[quotePost id=120414]You can certinly omit me from that "we" there , @Darryl 😀

I absolutely didn't put any ideas there with the implied assuption that they'd only make sense, and I will only be satisfied, if they show up in the current lineup.

Some ideas I posted are actually specifically about future models, as they simply cannot be done with the current hardware (multicoloured button LEDs for example).
[/quotePost]

The "we" was just us (Smeagol and Gollum) talking amongst ourselves! :p
We wants it, the PRRRRRRECIOUS!!!!!!

I do get that others are looking further ahead to future models with regards to ideas, but I definitely was not, as I may not replace the Montage for a very long time, if ever...

Good question to throw out there in the event the Montage is discontinued this year. Will they continue updating the Yamaha Steinberg USB driver, as well as compatibility with Soundmondo, etc., for both the original Montage & MODX, so that new versions of Windows 11 (as is the example in my case) don't break connectivity and cause issues working with my DAW at some point in the future..!?

The Yamaha Steinberg USB driver is fairly universal. It's targeted for many products so it will continue to get updates as needed. Unless there's another OS event that would make the driver stop working - there wouldn't be much need to change the Montage/MODX specific parts of the driver.

[quotePost id=120421]The Yamaha Steinberg USB driver is fairly universal. It's targeted for many products so it will continue to get updates as needed. Unless there's another OS event that would make the driver stop working - there wouldn't be much need to change the Montage/MODX specific parts of the driver.[/quotePost]

Hi Jason --

The only exception that I can think of -- this time around -- is MIDI 2.0. Yamaha is due WRT MIDI 2.0. They have always provided outstanding support/implementations of MIDI 1.x.

All the best and thanks for all of your posts -- pj

Since Yamaha demonstrated MIDI 2.0 on the Motif XF and Montage during a MIDI "plug-a-play" event -- I was hoping to get MIDI 2.0 folded into Montage. That seems unlikely to happen because it seems strange to invest in such a marketing bullet so late in the lifecycle of a product.

At any rate - main point being that other products are tied to the driver with their own (different) product lifespans so driver development doesn't hinge on any single product.

I'm more of a "stage" fan now really grown tired of the endless options thing HOWEVER something like a hybrid YC with shallow programmability and a touch screen. I still love building custom voices from internal patches. Come on, old blind people would love a big screen. The Fantom was almost "endless or limitless" in comparison so I doubt Yamaha will go that route since they (Roland) owns it already. Montage is pretty old but then again it's all 80s tech anyway with modern interfacing and processing. Has anything new really been invented in the last 40 years? Just making it better really. The real BIGGIE is ease of use. Whomever can take all this tech and bundle it into a simple, understandable, intuitive, misery free implementation where we don't need Bad Mister to write a 30 page essay explaining how it works and 50 references to read about. Guess I got tired of all of that and like a frightened tortis I retreated into my "Stage Board" shell. I'd spend 10 hours learning it and then 6 months later have to learn it all over again. Yamaha has notoriously been the king of confusion. Brilliant egghead designers are not the same as the end user. Hire the end user to design the dang thing from the beginning. I don't recall ever opening the Fantom's user's manual but not sure how deep I dove either. I'm sure the MODX has been simplified but I haven't used it. I'd love the one-knob-one function concept in tandem with the touch screen with sound designer feature something like a SUPER YC Yamaha version of the SKpro, I mean SKpro on steroids that sounds much better than the SKpro does. They seem to think these concepts can't be merged but they can. I recall Yamaha's famous decree "Never Touchscreen!". "If you don't make it, someone else will" is my counterpoint. Someone else did in Hammond but the sounds in Hammond are just not good enough. It's fun but it's not great sounding.

I posted this on another forum so at the risk of repeating myself to some who are on that forum, I thought it wouldn't hurt to update this thread here as well, as Scott posted this YT vid today & I think it is an interesting & potentially spot on perspective, regarding the Montage being discontinued & replaced:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4JGbXjn0G0

It will be interesting to see what actually unfolds in the coming weeks/months... And not just regarding a likely soon to be announced Montage replacement & possibly the AN-X engine for both the Montage+/MODX+, but also to see what happens with the current Montage/MODX in terms of receiving OS update 4.0/3.0, and if so, what that entails..!?

Wouldn't say that. Prices in Europe, espec. in Germany are still far above average and still keep rising; approx 3.700 EUR for Montage 7, black. And many, many stores which are not able to ship within the next 3-7 month 'cause Yamaha can't provide stockists due to lack of production material. Yet, there's no announcement been made from Yamaha officials for a replacement model.

Well, it's the eve of the Yamaha Tech Talk Season 4 opener. It will be interesting to find out tomorrow what the "something" is that Yamaha have to share that is such a 'cool topic' to talk about that we "won’t want to miss"..!?

Someone mentioned on another forum that the 4th day of the 4th month would be a very fitting time to debut Montage OS 4.0, and what would make it an even more perfect day to announce that, is that it's also the Season 4 opener of Tech Talk ... so if it happens, then it's superb timing and perfectly played..!! 😉

All bets on the number 4 :p

Cautiously optimistic.

Well, it looks like Moessieurs has the cat out of the bag and it's all to do with the YC's OS update, not the Montage...

https://www.moessieurs.com/index.php
04-04-2023: Yamaha announces the new OS 1.30 for the Yamaha YC series, discover all the details in the Moessieurs article in French
04-04-2023: Yamaha Tech Talk Live YC OS 1.30 live broadcast on April 4 at 10:00 p.m. CET

So unless they add an OS update for the Montage to Tech Talk Live as a "surprise", then this very fitting month, day, season 4 opportunity to announce update 4.0 for the Montage is not going to happen!

On to NAMM, April 13... (which would have been a much better time to announce YC OS update 1.3 o the 13th, then discuss it on Tech Talk Live sometime after 😀 )

[quotePost id=120990]So unless they add an OS update for the Montage to Tech Talk Live as a "surprise"[/quotePost]
@Darryl, you have an untouchable ability to set yourself up for dissapointment 😀
I'm almost willing to bet nothing will happen at NAMM, just because you say it will... :p

[quotePost id=120991]
@Darryl, you have an untouchable ability to set yourself up for dissapointment 😀
I'm almost willing to bet nothing will happen at NAMM, just because you say it will... :p [/quotePost]
I won't be disappointed, but it is interesting to conspire about and is all good fun!
However, having said that, if they don't give me 4.0 at NAMM then I'm going to tell them to @#$%^&*()_+ :p

As to a Yamaha ROMpler with AN and VL inside, Yamaha did it 25 years ago: EX5 and EX7. 🙂

As to the unicorn Montage, they're just trying to amuse themselves until the announcement -- then rip the announced enhancements/product to shreds. 😀

Ain't the interwebs wonderful? :p

Peace to all -- pj

http://sandsoftwaresound.net/awm-an-and-vl-in-one-yamaha-synth/