# Nice new toy for roughly msrp $3500,- Yamaha montage--61 /76 /88 key versions



## Silence-is-Golden (Jan 27, 2016)

did any of you missed this from Namm 2016?

If you are into it, the new Yamaha Montage is a very nice toy, but with attractive features!
Have a look at:

http://usa.yamaha.com/news_events/music_production/yamaha_montage_synthesizer/

Or at:
http://m.usa.yamaha.com/products/mu...ers-workstations/montage-series/montage6.html

And if you want a good contemporary demo from a nice yamaha enthousiast from gear4music:

http://www.gear4music.com/news/article/WTACH-NAMM-2016-Yamaha-Unveil-Unique-Flagship-MONTAGE-Synthesizers/6T3/2016-01-21

Nice videos show off what it can do.....

A good step up in features: it records all 16 sequencer/ audio tracks seperately into your DAW via USB.
There will be an accompanying app so more exchange storage is possible.

No, I am not sponsored by yamaha , it is the gear junky in me that is excited.

nb
It looks like a kind of Omnisphere like hardware-software integration synthesizer..... if I could compare it to excisting products....

And most of all: it has a got a ..............
SUPERKNOB......(bling bling)


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## germancomponist (Jan 27, 2016)

I am very impressed, and would also get a new masterkeyboard with it, the 76 version ... . And there is a vst-plugin what you get, maybe to control it or whatever.


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## Silence-is-Golden (Jan 31, 2016)

no other synth junkie xl out there that was even a tad excited about this synth????


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## Ian Dorsch (Feb 1, 2016)

Oooh, this looks cool. I especially got a little nostalgic charge out of the Motion Sequencing feature, which seems a lot like a spiritual successor to wave sequences from the old Korg Wavestation.


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## Nachivnik (Feb 3, 2016)

The motion stuff seems a lot like what is available in Omnisphere. It's fun and it sounds cool, but it's a lot of push and hold type of keyboard playing. You watch the videos and there is not a lot of finger movement going on.


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## Silence-is-Golden (Feb 3, 2016)

That's also why I think its a kind of toy, .............albeit a very nice one, with good sound and features......and pricetag.

And I don't know who is at the marketing 'knobs' at yamaha, but if they come up with .... Superknob..............!!!!! 

Its not a plane...its not a train........ Its ..... Superknob!!!!!
Superfun eh???


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## Nachivnik (Feb 4, 2016)

In some of the discussions about the Montage, some seemed to get the idea that comparing it with Omnisphere and FM8 was a slight on its sound quality. Quite the contrary, in my opinion. I think it sounds great, and I also do think I would love playing around with the motion control stuff, just like I do with Omnisphere. People have been asking for soft synth features to be brought to hardware, and here it is.

I was surprised at the price, considering they removed the sequencer and sampling, and some of the audio outputs. However, they added a USB audio interface, more samples, and an FM synthesizer. The price made more sense when I saw what Yamaha FS1R modules are going for on eBay.

In subsequent postings from Yamaha reps, their rationale for removing the sequencer is making more sense, too. The MOXF is the price-point for workstations. Meanwhile, synths are going up in price. If it had a sequencer and sampling, it would be a workstation. It seems like they actually had to remove them to put the synth in the right category to charge a higher price.

So, they didn't want to compete with the Kronos. My disappointment with the Montage was in what I had hoped it would be. A mini-Cubase inside, possibly even VST support. But, then, in my imaginings, I thought it could be better to just have good synthesis, rather than multiple synth engines, a la Kronos. Seeing the larger sample library as well as the addition of FM-X, I was thinking this thing could be amazing. But, no sequencer means it keeps me enslaved to my computer, at which point, I wonder if I might just be better off staying in the box. Unless...

I think it is a synth that will have to be played. That's the point behind the Knob of Superness. It has the top-of-the-line Yamaha keybeds, build quality, FM engine (the FS1R's still garner some $ on eBay, and this is an improvement on it). So, I don't think it should be ruled out based upon video demos. But I was hoping for a hopped up workstation that could lure me away from my computer. Maybe that's just not possible anymore. The Montage represents a capitulation to the computer-based system with the Montage as a hardware player in that environment. Not a standalone alternative. Maybe that concept is just a fantasy now.


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## dpasdernick (Feb 14, 2016)

Silence-is-Golden said:


> That's also why I think its a kind of toy, .............albeit a very nice one, with good sound and features......and pricetag.
> 
> And I don't know who is at the marketing 'knobs' at yamaha, but if they come up with .... Superknob..............!!!!!
> 
> ...




With all due respect calling this a toy seems naive. 8 operator FM synthesis in this type of hardware makes FM8 look like the "toy". Add to that the AWM2 sounds and synthesis and the sophisticated programming with the motion control etc and you've got a very powerful synth. Not to mention it comes with a keyboard, a touchscreen, sliders, knobs etc. You can gig with it. Plus Yamaha owns Steinberg so I bet it will integrate well with Cubase and other DAWS like their MOXF8 does. These musical instruments are "real"... tangible... visceral... not some downloaded library. Yes it's expensive but if Omnisphere came with the hardware this thing has it would be just as pricey.

I've been buying a bunch of hardware lately and, for me, there is more musicality in it than some of these 20 gigabyte software libs. You're mileage may vary.


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