montage - Motif8, MotifES8, MotifXS8. I got fed up with the OS. Not having owned a Montage, I can only hope the (current) OS got a lot better and whatever the “new” Montage is, improves up on the current OS… Always reminded me of a command line AS/400, DOS like interface. 

 

I didn't have any Motif versions, but it is hard to imagine a worse OS than the Montage.  Actually the Hammond SK line is worse but not but a huge margin.

AS/400 and DOS are perfectly fine because they are concise and well documented.  Very little complexity

 

Yamaha and Hammond are so unintuitive that they require tutorials similar to Photoshop and Logic in YouTube and dedicated third party or corporate articles.   There would be absolutely no way for a new user to intuitively navigate their functionality.

 

Montage's fault, I believe was that Yamaha didn't have a clear market vision for Montage.    Hammond's fault was that they wanted their Organ to also be a Piano and Synth and was incapable of implementing that vision for their users.

[Mighty Motif Max]

1 hour ago, Motif88 said:

hmm…I had 3 predecessors to the Montage - Motif8, MotifES8, MotifXS8. I got fed up with the OS. Not having owned a Montage, I can only hope the (current) OS got a lot better and whatever the “new” Montage is, improves up on the current OS… Always reminded me of a command line AS/400, DOS like interface. 

 

 

58 minutes ago, JazzPiano88 said:

 

I didn't have any Motif versions, but it is hard to imagine a worse OS than the Montage.  Actually the Hammond SK line is worse but not but a huge margin.

AS/400 and DOS are perfectly fine because they are concise and well documented.  Very little complexity

 

Yamaha and Hammond are so unintuitive that they require tutorials similar to Photoshop and Logic in YouTube and dedicated third party or corporate articles.   There would be absolutely no way for a new user to intuitively navigate their functionality.

 

Montage's fault, I believe was that Yamaha didn't have a clear market vision for Montage.    Hammond's fault was that they wanted their Organ to also be a Piano and Synth and was incapable of implementing that vision for their users.

Interestingly enough I do not like the Montage/MODX user interface at all (one of the most confusing ever), but honestly gelled pretty decently with the Motif XF UI. The only keyboards I’ve had an easier time working with are the 2019 Fantom and the old Triton LE. Interestingly enough I also get along okay with the SK Pro UI - it’s kind of odd but there’s sort of a method to its madness (except don’t ask me what “Bundles” are). I find it interesting that they kept the same overall UI for the XK4.

[zephonic]

See, for me it was the opposite. I always found Yamaha keyboards unintuitive to operate, but Montage/MODX was clear to me from day one. And I say that as a Roland guy. I've had to look up something in the manual maybe twice?

[DeltaJockey]

So I assume when people say they don't like the Montage interface as being non intuitive, I assume they would apply this to the MODX as well?

 

I've never traditionally been a Yamaha synth fan. Even back in the early 80's, the likes of the V50 didn't do it for me. I was focused more on Roland/Korg etc.

So the MODX and then the Montage were my first. Maybe I had an advantage expecting to have a hard time understanding the new way of doing things, so my bar was set low. I did find it less intuitive than my Kronos which I already owned, but I had a level of resignation to the lack of intuitiveness, and have always managed to get by with a bit of online research. I won't be selling my Montage8 anytime soon, and the new update would have to be something special for me to eventually consider buying one. As it stands, my GAS has been a bit out of control of late 🤩.

 

My Montage used to be my main controller, but I found the BHA keybed a bit tiring, and would expect the new Montage2?, to have a similar keybed, as they seem to migrate many of these components to the updated models. It currently sits as a sound module on the sidelines, but the things I like about my Montage are probably things which won't differ in the updated model. The 4 line outs, giving me surround without the need for an external DAC, and the quality of the inbuilt DAC. I'm happy with the overall build quality and metal chassis, and use the Melos third party app for controlling performances, so the screen issues are less important to me. So this gives me scope to spend my GAS money on other bling👍

[HammondDave]

I heard that it will have an internal AI engine that will allow you to ask for “the synth sound from Africa with a little Chick Corea Rhodes in it”. It will also play any song you ask, in any style you want. 

[DeltaJockey]

Just now, HammondDave said:

I heard that it will have an internal AI engine that will allow you to ask for “the synth sound from Africa with a little Chick Corea Rhodes in it”. It will also play any song you ask, in any style you want. 

Oh please no! I'm starting to get anti AI lately😒