That was a great demo, Ben. So great to hear references to Smitty on the Internet. I just learned about the YC88 and am trying one out at home. I agree... the jump from 1.02 to 1.20 was incredible. But until you mentioned the studio leslie I never realized how much more incredible. Thanks!
Found this video yesterday…could not have happened at a better time as mine is being delivered today (YC61)! Thank you for going patch to patch demoing each sound. Your creativity breathes life into each one of the patches…often surprising. You should be working for Yamaha or at least they owe you for this endeavor! I know I will watch this again today before it arrives lol. I’ve been playing for 5 decades and was astounded by what you did w patches I would have thought mediocre. Please keep up the good work…I definitely subscribed 👍
I am evaluating CP88 and YC88. Your vids helped a lot. I had a chance to play a CP88 in a store and I agree with you fully. Keybed is wonderful, I am not a piano guy but this keybed is really the best for piano action that I have ever tried.
@@benallen5967 - Ah! I’ve (literally) just got a K&M Omega (not the Pro) for my YC88. The plan is to expand and add second tier for my Juno106 and top shelf for synth modules and bits and pieces. Yours looked like the Omega but was slightly different and now it’s clear why. Are there any reasons to go Pro apart from the folding legs? Mine is in studio so don’t need the folding option.
I have been trying to decide between the CP88 & the YC88… with so many great Hammond VST’s and iPad apps available I am leaning more towards the CP Thanks for all of the great content and information 👌🏻
@@CremerSoul thanks! Yes, in fact, I have done just that with B3X. The one big caveat, is that you have to have the organ engine turned ON, on the YC, in order for it to send MIDI out to the iPad/computer. But as long as you either have your expression pedal mapped to B3X- and not to the YC, and have your YC organ section volume turned all the way down- and then you map the drawbars to the correct MIDI CC in B3X, you are good to go. In fact, I’ve also mapped the Leslie speed switch to the corresponding fast/slow button on the YC. Works Great.
@@CremerSoul I can definitely comment on the keybed/action. I’ve used a 73, and it is fine with the BHS action, but if you are a piano player primarily, or even if you are an organ player, I would recommend the YC88 over both the 61 and 73 key models, unless weight and size is an issue for you. I have played all three, but I bought the YC88. I’m very familiar with the RH3 Korg action, and to be quite honest, I’ve had many problems with every Korg keyboard I’ve ever owned that used that action. It does not matter if they were “made in Japan” or Italy. The RH3 over time, simply does not hold up (in my experience) while the NW-GH action in the YC88, is the best I’ve played in a stage piano, bar none. Fatar has many options, including their new TP/400W in the Dexibell Vivo S9, and StudioLogic Piano Numa X GT. That is an excellent action, but much like the Roland PHA-50 found in the Fantom 8, RD-2000, etc… it is far too heavy to be very useful for organ, which it sound like you have in mind to play, at least a bit of. The wooden action in the YC and CP 88, is fast, triple sensor, and very nice even for organ. If you play piano, it’s well worth the extra cost for the 88 key version. Don’t get me wrong, Korg makes fine instruments, but I have been saying for years that it is time to get away from RH3. Hope that helps. I also rate the NW-GH Yamaha action above anything in any Nord (I also love Nords) and Kurzweil. If Nord had used a wooden, medium action in the new Stage 4, it would have been an instant buy for me in the 88 key version. As it stands, I have purchased the 73 key Compact model, to be controlled (for piano) by my YC88. Cheers!
Totally agree with you on the 1.20 update. The new "Studio" Leslie is pretty incredible. You can really hear the separation between the treble and bass rotors. I've got a real B-3 and 122 in great condition in my studio, and it's a real toss-up what I might use on a track. Basically, my real B-3 has its characteristic sound, but the YC can be many different Hammonds. LOTS of tweaking possible. And, the FM organ voices take the Hammond sound into 2022. The construction of the instrument is top notch, especially with the extremely manageable weight.
Listening to your thoughts at the end you told me something I didn't even know was a feature, in that the interface is two way with computer samples synths etc. Obviously I expected to be able to control them with the YC but, thought it would be all in the box (through Compy and DAW). Having a two way interface makes this so much more appealing. There are so many VIs and soft synths that I can access stand alone and if mappable to the YC for control, this could be amazing. I have not even unboxed my YC yet so still a lot to learn but the more I learn the more I like it's feature set. I find the YC/CP interface is very intuitive just to get what I want it to do but clearly there is a lot more to learn about this board for me. Thanks for your videos. I enjoyed your CP88 review too. I am however an organ guy (since I was 5 which is now a looong time ago) and the sound and feature set on the YC sealed the deal for me.
Looking for demos, this is the best I have found! Clear, and good audio quality. I know how a CP88 feels, I have played one, but I'm Rural, and probably 7-8 hours to a place where I can actually play one of these new YC's. Not good when considering dropping close to $3k on a new keyboard!
Glad this was helpful! With the new 1.3 Firmware update, the YC has become even better! Feel free to reach out if you have specific questions I can help with. Godisopen@GM
@@benallen5967 I do have a question. Do I lose any piano sounds with this? They would be more compact in the controls of course, but is the other stuff still there?
@@ctedone Do you mean going from the CP to the YC? Or do you mean a specific version of the YC? The Piano samples in the YC are the same as the CP, with the exception of the Bosendorfer sample, not yet being in the YC, as well as the SU7 Upright sample. Otherwise, the piano samples are the same, with the latest firmware update we gain the Felt Upright, and the Hamburg (Steinway).
Thanks for making this. Question about the new leslie. Do you now have to deselect 'classic' every time you change presets or is there a global setting to disable the old classic in favour of the new studio?
Man I must say, this is my first video I’ve watched from you however, you and Anderson TV have the best demos there is! Could you explain how you route the expression pedal to control the pad @16:50 ?
thank you for the video! I am a owner of MODX and I recently found the CFX piano sound a bit weird, with a few notes being too bright compared to the others. I found the Bosendofer imperial piano sound much more reliable.
I sold my Nord Stage 3 and got a CP 88 and I don’t regret it. Way better keybed on the CP. I never was 100% satisfied with the keyaction on the NS3. For the organs I use the Hammond B3X iPad app and the audiointerface from the CP. Works pretty well👌
Glad to hear the CP is working well for you! I like B3X a lot. The major advantage of the YC, among other features, is the killer internal organ engine. You can also use it with B3X, and have your drawbars right there. Thanks for the comment!
Thanks for a great demo Ben. I have a Nord Stage 2 and I'm not too happy with the Organ. It sounds thin in my opinion. I'm considering selling it to purchase the YC88 after hearing the organ sounds from your demo. Have you tried the the Stage 2 and is it worth making the move?
Great demo and great playing as well! Thanks for the video, I'm trying to decide between the CP88 and the YC88 and this is super helpful. Would you be able to tell me what differences if any there are between the keybeds on those two keyboards?
Excellent review Ben! It has been some time since I’ve checked out one of your videos. At the end of your video, you were demonstrating sounds called “My sounds” or something to that effect. How much customization can you do here? Thanks
Thanks! You can adjust the organ engine pretty extensively, as well as Keys A and Keys B. Glad to answer other specific questions if you have them. Reach out at Godisopen@GM
Great video, a lot of work went in here! Could you test (if you get a chance) how well the YC88 could work as a controller for Nord hardware (an electro 6 in my case). The recent YC update added more comprehensive velocity curve editing, but I'm not sure if its only for internal sounds. Anyway, I would love to get a YC 88 and have the option to play my nord E6 pianos from its weighted keybed, but not sure it will be workable. Any thoughts or advise would be welcome. Thanks
I can speak to this without testing it actually. I have a Stage 3 compact, which has the same piano engine as an electro 6D. So, most of the time you don’t have the ability to do a lot of adjustment to the velocity on the instrument being controlled via MIDI, but in this case, BOTH the YC and Nord can be adjusted, and the Nord will respond accordingly. I have a StudLogic SL88 Grand, and even it doesn’t have the same level of control and grace that happens when the Yamaha and Nord are connected! It’s kinda shocking how good the Nord pianos play when using the YC 88 as a controller. Stage 3, Electro, doesn’t matter, you’ll be thrilled by how well your Nord responds. So, to clarify… you can adjust you Nord velocity curve, and the Yamaha will respond accordingly… but you can ALSO adjust the velocity (touch) on the YC, and get yet another level of touch control. This is the only keyboard I’ve ever seen do that. Hope that helps! I’ve got another video in the works of all the single sounds and the engines behind them, with effects. Stay tuned!
@@benallen5967 oooh, i like that answer! Well i'd better start saving for a YC. Thanks for your comprehensive reply. If you ever do a video on this matter 😉I'd love to see how this set up works with bluetooth MIDI dongles on each instrument (rather than a midi cable connecting them). Thanks again, your videos of late have been stellar!
Well thx for the response,positive this brand new yc 88 I got is defective,you cannot change the touch curve whatsoever,stays the same no matter the setting or how hard or soft you touch the keys
our keyboard player in my church band has a Korg Nautalus 88 key with that RH3 action. not to long ago, he was putting it on the stand at church, when the stand collapsed and the keyboard fell to the ground. some of the keys broke, and one of the keys poked a hole right through the bottom of the keyboard. luckaly he got it fixed.
I bought a YC73. I really want to love it as I spent lots of $ on it, but I don’t love the piano sound. I enjoy the piano sound on much cheaper Yamahas, which I find really odd. I am essentially a piano player. I do like the el pianos and organs a lot though. Other sounds are pretty good also. Great demo though.
I bought one 2 weeks ago, and Yamaha has a 12/21 sticker on the box that came to SWEETWATER. It came with version 1.1, but the update process is very easy to do. Takes about 10 minutes start to finish.
Are the piano models identical on both the CP and YC? I’m trying to decide between the two. I like being able to tweak more on the YC. Do the same piano models on each sound identical as well?
They are indeed the same, but the CP has two the YC doesn't yet have... Bosendorfer, and S7..which is no great loss, and I agree that the YC is the better of the two options. I have several of both at my church and we frequently get people asking to use the YC over the CP.
Great question! SO, Yamaha still has room for improvement here.. but this is WITHOUT A DOUBT one of the best rotary simulations in any hardware keyboard to date. Are they getting into Nord territory? Blew past. Are they stepping on the vent? Not yet...but its really...really close.
Not as samples, not at this time. However, I would say turning off the Leslie simulation and using F1 FM organ will get you quite close to a pipe organ sound, with a bit of reverb especially.
Tbh I think yamahas job on these classic combo organs like fafisa is outrageously bad unfortunately. Absolutely a bummer that you cannot turn off gain like in a real Fafisa
