If you need an 88 key Montage or not is up to you. Yes, you can use the CVP to do the "in a nutshell" version of what you want to do. Depending on how far Montage is away from your hands - you may not be able to reach all of the real-time controllers the Montage control interface provides while controlling only the notes using the CVP. That's a finer detail you can work out on your own when you use this.

1) Connect Montage Main L&R outputs to the CVP's AUX IN [L/L+R] inputs using TS cables. Best to use shortest cable possible with the instruments in their final resting place. Short runs minimize noise and loss through the cable. TS is recommended because the CVP's inputs are unbalanced and Montage's outputs support connecting unbalanced cables although the Main L&R are balanced outputs.

2) Connect CVP MIDI OUT to Montage's MIDI in.

3) Set Montage to Single-Channel MIDI mode. Set the MIDI channel to the same MIDI channel as the CVP's transmit

4) Set CVP's transmit channel to match Montage's single-channel MIDI channel number setting (if you did not already set Montage to match).

When you play notes on the CVP - MIDI will be transmitted to Montage's MIDI in port which will cause Montage's tone generator to output sound through the Main L&R outputs. The connection of Main L&R to CVP's AUX IN will use the CVP's speakers to output the Montage audio output.

Note: the CVP manual states that the AUX IN can be used to make external tone generators (like Montage) sound through CVP's speakers. I'm not positive if this means the internal speakers or only external speakers. You'll need to let me know if the internal speakers are not sounding or someone more familiar with the product first-hand can chime in.

What is also said is that the master volume slider on CVP will not affect the volume of AUX IN. Still not clear which speakers AUX IN goes out - this would mean you would slide the master volume (and accompaniment volume) all the way down so you do not hear the CVP's internal sounds when using as a MIDI controller.

Thank you very much.
Asking if I neded a Montage 8 was ment to know if a 61 Montage would be able to play those notes that are not in its keyboard while connected to an external full 88 keyboard, so as to place a Montage 61 over my CVP and avoid all the mess....I would love buying a Montage with the body of a CVP instead of having a stand, a keyboard, 4 pedals, outboard speakers...

I’m afraid, getting a stand, pedals and outboard speakers for your MONTAGE is going to be the good recommendation. There is so very much you would miss out on attempting to *experience* MONTAGE from an external controller like the CVP96.

By the way, all MONTAGEs (61, 76 and 88 key versions) respond to all 128 Notes of MIDI (C-2 through G8) this includes the full range of the acoustic piano (A-1 through C7) and every instrument known to us on this planet!

Sure you can take two 1/4” signal cables and connect the audio Outputs of the MONTAGE to the Aux In of your old CVP96. The sound of the MONTAGE would come out of the speakers of the Clavinova. That’s exactly what the Aux Ins are designed for.

Sure you can take a Standard 5-pin MIDI cable and connect the CVP96’s MIDI OUT to the MONTAGE MIDI IN. And, yes, you can turn LOCAL CONTROL = OFF on the CVP96 so that the internal Clavinova does not sound.

Sure, you could set the MONTAGE to receive on a Single MIDI Channel so your CVP Right 1 Part would be able to trigger MULTI-PART Performances on the Synth... but

Playing the keys of an external MIDI Controller rather than playing the MONTAGE Synthesizer as a whole entity, is what is the big issue. Yes, playing a simple piano sound might be satisfying, but playing the various synth sounds, even the simple act of fading in the strings, would be totally dissatisfying, the piano is just one of the many instruments the Synthesizer recreates... and truly “playing” the synthesizer requires access to controllers!

Here’s what I mean... the experience of “playing” the MONTAGE as a Synthesizer is based on interaction with the synth engine in real time via various physical CONTROLLERS. Your Clavinova was designed for piano players... you trigger the sound by pressing the key. You don’t have a Modulation Wheel, you don’t have a Pitch Bend Wheel, you certainly don’t have a Super Knob....etc., etc., etc.

If you’re thinking you will not need them (possible, because presumably, you have not really played one yet)... let me give you an analogous situation: imagine trying to work the CVP96 Auto-accompaniment engine without a front panel to access all the controls that make that accompaniment engine work as a creative tool! How would you change sections, trigger Intros, Endings, etc., etc (all those things essential to making Auto accompaniment *happen*).

What will be frustrating is trying to play/enjoy what MONTAGE does via an external MIDI Controller that does not have access to the plethora of physical controllers available on the MONTAGE — that arguably make this experience unique: Beyond missing the MW and PB Wheel, there are 8 Common Assign Knobs, the Super Knob, and the 8 Part Assign Knobs for each of the 16 Parts (that’s 137 missing Knobs!) front panel buttons to access Arp phrases, Motion Sequences, Scenes, etc. you don’t even have any Assignable controls to get even a fraction of the experience. Granted, you will not need *all* of these to enjoy MONTAGE, but to not have *any* of them is what is extremely troubling here.

The MONTAGE is a Synthesizer. No friend would let you think that what you intend is a “good” hookup. You would barely get the minimum working. You need access to the Synthesizer in real time. And because the CVP96 is literally from the last century, connecting it to a computer or tablet to help out with setting up controls/ and translating controller messages, I wouldn't even know where to begin (it has an 8-pin Mini to RS-232C for computer connectivity, yikes... circa late 1990’s connectivity. Can you say, “Windows 95”.

Recommended: if 88-key weighted action is what you like to play, get yourself a MONTAGE 8. That would be the reason to get the MONTAGE 8, over the 6 or the 7. The 6 and 7 feature Yamaha’s best synth action (FSX) keybeds. All other aspects of the models are identical.
_Expect to sit and play it by sitting in front of it working with its front panel and pedals, directly.
_Get at least the Yamaha FC3A Sustain and one FC7 sweep pedal to start. You can determine if getting an additional FC7 and an FC5 is necessary for what *you* need to do.
_We also recommend a quality set of headphones... so you can hear exactly what it’s supposed to sound like!
_You can initially use the speaker system for the CVP96 as your sound system... you’ll discover it is designed specifically for the internal sounds. Then later once you realize that you are missing the fact that the best way to hear the full range of the MONTAGE is through its own pair of Studio Monitors aimed at you (and not from a speaker system designed to use the walls and floor to fill the room). It may sound okay through the Clavinova, but it will sound *spectacular* through a pair of Yamaha HS8 (Home Studio) Monitors!

Stop by a local Yamaha dealer and talk to them about trying a MONTAGE through HS speakers! That way you’ll have a reference point on which to base your findings about how it sounds in speakers aimed directly at you in the “sweet spot”.

You will definitely experience what 20+ years of technology has brought to the fore!
Hope that helps. Let us know.

Believe it or not, as soon as Montage was released, I said loud out: IT IS HERE. IT IS HERE. Stop the buying of that CVP709. My dreams come true. GIVE ME TWO.
BUT it turns out there is not a single Yamaha dealer in Spain with a Montage 8 ready to be tried by a customer to be.
Meanwhile I have already seen and downloaded every single video available in the web, be it an outboxing or a deep scubadiving into algorithms. And counting.
Yamaha HS8 are your recommended speakers, as I see. I will therefore have a look on them. Nevertheless I had already the idea of connecting a Montage 8 to a 200 Watts Denon class A amplifier listening trough a pair of Definitive Technology Mythos STS Supertowers as my studio is huge (around 40x35x30 feet).
And as this masterpice was released in 2016 and the CVP 709 series is also ageing, I was finally looking for an update..Then came MODX 6, and the idea of connecting something cheaper to the CVP96.....
Let´s see NAMM 2019....

I am very happy indeed for having your time. Thank you all and everything the very best.

BM outlines in more detail what I was alluding to here:

Depending on how far Montage is away from your hands - you may not be able to reach all of the real-time controllers the Montage control interface provides while controlling only the notes using the CVP.

If your Montage is sitting right on top of your CVP - so your hands can reach all of the controls (superknob, sliders, ribbon, etc) - then you really do not miss out on anything other than aftertouch. You can get the best of both worlds - use of all of the new tech and interactions - as well as the 88-key synth. That's the MIDI/control side. Using the CVP speakers will be relatively lousy compared to a pair of HS8 studio monitors. I use HS7s without a subwoofer and am happy. The HS8 pair would up the ante on bass response and certainly would not require a subwoofer assuming your room is relatively normal for a "home" studio.

Note that you can reach all 128 notes (more than 88) using a Montage 6 by using the octave key. If you had an external keyboard with 128 keys - then you'd be able to play all 128 notes using an external MIDI controller. As already mentioned - all models of Montage in the series are identical in how they respond to MIDI commands and produce a sonic result.

Thanks a lot.
I will probably end selling my polished ebony CVP96 to a museum (any offers here so far? Lots of floppy disk, each capable to hold sixty less-than-45-bars-length midi songs are included), buying a Montage 8, 2 FC6, an FC3A and a FC5. Add a little MODX 6 to have fun when back at the hotel while on a trip.
Any idea if any improvements coming soon are worth waiting...??? A larger tilted screen...the ninth bar...perharps a graphene body making it less than half a pound.:D 😀 😀 😀

Here's something that will always be true:

Very soon everything will be obsolete.

Someone's already playing the next keyboard and can't let the cat out of the bag. Everything you buy is yesterday's news.

I just wait a long time between major purchases so the difference between next month's model is much less than the difference between the one I buy and my old gear. I jump ahead by light years and am generally OK with missing out on the small incremental stuff.