Yamaha Reface

[meatballfulton]

Ten more minutes...

[salwa]

For those, who can't wait

[meatballfulton]

That organ sounds real good for under $400. That's less than half the price of the cheapest clonewheel today (Roland VR-09).

[zmd]

Synthtopia just had 799$....ummm, no

[adamstan]

Reface CS is probably world's first digital synth without patch memory

[baz99]

Reface CS is probably first digital synth without patch memory

Now that's a real killer feature!
(as in: it completely kills my interest in it...)

[CS_TBL]

Ahwell, a CS like that (no pun intended) has so few sliders, it'd be faster to make a new sound from scratch than to ponder over a list o' 100 presets which sound to choose. I do the same with FM8; if I need a bass or something for a project I usually create that from scratch. In my videos they can be recognised by being the unnamed ones..

[adamstan]

DX looks interesting (from sonicstate):

[mmp]

SonicState has the price at 347 pounds. Thats like $520.00 US unless that includes VAT.

[desmond]

Reface CS is probably world's first digital synth without patch memory

You use your phone and an app to snapshot the synth patches if you want to - you can even share patches via QR codes to other people.

[baz99]

You use your phone and an app to snapshot the synth patches if you want to - you can even share patches via QR codes to other people.

Why keep things simple (built in patch memory at the touch of a buttom) when you can make things complicated (using a phone with an app that will be obsolete in less than 5 years).

Oh, and I don't need QR codes to share patches for any of my existing synths, I just share the sysex dump file with other people, works just as well.

[meatballfulton]

Here's my take:

The integration with iOS and web storage/sharing is a big part of the whole concept. Especially for amateurs it's a fantastic move. Converting your patch into a QR code that a friend can scan to load it into their instrument is genius. Think about how simple that is compared to what we've done for years with sysex dumps, floppies, cartridges, etc.

While the sound may please professionals and the size and price may get some pros to adopt them as secondary instruments, these are not really aimed at the pro (or hoping to go pro) market at all. It seems to me they are targeting the people who like the idea of Volcas but want something they can actually play rather than sequence. Splitting the line into four instruments is clever. Synth heads can get the DX and/or CS while the CP and YC reach a market segment that Korg and Roland haven't addressed at all, pianists and organists who don't use or need synth sounds but want portable instruments.

The simplified controls of the CS do limit what it can do (it's no AN1x) but makes it easier to sculpt the sound while you play. You can create complex sounds with relatively few controls (the FM oscillator is brilliant), making it a great instrument for beginners. It's like a virtual Juno 6. None of the CS demos showed the "amazing" sounds the presenters have been crowing about, though and the hints about the CS80 lineage were totally misleading. The best part was I heard no stepping at all which is quite an achievement.

I was surprised that only the DX had patch memory and simultaneous effects. The programming interface is so much more inviting than vintage DXes that I'm sure it will sell well now that FM is being appreciated again.

Right now I am really interested in the YC since clonewheels up till now have been too expensive for me and I have had to settle for sampled organs instead. I can MIDI the YC to my Motif and finally have the drawbars and percussion switches that bring an organ to life. Being able to use it for practice anywhere without having to go into the basement and fire up "the rig" is the icing on the cake. I'll have to try one in person to see if their claims of "high quality keys" are for real but a minikey action that feels good would be a major plus.

[meatballfulton]

Yamaha online Music Production Guide magazine with 25 pages of Reface information

[Re-Member]

SonicState has the price at 347 pounds. Thats like $520.00 US unless that includes VAT.

It will probably be cheaper than that in the US. For example, the new Korg Electribe retails for like £315.00 in the UK, yet only $400 in the US.

[Automatic Gainsay]

God, it's horrible to be old.

I remember when the An1x came out. Everyone hated it. It spent years being a stupid and mocked synth.
Now, everyone's all in love with it.

au contrair

[/bbvideo]

Don't you f**k' use Vavrick against me.