I’m glad that Yamaha still thinks REAL original MIDI ports should exist.

After all, I might have to change my user name and avatar otherwise.  ;-)

Click thumbnail to see full-size image

Regarding missing LAN port, I wonder if Montage retains any kind of file transfer capability between itself and a PC. Perhaps it will be possible in one direction only using the USB-MIDI port (as in - the PC sees the Montage as an external storage). The other way (Montage can read and write to PC) probably won’t be possible.

I wonder if the ability to use those ports to relay data to other synth will be retained. My current setup is XS6 + AN1x connected together via DIN cables and both communicate with the PC using XS6 USB port.

On another note - are there any synths that do away with the DIN ports and use USB exclusively?

Jote - 17 January 2016 12:54 PM

Regarding missing LAN port, I wonder if Montage retains any kind of file transfer capability between itself and a PC. Perhaps it will be possible in one direction only using the USB-MIDI port (as in - the PC sees the Montage as an external storage). The other way (Montage can read and write to PC) probably won’t be possible.

I wonder if the ability to use those ports to relay data to other synth will be retained. My current setup is XS6 + AN1x connected together via DIN cables and both communicate with the PC using XS6 USB port.

Based on what has been revealed so far, I have mixed feelings about the Montage. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not a fan of touch screens, and if certain features of the XS and XF I’ve come to depend on are missing in the Montage, then it might not be for me. I’ve already got gear that covers FM (4-op) and analog, additional sampling (two Yamaha rack units), Korg keys and a module that cover AI and AI2 sounds, a couple of older Roland rack units for their sound, MIDI processing, etc. So the Montage needs to be a full step forward compared to the XF. If it’s one step forward and a half step back, I’m not interested. Others might find the Montage to exactly fit their needs.

It seems we’ll have to wait at least a few more days to find out.

 

Jote -

On another note - are there any synths that do away with the DIN ports and use USB exclusively?

I don’t know offhand of any synths, but there certainly are several keyboard controllers out that are USB-MIDI only.

5pinDIN - 17 January 2016 01:46 PM

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not a fan of touch screens

Hey 5pinDIN,

it might interest you that “anything you can do with the touchscreen can be done from the panel buttons” (https://yamahasynth.com/index.php?option=com_easydiscuss&view=post&id=4912&Itemid=851)

Regards, :)

Jo

DschoKeys - 17 January 2016 01:57 PM

Hey 5pinDIN,

it might interest you that “anything you can do with the touchscreen can be done from the panel buttons” (https://yamahasynth.com/index.php?option=com_easydiscuss&view=post&id=4912&Itemid=851)

Thanks for that. I had seen the original post, but there wasn’t a reply at the time.

A few posts back I wrote “I’m hopeful with all the buttons that still seem to exist, there will be some redundancy between them and the touch screen.”

It seems that’s no longer a concern. Maybe Yamaha does listen after all.  :-)

Jote - 17 January 2016 11:18 AM

Montage no longer has the LAN capability

Neither has any onther synth besides the Motif XS/XF.

Jote - 17 January 2016 12:54 PM

I wonder if Montage retains any kind of file transfer capability between itself and a PC. Perhaps it will be possible in one direction only using the USB-MIDI port (as in - the PC sees the Montage as an external storage)

We shall see if Montage is storage class compliant, i.e. USB “to device” port is accessible from the PC.
FYI MOXF doesn’t have it - it does have a class-compliant audio/MIDI for iOS, but not the PC/Mac which still require a proprietary driver.

5pinDIN - 17 January 2016 11:46 AM

I’m hoping that USB on the Montage is 3.1 SuperSpeed

SuperSpeed is an entirely new protocol which requiress a blue-colored connector with additional pins - the one included on the Montage looks like standard USB 2.0 Hi-Speed (~480 Mbit/s), but that’s more than enough: 192 kHz x 24 bit x 19 channels == ~88 Mbit/s == ~11 Mbyte/s

I do hope that the Montage has an universal 100-240 V power supply, just like the Motif XF.

DmitryKo - 17 January 2016 04:19 PM

Jote - 17 January 2016 11:18 AM

Montage no longer has the LAN capability

Neither has any onther synth besides the Motif XS/XF.

Yeah, but given that Montage is a flagship successor to XS/XF I expected to see it. Well, I won’t cry over it. I never got it to work the “other” way (ie. getting my XS to access data on my PC).

Yes, you can proably access the USB “to device” port from the PC, just like on the MOXF.

Ah, I was not aware of that functionality of MOXFs. Yup, this should do.

Jote - 17 January 2016 04:28 PM

I was not aware of that functionality of MOXFs.

My bad, posted this without actually checking things up. Actually the MOXF is not storage class compliant, so you can’t access USB media from the PC.

Jote - 17 January 2016 04:28 PM

I never got it to work the “other” way (ie. getting my XS to access data on my PC).

Looks like Yamaha never bothered to update Samba 3.0 to a newer SMB2-compliant version, judging by their MontaVista Linux source tree (moxs105_02.zip moxf111_02.zip).

5pinDIN - 17 January 2016 11:47 AM

I’m glad that Yamaha still thinks REAL original MIDI ports should exist.

After all, I might have to change my user name and avatar otherwise.  ;-)

That’s good. It would’ve been difficult to start thinking of you as 4pinUSB…

Click thumbnail to see full-size image

DmitryKo - 17 January 2016 04:19 PM

5pinDIN - 17 January 2016 11:46 AM

I’m hoping that USB on the Montage is 3.1 SuperSpeed

SuperSpeed is an entirely new protocol which requiress a blue-colored connector with additional pins - the one included on the Montage looks like standard USB 2.0 Hi-Speed (~480 Mbit/s), but that’s more than enough:
192 kHz x 24 bit x 19 channels == ~88 Mbit/s == ~11 Mbyte/s

You left out the second sentence when you quoted me: “The XF has USB 2.0, but implemented so badly it’s only marginally faster then 1.1.”

USB 2.0 is adequate, if it’s truly High-Speed, but 2.0 in the XF is closer to Full-Speed. If there’s no bottleneck in the Montage, I wouldn’t complain about 2.0.

Jote - 17 January 2016 04:28 PM

DmitryKo - 17 January 2016 04:19 PM

Jote - 17 January 2016 11:18 AM

Montage no longer has the LAN capability

Neither has any onther synth besides the Motif XS/XF.

Yeah, but given that Montage is a flagship successor to XS/XF I expected to see it. Well, I won’t cry over it. I never got it to work the “other” way (ie. getting my XS to access data on my PC).

Both my XS and XF can communicate bidirectionally with my PC running Windows XP. It’s convenient to be able to store libraries on the PC and load them directly, rather than needing to use a USB drive to do the transfer. I’d hate to lose that capability.

5pinDIN - 17 January 2016 05:11 PM

Both my XS and XF can communicate bidirectionally with my PC running Windows XP. It’s convenient to be able to store libraries on the PC and load them directly, rather than needing to use a USB drive to do the transfer. I’d hate to lose that capability.

Me too. It’s a great feature being able to move files back and forth from my PC to my synth. I can’t quite believe that Yamaha would eliminate this capability given that they already knew how to do it.

Maybe the Montage has built-in Wi-Fi.

Michael Trigoboff - 17 January 2016 05:00 PM

5pinDIN - 17 January 2016 11:47 AM

I’m glad that Yamaha still thinks REAL original MIDI ports should exist.

After all, I might have to change my user name and avatar otherwise.  ;-)

That’s good. It would’ve been difficult to start thinking of you as 4pinUSB…

If it had to be, I’d prefer at least USB 3.1 Gen 1 - then the pin count wouldn’t go down.  ;-)

5pinDIN - 17 January 2016 05:02 PM

“The XF has USB 2.0, but implemented so badly it’s only marginally faster then 1.1.”

Yamaha don’t really specify “USB 2.0 Hi-Speed” anywhere in the specs or marketing materials. I assume it’s USB 1.1 Full Speed (12 Mbit/s) just like on the XS and MOX/MOXF.

DmitryKo - 17 January 2016 05:30 PM

Yamaha don’t really specify “USB 2.0 Hi-Speed” anywhere in the specs or marketing materials. I assume it’s USB 1.1 Full Speed (12 Mbit/s) just like on the XS and MOX/MOXF.

The “Compatible Device List for MOTIF XS/XF” states that “MOTIF XF/XS is USB 2.0 compliant”.

Looking at the service manual, there is a USB 2.0 host controller (UPD720101GJ-UEN-A, Renesas Electronics America) in the Motif XS.

Regards, :)

Jo