YC61 Keybed finally revealed - What a disappointment, keys with plastic hinges, like toys 🙁
Looks a lot like other Yamaha keyboards that aren't toys and have lasted through almost 2 decades of regular use (I'm thinking of my MO6 circa 2006.
When you play a Yamaha professional keyboard (stage or otherwise) - there's a big difference between actual toy pianos and Yamaha's keybeds in function and feel. There are more consumer grade (approaching "toy") from Yamaha that are actually miles ahead of other manufacturers' similarly classed keyboards. I have a DGX I regularly use since it's just always plugged in while my gigging Montage ends up in the case (and not re-setup in the studio) from shows.
I wouldn't dismiss the construction entirely on materials. Personally (anecdotally), I have seen a lot more failures of the graded hammer keybeds used in the 88 key MO line (MOX8, MOXF8). Not sure if there was a redesign that improved things in the MODX8 (and haven't seen any failures of this yet although I don't have a lot of exposure to the keyboard) - but I can say I like MODX8's feel better than MOXF8.
Current Yamaha Synthesizers: Montage Classic 7, Motif XF6, S90XS, MO6, EX5R
Thanks for posting the link to the video.
My first thought was "Wow, look at the size of those panel boards!" All those user interface gizmos in the Stage CP/YC come at a cost in both manufacturing and post-production QA.
I'm not too shocked at the key design. So-called hammer action keys have more complicated mechanics and design. As long as an organ key has a good feeling resistance and shape -- and holds up in the long run -- c'est la vie. 🙂
-- pj