The Yamaha MODX+ What's New? 

I agree! I know people with Casio keyboards that are amazing! It’s Not the gear, it’s the player.

Most people are here to offer criticism grandpa. Not debate the merit of your autobiography. Critique is worth a fair amount. Thats why we pay attention to the feeds, even if the commentary is mundane. Enjoy your thing leave them to theirs.

I hear a big difference, personally, but if you want much better, Native Instruments Kontakt is the way to go. Midrange hardware romplers won't catch up for a long time more to go, it seems.

Everyone likes it. It’s just that those of us that have the original MODX cannot justify the minimal upgrade for the price. The upgrades aren’t significant enough. If you don’t have one, than this is a cool board to get especially now with the few extra features on the plus.

Me too, but no, the keybed sux as Modx.

Same keybed unfortunately.

Same sequencer as in the non-plus MODX, this won't hold a candle to the old Motif workstations for composing, hell no. Korg is the only one left still churning out traditional workstation keyboards. Roland will soon stop as well once they discontinue the FA keyboards now being replaced by their Fantom-0 series.

«The DX-7 was 16 note polyphony. Do many of us really need an FM engine with more than 64??»🤨 What a question... The DX7 was monotimbral, so, 16-voice polyphony was almost ok. And i say "almost" coz when you play fast with sustained piano sounds, the 16-voice polyphony is low, very low, and you hear that when the notes starts cutting off. The MODX is a 16-part multitimbral synth, this mean that you can stack 16 FM sounds/parts together (Performance) and play them at the same time. But more sounds/parts means less polyphony. For example, when we use a performance made by only 1 FM sound/part, this sound can have 64-voice polyphony (or 128 in MODX+). But when we use a 16-part Performance, made by 16 FM sounds/parts, then the polyphony will decrease to 4 notes (or 8 notes in MODX+). Things are worst with the AWM2 sound engine, coz, while it has 128-voice polyphony, the polyphony for each part counts different. While a single 8-operator FM sound/part has 64-voice polyphony (or 128 in MODX+), a single 8-element AWM2 sound/part has only 16-voice polyphony. So, while you can make a 16-part Performance made by 16 AWM2 sounds/parts, if you want to hear at the same time all the 16 AWM2 sounds/parts, each part must use only 1 element, and then the final polyphony of this Performance will be 8 notes. As you can see, even the 128-voice polyphony isn't really enough for these complex machines. The ideal polyphony for Montage/MODX would be 512-voice polyphony (256 for each sound engine).

Really price wise their about a horse apiece right now if you look around.

My casio privia px s5 have 256 note polyphony

@@montazownianr1 So what?

A question: are there the drum kit in the Mod

Sounds from a decade ago.... Nothing new but the price increase.

@@tiomkinnyborg2289 You can make it sound "modern" if you spend enough time crawling through the GUI. Since it is a synth/sampler, you have very much freedom in sound design. Although, after having the old MODX for some time, I find Hydrasynth Explorer and Wavestate more versatile and flexible. Together, they cost about the same as a MODX-61. But my method of creating sounds is rarely from scratch, I use always presets and go from there where I think I need to. Others need to start with a sine or a saw, which is possible on the MODX, but...let's say, easier on other products.

@@pontram I would not call the modx a sampler. Can you explain to me how in the FM section, Yamaha calls a sqr or pulse wave 'ODD' and helpfully call a triangle or sawtooth 'ALL'? Would it be too customer friendly to call a wav type the same as everyone else on the planet? The UI sucks and the Montage has not seen any progress for 2 and a half years and counting.. Yet we get a white montage and a modx with 'RUBBER' pitch and mod wheels. That is real progress. The only thing Yamaha has going for it is it sounds better than the competition but it is bitch to program as the interface is based on numbers in boxes and spinning a data wheel. No graphics or colors to guide you. No using the touch screen to drag envelopes. No graphical feed back to visualize what you are doing. Just a dated, static interface from 1980. Still they still sell well. I can't wait for the next update. I hear it's going to be white modx with the same guts for more money. I won't be investing in Yamaha again.

​@@tiomkinnyborg2289 I full-heartedly agree, concerning the UI, and before I bought the MODX, I asked myself "will you accept this very unsexy interface, that seems to be inspired by Excel and Windows 8 ?" - And yes, I had to shove myself there forcefully, persuading me that there are worse UIs (Krome-Ex). But with the FM synth I do not get along, since it isn't really better in general than the DX7 "UI", it is just a poor parametric visualization. I worked far better with the CX5-M FM editor, that was at least a honest maximum of what you could get at the time. Concerning the FM waveform names, I agree too, and given what's possible in the digital world, they should have made it possible to select waveforms from the sample memory. Imagine a church organ wave modulating a piano waveform. And yes of course, the MODX is not a sampler (the Montage is IIRC), but it makes mainly use of exchangeable samples, and so I would call it a RAMPler 😏

@@pontram I bought my Montage after hearing it in store. The dynamics and 'grittiness' of the sounds blew me away. You can hear fine details buried inside that makes it unique to Yamaha. I bought one few years later as it had regular and meaningful updates that added more stuff. But, that all stopped. I like to explore the guts of synths and Yamaha seem to go out of their way to make it as difficult as possible for the user. Who calls a wave form ALL or ODD? An engineer not a musician. Why limit the amount of algos to 88. Korg let you roll your own. A synth with 1000s of sounds and it cannot automatically remember what patch it was on before you switch it off? My Roland D-110 from the 80's can but a flagship synth cannot? I thought that would be the first thing to get fixed. (I know that you can go to a setting to choose the program it starts on but you have to do that EVERY-TIME). Every cheap effects pedal remembers where it was at power off. One line of code would give the synth this ability. Instead of expanding on stuff all we get is cosmetic nonsense. The montage is identical bar a few buttons and circuits to the new cheaper flagship modx+ and it cannot sample. Even if they never add waveform selecting, naming what is there to understandable terms can be done in notepad in 2 minutes and released to the world as a stunningly new firmware if they gave a damn about their customers. I feel as though they are laughing at people who wet their pants because they make a case white or use a new mod-wheel material whilst charging more. I like the term Rampler. I'll be using that in the future.

Welcome to the internet. Don't let the negativees steal your fun.

@@wreckage-vs5jv oh believe my I don’t I’ve seen too much shite in my life to worry about anything anymore it’s just sad how society has gone backwards instead of moving forward in a good way

@@bio-metric-1016 yes likely a number of people will agree it looks we reached peak humankind sometime 2000. And why shouldn't the dinosaurs not deserve a 2nd chance.

dinosaurs have their own internet

@@russ254 they are on the heavy web.

There's no difference.

@@caleb5780 Thanks

Yo tengo el Modx8 y me gusta la sensación es agradable no son tan pesadas pero esta bien 👍

U want a Montage! Lol

No. No workstation keyboard does, you need to look at the pricier _digital pianos_ like FP60X or P-515.

Natural S is such a pleasure to play! Sounds better than most newer keyboards out there

S90 still rules!

Yep the S90’s are still top dog.

I sold my S90es and that was a biggest mistake in my life....nothing sounds like S90es.....now i have MODX8....great synth, FM sounds are the best i ever heard, but nothing compare that feeling and piano sound when i was playing on my S90es....nothing

I still have my s90 and the pianos crush the MODX in terms of warmth and body. You midi them together and you’re in heaven.

It's not supposed to sound different.

yes mate

Thought it might start at £1000 for the modx6+ since the original modx6 is now £800 but nope, starts at around £1399 😔

Sweetwater has the 7+ listed for $1,869, but they don’t have any in stock. Don’t expect to pay that, though. They like playing games with their prices. When something’s out of stock, they list the price that you *should* be paying for it. Once they’re in stock, the price jumps by $150 pr $200. They’ve been doing this, for at least the past year, with the MODX7. (Probably, other items, as well. I only know about the MODX7, because I’ve been trying to catch it at regular price.) As of right now, Sweetwater is only offering the MODX+ line, in bundles. If you don’t need a cheap bench, an even cheaper stand, a foot pedal and a thumb drive, that’s too bad, you’re going to pay for them. Hopefully, they’ll change this. They’re not even listing the first version, anymore. I understand that companies want to create hype around a new product, but at least do it when they’re in the stores, or about to ship to the stores. I keep seeing all kinds of new product announcements, but never any products. If you can’t build the old ones, due to a chip shortage, then don’t tease people with new stuff. ***As I was writing this, something occurred to me. If they are really suffering from a chip shortage, it makes me wonder if they didn’t borrow some of the silicon from the Montage line, to produce the MODX+ line…. Maybe?

AN-X someday, somewhere, over the rainbow. Hopefully sooner than Behringer's million synths they've announced and are undoubtedly years from releasing. 🤣

​@@Willam_J The Operational expenses of the Store includes Salaries & Wages of all the Employees, Building,Electricity,Water expenditures & Taxation.

Yes bad keyboard..

Haven't tried it yet. What is bad about it? Do you generally dislike the Yahama style feel? It looks like the 6, 7 and 8 have different keyboards. The 6 looks like my (very old) Yamaha SY 55, which was flimsy. The 8 seems to be a proper stage piano. But yes, I already do have a piano action keyboard and would - as you say - just be happy about the sound module.

exactly, the keys are way terrible

I don't think the keys are bad (on the 61 version). I have a Korg Wavestate, a MicroX and an M3, and those Keys are bad. MODX keys do lack Aftertouch, which is for me a huge shortcoming, but otherwise I find the key action okay. I had to modify the velocity sensitivity for my style of playing (very soft and gentle despite I am coming from the studiologic SL-990), and sometimes the velocity curves in a sound, which can be tedious. But I like the overall feeling of the keys. But for sure I agree that there should be a version w/o keys, I even thought of slicing off the keybed to place a good aftertouch keyboard in front of the remaining case.

@@pontram as far as I understand there’s no improvement whatsoever on the keys from Modx to Modx+ and that would be the main reason why I wouldn’t buy the Modx+ so I will stick with the Modx

Of course NOT

unless you need more sample memory, otherwise no

No, they sux the same than Modx!

@@fnonaka actually the keybed was upgraded

Blue are multi-part patches (i.e. layered), green are single part.

@@Skijumptoes tks !

Como esta teclado no es de aprendizaje lo más probable es que no lo hagan

​@@ayrtoninchejanampa6874 dice que el _quisiera_ , entonces ya sabe que no lo está y no lo será 🤣 y que bueno porque prefiero comprar mi propio estante a mi gusto hay quienes les gustaría bocinas de mier- _bocinas convenientes_ adentro del teclado, y creo que los inunerables tecladistas tocando en público, el 99% de los usuarios, no les encantarían el peso adicional de tales extras mientras se mueven de un club a otro pero siempre encuentras comentarios como estos en los videos más populares de estos teclados sintetizadires

@@Jason75913 Hay de todo para escoger

hahahahaha, no, too bad

You will buy the Montage for that. Which is the equivalent of the synths you mentioned

Mas vc quer arranjador ou synth??? Se seu uso é arranjador, esse aqui não serve!

MPC Key has the best sequencer and sampler on the market for any synth keyboard. But I doubt their plugin sounds can f^%% with any Yamaha sounds.

@@dianevrules Both boards have a high-level of editing … I can make my stuff sound good on either one but you are right to MPC keys 61 is a beast as I stated in my original post.

The only thing the key 61 has over any other synth/workstation is the sequencer and sampling and that’s not saying much since it is based on the Mpc after all. With that being said, it severely lacks behind Yamaha,Roland and korg in the sounds department.

@@nsp932 what are you smoking?? I beg to differ, especially with Yamaha and the archaic KORG. The only one that can give it’s sort of a run for his money is the Fantom. The MPC key 61 will only get better in time. Keep in mind it’s the first one.. And as of right now, nobody can touch it on the market now if you only one, then I might be sort of inclined to believe what you’re saying. Otherwise go buy one first then talk about it. Added: You are correct about Yamaha sonically ..but still I don’t know that I would take Yamaha over Akais plug ins because of the realism & parameters options…Nah but Yamahais the shit with great clean sounds

@@thegoldenamerican So you think Akai on their first attempt with the key 61 is a better product overall than the fantom and montage? I like Akai and I hope it gets even better with time bc competition is always good but in my opinion they have a long way to go with sounds.

The "right" one is always a choice of personal preferences, so it is fine there is more than one interesting product in the market. Like Korg Kronos, the Roland Fantom and its little offspring should not be overlooked. Afaik, the MODX was a powerful und bestselling instrument. I have no doubt the MODX+ will be as successful as its predecessor for the next years.

I am also not very happy with my MODX6. The sounds are good, not all of them though, and they can give you lot of inspiration for your own songs. But yes, the user interface is clumsy, learning curve very steep. For instance I cannot find the way to change sound patches while rhythm phrases are playing. Also the sequencer is designed for taking creation notes, I understand the idea, but I feel better with a normal multi-track sequencer like Cubase. This phase sequencer is kind of an old Linux project called Seq24, but without the same feeling. Lot to improve still.

@@angelocalafato4148 I have exactly the same problem, I cannot change sounds while the rhythm phrases are playing and that is because they made the sequencer to be locked with and specific scene, so when I change to a different sound the sequencer stops. The Motif sequencer was way way way better, and I could change sounds without any problem while playing live.

​@@Venatt1 traditional workstations like the old motifs are a dying breed, Korg is the last holdout still producing them

Yes, the keybed on Modx6 and 7 is worse than the worst. And they still claim it to be half-weighted! On the other side, the synth is very light-weight, maybe it wouldn't if it has a decent keybed.

Works beautifully for me, Rik. I purchased the original MODX7 when it first came out. I've played hundreds of gigs and it has been flawless. Lightweight. GREAT sounds that cover all the bases. Lots of interesting and useful 3rd party patches, too. Perfect for my cover band, trio, duo, and solo performances for hundreds sometimes thousands of guests. I can understand if you are classically trained and/or prefer weighted keys. Not an issue for me. Just curious... what keyboard do you like? Peace. 😎🎹

Website says it’s GHS weighted action. Edit: Looks like that’s for the new modx8+

No need to point that out. Simple mistake. The guy obviously knows his craft.

@@kingtrance307 Yes but he can edit it... that's the point.. nothing else..

Se necesitan la mayor cantidad de teclas sin que el teclado pese mucho. Eso creo

​@@ayrtoninchejanampa6874 si, el de 88 teclas es bien incomodo por su peso y tamaño, los otros dos models son mucho más populares como resultado pero hay el de 88 para autisticos que necesitan 88 teclas, y estas del MODX8 en particular son unas mierdas

OMG me too! About 1 year and a half! I would upgrade it if the keybed was better!

@@fnonaka the keybed is terrible

​@@Venatt1to each their own.

@@lseger62 terrible

Possibly only a few gimmicks, but beautiful sounds. I'm happy to learn to use an interface if that interface gets me to decent sounds. I want a synth, not a high-def Minecraft.

@@schragemusik Yamaha loves you. Money for old rope. I guess your phone has a dial on it and a 1" screen. I mean it makes calls so what is the problem? You can put lipstick on a pig. What is that Dire Straits song again...? Money for Nothing.

The MODX & Montage have awesome sounds. That's what is most important to me. And awesome sound collections we can load in, including a lot of 3rd party sounds. Since a MODX can import all of the sounds from the Montage, MOTIF XF & XS (and original MOTIF & ES models with paid John M tools), and the DX-7 family too (DX-7, TX816, TX802), I believe the MODX or Montage have more sounds made for them than any other major keyboard on the market! The MOTIF series were hugely popular, and these keyboards can load those sounds. The Korg Kronos likely come in 2nd as for available sound collections. I have Korg's in my keyboard collection, Roland's and many others. I also have Roland's VST synths which include most of their classics & "current" synths. In general, I much prefer the Yamaha sounds. I also have most of Korg's VST's too, which include their newest 2 keyboards (WaveState & OpSix). Yamaha doesn't offer VST's or soft synth options, so a great reason to get one and run the others as soft synths.

@@tiomkinnyborg2289 then you guess wrongly.

Modx sounds good to me and the Yamaha interface on these are actually super easy. Way better than a lot of their 80s stuff and some of the 90s offerings . It does what it supposed to do. I can see sequencing it with an MPC and the cool thing is I can track it on one pass being it can be used as an audio interface with the sequencer tracks being able to be routed directly to the Daw audio track

Y en un motor de sonido que no se suele usar mucho

Agreed, when I saw the price I was like, nah. It's basically the same keyboard with more polyphony, which was already enough for most people anyway. I may be doing it an injustice, but shopping around it's basically 40% more expensive.

I would sell mine and upgrade if an-x was added. Or... Maybe I just place my virus on all that empty space on top of modx.... Hmmmm

They can only stick so much memory and CPU in these things before they have to up the price a hell of a lot. Maybe you should be considering a Native Instruments S88 + Kontakt instead? Hardware romplers like Yamaha workstation keyboards will probably not begin to compete with Kontakt for a few more decades. Digital pianos like P-125 and P-515 easily and brutally kill all Yamaha workstations ever at piano. Except the S90, though.

Yamaha p125 si lo tiene

Workstation keyboards never do that. Ever. Maybe you should be looking at P-125 and P-515?

@@Jason75913 all of Roland And Korg Workstations do got Piano Engine. Do Not lie. Only Yamaha Don't. To elaborate? Fa08 got fantom got fantom O series got RD88 got. Korg Grandstage got. Korg sv1 got Korg sv2 got. Korg natilus got korg kronos got. Yamaha. Montage don't. Yamaha cp88 don't. Yamaha yc88 don't. Yamaha Ck88 don't. Yamaha modx8 don't.

@@TamirOrkobysPiano Grandstage is based on Kronos, which does not have string resonance. FA-08 does not have string resonance or a dedicated piano engine. Nautilus does not have string resonance either. I'm not sure about the new Fantom, now that I think about it. I strongly doubt that it has string resonance. Indeed, those Yamaha keyboards you listed are all missing string resonance as well. Yamaha's P-515 and P-125 do have it and are not related to the keyboards you listed. P-125 alone beats Montage and MODX8 at piano sound, too, much better and for much less money. The others do not beat P-515, but I do not know if they are as good as P-125 or better at piano sound. Montage and MODX are synthesizer keyboards for performing on stage, P-125 and P-515 are dedicated to piano. The comparable keyboards from Roland are FP30X, FP60X, and FP90X. Korg also makes digital pianos like their B1 and D1, but they are mediocre and nobody cares or talks about them. To any pianist wanting a proper entry-level digital piano, I tell them to look at P-125 and FP30X.

That's why they are best sellers and super popular, right? Hardly anyone praises the MODX keybeds, they are awful, it's the sound and brand name that get people buying them.

The 8 is an option. It isn't common. Not for me as a tech. I don't rig them. Rolands however? Yes I rig them (08) and people play them for some 6 hours on daily performance/tour. The selling point of modx is the technology under the hood. No different than Korgs cheaper offerings. It's not rocket science. It's weight, power and (live) usage.

DGX???wtf

There is nothing better you mean!

@@Hooghie What I wanted to say, I said, the same duck from Yamaha. How many times can Yamaha do the same thing? MO-> MOTIF -> MOTIF ES (but with plug-ins Board option) -> Motif XS -> MOX -> Motif XF Black - > MOXF - Motif XF White -> Montage Black -> MODX -> Montage White -> MODX Plus. This is a complete disgrace. I did not expect such shit from Yamaha. Solid stupid marketing and lack of reason. I will make another anti-advertising video. Millions will see it. I'll bring Yamaha to its knees.

It requires the investment of time and concentration to get the best out of it. Most people barely scratch the surface. It's a great synth with a very powerful sound set but it needs thorough reading of the manual.

@@fingerhorn4 I have a monatge and I'll tell you honestly that I dig very deeply and this synthesis is weak I have a korg kronos and there really is a full open world in synthesis and that people buy only equipment for presets is a fact of few specific people