Yamaha is pretty good at getting product to stores in a timely manner. For instance, the Yamaha Genos was announced in October, 2017 and I was able to purchase one in November from Guitar Center. The official announcement of the new Montage was already given by Yamaha rep Blake Angelos in a rather unceremonious manner on this forum in fact. Rest assured Yamaha is ramping up production of the Montage successor even as we speak. Yamaha rep Bad Mister i.e. Phil Clendeninn has been absent on this forum of late since he's probably going hog wild learning all the in's and out's of the new beast. Once Yamaha has their much anticipated unveiling in October I fully expect the new Montage will be in stores before the holidays. As far as leaking info about the new Flagship before the official launch that's totally up to Yamaha but if past is prologue I think we can expect bits and pieces to be revealed before the actual unveiling in October. Start saving those pennies, folks.

I'm already on the pre-per-order list line for the Montage so I should get it first and report back.

I'd be really interested to know how the physical interface is changing from Montage to Montage+. I should have asked a long time ago to put a long ribbon or touch surface like my Moog Voyager XL -- those are really nice ways to interact with a sound. I was too busy with a Roland FA-08 to get time with a Montage. My main thing is knowing how good Montage+ will be for composition in terms of sound set. I guess AN-X will be very exciting. My last experience with a Yamaha synth was the SY77 and that was a lot of fun. I was surprised how well the sounds were for such a tiny sized ROM.

That's funny. I worked at Waffle House in college and saved every penny to buy a new SY77 back before Guitar Center or mail order was a thing. Literally the moment I bought the SY77 they had the SY99 available so I exchanged it, probably lost $1000 in the deal. Again all we had was a local dealer who didn't give a crap. Now I can barter prices or buy used etc. anywhere in the world basically. Back then you simply got screwed. Then way, way later when those were vintage gear I dismantled them as a side hustle probably 100 or more replacing the failed backlight and internal batteries etc. I replace millions of the really crappy tack switches it had. It has some amazing features and you could literally design the stereo panning sequence on the 99. Not sure anything has ever been like that since. If the SY was your last Yamaha experience that's been a lifetime ago.

I bought the SY77 used because I wanted an FM synthesizer (in about 2012 I think) and I was enamored that it had sampled sounds too. My favorite sound in there was the Mini Bass. So then I figured that I should try to do plugins instead and I sold it to a guy who just wanted to use the DX7 style tuba sound for a Mexican band setting. Since then, I got really interested in analog synthesis and I really love those -- but I'm trying to put a re-emphasis on my composition hobby today. I'm trying to figure out if Montage+ is the thing and now I can actually afford one.

I'm trying to figure out if Montage+ is the thing and now I can actually afford one.

No - if you mean the current Montage which has now been discontinued. That would be looking backward.

Yes - if you mean the expected October release.

With this area of technology there is much to be gained by being FIRST to get expertise with a new major release.

For your expected use case you should consider the technical and physical differences between different expected models of the new offering. In the context of the current Montage lineup that would be info about the differences in the models 6, 7 and 8.

The model 8 has the best (IMO) keyboard but that doesn't really impact your composing needs.
The model 8 has 88 keys rather than 61 but that likely doesn't impact composing or sound creation either.
The model 8 is MUCH heavier - but if you aren't going to be moving it (i.e. from gig to gig) what difference does that make?

The current Modx is nice but doesn't have the polyphony that hte Montage has. It also doesn't have close to the same audio interface as the Montage.

For composing you want the best interface and connectivity you can get.

My suggestion is that as soon as technical info is available you try to decide what model level will meet your needs. If you want to become one of the first experts on the high end model then you are going to need a high end model.

You can bet that Yamaha will be pulling out all the stops to get behind their new thing.

With such a new offering now is NOT the time to cut corners. Get the top-end model if you can afford it even if you have to temporarily cut somewhere else.

You only get ONE chance to be first.

Unless the new Montage has some super high-tech MPE poly MIDI2 keyboard I'd just get the 61 because I have better keys.

Historically with Yamaha the 73 goes up by an disproportional amount typically $500 or like $42 a key. Other brands not so much of a difference usually only about $300. Yamaha loves to milk the 73/76 boards not because it costs that much but because it's more in demand. Just my gut impression but let's see if that happens or not. Might be even more if it's a high-tech MPE.

Else don't bite especially if you have a controller you like and you don't need an all-in-one unit. Obviously pro players got to have more keys but that's not me. Also assuming the (3) sizes are identical except for keys. The greatest value is the 61 or unless the actual action is different between the available units which might only be the 88.

Yeah the Yamaha reps have been playing this Montage2 for a long, long while and to think they read our stuff over all these many months and it must be killing them to not be able to say one word. That would absolutely be excruciating so they probably don't or aren't allowed to read it. I still have no idea how they hide the information, the name, all the printed materials where anyone can see it passing by the door or the room or the delivery mail guy etc.

People everywhere in business places and someone is toting this synth around for them to learn on it and probably not just a few players. It might even be at their houses for them to test and learn at night. What about the years/months of beta testing. I've always wanted to know how do you remain silent and I don't mean intentional leaks but just carrying water in a bucket with holes. I mean your wife and kids grab your brief case and it falls open and there's the Montage 2 documents for all to see. I can think of a million ways someone will or can accidentally see something about it if nothing more than the name or a photo.

The manual, supplements and products documents writing and publishing alone is a massive undertaking. No one accidentally sees all of that or accidentally emails it out? A lot of locked doors, security codes and sheading going on so the cleaning crew doesn't see it either. It's astonishing there is never a leak especially by pure unintentional accident. Not to mentioned every human being alive is carrying a video recording studio in their hand everywhere they go.

So here we are into August and nothing available to examine. If they release info in September for October then stores have it in November it's still slipping into the end of year holidays and related expenses. This economy isn't exactly good for supporting double jeopardy purchases like Montage2 for me and new car for the wife etc. I'm not sure Yamaha is considering customer preparations where food/supplies cost is up 20% so the longer we know nothing the more it could hurt Yamaha sales. I think the initial sales at release are probably pretty important.

If the Montage is another 7-year future-expanded synth then maybe they don't care too much about it now. Timing is everything so I'm wondering how long until we know if we want to take a leap or play the current Montage for a few more years while they fix the new Montage2. If it's really a very special design or "groundbreaking" I'd think the sooner the better however if it's just double the original they might not be so hyped to talk about it.

I'm still think the form factor and keybed/key and boxing/shipping massive boards is a serious drain on the budget. A master Montage2 module would be fantastic could be paired with your current montage or any keyboard you already like and own. I'm so module oriented I seriously can't get excited about more keys on a board. Typically a module, if it comes at all, is way down the road anyway. How many buyers would opt to wait on that if they knew it was coming? I would. Was the Ex5r Yamaha's last synth module? Just so much simpler having the module and controller separate because they get extremely heavy in general. Not so sure I like the new ABS plastic synths for the studio.

Motif, chronologically after the EX5R, had a couple of generations of rack (keyboardless) modules.

I've got an EX5R and would prefer to have the keyboard (EX5) due to well integrated controls. Using a different external MIDI controller was seen as too much of a compromise when I was deciding if I should keep going the module route or not. I ultimately decided that modules would be further from what I want and no savings in terms of bulk to carry since I'd have to have two cases to lug around vs one.

Racks make sense for some. It's not universally better or worse. Just varied preferences.

Projected sales numbers vs the project cost (including warranty burden and sustaining) would guide if a rack is introduced or not.

Brings up a good point that racks vs modules (desktops) are a lot different I guess I should clarify those. Racks serve that specific purpose of being mounted and are compact and not user friendly. FSR1 wasn't pleasant. I think I want a desktop system like Iridium or OB-X8m which could have all the conveniences of a full board minus the keys.

What I was thinking was a rather large item with lots of one-to-one controls but no keys and still smaller than one with keys. Even larger than the Iridium calling it a module probably isn't the correct term or wrong mental image.

That's an interesting thought concerning the name of a device. If you are required to fill out and apply for trademarks/patents/registrations etc. and had to change it in a hundred places then makes sense if you could simply add a "plus" sign or letters like "EX" to that same paperwork from the previous Montage. Probably like a product modification/improvement application verses starting all over. So theoretically the new Montage "EX" could be mostly different out of the box and yet still keep the name because of the pure hassle and expense of paperwork and applications, delays and red tape, processing etc.

I wonder if anything inside of it has to resemble the Montage including the appearance because what's in a name anyway? I'm only speculating but when paperwork and publishing is involved that can amount to some real work. Cutting out the keys would be more beneficial financially making it a desktop but the historical trend are keys and then maybe no keys down the road which doesn't really benefit the initial production. We all have keys we prefer, just don't need them on every unit we own making the shipping box as large as furniture. More companies are catching on to increase sales. Has Yamaha ever made a desktop module anything, especially a flagship? At least should be an option.

So my thought is opposite. For example 100% of the product budget goes into the desktop module not the opposite. So the end result is a $6,000 desktop module with all the technology inside. Then if you must have keys you order the keyboard version and pay the price for the upcharge. Instead of the opposite where a large chuck is taken away from the technology in order to add the form factor for the keys and boxing and shipping etc. That's a waste of the technology IMO. That's where they reduce the cost by $1,500 or whatever but it's backwards thinking because keys shouldn't subtract from the guts or brain, UI, DSP which is what we all really want anyway.