There's a gag order not to discuss this topic, yet.;) Although several Yamaha engineers are said to have given this the nod but I don't know this personally. I think they are looking into it perhaps.

They are almost as enthusiastic with this as the USB adapter/hub remote display device capability.

(2) gigantic Montage selling points completely ignored and never advertised or discussed, remote monitor and 16 part control. What's next?

I agree David but BM can at least acknowledge the points and let us know that he is bumping it up.....Not right to pick and choose what you want to respond to. It also seems that the company is trying to sell this instrument for what it does NOW without empowering it with the useful items you mention. Let's hope BM is professional enough to at least let us know he is bumping this up for consideration rather than give us his thoughts on what we should like and dislike.......

Remember that with the latency issue on the CFX BM and Yamaha responded in record speed with an OS update. I'm betting the same thing here that they are on top of it but don't want to make a fuss until they are for certain. Perhaps what has been posted concerning this is enough said for now.

Not exactly, the latency issue was a defect in an existing parameter. Adding 8 more parts controlled by the keyboard is a product upgrade. I just want to know from BM if it's at all " possible ".

Actually I don't expect him to answer.......Yamaha won't touch this topic with a 10 foot pole as they would be acknowledging a short coming in the Montage. To offer opinions about adding more parts only implies that there weren't enough to begin with. Yamaha has developed this arrogant mentaliity that they want to tell you how and what to play to fit the synth. Not what can be done and how the synth can meet your needs.

Conspiracy theorist unite!

Frankly, I have not tried this because I never find plugging MIDI OUT to MIDI IN that useful. I don't discourage others from doing something *unless* I know it will hurt their product. It's MIDI, worst you can do is lock it up, and a reboot should take care of it. But I just never find any good comes from something that starts with 'okay, I know you should never do this but...'

Let's get a few facts clear: the VGA-out. I mentioned we used this to great effect in our recent seven city Montage Training Tour so that groups as large 20 folks could "see" what was happening. We had two sales people at each Montage and up front we had a presentation projector which we switched between Keynote and a live feed from the Montage. This allowed them to see and hear, then experience for themselves what was going on.

The manual warns about damage that can be caused to your Montage, this is especially true if you are unaware of what you are plugging into the USB "To Device" port. We like to err on the side of safety first. If you do not know the number of milliamperes your device draws, you would be wise to forego experimenting. "Oops", is not something you want to risk with your new Montage. As a company, even you skeptics/conspiracy theorists would have to agree, it's wise to err on the side of safety. No one wants to prematurely send their Montage to the shop. You need that "To Device" port to load and save.

Even if it does not exceed the value there is no guarantee it will work. To simply announce it does it, without additional info would be just wrong. You can either put your instrument at risk (you own it now, you can do what you like) or you can wait for a listing of approved (tested) items. Which usually follows, once testing has been completed. While I understand some find it cool (we did, it made training a large group on Motion Control fun and easy), but is it worth damaging your instrument? No! If you see Yamaha's method of testing first, recommending later, as some how a sinister plot, I don't think anything I say can change that. I'll just say to others who are a bit more rational, we prefer to err on the side of safety. I know the warnings in Owner's Manuals are among the least read portions of the book. So if you are at all unsure about what you're plugging into your instrument, please contact Customer Support. They can at least research it and find out if it is safe for your instrument.

Back to MIDI OUT to MIDI IN, I've been too busy with helping out folks in using and learning how the Montage works the proper way. When you've concluded that this is a solution, to me, it's like you're kind of doing it to see what happens. I would no more take the positive lead from a car battery and connect it to the negative. Ultimately, no good will come of it. In this case, nothing bad like electrocution will occur, but it is the definition of a MIDI LOOP. N'est pas?

MIDI FACTS concerning connecting MIDI OUT back to the MIDI IN:
If Local Control is ON - those with good hearing will immediately hear doubling (others convince themselves it's not there, fool themselves into thinking it sounds Huge! - it is huge) try a simple drum kit, while playing the kick drum or snare switch from LOCAL On to LOCAL Off. If you can hear, you can hear the doubling ... Halving your polyphony
If Local Control is OFF - you solve the issue of doubling and halving your polyphony but now you lose, to me what is most important, direct control of the Motion Control Synthesis Engine. (I'll come back to this in a minute - but let's assume you want to properly avoid the loop...)

The thing that is new and quite different about Montage is in its ability to control multiple parameters simultaneously in the way it does it. Fine, if this is not of interest to you, no one is going to discourage you from doing whatever you want (although by responding here, I have a feeling I will be doing just that). And btw, the techs that answer the phones are not engineers, they are Application Specialist...

We've all heard/seen initial reaction to the Super Knob - before you actually experience it - post the NAMM show comments were outrageous in the negative passion about it - some thought it just a gimmick. I've noticed that has calmed down quite a bit as musicians start to experience what it can actually do. Many thought it was just an EDM oriented disco-ball... Flashing the tempo. But I think once you realize how it can bring a musical performance to life... whether morphing a piano into an electric piano, or a solo lead instrument into an ensemble of instruments, or moving a guitar lead through several effects... moving a sound up close and/or sending it flying off into deep space. And yet, still, some owners have yet to find it.

I observe people trying Montage across the country, and after watching them play it 'like a piano', for ten minutes, I stop them and introduce myself. Usually I'm greeted fondly, but then I take them back through the dozen or so sounds that they just played without moving the Super Knob, and every time they are amazed at just how much more expressive some of the sounds become by simply moving controllers. They begin to discover and from that point on, they begin to look for those hidden Easter eggs within the Performances... which are sometimes on the Super Knob or other available controllers. Most get it, but others simply play *on* the sound (like its a piano) instead of *with* the sound (...to each their own).

And yet some people, will not use it (shame, if it's because they don't understand it or it's because they don't have an FC7 pedal and they don't what to remove a hand from the keyboard). So I'm focused on those interested in getting the most out of their Montage using it how it is currently working... which, quite frankly, is quite enough of a task, thank you.

To those amazed that you can trigger the tone generator by routing signal OUT on the channel a Part is set to receive, I say welcome to the world of MIDI. There should be nothing amazing about that. What I've spent most of my time trying to do is interest people in how the new concepts in Montage work, specifically: assigning functions to the Super Knob, and using some of the new features. Hopefully, enabling them to find their own expression in its huge potential. If you've spent anytime being curious about this feature, you know that control over the eight assignable knobs and linking them to the macro controller that is the Super Knob is available to the first eight Parts. That's right, first eight Parts only. (We'll come back to this later).

While all 16 Parts, plus the COMMON/Audio level have their own 8 Assignable Knobs, only with Parts 1-8 can the AssignKnobs be linked to the macro controller. That's a fact.

Currently, I don't see that being addressed at all in any of these posts. I've learned long ago that there are many ways to accomplish things with technology. If you've concluded that what you need to do requires 16 Montage Parts, I would say you're not thinking within the product. Just because you *can* doesn't make it a good idea. What makes this, in particular, an overall bad idea (IMHO) is that you've not nearly understood or exhausted the available possibilities with the tools provided. Example: I have a requirement where I need the following, a clarinet, an oboe, a flute, and a bassoon. With little or no understanding of what Montage has on offer, I might conclude this requires four Parts. When in fact it can easily be accomplished with a single Part!

It's like buying a car, and then wanting it to be an airplane. Why not learn to drive it before seeing if you drive really fast with the doors open, if it will fly some how. 🙂

Facts: When operating the Montage with the MIDI OUT to MIDI IN (sic) and with Local Control Set to OFF (to avoid the quintessential MIDI LOOP that doubles the audio and halves your polyphony), you will no longer be able to trigger the internal Part. Why? Local Control is OFF. Let's look closely at the example given (oddly no mention is made of the Local setting). But if you are not convinced that notes are doubling and that your polyphony is halved, try that simple kick drum experiment. So let's just eliminate LOCAL CONTROL being ON, as that's just (simply) wrong. Local Control *must* be OFF.
The TX816 E.Piano, with Part 1's ZONE SWITCH = ON, Transmit channel = 9 you will find what you've done is replace Part 1 with Part 9, (less any Super Knob Control). So what have you gained?

But the bigger issue: with the Montage's ability to morph sounds and with the power of a single Part, I'd prefer, if you don't mind, concentrating on putting my effort toward solving issues for folks based on the products intended design. Please, if doubling of audio doesn't bother your ears and having 16 Parts with just 64 notes of polyphony don't bother you, who am I to say, don't do it.

I travel on the road much of the time, so not weighing in on this is a matter of when I have time to be in front of a Montage in my studio. Most questions, I can answer in an airport, or while sitting in my hotel room, so when and if I weigh in on something has a lot to do with if its something I can just answer or I need to be in front on an instrument. Rather than just dismiss it, I felt this was something that required sitting down and testing. I try to prioritize questions and answers based on providing thorough answers.

So now, I've weighed in on this. I still say, experiment, find new ways to use the technology, that I encourage, but *the facts* do remain.
Whether or not anything like that is implemented in the future, I cannot tell you, nor predict. I do know that when and if it becomes available, I will certainly be here to help you get the most out of it. (And I'd rather not deal with "How come...?" questions, and focus on the "How...?" questions.

Hope that helps and sorry, if I have offended anyone, although I can't imagine how.

I'm offended! 😉 My example was simply a test as I mentioned but this has been done in the past long before the Montage. How did other performers/programmers defeat the loop? Perhaps a MIDI loop isolation device. It's my first time attempting this although I knew about it. On many performance programs we go to great lengths to get a sound to echo. I'm sure it has some specific usefulness. I actually use (2) keyboards but someone really wanted to know how to get more than 8 parts playing. It's just another tool. I thought my 16 part FMX sounded amazing but that's just me. I'll probably keep experimenting with it because it's fun. 🙂