Hello,
Year after year, I was expecting some firmware update for the Montage, a real one as new sound engine, for example.
But now, I completely abandoned the idea of either a software update or a revival of the Montage.
I'm quite sure that Yamaha has moved on something else or....nothing special !
My opinion is that they will continue to sell it as long as components are available. And then, bye, bye the Montage, no matter the customers.

The CK was a serious attempt at the affordable stage/leisure market sort of out of character hybrid between a real professional level board and a PSR type musical toy that has speakers and runs on batteries. It could break easily but the UI was extremely simple and practical and intuitive for a change. No expandability that we know of. An expensive disposable unit but could sell pretty well in that market. Maybe they will focus on the stage and arranger for a while until they decide concerning the value of MPE and the limitations of their AWM system which keeps pricing them out of the affordable market. Hey Yamaha, drop the keybeds and focus energy on an expandable super workstation module. Everyone has keyboards and controllers these days and that alone absorbs a fortune of the product cost and manufacturing/shipping and then nobody likes them anyway. Modules are sort of a no brainer because of what all is available including Osmose, etc.

It also dawned on me that Yamaha PR and advertising could make an announcement of an upcoming announcement without anything specifically revealed whatsoever. For example; "Yamaha will be scheduling an official anncounment coming in July 2023 so please stay tuned for more details." Something like that reveals nothing and doesn't lock them into what or when or they could simply state what quarter such as summer or fall etc. There's really no reason to not make a statement other than to be annoying. Seems like the Genos released a dark room photo of the sliders prior to an official announcement. Since nothing has happened they are either 1) doing nothing period 2) release is next year or further off 3) the Yamaha PR people aren't doing their jobs. Not sure which is the case. Not sure what Blake meant by groundbreaking year or whatever he said exactly but hard to believe he'd say that in relation to keyboards but not be including synths since that's what he does specifically.

No, wait, it's now July. If it's supposed to be shipping out in August to be available in stores then Yamaha hasn't said a word about it still. Potentially not too proud of it is a possibility or if it's an embarrassing parts or design problem/delay we'll just never know. No news is not good news in the case of a flagship synth and customers are left hanging like wet laundry on a stormy day. Apparently Yamaha doesn't read this forum either because it hasn't persuaded them to answer anything at all except they said Montage was still an item. Why are they all backordered here then? My old Boss bought a Nord so he wasn't waiting either. It's hard to wait for no reason provided. I mean if some folks fork out over $3K they are not likely to also be buying a Montage. A simple announcement could change minds and yet we still have complete radio silence.

Hi all...I do not have the original quote from Bad Mister, but a few years ago he responded to the concerns of "end-of-life" for the Montage, and or a lack of any meaningful firmware releases. This was, I believe, one firmware release before the present one. To sum his remarks...The amount of processor power/reserves/capabilities on reserve for the Montage are great, and much is in store for the Montage. The capabilities WILL, and not maybe, provide unexpected functionality, so hold on...
That was the end of his message at that time.
Perhaps it is true regarding the new chips abilities for such meaningful firmware releases.
Someone on this forum who is knowledgeable about the Yamaha chip installed in the Montage, think he goes by the name of Sand and Software implied the potential as well.
This does not mean that Montage will still have new/unexpected/welcomed firmware release. However any new model will leverage this new chip or two in new models forward.
I wish to remind everyone that it is Bad Mister that stated clearly that the Montage will definitely provide new and exciting capabilities.

I had one and it wasn't that powerful as far as 16 internal voices at once and it you used certain loaded voices you might only get 4 or 6 max instead of a full 8. They have never overcome that limited capability. I assume other improvements were made such as smart morph etc. I forget what all, I sold it years ago. It also lagged on screen so not like it had revolutionary speed. Just thinking back but I think there was an extra slot of ANx under the engine types. Can't recall but they added something to it. Not sure how good it can get even with it maxed out. Maybe it just wasn't good enough but that taken a really long time. There's obviously something going on that they won't tell us about. Montage is not even in the top synth position so it's be demoted. If they are cheap or playing it safe it'll be a Montage plus with double capabilities, double DSP etc. and new engine or two with the same form factor. Another 7 years of Montage Plus then something new in 2030. I'm still betting something completely different however I understand that the new Yamaha comers are not pioneers. MODX was dumbed down, MODX+ was dumbed up and CK was refined from YC. Not any risk with any of those whatsoever. Their playing spongy softball is all. There's the Osmose and Iridium and Fantom and all kinds of distractions so what are they going to do? Another all-in-one? I like my many other options at the moment.

[quotePost id=122399]I had one and it wasn't that powerful as far as 16 internal voices at once and it you used certain loaded voices you might only get 4 or 6 max instead of a full 8. They have never overcome that limited capability.[/quotePost]
If you are referring to a Montage 'PART' as = 1 'voice', then you are completely downplaying the power of the Montage, and I'm not sure what Performances you were playing that only do 4 or 6 max..!? I usually use 4 to 6 minimum, and much of the time I utilize all 8 at once. The Montage is a beast when it comes to synth power & polyphony, and I've never felt it had limited capability..!

Comparing to the Fantom, doesn't the Fantom only have the equivalent of 4 Elements (partials) per PART (or per 'voice' as I think you are saying)..!? So, for the Fantom it has 16 x 4 = "64 waveforms" (max). The Montage has 8 x 8 = "64 waveforms" playable under KBD CTRL + 64 waveforms that can be sequenced, for a total of 128 waveforms... I would say that the Montage has more than enough monster power for my taste!!

And just because the Montage only has 8 PARTs playable under KBD CTRL does not limit you to just 8. I break up & utilize the 8 PARTs (1-8) into well over 16 by using Aftertouch, velocity ranges, splits, Asign1 & 2 buttons, Asign knobs/Superknob, Scenes, etc. Each Element of a PART is like a separate synth voice, so the Montage has 64 that you can play + 64 that can be sequenced. However with those 64 that you can play, you can easily break them up into 32 to 48 different combinations of sounds ('voices') ... you just have to stop thinking of them being confined to 8 PARTs and start utilizing them as combinations of Elements.

And additionally, if you add in Symphonic &/or Pitch Change effects on the Montage to various PARTs (or even just to combinations/groupings of Elements), you have just multiplied the number of sounds by 4 to 6 layers!

You might be correct I haven't investigated that but essentially yes on Fantom I can elect any 16 voices and they all play at once as if anyone needed that many. Montage might have equivalence somehow but If I selected certain large voices sometime if would only allow or limit you to less than 8. Maybe it it was a stereo voice it used up even more. I didn't do all that programming to make it play like you are describing. Not doubt some Yamaha voices such as acoustic types are likely more waveforms and better sounding than on Fantom and occupy more memory or DSP. If they introduce the M+ it will likely have double that power I'm assuming or 16 parts under internal control.

[quotePost id=122406]You might be correct I haven't investigated that but essentially yes on Fantom I can elect any 16 voices and they all play at once as if anyone needed that many. Montage might have equivalence somehow but If I selected certain large voices sometime if would only allow or limit you to less than 8. Maybe it it was a stereo voice it used up even more. I didn't do all that programming to make it play like you are describing. Not doubt some Yamaha voices such as acoustic types are likely more waveforms and better sounding than on Fantom and occupy more memory or DSP. If they introduce the M+ it will likely have double that power I'm assuming or 16 parts under internal control. [/quotePost]
Yeah, just the Assign1 button alone using XA Control and you can double the amount of 4 Element sounds you have on PARTs 1-8 giving you essentially 16 x 4. Basically, if you were to set Elements 1-4 on PART 1 from Normal to A.SW Off and then set Element 5-8 to A.SW1 On, and you repeated this on PARTs 2-8, then if all PARTs 1-8 are under KBD CTRL, then Elements 1-4 would sound on all 8 PARTs. As soon as you press the Assign 1 button, only Elements 5-8 would play on all 8 PARTs, basically giving you all new Elements/waveforms on all PARTs. You can change the Element combinations even further by setting certain Elements to A.SW2 On. You could increase the combinations of Elements by using Aftertouch so that some Elements only sound out when you press the keys harder, and of course you can completely change what combination of Elements are heard via changing what Velocity Limit ranges are setting on various Elements. There are additional ways to add more Element combination as well. So within PARTs 1-8 alone there are far more than 16 sets of voices combinations.

If it just a Montage+ that they introduce then I highly doubt they will change the # of PARTs under KBD CTRL from 8 to 16. Although never say never I guess, because this Idealscale idea that I submitted in 2018 is still under the 'Assessment' category, so they haven't ruled it out.
Expand KBD CTRL to 16 parts on the Montage/MODX

However, the amount of programming and testing that Yamaha engineers would need to do to make that idea happen is extensive and likely not cost effective.

This other idea that I submitted though, is more likely to happen as I don't think it would take nearly as much programming and testing as the one above, and it would be just another method of creating numerous different combinations of Elements in PARTs 1-8 using the Scene buttons:
Add Element ON/OFF Switch Control to 'Scenes'

Who knows if they were release a Montage+ or not, but I do think that if they did release one, then it would likely have increased polyphony and possibly increased User memory though...

Today is July 12th and still silence. If inventory arrives in August as one dealer reported Yamaha is running out of time. The longer it drags on the less convinced I am that anything is coming out this year. Also possible Yamaha has realized that their design philosophy of "we'll provide you an impressive upgrade 3, 4 & 6 years after the release date" Doesn't result in outside interest or success. Head to head product reviews and cut-throat competition battles happen at the time of release. I'm not running out to drop $4K to $6K on an instrument that will compete 5 years from now after they "catch up". It's called forgettable back-end design I guess. By the time you finally get it upgraded nobody cares and we have moved on down the road of current technology.

Great point that had Yamaha fixed the YC rotary at the time of release they would have dominated that market. To suggest this industry giant Yamaha doesn't know what a great rotary emulation sounds like and took over two years to fix it is pretty tough to believe. This philosophy is backfiring on them to some degree. If they now know this isn't a good idea the Montage 2 project might have suffered some substantial delays. 7 years and counting of development and research since Montage plus the full gamut of Yamaha history and experience should have been an enormous advantage for a new product to now be available. Maybe they are content with milking the Montage and CP cows and aren't doing anything at all or any time soon.

CK is evidence that both dumbing down and featuring up is happening. Quality took a nose dive, the speakers suck but it's a fun affordable toy. Anything is completely possible when they decide to disappear from public/customer/dealer inquiry. I was originally waiting including having it officially PRE-preordered but then decided if they don't care neither do I. At some of our ages we're not impressed by silence and tomorrow isn't a guarantee. Yamaha might need to respect some of us more, the ones who have purchased everything that they have offered since the 80s and before. Is silence disrespectful? Well, I think after this 7 year long stint and no Montage available in the US, yeah it's disrespectful. Was the CK release silence disrespectful in comparison? No, because we have the CP & YC relatively recent and pretty much perform the identical tasks. We didn't really even need the CK and I'm not sure what masses of Yamaha customers were clamoring for another stage board. Maybe they were but I doubt it. We know for a fact Yamaha synth players want bigger and better synths, that's always been and will always be in ultra high demand. Did the MODX+ offering satisfy the Yamaha synth crowd demands? Those owners have to answer.

The YC concept was interesting and I still own the 73 but 99% of my full attention has moved over to Osmose and Iridium currently. Now my YC is a rompler when I need backing. I've literally waited over 30 years for something like the Osmose so now playing is fun again. "Fun" like can't stop playing fun. I doubt it was a surprise to a giant like Yamaha but the workstation has been done to literal death and forever same ole stuff. Why didn't Yamaha head in the MPE, MIDI2 direction to revolutionize keyboard interaction and expression years ago or even now? Will the M2 be just another workstation doing the same ole thing but more of it? The super knob was the last twist so what twist is next? Does Yamaha have an MPE on the production line currently? We can still use the Montage and MODX+ for whatever you want to do so why do we need another one?

Missed it again Yamaha. I just ordered the Oberheim OB-X8 module so have no money left for any Yamaha offering. Who's got the time to speculate so I guess we move on back to the past with Oberheim and toward the future with Osmose & Iridium. Kind of ironic that Yamaha DX7 killed the Oberheim and now they are returning the favor just a little. Of course everyone won't rush out to buy an X8 like the Osmose (1/2 the tag) but pretty cool to layer the X8 with some Osmose super expression. Love those 80 tunes with all the analog goodness. From what I'm hearing the authentication and filters are pretty magical so no ANx simulator is going to match the real deal. Plus they brilliantly made a module like I recommended of Yamaha. All 4 classics in one box with no keys because we don't need anymore dead key synths. It's decently affordable with a discount & free financing but still pretty steep. I'll report back on how it sounds and works. It's all about the quality of sound, really not much else matters.

So Yamaha finally said something but all my money is gone on the competition. Moved on to MPE Osmose and Oberheim OB-X8 as my ANx module. Iridium module for 5 other options. Yeah what does "next generation "MONTAGE" in all caps mean? Sounds like it's another Montage against my guess/wish of something totally different. Same ole stuff but more of it doesn't excite me. It's time for revolutionary gear once again. So next question is how many new customers and old Montage owners are going to seriously consider another MONTAGE purchase? It clearly says MONTAGE. Like Oreo with double stuff not really interested. There are way, way to many super exciting units available for "cheap" and you can build your own arsenal. How is this going to compete and yes with what color will it compete with and how much?

@David It will be purple. Deep Purple! :p

Do not use the Hammond hunter green metallic. It's cool for the first week but then gets kind of depressing. Yes will it be silver, white, black, blue, grey, sea foam? The Roland Fantom was cool with the red rear panel like a Nord. I suppose no one will go red not like Nord owns a patent on red. That is always intriguing to see what color they came up with. Black is classic always a very safe bet. Plastic or metal?