Yamaha Sound versus Other Brand

[LoveLoud]

Maybe one of the reasons for the Yamaha specific traffic is better sound.

I keep reading "sound" in posts about Yamaha. Seems to be the brand that gets the most compliments on its sound. CASIO brand the least?

I've bought everything used, even unseen. So I never went into a store and compared my CASIO tone # 25 1960s ELECTRIC PIANO to anything else. But it's my default setting because I want electric piano tones.

Probably the Yamaha version of tone # 25 E Piano literally sounds like an original Rhodes piano. I D K.

I've played almost every tone. Baritone sax, and others, are a joke. But the piano and organ tones work fine for me.

I surmise the circuits, ICs, capacitors, and internal speakers all contribute to the final sound. Must be that Yamaha just makes it better than some or most others. And new buyers are experiencing this difference in the store, etc. Leading to more entry sales.

 

[Biggles]

Do not agree.

Yamaha, does have good acoustic piano sounds but not as good as the Kawai that I tried a while back.

To my ears, the strings, woodwind and especially the brass in a Yamaha all sound strained and harsh.

The low end beginner keyboards by both Yamaha and Casio are poor.

Yep, its subjective but it is what it is to me.

 

[delaware dave]

 

[Bouncingogre]

You also have to take into consideration that pretty well all of the more expensive keyboards do not have built in speakers, but rather, the sound comes from external speakers.
Yamaha speakers are pretty good, their StagePas systems are excellent, but for my money the purpose made Paas Mk2 amplification system for the Korg Pa5x whips the pants off the quite coarse sound of anything Yamaha has to offer.
It's like having the orchestra in the room. Blew me away the first time I fired it up.... Breathtaking, and amazingly true in tone.

But I agree... sound is always subjective, and what suits one player may not suit another.
In many cases what speakers you hook up to a keyboard can make all the difference, and some aftermarket speakers perform very well. Cost of course is another issue.

 

[Biggles]

View attachment 3595

But who in the right mind would now buy a Kurzweil?

Zero, product support.

Zero effective presence here in the UK.

 

[happyrat1]

But who in the right mind would now buy a Kurzweil?

Zero, product support.

Zero effective presence here in the UK.

Look what's been happening in South Korea these days.

If sales are any indication, Kurzweil seems to be doing quite well in BRICS countries and the Pacific Rim nations.

Does this indicate another policy shift away from the US Dollar?

The Keyboard Fairy giveth and the Keyboard Fairy taketh away...

 

[delaware dave]

But who in the right mind would now buy a Kurzweil?

Zero, product support.

Zero effective presence here in the UK.

I didnt realize that the UK was the center of the universe, my apologies....

My two Kurzweil boards (both which have zero issues) and my Gemini module are the heart and soul of my gig rig. I would put their sound up against ANY digital instrument out there today. My two cents.

 

[LoveLoud]

Do not agree.

Yamaha, does have good acoustic piano sounds but not as good as the Kawai that I tried a while back.

To my ears, the strings, woodwind and especially the brass in a Yamaha all sound strained and harsh.

The low end beginner keyboards by both Yamaha and Casio are poor.

Yep, its subjective but it is what it is to me.

First time that I'm recalling Yamaha and CASIO in an equivalence.

I'm happy home hobbyist with a CASIO 1500, but I completely agree with the adjective "strained".

What it does satisfactorily is many if not most electric keyboards as labeled.

I'd be happier with a great electric piano or piano/organ and less of the features bloat.

Me.

 

[LoveLoud]

Look what's been happening in South Korea these days.

If sales are any indication, Kurzweil seems to be doing quite well in BRICS countries and the Pacific Rim nations.

Does this indicate another policy shift away from the US Dollar?

The Keyboard Fairy giveth and the Keyboard Fairy taketh away...

BRICS is the essential Cold War of our time.

 

[Keys4Jazz]

Built in speakers are really limited on the sound quality. A good pair of studio monitors will bring out the bass and best sounds. I have bought and sold 8 different synths in the last decade. Yamaha, Casio, Korg, Roland, Moog, Novation.
They all have a few good sounds, but the best was Yamaha MODX. Beautiful grand paino, bass, saxophone, pads, strings, flute. It had it all, why did I ever sell that one.

 

[rcjwhiting]

But who in the right mind would now buy a Kurzweil?

Zero, product support.

Zero effective presence here in the UK.

I second this. Great sounds, but my PC4 went wonky on me during consecutive gigs. It was under warranty, but the local tech said they were not even getting reimbursed for parts.

 

[Harvey Twyman]

Maybe one of the reasons for the Yamaha specific traffic is better sound.

I keep reading "sound" in posts about Yamaha. Seems to be the brand that gets the most compliments on its sound. CASIO brand the least?

I've bought everything used, even unseen. So I never went into a store and compared my CASIO tone # 25 1960s ELECTRIC PIANO to anything else. But it's my default setting because I want electric piano tones.

Probably the Yamaha version of tone # 25 E Piano literally sounds like an original Rhodes piano. I D K.

I've played almost every tone. Baritone sax, and others, are a joke. But the piano and organ tones work fine for me.

I surmise the circuits, ICs, capacitors, and internal speakers all contribute to the final sound. Must be that Yamaha just makes it better than some or most others. And new buyers are experiencing this difference in the store, etc. Leading to more entry sales.

Yamaha has the advantage over all others because they make virtually every musical instrument you can think of. They then can sample all their own instruments without fear of copyright and incorporate the samples into their keyboards.

 

[Harvey Twyman]

Maybe one of the reasons for the Yamaha specific traffic is better sound.

I keep reading "sound" in posts about Yamaha. Seems to be the brand that gets the most compliments on its sound. CASIO brand the least?

I've bought everything used, even unseen. So I never went into a store and compared my CASIO tone # 25 1960s ELECTRIC PIANO to anything else. But it's my default setting because I want electric piano tones.

Probably the Yamaha version of tone # 25 E Piano literally sounds like an original Rhodes piano. I D K.

I've played almost every tone. Baritone sax, and others, are a joke. But the piano and organ tones work fine for me.

I surmise the circuits, ICs, capacitors, and internal speakers all contribute to the final sound. Must be that Yamaha just makes it better than some or most others. And new buyers are experiencing this difference in the store, etc. Leading to more entry sales.

 

[Harvey Twyman]

Yamaha manufacture every musical instrument you can think of. They can then use samples from all their own instruments without fear of copyright.

 

[Biggles]

Built in speakers are really limited on the sound quality. A good pair of studio monitors will bring out the bass and best sounds. I have bought and sold 8 different synths in the last decade. Yamaha, Casio, Korg, Roland, Moog, Novation.
They all have a few good sounds, but the best was Yamaha MODX. Beautiful grand paino, bass, saxophone, pads, strings, flute. It had it all, why did I ever sell that one.

My experience of a MODX was diametrically opposite to yours.

Great acoustic Piano, rubbish everything else.

Compounded by a dire operating system.

 

[Bouncingogre]

Yamaha manufacture every musical instrument you can think of. They can then use samples from all their own instruments without fear of copyright.

That's a good point that Harvey makes.
My only issue with Yamaha is that whilst their sounds are pretty good, pray to whoever you wish that you never have to make any kind of warranty claim.
Snake Oil salesmen are easier to deal with!

 

[Florida88]

Look what's been happening in South Korea these days.

If sales are any indication, Kurzweil seems to be doing quite well in BRICS countries and the Pacific Rim nations.

Does this indicate another policy shift away from the US Dollar?

The Keyboard Fairy giveth and the Keyboard Fairy taketh away...

BRICS can take their marbles and go home if they want. Come January 20th there will be a new Sheriff in town and the Dollar will continue to stay strong. I’m glad Kurzweil is doing well and like the others, they have some good piano emulations and others that aren’t quite as good. The same goes for the other brands including Yamaha! I have a stage keyboard plus a Kawai grand and really enjoy the variety of piano emulation options. Yamaha has also provided 3 firmware updates adding more piano sounds to choose from. I can’t remember the last time someone came up and said that was a great performance, but I didn’t like the piano emulation!

 

[happyrat1]

BRICS can take their marbles and go home if they want. Come January 20th there will be a new Sheriff in town and the Dollar will continue to stay strong.

Is that before or after the massive recession Putin's puppet creates from the white house?

 

[Rayblewit]

How did this thread turn political?

My Yamaha sound is superb!
Using headphones it is even better than superb.
Other brands like Korg and Roland would be just as good I am sure.

Admittedly, some voices on my Yamaha (mainly electric guitar) don't quite make the grade, but piano, brass, woodwind, strings are excellent.
Awesome drum beats and riffs too.

That is some of my thoughts in a nutshell.

 

[amwilburn]

That's a good point that Harvey makes.
My only issue with Yamaha is that whilst their sounds are pretty good, pray to whoever you wish that you never have to make any kind of warranty claim.
Snake Oil salesmen are easier to deal with!

Very sad to hear that, since it's the dealer who's supposed to get what you need on your behalf. I can only help with Yamaha Canada, since I'm a dealer for them; but I even managed to get warranty parts for Lee Batchelor at PSRTutorial when (*redacted* our competitor; he didn't purchase his Genos from us) didn't do squat to help him with the warranty issue that he had with a broken button. He was very upset at Yamaha as well, and I explained to him that it's actually the dealer's responsibility to forward and resolve any issues with the manufacturer. (This applies to all brands, btw)
Since his dealer didn't, I did it for him. He seemed quite grateful.

Biggles, sorry to hear the MODX wasn't for you; for me it provides the best bang for the buck workstation rompler around (and still does); the only one that comes close is the Nautilus (other than the acoustic guitars and orchestral strings, I actually like most of the Nautilus sounds better than the MODx, but it also costs 20% more for the non AT version. But sound preference is subjective, so I certainly can't fault your preference, even if I don't understand it. I do get to try every model from every brand, so I have a pretty wide range of comparisons. Suffice it to say, the Fantom 0 series didn't perform at all; they launched at the same price as the MODX, and were completely outclassed.... a year after launch Roland was forced to discount them *heavily* because the MODX series was outselling them by an infinite amount.

You probably *won't* be surprised to learn that other than the drums, synths, and wonderful piano, most of the 'rompler' samples were actually reused from Tyros 4 & 5!

Mark

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www.youtube.com/MarkWilburnTLM/Videos
DX7, CLP300, PSR60, Roland E20 + MT32, CVP309, PSRS970, Fender Std Strat, Squier RB3 Midi Strat, Ibanez SA262, Yamaha CG131, Fujiyama FC390, TUC-Kitty