Which features in Yamaha’s Montage M8x synth have caught your eye? Tell us in the comments what you’re excited to use in your writing and recording. Then, head over to Sweetwater for an up close and detailed look at the Montage M8x 88-key synthesizer from Yamaha 👉 sweetwater.sjv.io/Yamaha_Montage_M8x
In My Honest Opinion as Someone who has been playing and touring with the Montage since its Release back in 2016 I’m a bit disappointed with this release! 😢 I was really hoping for Added Hardware Features Like Bluetooth Audio Streaming For Practicing, Bluetooth MIDI To connect To Other Devices Wirelessly. WiFi For Updating Software / Firmware Easily without the need of a Computer or USB. Also Dual or Stereo XLR / 1/4 in Combo Inputs Jacks for a Microphone 🎤 & XLR Balanced Outputs! Also a dedicated USB Audio Knob like on the MODX & MODX+. This seems more like a Software update at Most. I’ll stick with my OG Montage for another 7-8 years or until Yamaha gets it right or what the actual customers want!
@@judsonchristudasTrue, anyone interested in the "new" AN1X is gonna want poly aftertpuch on the semi-weighted keyboards for fast playing typical of analog leads, etc. No poly aftertouch on the 61 or 76 versions is a deal-breaker. What is Yamaha thinking ??
I remember almost buying an AN1X in 1997! It's not new and polyphonic aftertouch also isn't new as Ensoniq had poly aftertouch in their keyboards in the late 80s and early 90s!
Very cool, almost everything I wanted in this new version. However, never going to be able to afford it. However, the plugin version is very exciting to me. Any word on if the plugin will be made available as a separate product? Also, you mentioned a VST. I sure hope there is an AU version too since my principle DAW is Logic.
If I was in charge of this project it would have a CS-80 model and a full ribbon as the Hydrasynth has, RM1X groovebox features and sampling and with that would crush a Fantom. As it is, it is for church organists mostly and ignores a huge DJ and home musician market.
I always thought I'd be a Yamaha player. All my life I have told others Yamaha was a superior keyboard instrument. I bought a Fantom two years ago bc Roland created a DAW integration and sample pads with multifunctionality. I waited and waited for Yamaha to make a workstation with the integration and the pads and they just never did. I just don't understand it... it's really heartbreaking that I'm really in love with the Roland. I'm sorry Yamaha!! I'll always love your digitals, grands, and uprights... but I've NEVER seen a montage in a big studio.... just saying! 😢
Why no poly after touch on 61/76 key? That’s lame. Why take a synth feature and make it only available on a hammer action key bed? Makes no sense…. And bring back the sequencer that you had in the motif xs .
Poly aftertouch is a great addition. But Yamaha really needs to add a proper piano engine with String Resonance, Pedal resonance and Pedal noise controls. The samples sound beautiful but I can hear these things are missing.
Stage performers don't care, that's why they are missing in all the keyboards that keyboardists use. If you are performing with one of those portable digital pianos with such extra features, good for you, but you are almost unique in that.
@@Jason75913 I think some do, considering the success of Nord Stage and pianos. Like many people I am performing with a Nord Stage 4 that has these things. I just wish Yamaha paid more attention to this since they are also traditionally a great acoustic piano company.
Why didn’t they add after touch on M6/7? Seriously Yamaha ! Now we have to wait for the M+ 6/7 and wait two years … very disappointed. And it’s not that they have not figured it out. They have it and done it. They want us to buy this version now and then buy the one later after 2 years …
It's a marketing decision to make cheaper and more affordable versions. If they are all going to have that feature, then they are going to be at the same price range, maybe with a few hundred dollars different than each other and makes it hard to sell for the vendor and hard to choose for the consumer.
I was thinking that too. The Montage 6/7 M+ will include the polyphonic after touch a few years from now. But why not now? So you buy this one and that one later.. Boo… Yamaha.
Don't get fooled thinking you can play ANX sounds on M6 & M7 as showed on the M8X. You will never be able to replicate the same sounds as shown on M8x on your M6/M7 without Poly-Aftertouch.
Well, leave it to Yamaha to improve on ... PERFECTION -- beautiful!! ONE day ... I'll have this 88 key MX! (I'll be trading up my Montage8 for it of course!!) 🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹
Hello, Axl! Yes they are. The sequencer on the Montage M8x records all incoming MIDI data, including effects, pitch bend, mod, etc. Thanks for the interest! Cody Kraus, Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222-4700 ext. 1766, cody_kraus@sweetwater.com
I like everything about it. I can't wait for my MX8 to get shipped tomorrow from Sweetwater. Hopefully, I'll receive it by this weekend .I wish It would come in white, that means I have to wait another year to buy my second one in white!!
Wow! Finally! I love my Yamaha Montage 6, the M8x is exciting! The two screens, polyphonic aftertouch, the future Montage M plugin and the SOUND really make it a great upgrade from the previous generations.
Thanks for this Montage M introduction, Blake. I was not a fan of the original Montage & MODX but with this Montage M (and the workflow of their CK series) Yamaha has really gotten my interest. majorly. Montage M8X just may become my main instrument, especially since there will be a full VST3i version of it as well. Well done, Yamaha. You have my won my keyboard/synth respect. ❤😊🎉
this is amazing how you call your old technology, new technology. wow!!! game really is over. dividing up a short ribbon controller. it never caught up with the korg kronos. all that and i would still buy it... when i decide to cut back on all life necessities . Congratulation Yamaha.
Hi, thanks for your interest! Although the Montage M series doesn’t have a dedicated “styles” function like some other Yamaha instruments, the “Arpeggio” feature serves a similar purpose. Here’s some detail quoted from Yamaha’s user manual: “The Arpeggio function on the MONTAGE M allows you to play typical Arpeggios, as well as add more complicated rhythm patterns and backing tracks to your keyboard performance. It not only provides inspiration and full rhythmic passages in your live performances, but it gives you fully formed instrumental backing parts of various music genres for ease in creating songs. You can assign the desired eight Arpeggio Types to each Part and simultaneously play back Arpeggios of up to eight Parts.” There are preset arpeggios in some of the included Live Sets, and of course you can also create your own. I hope this helps - feel free to contact me directly with any further questions, and thanks again! Caleb Lowrey, Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222-4700 ext. 1620, caleb_lowrey@sweetwater.com
Thanks, great demo! Questions: Is this synth loaded with all of the same exact sounds/patches that the original montage came with? If not, are they available to buy? And finally, is the texture of the keys the same as the smooth montage keys? thanks!
Hi Mike, thanks for the question! The M8X will undoubtedly share many of the same patches, whether it retains the exact same patches, I am not sure. It has about 1000 more patches than the original Montage, so I don’t think they are lacking space! They don’t have downloadable libraries at the moment, but I am sure they will add them down the line. The keys are the same smooth finish as with the previous. The key bed feels fantastic, as good as any hammer action out there as well, despite also having aftertouch. If you want to talk more about it, give me a shout! Drake Sobehrad, Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222-4700 ext. 3271, drake_sobehrad@sweetwater.com
@@sweetwater Hi Drake, sounds good, and thanks for circling back! I'm looking into the libraries and a few other things and will reach out to you soon. I'm really glad the keys are still smooth, as I've heard some false rumors about that. Thanks again! -Mike
JWXTRPY FM2R4! .... AWM2 WR4 KR 5.3MONTAGE KR4TR2!... I asked a buddy about this one and he said "AMX PAT QR 10 34 522 64 XR27 PAT ENGINE EDIT QR 86" pretty cool if you're into the HW 45 QR78 Mark IV series with the gh45q7S module of course!
There's a campaign to shame Yamaha for lack of PAT on 6/7 could be for the next 7 years & pushing only the M8 in most demos. I ordered the M6 because I have (2) MPE+ Osmose units & the ASM Hydrasynth with PAT but even so Yamaha is pushing this GEX when without it the cost would have been the same $500 upcharge for each unit. Most player can't carry or afford the M8 yet Yamaha flaunts the M8 like shaming customers for not buying that model. Not saying the paid demo people are but they also can't be objective when getting paid. The shame is all on Yamaha for cheapening products and cheating customers &/or forcing them to go big for a better feature. I've purchased and owned almost every Yamaha synth/arranger in the last 30 years so I'm not from the other side taking cheap shots, I am the Yamaha customer base paying their bills. I've repaired hundreds of Yamaha synths and personally soldered thousands of their tact switches like on the SY series alone. I can speak that this was a really sad and pathetic option to cheat customers when Yamaha is the Godzilla of innovation and sound. Very embarrassing Yamaha and to be very clear a "Pianist" doesn't need PAT nearly as much as a "Synthist" or "keyboardist" does per your own advertising terminology. Update: I however caved in to buying the M8x (I do not need a portable unit) and it is the greatest digital synth made to date. Still a shame about the 6/7.
Lovely unit! Give me a desktop/rack unit and I might fork over for one, but even the 61-key version is too large for my small studio. But then, I'm likely not their target audience... le sigh.
Awesome new Montage. I loved my Montage 7 which I lost in the Maui wildfires only a few months after getting it from Sweetwater. This new version just ups the ante even more. I am going to spring for the 88 key version because of the poly AT which I had in the Hydra Deluxe. Gonna give Ryan at Sweetwater a shout out soon !
@@michaelekwulugo8659thank you so much. I am recovering and I am definitely praying I can be blessed with one of these new Montages. Music heals the soul.
Wow!! about 10Gb of samples?? Wow. My 1999 self is impressed. Does this new beast remember where it was when you turn it on? If I am on patch 3002 and power down, will it go back to 3002 or default to patch 0001. My effect pedals remember, my TV remembers, Have Yamaha mastered this difficult bit of coding? What about roll your own alogs in FM-X? No? Just make do with 88. All that power and 88 is the limit. That's progress. I'm sure it sounds great but a small stone in an expensive shoe make the product unbearable. Fix those 'little' things instead of BS polyphony claims. Why is AN-x engine 16 voices? Ground breaking!!
tell me more please? I was going to get this as my first synth, I've been using Cubase pro since 2005, i make instrumental music. this is mostly sarcasm in your comment? the keyboard sucks in actuality? lol helpppppppp
How good are the keys? Do they feel better than Roland RD2000? I have been using Montage 8 since 2018 and want to buy a new one to replace it. Do you have any suggestions for what I should replace the Montage with??
Hello - great question. Key feel is relatively subjective but we found that the RD2000 keys were 4 grams heavier than the older Montage 8, so not really a huge difference there: www.sweetwater.com/insync/keyboard-action-and-key-weight-experiment/ We haven’t weighed the newer Montage keys, they are likely similar. There are a lot of other factors that we’d need to consider before we can suggest a new keyboard for you so feel free to give us a call, as it is a little bit too in depth to go into in the scope of a comment. Thanks! Jason Filloramo, Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222-4700 ext. 1281, Jason_Filloramo@sweetwater.com
@@sweetwater thank you for the great information. The RD 2000 and M8x may not be directly comparable. Before I used the Montage 8, I had been using RD 700NX and in my experience the PHA III keyboard feels amazing.
Hi, thanks for your interest! The short answer is yes. The Montage M instruments have a stereo pair of “A/D Input” jacks which can accept any analog audio signal. However, keep in mind that they’re low-impedance line-level inputs, so you’d probably want to use a preamp or effects pedal to connect a guitar or mic. BTW, love the username - I’m a lifelong Trekkie and DS9 is my favorite. Feel free to contact me directly if you have any further questions! Caleb Lowrey, Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222-4700 ext. 1620, caleb_lowrey@sweetwater.com
Thank you Caleb! I love shopping at Sweetwater. Your shipping speeds are lightning fast! I will hit you up when I’m ready to pull trigger. Nice to meet a fellow Trekkie! Thank you again for the help and super informative video. 😊
This is an incredible feat with synthesizers- multi engine, insane polyphony, and a gorgeous UI. Expensive- but industry leader (the new standard) and professional grade to the max. Sounds top shelf. I wish they would have equipped all the Montage M models with poly aftertouch (channel is so outdated). Otherwise, nice job, Yamaha. You made the CS-80 (or Jupitar 8) of today. Those screens are a thing of beauty.
I would like to know if this keyboard has the "HARMONY" feature that the Genos/PSR-S have, where the keyboard can automatically play a duet, trio or quartet just based in a chord and the note played on the right hand.
Hello, Criticasparareflexio! Great question but no, accompaniment features like this are more common on arranger type keyboards, like the Genos you mentioned. Thanks for the interest! Cody Kraus, Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222-4700 ext. 1766, cody_kraus@sweetwater.com
Everything is etherial these days with effects that aren't even music. Its a great keyboard for $4500. What concerns me is how acoustic instruments sound: strings woodwinds, brass & percussion. It has good orchestral sounds. But solo instruments, I wonder. In the concert grand there is no natural swelling of the over & undertones as they mingle in the sustain: just the usual dead tone in the fade. Other than a great attack, it's just another digital piano. The great beauty of the acoustic grand piano is how the timbre of the decay caresses the acoustic nerve, making the most amazing bell sound to the ear, sweeter than the sound of the attack. But with all the other features it sure beats the old Farfisas. (:^D
Exactly! Love their weighted keys but their acoustic library is one of many things why opting for a 88key midi control w East/West bank and others is far more inspiring than Yamahas.
