Coming up: Yamaha Montage standalone VST

[digitallysane]

Thanks for the info on GEX! Is it graded? I wonder how it would stack against Yamaha's top action on the P-515 or Roland's PHA-50 on the Fantom and RD-2000. Or Fatar's TP-40/W/TP-400/Wood

GEX is not graded, as it's made specifically to be used on synths.

(Also, the P-515 has just been replaced with the P-525 with a different, supposedly also very good, action).

[VitaminD]

The 'problem' with hardware manufacturers is they want to keep selling hardware.

That said, I'm not spending 1, 2, or 3 grand on a huge, bulky workstation keyboard when all I want is the sound engine.

[Pillimees]

If it's realistic acoustic sounds you're after, there are so many and so good in the third-party sample libraries available commercially (especially for Kontakt) that spending money in something like Fantom/Montage/whatever to get those sounds would be silly.

Silly? Not at all.
Montage vst can be a single container that includes everything that you'll ever need. With kontakt you'll need to sacrifice hundreds of gigabytes from your hard disk, purchase many different libraries and get used to a different UI for each one and even then, you won't have a fluid mix of sounds on the go and will have to spend a lot on mixing. One of the greatest advantages of sticking to one workstation for all sounds is that they tend to sit together very well in the mix from the beginning because they have a certain character that is shared in the sound design process, with kontakt you are dealing with various 3rd party developers and each library is a world of its own.

Maybe. But what you present as flaws in Kontakt (or any other sample player engine) are advantages to me. You will NEVER have the kind of quality and diversity in Montage or any workstation you choose. After a while, you will be tired of the sounds, and wishing for something else. I witnessed this behavior many times.

How can you get tired of sounds of acoustic instruments ?
The piano was invented hundreds of years ago and is still prominent in pop music.
Same goes for the violin, trumpet, harp...you get the idea.
Also, even synth sounds are relevant for decades.
All the roland's junos and jupiters are still relevant in 2023 as they were in the 80's.

Besides that, that montage has over a thousand of sounds, how many sounds do you need in a song?
As a composer I would rather have a limited array of sounds which are all high quality than having to waste time browsing through thousands of sounds which are all identical (or worse, are not satisfying enough).
Having some sort of limitation and boundaries is good, otherwise you could eventually waste time browsing through sounds instead of actually creating music.

True, you can never get tired of physical acoustic instruments, but Montage is not an acoustic instrument. I have listened to the demos of the new Montage and indeed - still the same compressed and polished workstation sounds. I'm not saying it's necessarily a bad thing, they work well in a live situation, but they've never been my taste.

[Bippo]

If it's realistic acoustic sounds you're after, there are so many and so good in the third-party sample libraries available commercially (especially for Kontakt) that spending money in something like Fantom/Montage/whatever to get those sounds would be silly.

Silly? Not at all.
Montage vst can be a single container that includes everything that you'll ever need. With kontakt you'll need to sacrifice hundreds of gigabytes from your hard disk, purchase many different libraries and get used to a different UI for each one and even then, you won't have a fluid mix of sounds on the go and will have to spend a lot on mixing. One of the greatest advantages of sticking to one workstation for all sounds is that they tend to sit together very well in the mix from the beginning because they have a certain character that is shared in the sound design process, with kontakt you are dealing with various 3rd party developers and each library is a world of its own.

Maybe. But what you present as flaws in Kontakt (or any other sample player engine) are advantages to me. You will NEVER have the kind of quality and diversity in Montage or any workstation you choose. After a while, you will be tired of the sounds, and wishing for something else. I witnessed this behavior many times.

How can you get tired of sounds of acoustic instruments ?
The piano was invented hundreds of years ago and is still prominent in pop music.
Same goes for the violin, trumpet, harp...you get the idea.
Also, even synth sounds are relevant for decades.
All the roland's junos and jupiters are still relevant in 2023 as they were in the 80's.

Besides that, that montage has over a thousand of sounds, how many sounds do you need in a song?
As a composer I would rather have a limited array of sounds which are all high quality than having to waste time browsing through thousands of sounds which are all identical (or worse, are not satisfying enough).
Having some sort of limitation and boundaries is good, otherwise you could eventually waste time browsing through sounds instead of actually creating music.

True, you can never get tired of physical acoustic instruments, but Montage is not an acoustic instrument. I have listened to the demos of the new Montage and indeed - still the same compressed and polished workstation sounds. I'm not saying it's necessarily a bad thing, they work well in a live situation, but they've never been my taste.

Those 'compressed and polished workstation sounds' not only work in a live situation but also in the studio...dozens of records have been made with the motif/fantom/kronos without any problem

[BBFG#]

Assuming it does but can't find any immediate answer on their page. Does it have Release Velocity?

No

That's assuming the midi implementation chart on the site is correct.
Seems odd - play a key - velocity. Press down on a key when bottomed - after touch or poly AT.
Release a key - release velocity.

Some of the most very basic things in the midi spec.
On the last page here: https://usa.yamaha.com/files/download/o ... _dl_a0.pdf

Yeah, that was the implications I got on the first page with just "initial velocity". And that alone makes it a pass for me. Will still be hoping for the VST to be everything it promises to be.

[MetroSonus]

Yamaha have before limited their plugins to owners of the hardware version, so I would not be surprised if Montage M owners are the only ones who get the plugin.

I'd see zero point in a full plugin if it's only for hardware users. Access TI like vst sure.

Why give it to people with the hardware and not make money on it? Seems like a lot of tied up and wasted resources

[VitaminD]

Yamaha have before limited their plugins to owners of the hardware version, so I would not be surprised if Montage M owners are the only ones who get the plugin.

I'd see zero point in a full plugin if it's only for hardware users. Access TI like vst sure.

Why give it to people with the hardware and not make money on it? Seems like a lot of tied up and wasted resources

Because they are a hardware company trying to sell hardware.

[BBFG#]

Yamaha have before limited their plugins to owners of the hardware version, so I would not be surprised if Montage M owners are the only ones who get the plugin.

I'd see zero point in a full plugin if it's only for hardware users. Access TI like vst sure.

Why give it to people with the hardware and not make money on it? Seems like a lot of tied up and wasted resources

Because they are a hardware company trying to sell hardware.

The fact that they say "free to Montage M owners" is an implication that it will be sold to nonowners of the Keyboard. At this point, I'm hoping there'll be a very nice discounted price for us that own the first Montage.

[VitaminD]

Yamaha have before limited their plugins to owners of the hardware version, so I would not be surprised if Montage M owners are the only ones who get the plugin.

I'd see zero point in a full plugin if it's only for hardware users. Access TI like vst sure.

Why give it to people with the hardware and not make money on it? Seems like a lot of tied up and wasted resources

Because they are a hardware company trying to sell hardware.

The fact that they say "free to Montage M owners" is an implication that it will be sold to nonowners of the Keyboard. At this point, I'm hoping there'll be a very nice discounted price for us that own the first Montage.

That would be great. But I'm not holding my breath.

[NatLife]

I just got An1X, i'm not surethat Montage M ANX sounds somehow better, except polyphony but i Love how sounds Yamaha An1X, it's more than enough for getting this warmth VA sound of 90s
One thing will be good if new ANX can receive a AN1X presets)

[TheMaestro]

This is huge, if it's a 1:1 of the hardware.

[digitallysane]

...

[ralph42]

If the VST is going to be just for Montage owners, could Yamaha release just the AN-X engine alone as a purchasable VST, that would be awesome.

[Digivolt]

If the VST is going to be just for Montage owners, could Yamaha release just the AN-X engine alone as a purchasable VST, that would be awesome.

Just add it to Halion

[felis]

Just add it to Halion

Halion already has a superb Virtual Analog engine.