I can’t thank you enough for taking me on this journey. I am definitely going to buy one based on your video. I really appreciate your time and effort to make this. No typical video can cover the scope of all this keyboard can do. You really gave us a comprehensive tour. Much appreciated!
Thank you sooo much for this very comprehensive overview of this keyboard. Your video confirms that this (well, the YC73) is what I need to get hold of now that my Rhodes Stage 73 and Wurly EP200A are permanently resident at my son's flat! I'm now faced with the issue of scraping together the £2000 to buy one. In the meantime, my Hammond XK1 and Yamaha Reface CP are trying to cover the bases at band rehearsals and gigs. They're not doing too badly, but the YC73 would be an all-in-one solution, with many extra bells, whistles, and wonderful piano samples too. One day.... (wistful sigh)
Same here :( My back is getting less and less excited to wear all the keyboard gear. I can choose either to become a guitarist or to go sick to an all inn keyboard.
Wonderful Video. Thank you for taking the time !! Ben, I was bummed about the F1thru F6 organ not having vibrato UNTIL I moved the 'MODULATION LEVER There it is !!
@@benallen5967 - not going to hassle you about which keyboard to buy, I already have the YC88. Purchased mine before this video was published. Your review of the CP88 had something to do with that, the organ feature was too good to pass up for me and I had the benefit of knowing that the rotary sim had been improved through update before I purchased. It's just nice to see someone who seems to be looking for similar things in a board. I agree, that in the current crop of offerings the YC88 is an excellent option (obviously, I think that). Where I live the Nord Stage 3 is just under twice the price. There are a few things I don't like with the Nord but that's just my opinion and personal taste. Nothing that I don't like about the Yamaha and only a couple that I think could be improved (cough) pipe organ (cough). It has a very solid sound set and a feature set that exceeds what I was looking for. So far so good.
I couldn't agree more - the Studio rotary DOES make the YC series worth buying, because the other two were awful and ruined an otherwise great keyboard because (as you say) the lack of assignable outputs meant you couldn't even use an external simulator if you wanted to use two different sounds at once. I'm a Nord (C2D) player as well, and a staunch advocate of the old grey case Ventilator Mk1 and the YC has gone from ruined to best in class just with that 1.2 update. Your comment 'you can get the sound with a Nord and Vent but not just a Nord' was the last bit of a push I need to get the credit card out and try a YC(61 in my case). Great video!
Great Video! Thanks for going so in-depth. I have a Kronos 2 - 88 and an old Nord Electro 2 with a Mk 1 Vent which I've been wanting to upgrade to a YC73 or YC61. I liked the key action on the 73 as a compromise between waterfall and piano keys...tough call. Nice playing too!
God bless you ,Thank you so much!,lovely demonstrations and playing ,probably gonna get the 73 version as it suits me better , Do you have any of your own sounds on Soundmondo ?
Great playing and sound manipulation skills here, Ben. It’s like you’ve owned this thing for a decade. My Electro 2 is wonked out so now I’m unfortunately faced with replacing it and I’m not keen on going Nord again as their customer service has been somewhat abysmal. Yamaha has always been solid as a rock with everything they make, even their entry level instruments. This thing sounds so good especially with the firmware updates.
@@folk49lol no. Trying to determine if it can be repaired, it’s my baby. It ain’t looking good though, in my area in the US there’s almost nobody who knows how to work on them.
Very nice instrument. Beautifully made all around. What's not to like? It's fantastic. But, I wish the instrument had a little bit more comprehensive i.e. fully editable FM engine, and the same goes for the AWM2 engine, too. You know, something editable from say a PC editor. I don't want Yamaha to change absolutely anything about the YC's front panel, because it's perfect. Having said that, I wonder if Yamaha plans to release, say DX88 and/or CS88 to address fully editable FM and subtractive synthesizer engines, respectively.
I have owned the YC88 for 1 year and of all the stage pianos I have owned or played this is by far the best all-around performance board... actually I should include that just for the pleasure of playing as well it is the best. With the 1.2 OS update, I think it is now surpassed all boards that were even close including the RED ones which it beat out of the gate. Great video showing off it's amazing abilities and quality sounds.
@@abrahamsg8318 No it does not but If you are a performing musician, who needs 8 layers?? High quality sounds and a couple to 3 layers is all I need on stage. Same reason the Nord 4 would be useless to me. I want the better action of the Yamaha, excellent organ section and multiple quality sounds and will take those any day over half assed action and a bunch of useless sounds
@@golfingfinatic 100% get the Yamaha YC88. It has the excellent action with the wooden key feel. Multiple pianos that sound amazing and they keep adding more, plus the organs that make the CP88 sound bad in comparison. It is an absolute pleasure to play. I did demo the CP88 when it came out and backed off mostly due to the cheap organ sounds. I bought the Krog Grandsatage { great board} and when the YC came out I had almost hoped I would not like it because I only had the Korg for 2 years and knew I would lose money on it. After 15 minutes I was hooked and I told the guy at GC I am buying this piano and worked out a fairly decent trade but still lost on the Korg. Never looked back, though. I hope this helps. Enjoy !!
I like all of the pianos, but the ones that stick out to me the most are the S700, the nashvill C3, and the U1. my favorit electric pianos are the 78 roads, and the FM DX and urban EPs.
Beautiful playing, i just wish it wasn’t 3100$. I’ve been working overtime trying to save up for it but in the end i think I’ll be happy if i buy this but i was considering getting the yc73 and using my kawai as an extended midi controller to get the full 88 effect to save some money
Hello Mr. Allen: Here is a quick question. I too believe that with the new OS updates, this is a tough performance key rig to conquer. I'm currently looking at purchasing an 88 key main keyboard and I've narrowed these down to this one or the new MODX8 Plus that just got released. Both are exceptional keyboards, but are aimed differently. I love the workstation capabilities in the MODX, however, love the drawbars and better organ capabilities in this model. So here is my choices.... Yamaha YC88 with MODX6 plus in a 61 note version as a secondary keyboard.... or vice versa... MODX8+ 88 key with the YC61 as the secondary. Please provide me with your thoughts. BTW: Also will be getting a Nord stage down the road (not an 88 key version), the Akai MPC Keys 61 that just released, and eventually the Casio Privia S7000 (which is by far superior to most digital grands in my opinion. I'm a church musician and am getting set up for studio production. My environment is strictly Presonus Studio one for the DAW and already have all that in place. Ramping up for next year. The above mentioned keyboard configurations are serving as my live rig and studio rig. Please let me know your thoughts... Anyone else feel free to jump in as well. Thanks so much
Thanks for this video. I'm interested in the synth section. Question: Can you make a dry sawtooth wave with the filters? I want to use it for talkboxing.
@@benallen5967 ah, that stinks. I would think since they have fm synthesis built in they would have a simple saw wave. Bummer. Thanks for the reply though
Waouh, incredible work, it helped me in making the decision to purchase my future keyboard ! Can you give me the reference of your support which can accommodate two keyboards? He looks great... Thanks a lot !
On a real Hammond there are 9 key contacts beneath every key. If you pull your drawbars out on your C3 and play any key VERY slowly, you will hear the various tones triggering. The 1 foot busbar is used to trigger the percussion circuit. On a real Hammond you won't hear the 1 foot drawbar when percussion is on. There is an aftermarket modification that one can do to have the 1' together with the percussion 2nd or 3rd
Yamaha has the best Rhodes samples of all time. And more different Rhodes pianos than anyone else, too. They all have their own character. Some are more bell-like, some more throaty, some more Wurli-like. Believe it or not, layering two of them at 60/40 can make some incredible deep sounds, especially nice if it’s just a few instruments.
Hi Alan, Thank you for your video. As you have had both the P515 and the YC88, which keybed do you prefer (NWX or NW) please? Thank you, Warmest regards, Chris
Hi does anyone know if this keyboard or any other don’t care the brand, has a YC30 sound? I would think this one would have but i cant find someone playing a sample of it thanks in advance!
Is there a place to give feedback to Yamaha on future features? I don’t know if it a possible to add, but an arpeggiator would be great, for a person of very limited playing capability like myself. I would like to make the request.
Bought and sold the YC61. I really did like it, but, (as much as I really wanted to), I found the Nord Stage (I have the NS3) far superior. The NS3's Piano's, EPs and Organ are just better. A factor that would have swayed me to keep the YC is if there was an editor for the FM (8 Operator) engine (something like what Korg did with the OpSix). Amazingly enough, the Nord DX E.Piano is so much better than the equivalent in the YC - FM editing capabilities on the YC would have likely fixed that. Another downfall of the YC was that I accidentally broke one of the toggle switches. I had to order and replace an entire circuit board that contained that and other toggle switches. I could not bear the risk of having that happen again. I am grateful that I was able to locate the part and order it through Yamaha. I'm a huge Yamaha fan and have had and still have a lot of Yamaha gear. Nord prices really turn me off, thus why I really "wanted" to like the YC better, but ultimately the Nord won out for my situation.
Hello Ben, since I love the Rhodes sound from this, was wondering if you still think this is the best Rhodes in a keyboard over the Korg SV-2? Those two seem like the best Rhodes I've heard
So that’s a good comparison. I would throw Kurzweil in there as well. The YC88/Montage M has my favorite Rhodes samples, but Nord and Korg are also both excellent. Roland is using their same old recycled PCM sounds from the early days….but Korg, Nord, and Yamaha are all excellent choices for Rhodes. I also think the Crumar options sound great, but they are not so easily accessible in the states.
Is it possible to assign the Leslie rotary effect (independently) to both the organ and the E.P. ? I like sound of the E.P. when rotary speed is at slow speed; but, I’d like to control the fast speed on the organ without effecting the slow speed of the E.P.
Good question. Because there is only one Leslie effect, and it is shared on a per sound basis- the answer is that you cannot have an EP using that effect at the same time the organ is, unless you switch back and forth.
I'm more a Wurli fan than a Rhodes fan (?heresy?!). Not that I don't like Rhodes, the Wurli just sits better with me; so very glad to see such a good Wurli included. There's one thing that slightly disappoints me on the YC which is given the organ engine why is there no Pipe Organ? I would have thought that should be in there. If it doesn't work with the engine then samples. I guess as a stage piano, Yamaha may have thought there would be limited use for a Pipe Organ though isn't there a pipe organ in the CP88?. I love a good Pipe Organ but I can live without it using my existing sample libraries it would just be nice to have a decent one onboard which is one of the reasons I went the Stage Piano route. And not everyone will have a decent set of samples available. The drawbars could have been used to great effect with a pipe organ representing different stops. Please correct me if I'm wrong on this and have missed something somewhere. Fingers crossed that will come in a future update (assuming there are more updates incoming). edit - Using that clean electric sample and playing it like a keyboard makes me think it could be used in place of a clavi and sound better (sorry clavi lovers). It just had that vibe but a more approachable sound to my ears at least.
Thats a great set of points. I would encourage you to join Ideascale and let Yamaha know. If the new update is proof of anything, it is that Yamaha LISTENS to their user base.
@@benallen5967 - Yep, I'm thinking I should do exactly that. Not sure if anyone else has suggested it yet or not. I had the chance to sit down and spend a few hours with my YC88 yesterday. First proper chance I've had. And I was not disappointed. Still working a few things out and I haven't even been through all the sounds. The straight acoustic piano, electric piano and organ engine sounds are excellent (to my ears) and I haven't made it much further as they totally sucked me in and had me playing for hours. I guess that's the focus of the stage keyboard anyway so makes sense they should be good (and they are). I also love the synth lead that's in page one of the Live Sets. It's beautiful. I also love the wiggle sticks. Wasn't 100% sure how they would be compared to wheels. They're excellent to use. Very happy.
V1.10 to V1.20 New features A new rotary speaker effect has been added. New FM organ types have been added. A new setting “FM Color Type” has been added to the “Drawbar Color” setting. Three EQs have been added to the effect types. A new setting “Touch Sensitivity” has been added to the Settings. The locations in the menu of “EG Control” and “Filter Control” have been changed. New Live Set Sounds have been added. New Voices have been added. Fixed problems Fixed minor problems.
The YC88 has a much much better action than the S80. The YC88 has a wooden, fully weighted, graded, triple sensor keyboard action, and personally I don't find it hard to play for organ either.
@@benallen5967 Perfect. Time to retire my S80 then! The S80 has an action not too dissimilar to a real Rhodes (which I have), but it's a touch too heavy for organ without drawing blood!
What in the world do you mean by this comment? This was recorded direct into a DAW, no woofers are involved. You aren't hearing any speakers in this video.
I am kind of disappointed, only 2 key sections seems like too few for me. I would expect at least 3 + the possibility to use the organ section for any other thing. At least for this price point.
I understand what you mean… but there simply is nothing else on the market with a weighted action that good, that lets you ALSO play real drawbars. So, as I’m primarily a piano player that loves organ, and needs EPs and “other” sounds… it’s the best YC for me. I have a Nord Stage 3 compact with a waterfall action, and while I was going for a CP88- the YC is more versatile and thanks to the new 1.2 update, has a killer organ engine.
