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  4. Thoughts/opinions/recommendations on the Yamaha CFX?

  • Thoughts/opinions/recommendations on the Yamaha CFX?

    S
    S

    Hey all!

    I was sizing up the Synchron Yamaha CFX as a potential future purchase and wanted to ask some questions of the devs/users, if I may:

    - I have the Garritan CFX atm.  It's quite good, but I'm wondering how the Yamaha CFX compares.  Sound-wise, the Synchron sounded more like the real thing (I've had the pleasure of being able to play one briefly) and the Synchron ambience is "mightier" than Abbey Road.  Still, if anyone can chime in, I'd love to hear your thoughts on how they compare both sound-wise and in the functionality department.

    - How does the half-pedalling and re-pedalling respond?  Garritan's was a bit of an afterthought and leaves something to be desired.  Any problems in this area with the Synchron?

    - How's the close mic on the Synchron?  A natural fit for it would be to mix it in with other things using MIR's Synchron Roompack, but I'm curious how dry you can get the close mic in order to fit in other venues/mixing contexts?  For example, could I convincingly squeeze it in a smaller studio venue for a jazzy, low-lit feel or plonk it in a monastery for player-perspective, cinematic goodness?  In other words, how well can it play with MIR?

    - Any plans to implement a velocity curve editor (if there isn't one already)?

    - Can you tune individual keys to create custom temperaments?

    I think that's all the questions I have...thanks in advance!

    - Sam
  • bbeliusB
    bbeliusB

    Hi Sam ;)

    I don't own the Garritan CFX, but from what I've read some samples have noise. That is not an issue with the Synchron CFX. Function wise you can shape so many aspects of the sound without loosing quality. I am not a piano player, but I let some good players test it and they were amazed by the sound and playability. No additional lag, the velocity reponse is perfect, you have the feeling that you have become a better player.

    Re-pedalling and half-pedalling are working flawless and you can hear the difference.

    I used the CFX' close and mid mics with MIR and the Schubert Saal as well as the Mozartsaal and was satisfied with the sound. The reverb is not that noticable in the close and mid mics.

    You can tweak the midi sensitivity and the dynamic range of the piano, but there is no velocity curve editor implemented at the moment.

    "Can you tune individual keys to create custom temperaments?" -> Yes, you can tune each key up/down 100.0ct. You can select multiple keys to set the tuning, specific eq or specific dynamic range at once.

    Best, Ben

    Ben@VSL | IT & Product Specialist
  • stephen limbaughS
    stephen limbaughS

    I just finished a pop-ish sounding track for a commercial with the Synchron CFX (instead of the Steinway).

    I used the close mics with the Universal Audio 1176, and then a touch of algo reverb.  The sound locked into the track perfectly -- super rich sound without being too big.  It is very flexible.  Often times with these types of pianos, when you start compressing and gaining things up, key noise or the noise floor can become a problem.  Not so with the Synchron Yamaha as you can EQ some of that around note C4 and higher (and even then, you may not need to depending on the track).
  • S
    S

    Thanks for the insights, both of you.  Yeah, Garritan CFX has noise issues; glad to hear Synchron CFX doesn't.  Velocity curve editor isn't so important to me right now as my MIDI controller isn't a hammer-action, but when I inevitably upgrade it would be a nice feature to have.  I'm sure VSL has heard the 1,052,362 feature requests for it, so I'd be surprised if they didn't add that in the future.

    I'm 90% on board with buying it, but one last question: to make the close/mid mics work well with MIR, can you canter the panning in the Synchron player itself or do you have to do that with a separate plugin?
  • bbeliusB
    bbeliusB

    https://www.vsl.co.at/en/Synchron_Package/Yamaha_CFX#!Photos

    There is a screenshot of the in-player mixer in the bottom where you can see the panning of the different microphones.

    Ben@VSL | IT & Product Specialist
  • S
    S
    last edited
    last edited

    @bbelius said:

    https://www.vsl.co.at/en/Synchron_Package/Yamaha_CFX#!Photos

    There is a screenshot of the in-player mixer in the bottom where you can see the panning of the different microphones.

    Ah, perfect.  That settles it then.  Thanks for your help!