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Hi All
5 Good/Great keyboard players and myself. Had a discussion. About.
What it would take to build /Make The Perfect keyboard Flagship.(Yes nothing's Perfect. But this would get close.)
First It includes. The Montage. But with Additions. That are Very doable. And actually. A Lot of them. Should have been done by now. For the most part.
Add more Library slots. 12-16.
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Add Genos features. Revo!Drum/SFX And AEM (Articulation Element Modeling). Maybe Mega-Sounds. And C7 piano. Any other. New sounds From the Genos.
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Add A Roland Type. Simple Workflow. Yes. For a complex Keyboard. It has been done in a simple manner.
Therefore. It can be Much simpler. and Should be done for the Montage User. Rewrite the User interface. To a certain level.
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Add back. All the Motif Features Taken away. These features are. Very badly missed.
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Add the Genos. Fader Mix Feature. Yes I know it can be done. On the Montage. But it is a lot of work. It needs a Shortcut. IE: Like holding down the Shift/Exit/Enter buttons. At the same time. OR.....
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A keybed. The Same spacing as a Korg. Stop making. Really Tight spaced Key-beds. This does nobody any good. And Yamaha. Loses sales from this. Personally I would accept. a 60 key retrofit. That is about 1" more spacing. That is. Normal Key spacing! There is no 'Industry Standard'. But This Key-bed is extreme from normal. And the trouble. It causes Going back to a Normal Spaced Keybed. Is Muscle memory BS.
Now everybody. Wants Karma. But Adding the Genos Features. May be Close enough. Getting rid of. Boxy sounding ARP's. To a more Real Natural sounding Groove. That is the point.
So because the SN. Uses Midi internally. Some Motif Features. Probably Can not be added back.
Unless The SN and internal MIDI can be Isolated to OFF. So That is what needs to be done.
And. You Use Button Shortcuts. To. Make this happen.
IE: You can not have All of Both work at the same Time. And Then. 3rd. party Karma.
Could also work on the Montage.(MIDI use. Is Why it can't).
Add Your own thoughts to this. But Try to make them. Not cause a Montage II.
To have to come out. Most of the above Features needed. Can be retrofitted into the Existing Montage.
Posted : 12/01/2018 9:00 pm
It's bait for one of those long threads of this and that.
I've got a laundry list - but it I'll just address the chassis. Remaining steel parts replace with High Specific Strength Steel to cut steel weight by approx 50% - HSSS doesn't cause that much of a cost adder (if any). Not sure where the industry is on this material since 2015. There may be other ways to bring the weight down - do those too.
A "perfect" keyboard isn't going to break the back or be too much of a hassle to bring up and down club/rehearsal stairs when those come up.
Current Yamaha Synthesizers: Montage Classic 7, Motif XF6, S90XS, MO6, EX5R
Posted : 12/01/2018 9:39 pm
Topic starter
I totally forgot about. How heavy. The Montage is! I do not move mine.
But. I used to move B3's. So everything is Light. Compared to those memories.
So great point. And I doubt. They Would. Have to make any new Molds(pricey!!!).
Posted : 13/01/2018 7:18 pm
Topic starter
I totally forgot one of the most important items. FLASH MEMORY!
Spansion S34ML08G1 'Assumed' Flash Memory device that is used in the Montage:
Montage. Will be dead in the water. Without some. Guarantee From Yamaha. Of a 25 year part availability.
Even if they. Upgrade this to 16 gig in the future. We still need that Guarantee.*The current part is near or at Obsolete.
So Whatever Size Flash Mem. Fits in the Socket.
Spansion S34ML08G101TFI000
Density: 8Gbits (4Gbits x 2)
Random access: 30us (max)
Sequential access: 25ns (Min)
Block erase time: 3.5ms
Program time: 300 us (typical)
Data retention: 10 years (typical)
100,000 program/erase cycles (typical)
Pricing: $7.84 USD (quantity 250 up)
The Flash Memory!!! Apparently.(???) It is a part that has ONLY a 10 year life. *Common for Flash/SSD
We keyboard players. Have Keyboards 30+ years old. So this is a big problem.
How is Yamaha. Going to handle this? Right Now. The owners Manual.
Says To Take to qualified Service Center. If Memory has problems.
Well it is. Guaranteed to have Problems Within 10 Years.
So. We need to know. There will. ALWAYS be a Replacement-Kit part.
And At a Reasonable cost.
OR
The Montage and any other Keyboard. OR Music Device.
Using This part.(Flash Memory/SSD ). Will Be Dead in the water in 10 years or less. Look at 7 years Average.
This may be Planned obsolescence. Or a Planned. Very High cost Replacement Part. Plus Labor.
It is a Chip. That fits in a socket. So a Repair Kit. Should be what's offered.
Say$50 USD with instructions. Maybe $75 USD If it is a 16gig.
*Personally. I have had 2 SSD drives fail in the last 5 years. They were replaced.
Not the point on a Keyboard. That totally relies on Flash Memory.
But. Do not look for more than 7 years. From the Montage. That is the real Danger zone.
But 10 years is. The Total Life Expectancy. Not the guaranteed life. *Rechargeing the Flash is not as good as new.
This Item Alone. Probably. Needs it's own Thread. And an Official Answer from Yamaha.
Posted : 16/01/2018 1:08 am
