Winter NAMM 2016: Early Peeks...

[SAM CA]

Montage sounds good but the price tag!!! You can get a Kronos for a lot less than that!

 

[Fred Coulter]

I'm also somewhat interested in the new DGX-660, although even that is out of my price range.

I've got the DGX-650. Just looking at the spec sheet, it looks like the only significant upgrade is that polyphony went from 128 to 196. Other than that, a couple styles, a couple sounds. It's not making me want to run out and upgrade.

 

[Fred Coulter]

The new Yamaha Montage.

Apparently designed to be a Kronos killer....

Lotsa purty lights...

Gary

It's not doing it for me. The Kronos is happy as the brain of a studio as well as playable on the road. The Kronos has a sixteen track audio sequencer as well as the sixteen track MIDI sequencer. The 88 note keyboard more accurately feels like a piano, with the bass being heavier than the treble. It looks like the Kronos also has a wider variety of sounds (even through it isn't compatible with the SY-99 sounds). You can add another SSD if 62 Gig isn't enough for you. (I don't know if there's a maximum size to this secondary SSD.)

I was hoping that the Montage could be the "next" Kronos, but I don't see it. I'm not saying that if one showed up on my doorstep I'd give it back, just that I don't see it killing the Kronos. Pity, my first synth was a Yamaha. I still play them. I was rooting for them. Oh well. Maybe next year.

According to my tentative plans, the keyboard manufacturers have another year or so to create that Kronos killer. After that?

But the lights are definitely purty.

 

[Fred Coulter]

Eddie Jobson first came to my attention when he joined jethro tull for a brief period. 1981 about. He played keyboards and violin an the album "A". The best song on that album is "Black Sunday" eddie features in that song. There are many youtube clips of this song live versions.You could say i am a jethro tull fanatic and been following them since their beginning 1968. Anyway eddie went on to king crimson after that. Love their work too.

Eddie Jobson was the keyboard player for UK, who opened for ELP. I REALLY enjoyed that concert.

 

[happyrat1]

I was hoping that the Montage could be the "next" Kronos, but I don't see it. I'm not saying that if one showed up on my doorstep I'd give it back, just that I don't see it killing the Kronos. Pity, my first synth was a Yamaha. I still play them. I was rooting for them. Oh well. Maybe next year.

According to my tentative plans, the keyboard manufacturers have another year or so to create that Kronos killer. After that?

But the lights are definitely purty.

Yeap! Them lights shore are purty

Personally keyboards like the Montage and Kronos scare me.

They're more like computers than musical instruments. Never mind the firmware updates and software glitches, I can't even believe the bootup times for some of these monsters. It's literally over two minutes to boot up a Kronos according to one video I saw on youtube.

My albeit primitive but still powerful Kurzweil PC3K8 workstation boots up in under ten seconds.

God help the player whose $4000 Kronos X 88 crashes during a performance. The song will be long over before it can again utter a single note

Gary

 

[SeaGtGruff]

I've got the DGX-650. Just looking at the spec sheet, it looks like the only significant upgrade is that polyphony went from 128 to 196. Other than that, a couple styles, a couple sounds. It's not making me want to run out and upgrade.

There were also rather few upgrades from the DGX-640 to the DGX-650. Anyone looking to buy a new DGX-660 who can't swing the cost could save some money by getting a used DGX-640 instead.