Perhaps to some degree I am trying makes things OK with my Montage since I am not financially able to trade up to a Montage M; However I have found ways to do everything I could ever want/need to on the classic, and there are a few important things on the M that I legitimately don't like compared to the classic. There are a few things Yamaha have removed on the M that makes programming FM-X and AWM2 Parts on it not as good IMHO. Maybe it's partly what you get used to, but I do a lot of quick comparison back and forth, utilizing the buttons on the Montage classic for muting Parts, Elements (AWM2) & Operators (FM-X), and from what I understand with the M, it is not as easy & convenient. Also within a Part, not having Elem1,2,3...8 at the bottom of the screen with the light indicators when tweaking velocity switching between Elements, such as on pianos, was a really bad change for Yamaha to make IMHO, as I utilize that quite a bit. I don't know if I could have created and programmed my C7 piano or tweaked all my other pianos, without those features the way they are on the classic..!? And I really do not like Yamaha's new agent based sales model that they changed to with the M!I really don’t understand this back and forth on every Montage M post about how it stacks up (or more, how it doesn’t stack up) against the previous Montage or some other keyboard or Soft Synth with some of the same features. It really just seems to me that these people are just trying to make themselves OK with what they already own. Which is perfectly normal, I just don’t see the need to constantly talk in this regressive manner. It seems like it would be better to make a separate thread about how the “Montage M is underwhelming and not worth the money” than clutter every thread with these digressions and very subjective comments. Then everyone can complain there.
Having said all that (the negative bits), I like to end with the positive. If I had the money I would still trade up my classic for the Montage M8x, because I think there are more than enough great changes/features/enhancements than not on the M that make it worth while. The GEX keybed is the number one reason for me, especially for playing pianos. Also, the additional pianos (waveforms/Performances) they added to preset memory, as well as a few other choice waveforms, make it worth it. The new Shimmer reverb is awesome. The AN-X is not something I cared that much to have, but Yamaha did an awesome job of implementing the highest quality VA and I would probably utilize it for a few sounds, plus I would definitely utilize it's 'Unison' feature. PolyAT is also not something I really care to have, but it's awesome that they added it to the M8x and I probably would utilize it on a few Performances.
Plus the new YC based organ rotary effect is something I would likely utilize. And it's always nice to know there are future OS updates that bring more features/sound capabilities!
The additional 128 stereo polyphony for AWM2 via User memory waveforms is also a great bonus and I would most likely utilize that as well, although I've never run into polyphony issues on the Montage classic, but perhaps it's partly because I utilize FM-X sounds so much...
I do like the right side 4 x 4 buttons on the M as they line up better with the screen, especially for changing Performances in Live Set, and they are more simplistic/cleaner. And perhaps Yamaha would be open to adding back some of the features of the Montage classic, such as options for Montage classic screen colour schemes and the Part menu with the 8 Elem1,2,3...8 at the bottom of the screen with the light indicators ... there is room to add forward/back buttons to switch between seeing Elements 1-8 to 9-16 to 17-24, up to 121-128 and back, so I would probably push for that via forums and Ideascale if I had an M. Oh and the E.S.P. is a great bonus too!
I am all about having 1 single synth that can do everything and the M makes it even that much better!
Bottom line for me ... the good completely outweighs the bad on the Montage M, making it an easy choice to trade up to for those who can IMHO
Statistics: Posted by vertig0spin — Sun Nov 03, 2024 4:53 pm