Category Archives: Music

Montage M: Fan on, fan off

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When my nephew was four years old, he was positively obsessed with fans. Whenever the forced-air furnace would kick on at my sister’s house, he would immediately say, “Fan on!” When the furnace kicked off, we’d hear “Fan off!” We always knew the status of the heating system.

Later in life, he became obsessed with helicopters…

Please, give the Yamaha Montage M fan discussion a rest. I’m sorry that I ever said anything about it. 🙂

Having crawled through all things electronic from Raspberry Pi-sized devices to 1960s-sized mainframes — and maintained them — the small CPU fan in the Montage M series is not a matter for concern. As many people pointed out, Korg Kronos, Apple Macbook Air and other popular products have small fans. Usually, these fans are variable speed and throttle down (or off) depending upon CPU load.

I’m sure someone will mention fan-less tablets and phones. Apple, Samsung, etc. have carefully considered thermal design and are depending upon the metal body to carry away the heat into free space. (Or your hands.) Phone and tablet designers don’t get a free pass either.

The scientifically astute people correctly cite physics. You want to compute, you got to spend power. You want faster, you’re going to need more power. Think “Scotty and the dilithium crystals.” 🙂

You may not know it, but this site has all of the lecture material for my university-level courses on computer design and VLSI systems. Check it out!

I always did a section on cooling and power estimation because, in hardware, design has three major concerns: speed, space and power. Most software types think solely in terms of program speed and size. The fact that software consumes gobs of power when it runs, is not normally taken into consideration by programmers.

There is a simple formula to estimate CMOS dynamic power dissipation:

                                         2
    Power     = Capacitance     * Voltage   * frequency 
         dyn               Load          DD

The power supply voltage is normally fixed for the given fabrication technology, e.g., 3.3 Volts. Capacitance is the aggregated capacitance of all the transistor gates and wires which must be switched between 0 Volts (logic 0) and +3.3 Volts (logic 1). The frequency is the clock frequency.

If you go multi-core, you have more transistors and wires, and the aggregated capacitance is higher than single-core. If you increase the clock frequency, the transistors will switch on and off more often. So, if you want a multi-core processor with a high clock rate, you’re gonna pay in dynamic power dissipation. In plain terms, you’re going to generate more heat.

That heat needs to go somewhere. High-speed CMOS circuits get incredibly hot if the heat is not removed (dissipated). Get above 60 or 70 degrees Celsius and you’re flirting with disaster. Prolonged operation at high temperature is unreliable leading to circuit failure. Even modest overheating shortens circuit life in the long run.

Having seen the guts of Yamaha products, I have confidence in their engineers. I’m sure they have chosen the appropriate cooling solution. Some people are yakking about passive cooling with tubes and plumbing junk. Save that for your gaming machine. With manufacturing concerns and cost in mind, frankly, give me a friggin’ break.

To put things in better perspective, the picture below is the Raspberry Pi cooling system provided by Canakit. There are two heat sinks: one for the external memory IC and one for the CPU. The cooling fan is optional. Taken together, this cooling solution is sufficient for a Broadcom BCM2711 quad-core ARM Cortex-A72 at 1.5GHz. Montage M doesn’t need much more than that.

CanaKit Raspberry Pi cooler (and American quarter)

Please note the small size of the fan: about one inch (2.54cm) per side. This is not an x86-size cooler!

Yes, there are practical matters in the studio. You should be controlling the amount of dust (and smoke!) in your studio simply to keep your key contacts and connectors clean. Next, I can relate to noise concerns having used a Silver-door Mac for many years. [Hurricane force winds!] The dinky fan in the Montage M should be barely audible. I doubt if you will track it — unless you put a mic next to the fan and sample it. 🙂

“No spoiler.”

Copyright © 2023 Paul J. Drongowski

Montage M APs and EPs

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I’m starting to compare Yamaha Montage M waveforms against Montage/MODX waveforms.

Montage M acoustic (AP) and electric pianos (EP) got a very big bump! The table below has my raw, working notes.

    Montage       Montage M      Strike levels
    -----------   -----------    ---------------
    CF3 Stretch   CF3 Stretch    3       Soft/Med/Hard
    CF3 Flat      CF3 Flat       3       Soft/Med/Hard
    S6 Stretch    S6 Stretch     4       pp/mp/mf/ff
    S6 Flat       S6 Flat        4       pp/mp/mf/ff
    CFX           CFX            9    
    S700          S700           3       pp/mf/ff
    Upright       Upright        3       mp/f/ff
                  C7             5       pp/mp/mf/f/ff
                  Nashville C3   5       p/mp/mf/f/ff
                  Imperial       8    
                  Hamburg Grand  10    
                  U1 Upright     5       p/mp/mf/f/ff
                  Felt Piano     4       p/mp/mf/f
    CP70          CP70           1 
    CP80          CP80           5       p/mp/mf/f/ff
                  CP80-2 Attack  4       mp/mf/f/ff
    
    EP1           EP1            3       Soft/Med/Hard
    EP2           EP2            2       Soft/Hard
    EP3           EP3            2       Soft/Hard
    EP4           EP4            5       p/mp/mf/f/ff

    Rd Soft       Rd Soft        5       p/mp/mf/f/ff
    Rd Hard       Rd Hard        4       mp/mf/f/ff
    Rd73          Rd73           5       p/mp/mf/f/ff
    Rd78          Rd78           5       p/mp/mf/f/ff
    Wr1           Wr1            3       Soft/Med/Hard
    Wr2           Wr2            4       p/mf/f/ff
    Wr3           Wr3            5       p/mp/mf/f/ff

                  67Rd           9    
                  73Rd Studio    8    
                  74Rd Stage     10    
                  78Rd Studio    10    
                  Wr Warm        12    
                  Wr Wide        10

The Hamburg Grand is nicely detailed with 10 velocity levels. Given the change in waveform name, the CFX might (emphasis, “might”) have been refreshed. We should ask Yamaha about that. Yamaha are making good use of the new 128 element per part capability.

I can verify that the U1 Upright, Nashville C3 and Felt pianos in the character piano give-away are full fat (i.e., same number of strike levels as Montage M).

The Yamaha talking points don’t mention it much, but there are new Rhodes and Wurlitzer waveforms. And, they are beautifully detailed. There’s a new CP80, too.

I didn’t spot any changes in sampled DX, Clav, drawbar, combo, and pipe organ waveforms. Why update sampled DX when Montage has FM-X? Duh.

This is all pretty spiffy for AP and EP players. I hope some of these waveforms trickle into Genos2 and the Clavinova digital pianos. I’d love to see that Hamburg Grand in the (much anticipated) CLP-800 series. Throw in a few of the new EPs along with the Hamburg and Yamaha will tempt a lot of upgrades.

Given the range of pianos in Montage M, one wonders about the future of Stage CP (mark 2). Perhaps Stage CP will adopt technology from the Clavinova line — Virtual Resonance Modeling (VRM), in particular?

Copyright © 2023 Paul J. Drongowski

Montage (M)usings

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Just in case you don’t have enough to read, here are links to the latest Music Production guides:

It’s raining in The PNW (as usual) and I’ll kick back with these as should you.

Now for a few random thoughts.

Got the power

I owe (Another)Scott for this observation. He found the following error message in the Yamaha Montage M Operation Manual:

CPU Fan Error: The instrument internal cooling fan has stopped.

CPU fan?

Yes, CPU fan. Demonstrators and punters alike have noted the snappy, responsive Montage M performance. As I thought, Yamaha have upped the host CPU in Montage M. We’ll have to wait for pictures or service manual, but I suspect multi-core (Montage gen 1 is a single core ARM) and/or a higher clock speed.

This means more power in and more power (heat) out.

I wouldn’t expect to find a massive, x86-sized blower and heat sink. Even lowly Raspberry Pi 3 (Broadcom BCM2837 quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 at 1.2GHz) needs a small cooler when running compute-intensive jobs. Raspberry Pi coolers are modestly small and light.

The new Montage M CPU probably includes a more up-to-date, integrated graphics processor, too. It would be interesting to know if the graphics processor (GPU) speeds up the Smart Morph operation. Inquiring minds want to know!

Sub display

I loves me that big old 512×64 LCD “sub display” and the way it is integrated with the rest of the Montage M workflow. The Montage M engineers took this idea from Genos “Live Control” and made it bigger and better in every way.

The Genos host CPU (AM4376 ARM operating at 1GHz) handled its sub display over a relatively slow, 2MHz Small Peripheral Interface (SPI) bus.

This got me thinking and speculating. The Yamaha SWX09 processor (248MHz internal clock) has a heavy weight DSP, integrated display interface, and low(er) resolution analog-to-digital converters. What if an SWX09 handles the sub display, scans the knobs and sliders, and performs AN-X synthesis? That structure and assignment of duties would make AN-X synthesis incredibly low-latency and responsive to knob and slider control. The SWX09 would need to send controller values over the E-bus to SWP70 and other destinations.

Please file this speculation under “daydreams.”

AWM2/FM-X tone generation

If I had to guess (and I will), Montage M has two SWP70-type “Standard Wave Processors” just like Montage gen 1. AN-X is computed by either an SWX09 or an SSP3. Both SWX09 and SSP3 are SH-2 RISC cores. The SH-2 has been a Yamaha stalwart for nearly two decades, appearing throughout a wide variety of products from audio interfaces, to mixers, to Reface, to digital pianos.

Here’s food for thought. In Montage gen 1, the Master SWP70 handles AWM2. The Master SWP70 has two wave RAM channels: one populated, one empty (“not installed”). Perhaps — perhaps — Yamaha populated the second wave RAM channel and doubled the size of the NAND flash from 4GB to 8GB.

The fly in the ointment is the stated Montage M AWM2 polyphony spec: 128 factory preset elements plus 128 user waveform elements. If both operate from the same NAND flash, then there should not be this artificial split (factory vs. user). Perhaps Yamaha added user NAND flash and wave RAM to the Slave SWP70? Or maybe this is all wet and there is a third SWP70? (See Genos internals.)

128 elements per part

As I mentioned yesterday, allowing up to 128 elements per Performance part is a big win for piano and organ voice programming. In Montage gen 1, sound designers often needed to split voice elements into several Parts, 8 elements per Part (max).

This improvement opens a can of worms with respect to real-time element assignment and activation. The E-bus carries note on/off directly from the keybed scanner to the Master SWP70. How much does the host CPU intervene? Does the SWP70 handle element assignment and activation by itself? If the SWP70 does this by itself, then Yamaha probably needed to revise the SWP70 IC, i.e., a new silicon spin and a new part number (“SWP71”).

BTW, just for kicks, someone should try programming a Performance Part with 128 elements. Hit a note, then hit a second note. What happens?

Fun with fuses

Some folk still conceptualize SWP70 as “a big ole programmable CPU”. I prefer to conceptualize the SWP70 as a collection of AWM2 pipelines, FM-X pipelines, 32 or so very simple DSP effect processors, and a very flexible digital audio mixing system. (Of course, there’s other stuff, too.) The AWM2 pipelines and FM-X pipelines are circuits dedicated to AWM2 and FM-X synthesis, respectively and specifically.

Each group of pipelines reside on their own power and clock grids. Circuit fabrication is not a perfect process. The AWM2 pipes or the FM-X pipes could suffer a fabrication flaw. During QA, Yamaha could sort parts into four categories: both AMW2 and FM-X good, AWM2 good and FM-X bad, AWM2 bad and FM-X good, both AWM2 and FM-X bad. Both sides bad is a reject.

In the cases of one side good, the bad side can be fused off. Yep, there may be fuses to cut bad pipes from the power and clock grids. Parts can be assigned to either AWM2-only duty or FM-X-only duty when a PCB is manufactured.

This is standard industry practice. The processor you are using right now probably has bad circuits fused off!

E.S.P. all over again

Dedicated pipelines are why Yamaha tone generators and polyphony are so predictable and stable. There isn’t any nonsense about effects, this or that cutting into polyphony because everything shares the same processor.

That’s why I don’t expect the Expanded Softsynth Plugin (E.S.P) to provide stellar polyphony. The initial release (“early 2024”) will support sound design. That’s a modest goal for PC-/MAC-synthesis. I wouldn’t expect too much — “all the Montage M sound while being limited to basic editing.” The full version is planned for Summer 2024.

As to development, pricing and distribution, I’m sure Steinberg will have a hand in. Steinberg completed a rent-to-own partnership deal with Splice in April 2023. Yes, Steinberg and Yamaha have caught the subscription model disease. If it’s rent-to-own, the price isn’t going to be cheap. You didn’t expect to get a Montage M for a few bucks, did you? You want to play, you gonna pay.

Copyright © 2023 Paul J. Drongowski

Yamaha Montage M8x: Initial take

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Well, my site got hammered last night while I was trying to live blog a few details from the Yamaha Montage M documentation. Thanks for visiting SSS.

Yamaha Montage M6

By now, everyone has downloaded the documentation and watched Blake’s Take on the Montage M. There isn’t a need to rehash that information here. Below are a few comments which are “value added”, I hope.

Bread and butter

The Montage M sound demo should assure long-time users that Montage M continues to cover the basics. I don’t think the AN-X demos in the video will get pulses racing among the cultists. If anything, the Montage M is the all-rounder that we wanted six years ago!

Those prices

Montage M pricing is in premium keyboard territory:

    Model          MSRP     MAP
    -----------   ------  ------
    Montage M8x   $4,999  $4,500 USD
    Montage M7    $4,499  $4,000 USD
    Montage M6    $3,999  $3,500 USD

Minimum Advertised Price (MAP) is what you will see on-line, of course. I wouldn’t expect much wiggle room for negotiation while the Montage M is hot. You might be able to find an open box unit after the Fickle Freds return ’em.

Even the M6 is a step up from the gen 1 Montage6. Gulp.

Elementary

Montage M AWM2 Normal Parts may have up to 128 elements. The old limit was eight. This gives punters a way to create massive stacks within a single element. Or, you can shrink those multi-part performances into a single part. I did this recently in order to make a MODX Performance Seamless Sound Switching (SSS) eligible.

Getting rid of the old limit enables single-part, multi-strike pianos with more than eight velocity levels — among other uses.

Me, the tech nerd, wonders if removing the limitation is software-only or if the AWM2 hardware was revised (i.e., SWP71). Get out your screwdrivers!

AWM2 polyphony is split between factory presets and user waveforms. Knowing what little I do know about SWP70, Yamaha may have enabled the second, unpopulated waveform memory channel in the Master SWP70. Or, maybe they went the Genos way. Montage M may have two SWP70s still; AN-X is either an SSP3 or SWX09. Screwdrivers, anyone? Take good pictures while you void your warranty.

The rotary speaker effect

Montage M gets the Virtual Circuit Modeling (VCM) rotary speaker effect which was added to Stage YC in the V1.2 update. The algorithm has three main variations:

  • VCM Rotary Speaker Classic: Standard rotary speaker effect
  • VCM Rotary Speaker Overdrive: Simulates the distorted sound of a rotary speaker with a transistor preamp connected
  • VCM Rotary Speaker Studio: With three-dimensional rotation

I’m still trying to get my head around the VCM rotary effect routing. It appears in the insert signal chain (below), but is listed as its own effect block in the Data List PDF.

There is also a limitation. The VCM Rotary Speaker Switch parameter is available only for Part 1. According to the Operation Manual, “Only Part 1 of the VCM Rotary is enabled. All other Parts cannot be used.” Hmmmm.

Fortunately, you can put all of the drawbar elements into a single part (i.e., Part 1). That should phase-align the rotary speaker across elements. Drawbar sounds are generated by AWM2, FM-X or AN-X. No modeling.

I still can’t find a satisfying effect routing diagram in the manuals. Grrr. Further, the routing screen above, IMHO, is a jumble.

Them pianos

The Montage M is fat with pianos: CFX, C7, Nashville C3, CF3, S6, S700, Imperial, Hamburg Grand, U1 Upright, Felt. A few of these pianos were released as a parting gift to existing Montage (and MODX) users. On voices alone, CP88 is in bad need of an upgrade.

I haven’t spotted any significant additions to the EP line-up — yet. I need to cross check the Montage M waveform list against gen 1. I’m looking for improvements to the orchestral instruments, too. Frankly, I don’t care about Performances named “Flowerpot Hats” (or whatever) because what the heck do they sound like? They are what they are. 🙂

Doing a thorough comparison takes time and caffeine. I’ll get around to the task someday…

Am I gonna buy one?

“M8x for the pianist”

My primary need right now is a digital piano for practice. I would love to get my hands on a Montage M8x and test drive the new GEX keybed. I want to know how it measures up against GrandTouch (wood plus counterweights) and NWX.

Here’s a few considerations. The price of M8x is comparable to a mid-range Clavinova CLP or CSP. The Clavinova digital pianos have Virtual Resonance Modeling (VRM), Grand Expression Modeling, triple-pedal unit, and built-in sound system. Montage M, at a minimum, demands an external sound system, a robust stand (62 pounds!) and a bench.

There is also the aesthetic side, namely, furniture versus stage instrument. I’m out of studio space and my next purchase will reside in one of our common living spaces, the so-called “dining room.” Guess which alternative wins with spouses? 🙂

Bottomline: The Clavinova digital pianos remain attractive. Yamaha P-525 is an even better value after its bump from P-515, although the visual aesthetic is not as appealing as Clavinova. Just for piano, M8x is a difficult sale.

E.S.P.

The Expanded Softsynth Plugin (E.S.P.) provides an “in the box” version of Montage M.

The Yamaha Montage M series press release has further information about the Expanded Softsynth Plugin (E.S.P.):

MONTAGE M series keyboards come with a download code for the Expanded Softsynth Plugin (E.S.P.) for MONTAGE M, which is a software synthesizer (VST3, AU) that can replicate all MONTAGE M series sounds, offering more powerful stage and studio integration.

We are planning on releasing E.S.P. in early 2024. The first version will have MONTAGE M sound, while being limited to basic editing. The full version is planned for release in summer 2024.

Notice that the first version will be limited to basic editing.

I suspect that E.S.P. started out as a prototyping and development tool for Montage M. Shoot, Montage runs on Linux, why the heck not? Mid-stream, the team decided to productize E.S.P. A good ideaâ„¢.

However, I doubt if E.S.P.’s polyphony spec will be very good. It’s hard to replace several hundred hardware tone generation channels and effect DSP units with software. You’re still going to want to buy hardware. Just sayin’…

Copyright © 2023 Paul J. Drongowski

Happy birthday, Montage M!

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Sunday was our grandson’s birthday party. At age six, this kid is already an automotive gearhead. We watch car racing and Motortrend together. “No street racing!” — your Mom said so. [And, go to college!]

I got him a spiffy red Ferrari 812 Competizione. Lego, of course, his other love.

Kid takes one look. Says, “No spoiler,” and moves on to the next gift.

Think that one over. 🙂

Montage M (emulated)

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Thanks, again, to Saul at Yamaha Musicians Forum. Quoting:

Yamaha has created a software version of the Montage M. This is a 1:1 emulation with all features present.
My understanding is that the software will come free with the purchase of a new Montage M but that it will also be available as a standalone purchase.

Of course, this raises many questions about capabilities, end user licensing, distribution, pricing, yada-yada. We’ll know soon. BTW, only n00bs launch a new product on a Monday. 🙂

Back in April, Steinberg announced a “rent-to-own” partnership with Splice. Could the new partnership bring the emulated Montage into fruition?

Will the emulated Montage M interoperate with Yamaha’s new control surface?

Flash: Major leakage

A few highlights from the Hispasonic article.

The Expanded Softsynth Plugin (E.S.P.) provides an “in the box” version of Montage M. Available in January (at no cost to Montage M users), E.S.P. provides hardware and software integration (editing, use of sounds, etc.)

AN-X polyphony is 16 voices (as rumored). The basic voice architecture includes 3 oscillators, noise source, double filter section, ring and FM modulation, autosync, PWM, 2/4-voice unison modes.

Each AWM2 part of a performance can stack up to 128 elements. AWM2 polyphony is doubled. The 8-part limit on Seamless Sound Switching (SSS) remains.

Montage M factory AWM2 preset sounds (7,620 multi-samples) occupy 10GB of memory when converted to 16-bit linear format. USER flash memory space is 3.7GB (presumably uncompressed). The article refers to an additional 128 voice polyphony when playing from USER flash memory — which is similar to Genos (gen 1).

FM-X polyphony remains 128.

Yamaha Pure Analog Circuit (PAC) is improved with better mids and bass.

As rumored, only the M8x model gets polyphonic aftertouch. The M6 and M7 have channel aftertouch. (Probably FSX keybeds as before.)

Overall, the Hispasonic article repeats, confirms or amplifies the most recent leak. I’m still waiting to see the manuals, especially the Data List PDF. The analog cultists hate everything already.

A few other random comments. A separate leak claims “VCM Rotary Speaker effect and realistic drawbar behavior deliver authentic organ control and sound.” Well, as far as eight sliders will take you, anyway. I think this means flipping the slider behavior. Maybe Yamaha ported the Stage YC rotary speaker effect to Montage M? That would be welcome on both Montage M and Genos (mark 2).

Wonder where all the preset waveform memory went? The “Best of Montage M” screen lists four pianos: CFX Concert, Ballad Piano, Hamburg Grand and Imperial. Pianos notoriously chew through sample memory.

The pictures aren’t up to Yamaha PR quality (resolution). Seem kind of home-brew. That carpet is hideous. I tore out one like it from our first house — 30 years ago. 🙂

Copyright © 2023 Paul J. Drongowski

 

Montage M: More early info?

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Congrats to Saul and the folks at Yamaha Musicians Forum for snagging leaked Yamaha Montage M specs. We won’t have to wait too much longer for details. Maybe next week’s Yamaha Tech Talk will explain all?

Caution is recommended at this stage. Some of the numbers in the leaked specs don’t add up for me and the grammar doesn’t read like smooth marketing-speak. The dealer — who is now in trouble with Yamaha — might have transmogrified the original specs while copying them to their Web site. For example, Yamaha usually state whether wave memory size is physical capacity or “converted to 16-bit linear format.” [The latter is their current practice.]

The polyphony spec looks a little off, too. Yamaha avoid specifying polyphony in terms of notes, knowing that it’s number of active elements that matter.

As to pricing, the leak claims:

  • Yamaha Montage M6: $3,999.99
  • Yamaha Montage M7: $4,499.00
  • Yamaha Montage M8X: $4,999.00

MSRP? MAP (street)? The cents aren’t consistently stated either. Perhaps another transcription error?

For $5,000, the M8X had better have piano features comparable to Yamaha’s best (VRM, Grand Expression, etc.) I’m primarily chasing a good piano playing experience, so my needs probably don’t match yours — and that’s cool. 🙂

Have fun. Exciting times!

Copyright © 2023 Paul J. Drongowski

Yamaha P-525 digital piano announced

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As predicted, the Yamaha portable digital piano line has a new flagship — the Yamaha P-525 — replacing the popular P-515.

Lucky for all of us, the price has not gone up. USA MAP is $1,600 USD ($2,000 MSRP). It is already appearing on retailer sites for pre-order.

The P-525 web page is up. Here are the improvements over the P-515 and a few extra highlights (for the impatient):

  • GrandTouch-S wooden (white) keys
  • Grand Expression Modeling
  • Registration memories
  • Bluetooth audio
  • USB to HOST (MIDI and audio)
  • Amplification: 2 x (20W + 6W)
  • Speakers: 2 x (Oval (12cm x 6 cm) + 2.5 cm (dome))
  • Sound Boost and adjustable EQ

A number of features carry over from the P-515: CFX and Bösendorfer Imperial featured pianos, binaural sampling (CFX only), VRM, and half damper pedal. The P-525 amplifiers got a small bump.

The big change is the GrandTouch-S keybed, replacing the NWX keybed. I really liked playing the P-515’s NWX. Here’s hoping that the P-525 has the same non-fatiguing action and key-to-sound connection. [I’m dying to try it.]

Giggers will truly welcome the registration memories and adjustable EQ. Now you’ll be able to store panel settings in the piano itself without resorting to the Yamaha Smart Pianist app. Nothing against Smart Pianist, but a tablet (or phone) is yet another thing to carry and set-up at the job.

The P-525 brought over the XG sound set and drum kits (480 voices and 18 drum/SFX kits). These are mainly used for MIDI file playback, but feel free to dip in. The P-525 adds four new effect types for specific voices (and cannot be selected by the Voice menu):

  • VCM EQ 501
  • CompDistortion
  • VintagePhaserStereo
  • StereoOverdrive

The new effect types bring the P-525 closer to CP88 territory although the P-525 still lacks several important stage piano features (zones, front panel gizmos to control effects in real time, etc., etc.)

The P-525 adds a few voices that make use of the new, voice-specific effect types:

  • Dance Grand (AP)
  • Old School Pf (AP)
  • Auto Pan EP (EP)
  • Dyno E.Piano (EP)

I noted inconsistencies in the MSB/LSB/PC numbers between the P-515 and P-525 (Data List PDF). I don’t know if these differences are significant. Perhaps Yamaha need to proofread the MIDI voice assignments? One PDF claims “1-128” numbering and the other PDF claims “0-127” numbering WRT program change numbers.

Also predicted, Yamaha have a new, portable triple pedal unit, the FC35. The FC35 plugs into the P-525 triple pedal port. The FC35 is compatible with other Yamaha digital pianos which implement the triple pedal port (e.g., DGX-670 and P-225). The FC35 retails for $100.

I’m going to call it a night and will take a close look at the Owner’s Manual tomorrow. Start browsing for deals on the P-515, if the 525 doesn’t float your boat!

Update (after a good night’s sleep)

I didn’t catch it last night, but the P-525 has an updated speaker box. Yamaha claim:

We also made significant improvements to the speaker boxes. Flared bass reflex ports and proprietary sound-absorbing tubes substantially reduce wind noise, vibration noise, and other excess noise, which helps to deliver a higher quality of sound.

The P-525 is also the first digital piano equipped with an FIR filter, which makes fine adjustments to the phase of the sound. This allows your audience to hear a naturally pleasing sound as you play.

I don’t think they’re lyin’ because I have not seen the FIR filter touted in other Yamaha digital piano blurbs.

The FIR filter is a digital crossover between the mid-range woofer and the tweeter. I haven’t reviewed it yet, but I’ve been playing through a Yamaha Stagepas 100BTR, which features a digital FIR crossover filter. It’s good stuff.

The P-525 adopts the registration memory scheme which should be familiar to Yamaha arranger people. The software engineers overloaded the “Piano Room” button with a REGIST operation, i.e., press and hold the button for registration operations. Use the arrow buttons to navigate to a bank, then press a (voice) button to select a registration within a bank. The bad news here is holding the REGIST button while hitting a second button to execute the selection. This would be an awkward gesture if you’re trying to change registration while playing.

The P-525 has a 3-band Master EQ (low, mid and high). You can select from three EQ presets or create your own USER setting. The Master EQ setting is saved in a registration along with a bunch of other important panel settings. Check the manual.

There is only one thing to bust Yamaha’s chops. The feature overview video demo claims “542 attractive voices.” The number is incorrect: 44 panel voices plus 480 XG voices is 524. Further, the 480 XG voices are really intended for MIDI file playback. There are some usable XG voices, but the entire lot of them smells like the 1990s. I laud the new AP/EP voices (and DSP effects), but C’mon man!

I have played the P-515 several times since my initial review. Each time, the P-515 left me favorably impressed. If the GrandTouch-S action is non-fatiguing and playable, the P-525 should be everybody’s serious candidate. You will get most of the benefits of a full-blown CLP in a quasi-portable package — $2,000 USD (street) for a slab, stand, bench and pedal unit. That’s excellent value.

Copyright © 2023 Paul J. Drongowski

The fair, the Princess and the unicorn

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Yamaha at Synthfest UK 2023

Yamaha have issued the following statement regarding their participation at Synthfest UK 2023 this weekend:

“Yamaha are looking forward to joining SynthFest UK this weekend to display a wide range of hands-on products along with Yamaha specialist staff to support any enquiries.

We will be exhibiting our recent releases including the CK Stage Keyboard Series and Finger Drum Pads, in addition to our more established MODX+, CP, YC and Reface ranges.

There has been much speculation regarding the launch of our successor to the flagship Montage synth which has been announced as an October release. To manage any expectations ahead of the show, we would like to clarify that unfortunately the timing of this new release means that it will not be featured at the show.

We look forward to seeing you all there.”

Princess

Celebrate Hatsune Miku’s 16th birthday with a special Steinberg UR12 MK16th edition audio interface and an MK16th-themed VKB-100 Vocaloidâ„¢ keyboard.

Illustration by iXima [Yamaha]

Hatsune Miku Magical Mirai 2023

Unicorn

I couldn’t possibly comment. 🙂

Copyright © 2023 Paul J. Drongowski

Hammond M-solo announced

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For some reason, the best news pops up over the weekend. In this case, it’s announcement of the four-octave Hammond M-solo tone-wheel organ+. You got your drawbars, percussion and scanner controls, and four-octave keyboard in one compact unit. Hammond is pitching the M-solo as a second board to add over your other stage instruments (e.g., slab piano). Four octaves, though, is enough for real two-handed sport.

“The 8 pound M-solo features 49 keys, driving our “MTW II” Drawbar engine as found in our XK-4 Organ. All the essential HAMMOND ingredients are aboard, like Vibrato-Chorus (C1,C2,C3 etc.) and Touch-response percussion. Our high-definition digital LESLIEâ„¢ is on hand.”

Hammond need to hire a native English-speaking tech writer to edit the M-solo manual right doggone now. The grammar is horrible. Please.

The Hammond M-solo has four engines:

  • MTWII tone-wheel organ (polyphony: 61)
  • Transistor organs (polyphony: 96)
  • String/vocal ensemble (polyphony: 96)
  • Polyphonic synthesizer (polyphony: 8)

You can read all of the Hammond M-solo specs here. The drawbars control mix/timbre for all four engines. You can store up to three patches.

The polyphonic synthesizer is a two oscillator (triangle, sawtooth, square, pulse main and sub osc), filter and envelope affair. No mod or pitch-bend wheels; articulations are produced by pushing the (percussion) buttons.

The transistor organs and string/vocal ensemble are throw-backs to yester year (the 70s).

The goes-ins and goes-outs have the essentials: expression pedal, stereo 1/4″ jacks, phones, AUX IN (3.5mm), USB-B TO HOST, 5-pin MIDI IN and OUT, and something labelled “Leslie FAST”. The AC adapter in looks like a Casio-standard jack, uh-oh.

Someone floated a Japanese price on Keyboard Corner, but I could not verify it on the Suzuki web site. I suspect that Hammond are aiming for the magic $999 USD price point. I wouldn’t expect much for $1,000 these days, so forget about luxury features. Hammond Suzuki are offering a limited number of units in burgundy color.

The big (errr, small) spec that jumps out at me is 7 pounds 15 ounces (3.6kg). After 71 years, I have herniated just about everything that can be herniated. Small is good; light is good.

For me, I see the M-solo replacing my Yamaha Reface YC. I mainly use the YC at rehearsals — quick in, quick out. I’ve used the YC at the church job, when slugging MODX is too much for my health. Several things about Reface YC really annoy me: the fast rotary speaker speed, its chorus/vibrato and the three octave keyboard. Mini-keys are somewhat annoying, but hot-damn, either my left and/or right hand runs out of space on that friggin’ three octave keyboard. Three octave keyboards should be outlawed. No diggity.

Demo-wise, the organ demos have me interested. If you only have time for one video demo, play this one.

Definitely a big step up from Reface YC. The poly synth demo sounds are pretty weak. I’m hoping to get one or two good pad sounds out of it, maybe a flute-y lead. The string ensemble is a little too “PAiA Stringz’n’Thingz”, but I expected that. (Solina? Not so sure.) I don’t need much for rehearsal. And the M-solo will scratch my occasional itch for combo organ.

Copyright © 2023 Paul J. Drongowski