This morning i sat down with the montage yet another time (many shops in Holland are open on Sundays). And yesterday evening i took some time to read the manualls making the interface more comfortable.. one could say this was a pre planned excursion...

There is one thing on the montage that makes it feel miles and miles ahead of the competition, and that is the whole interface, everything is so well tought out on the front panel as well as on the touchscreen. From lights on the knobs and slider, to the superknob as well as the multifunctional selection buttons to the right side, everything fits perfectly...

But where they did best is in creating a double opperating philosophy... there are scuba divers and there are snorcklers, most arranger players i suppose are snorcklers, snorcklers swim on the surface and want the most important features to access sounds and performances.. most overall they however stick to selecting preprepared comtent..
And then there are the scuba divers, they want to dive in the deepest oceans, getting deep inside the sound engine to create their very own sounds, performances, sequences and arps..
Yamaha serves both groups with this single interface, and serves both groups perfectly..


I personally hope yamaha will put this new philosophy to work for their new arranger tyros/genos as well... because a Montage is how a professional instrument should work trough an intuitive friendly interface that allows easy access on all levels... both in edditing as well as during a performance..




This video shows how the interface works during a performance...

Very cool.
Thanks
Eric

Phil is one of the BEST on this field....

He is an Awesome in explaining and demonstrating the Montage, and of course Blake Angelos is too... !

Neat! Just watching that video makes me want to go out and buy one, go out to the nearest nite club and perform. Oh, wait - I'm retired. Guess I'll spend the money on cruising next year.

Gary

Thanks Bachus for the great review and video link of the Montage. I feel Yamaha does a pretty good job striking a balance with features and depth of editing with their arranger keyboards, but certainly more depth, control, and editing would be better for those who could use it.

I wish I was young again to appreciate and make good use of this Montage keyboard and amazing real time control features, but an arranger is the best fit for my present circumstances and situation. That "Super Knob" would look really cool on a new Tyros/Genos model.

Regards, Marcus

I am with Marcus. I bet it would make some super combi's for my band, but I am afraid this is for younger techies.

Actually i would not be surprised if the two live knobs we allready know from the PSR-S series would inherrit quite some of the superknob features when ported to the Genos/tyros6, Having 4 fully programmable knobs/performance would be incredible...

Espescially when the easy access features of Tyros apply to this....

bachus did you buy the montage yet?

How could i? witouth telling you?

Comparing the montage to Kronos...
1) Kronos has more options and tools
2) Montage is easier to get results with

Both sound incredible (as do all other high end products)

I am not going to spend my money, i am not done with the Kronos yet, there is still so much to discover inside that box.. And i am not gonna go a 3 piece setup...


So i will stick with the Kronos as long as it lasts being fun, yet i do recognise the strengths of the Montage interface and the raw power of its sound...

OK good luck with you music!!

If you were to buy one between the Kronos and the Montage, which one would you choose? I know it is not fair comparison but as a digital accordion player, I can't get over how much more technology you get with these TOL keyboards for the money. One digital accordion out of Switzerland is about $8,000, but basically it has a GM sound set..... Pathetic.

I think i would still choose the Kronos, because it adds more to my Tyros 5... many of the montage sounds are also in the Tyros 5...


However if i had to choose a single keyboard... now then i would be hard pressed, both have very strong points... but with 9 engines and a full set of workstation features, i still might choose the Kronos as my favorite.. Tough, creating new sounds and such is much harder on the Kronos, in the end thats still its strength.. Montage even tough it is easier to create new things is just a bit stronger where it comes to pre created content..


There is one other remark i need to make : I am not gigging, but for giggers, that want an 88 key on stage, the Montage at 29kg might not be an option..


In the end i have been saying little prayers for years for someone to put a pa4x in the Kronos or put a Montage in the Tyros.. and add 88 keys...


Keep in mind tough, that i own the Kronos and played the Montage in total 6 to 8 hours now...