I have had the Montage M8x for 3 days now and I can confirm... This board is a BEAST. The second screen has made the M8x a dream to worth with. The sounds are out of this world. I am into film scoring and the strings are the best I have ever heard. The added power has made this board a force to be reckoned with. I know Dom is going to have many more videos showing us how to deep dive and I for one will be waiting patiently for new content! ... this is all MINDBLOWING stuff!!! - PS - The new action is AMAZING!
@@djfilippo1 Fan?... where in the world are you getting that information from. It seems that people force themselves to find something negative to complain about! No sound what-so-ever. The only problem is peoples ability to complain 😌
Thank you for this! Congrats on being part of the sound design team! PLEASE make more videos on the Montage M 8x like about combining sounds and editing them.
It's great and i love it, BUT Yamaha missed a huge opportunity by not adding one long ribbon over the keys (as on the CS80) and also the polyphonic aftertouch should be standard on all 3 keybeds. Hope they add these in the next Montage M+ line. Great presentation, Dom!
yes that doesn't make any sense because I would expect that more synth-oriented players would like to have poly aftertouch who maybe don't want or need 88 keys or don't have the space.
It’s so disappointing when the best ideas are already out there in an affordable synth like Hydrasynth for Yamaha not to match the implementation of full-length ribbon controller or poly AT in their latest flagship keyboard, including the M6 & 7. I could have been persuaded to sell my ES7 & Montage 6, plus spring for the extra cash to get an M7 had it included those two features. Adding AN1x without adding those two things keeps this update from achieving truly revolutionary update status.
@@sebastiandior1315 , buying an add-on ribbon MIDI controller would be one possibility. I was more wishing that with Yamaha's CS80 legacy still looming so large that this new Montage M6/7/8x would harken back to the long ribbon and poly AT of that iconic instrument. Just a dreamer's dream!
@@mudi2000a Exactly - I wanted 76 version and I was so much disappointed the PAT is only at 88 :-( I didn't want that hard job with hammer keys anymore and also my space is bit limited... OK, will have to handle that.
M6 m7 do have mono after touch. Poly after touch is actually quite difficult to operate especially for classical pianists. It is a shame poly at is not on m6 m7 as they are more portable and the 88 is too heavy for gigs still?!
@@wilkopianoexactly, which is even more stupid that they included PolyAT only in the model aimed at pianist. Such a stupid move, as is the lack of ribbon controller.
Add to that the fact that NI came out with the MK3 of their Kontrol line, which all feature PAT. Seems like Yamaha just put that feature on their most expensive brands to entice customers to buy the big daddy instead of the cheaper models. I use the term cheaper in a consecutive manner of course.@@X22GJP
هل ابتكارات الاصوات والتعديل عليها موجود في هذا المنتج فقط؟ ام هي موجودة في ال montage 8 و modx 8+ وهل يعتبر هذا المنتج الجزء التاسع من ال montage 8 وشكرً
Just ordered the M8X from Sweetwater... I cannot wait! thank you Dom for the hard work you put into this board (aswell as everyone at Yamaha) it looks incredible!
Just ordered my M8x from Sweetwater, LOL. My sales agent said they sold half of their entire M stock (all models) the first 12 hours after the official release last night. Looks like a lot of us were eager for this!
Brilliant video Dom! What an amazing beast of a synth this is - I absolutely love it! The scope and ease of creativity available with this boggles the mind! More please! ❤😀👍
I'm so glad we finally went back to 1977 (CS 80 release) and started to go "to the future" again with some additional digital advances. :)) Top notch synth. Montage was great, but this is the beast we've been looking for. There are no limits or excuses now. It's all about you.
Now we know WHY you weren't at SYNTHFEST sat 7th October 2023 - and all the Yamaha people soooo quiet about this new revelation.!!! Well done for your input into this new machine.!! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK...!!!
Yep, I was there, and the lack of Montage M is obviously down to the fact they know they have screwed it up and pissed off a lot of fans with its lack of universal PolyAT. This is why I like companies such as UDO who care about the customer. Instead we have Apple-like moves where certain features are behind a pay wall on a larger device most people don’t want or need. Should have been feature parity save for number of keys and key weight.
I love how it looks so quick and easy to change the PAT parameter. You tell us you can make it affect this parameter or that, and then you just make one or two quick adjustments and that’s it. Love it!
Thanks DOM!! I have been waiting for this since I first heard about it a few months ago. I so want to get one in my hands. Your demos are the best so keep them coming.👍
Thanks Dom for the fantastic demonstration. I now truly understand that this beast machine is a mega sound generator, and if you have vision of a sound in your mind, you probably be able to create it. And one really need a good understanding of how to shape sound from a basic wave. Like a craftsman. 😉
great synth, great video... your language is so clear it's very easy to understand for non-native english listener.... i don't need subtitles at all with you!
Q - Q gosh I wish I could afford this ❤❤ Thank you for showcasing this Dom. It's so amazing that you got to be part of the sound design team for Yamaha on this incredible synth. I learn a lot from your other videos. Thanks always for your hard work. Because of you, people like me have more access to education. Can't buy this synth, but but I bought your drum kit a while back. 👍🏻 :)
@@DomSigalas We're looking forward for any other demos of the new Yamaha Dom. So sad that so many local music Stores closes down. Have to drive all the way to Germany from Denmark to maybe find some with a decent showroom. The stores local here simply don't have the money for showrooms. Will only take these instruments home if we put in an order 😕
Hopefully a knob filled an-x synth one day. Loved the AN-1x back in the '90s. Not everyone wants a giant workstation. Some customers really just want a great VA. The An-1x and Reface are two of the best. I think it would sell like crazy.
Mininova and Ultranova - barely a few controls, not fun to use except if someone loves to menu dive. Ultranova is discontinued so no better than NL or Virus. Hydrasynth - monotimbral, only 8 voices. Sounds worse than plugins. I don't see any value in this synth. Quantum - this one cost as much as Yamaha and has only 8 voices lol. I would take Yamaha in that case. But still, I’m talking about a smaller VA synth with lower price, not something that cost as much as this Yamaha behemoth. Iridium - 16 voices but only duotimbral and it cost over $2k for just this. Emi MD900 - this one is interesting but also very expensive for a pure digital synth (although it's more like a Groovebox than just a synth). I would still take NL2 or Virus B/C/TI over any of those if they were in production/under guarantee. Yamaha could easily do a knobby AN-X synth sub-$2k with a fine/ok keyboard, at least 16 voices and 4 parts. AN-X seems to sound much better than Hydrasynth (high resonance - not even a contest). This way they would stand out in the crowd. Technology is moving forward; CPUs are faster and more powerful with every year yet purely digital synths are getting less and less voices than 20 years ago. Some may say that it’s because the sound is better but then I hear Hydrasynth and I think “really?”
I had a Montage7, I sold it some months ago. To play live it was much easier to edit sounds on VSTs. Now on new Montage I see a much better editing (buttons on top left with connection to big screen), better analog simulation, better polyphony, maybe better DACs and analog circuits. If, and only if, the plugin version will be really a complete instrument with full editing on computer, I will buy it. Dom made a great job showing us new things. Very appreciated. So sad about 61 and 76 keys version without PAT, huge chance missed.
Just purchased an M7 but it’s F***** frustrating not having polyaftertouch and the only option for that is a very heavy 88 keys. Very exciting to put my hands on it. Will be coming a lot to your channel Dom😅
Hey Dom, I have a MODX8 and the thing that got my interest was the 8 elements per part, with 8 playable parts per sound. The fact the new Montage M has 128 elements astounds me! Could you make a video breaking down a few sounds to show how the elements are implemented?
After having a Montage 7 Mk1 for some time now, I am feeling positive about much of the information coming through. The only thing I find perplexing from Yamaha is.. No Poly-AT for M6/7, I do think Yamaha are going to get their pants pulled down over this, so perhaps we will see a re-enactment of Korg Nautilus with their adaptation of AT kit's sometime in the future? From excitement to hesitation now...M7 with no Poly-AT :(
A great in depth video of the capabilities available. Interestingly, polyphonic aftertouch was available on the Roland A80 master keyboard back in the 1980s (I still have one, though you need to have incredibly strong fingers to use it!|). AN-X appears more capable than the Fantom's Zen-Core, albeit the latter has four oscillators and greater polyphony. The latter may be an issue with the Montage. Thanks again for a very informative video.
Thanks for the video, Dom! I've been waiting for a new iteration of AN since the old Motif PLG150-AN times, which was my favourite VA. Can't wait to get my hand on a Montage M and play with your presets. Cheers!
Thanks for a great video. I was so amazed to know that Korg has introduced after touch in its Keyboards from its Triton Extreme model in 2004. Great job Korg. I do like this keyboard which is well designed and very beautiful. Well done and great job Yamaha.
@@DomSigalas Hi Dom, This time Yamaha did not do the R&D properly. Please refer Waldorf-Iridum synth. They have Poly-AT in its Synth Action Keybed. Such a disappointment.......
The AN-X engine sounds great. Can't wait to hear the difference in the new samples. Just a pitty Yamaha didn't give us poly aftertouch on the synth keybeds + the wiggle control from the Stagea models. poly aftertouch makes much more sense on synth action keybed imo. I would go for the M 7 personly. They could have bumped at least the user memory up 8x times more. 3.8gb is kinda sad in 2024.
@@DimapicStudio Nah Korg is only interested in making Pi gadgets lately, sadly 😥 ... Not saying that the Wavestate, Modwave and the other mini synths isn't great. They are just overpriced for what it is, when you easy could combine all of those in one real instrument with a decent keybed. The Modwave is as the FM-X just as interesting. I doubt they will come with another workstation, when they can keep milking the Nautilus that realy isn't the Kronos successor people had hoped on
@@mrdali67 I'm glad they offered VST3 versions though. I ended up selling my hardware Wavestate and replacing it with the VST3. The hardware itself felt cheap, plasticy and hollow. Not inspiring. Like you said a Pi gadget.
@@BananasananaBI would actually rather buy the native plugins if they werent a bit expensive and use it with the new NI mkIII board than buying the 61key versions Korg have announced
Fantastic demo. I had a Montage and loved it, but now, with the long awaited AN engine, this is finally the do-it-all synth I've been waiting for from Yamaha. Can't wait to have one. Oh, and you managed to make this thing sound like my Prophet 5. That will be a fun comparison 😁
Dom is a super dope programmer/producer and all around artist. Love this video. My take on it, FROM A BEAT MAKER/PRODUCER PERSPECTIVE: I tried it out at Guitar Center and it was underwhelming (for me). I'm a multi-timbral producer on an MPC and it's no different than the MODX in that regard. In multi mode, the "Super Knob" doesn't work, only the filters, same as MODX, there's DRASTIC volume levels when combing thru sounds, same as MODX. If you're a live player or a sound designer, go for it but only if you don't have a Montage or MODX already. Oh, the workflow has changed a bit too. If you're trying to be a hitmaker, just take the sounds from it and keep it moving. If you're trying to score film, make packs, perform live and be complex, this is DEFINITELY for you.
Thanks Dom - looks awesome! Fingers crossed for an M7x sometime in the near future as I would put in an order right away. Could you use something like a Hydrasynth to access the poly aftertouch capabilities in an M6 or M7?
Yamaha was always a favorite of mine when it comes to synthesizers, and they didn't cut any corners with this one! Congratulations on your involvement! :D
For AN-X, does Unisom mode reduce Polyphony? I have Roland Fantom and Nautilus and an Access Virus TI2. For all three, the polyphony is reduced when I turn on Unison mode. I really like what I see and hear, but I'm sorry that the AN-X didn't get more polyphony. The same would have been exciting with 128 polyphony like FM-X. I have another question! I saw that there is a Saw1 and Saw2 Oscillator. I don't know if the Virtual Analog motor has anything to do with the AN1x, or if AN just means Analog, but in the past, the Multi Saw Oscillator was added to the AN200 Groove Box and the PLG-AN extension to the later version of the AN1x motor. This was a very good thing, because it offers the same solution as the Unison Mod, but does not consume more polyphony. Its essence was that it made the sound thicker with several Saw waves, which can be detuned from each other with the Detune button. This was a great solution for pleasant PAD and Bass sounds, and with the aggressive Detune effect, a typical Super Saw sound was created, which was a sound known in classic Trance music. My question is, is that Saw2 a Mullti Saw or does it have nothing to do with it?
Dom, a year later, do you still think the Montage is a great purchase? Curious for your thoughts. Thanks again for these wonderful videos, they're a learning adventure and extremely well-done.
I like the anx engine i own a yamaha an1x should i keep it or sell all more smaller synths for a montage m? I am happy with my portable nord stage4 for now. Does the anx engine record filter automation like the an1x for instant play back?
Congratulations brother, did you ever think you'd be a part of something like this as you started your career in the music? I would have to pinch my to make sure I wasn't dreaming 🙂
Man - as someone who did not enjoy programing synth sounds on the AWM2 engine this looks like a dream. Love the tabs that you can cycle through and the parameter is clearly listed over the corresponding knob. Subscribing for more sound design tutorials, would love to see how snappy the filter envelope can be on this engine
I really hope this, and its smaller brother, has some kind of MIDI 2.0 DAW integration that uses the parameter exchange functions being discussed a few years back. All those controls and twin screens would make it the perfect all rounder.
Nice video. Seems like a nice release. My question is why doesn't Yamaha do a keyboard controller for Cubase? From the latest Club Cubase, Greg Ondo says that Yamaha apparently isn't interested in doing one. Any idea why Cubase folks?
This sounds just like from another world. It will be ineteresting to compare it with original An1X to see a clear difference. I have An1X, and i'm interesting is it will worth the money to get Montage M just because of ANX
As an an1x owner of almost 30 years I don't understand why is the anx engine only 16 note polyphonic (an1x is 10) , one cannot set the filters in parallel, why is there no Edge parameter and why aren't the osc shapes fading to each other. And where is supersaw of plg150-an?
Exactly! It's weird such a powerful synth offers only 16 voices in AN-X... I think most users would've gladly paid extra $250 for more CPU power and 32 voices. In some demos of AN-X, I've heard quite unpleasant note stealing. Of course, most analog or analog modeling synths don't give your more than 16 voices, but come on, this is the newest flagship synth! It should be a big step forward in that area!
What does the M stand for? I did not find any explanation but old vs. new Montage easily can be mistaken for each other only by reading their similar name in Synthesizer sales lists.
Hy there! I have an AN1X and love it, always have, since 1997. But it is missing the multi saw. Before watching the entire video, as I know the AN back to front including the expansion card on my MU100R lol (so I could have 5 more voices of it and then I found out about the multisaw). 1) Does the Montage version feature the multisaw? 2) If I use all of the 16 AN-X voices on the Montage, can the Montage still have polyphony for its other synth engines, like FM or AWM? Cheers and thanks so much! Love your vids, you are so clear and practical in your explanations.
I'm still in love with MOTIF ES 7 and that's because I still don't know if there's a better instrument for orchestrating creating a song from start to FINISH or editing each note step by step separately in each part of the song, very very very good mixing before DOW(cubase 12) and more. I realy want you to convince me that it's time to replace it with MONTAGE M.
So true. I use my ES7 (and its baby cousin the MOXF6) for that kind of sequencing, and a Montage 6 as purely a live performance synth. It would have been ideal had the new M combined the best of both worlds.
Halion Owner here. Interesting that they sound totally different. Like not the same at all. The Montage has a very smoothed top end and maybe more compression across the master outputs? I want one!
Hey Dom thanks for the review! Can shed some lights on how ANx engine compares to AN1x? AN1x has two LFOs, modulation capabilities like two operator FM, ring modulation and white noise. It can layer up to 5 oscillators in unison. As a side note I found having poly AT an awkward addition. I don’t know any hammer action keyboard with PAT ever built and I believe it should have been added to 6 and 7 instead of 8.
I love my softsynths like u-he Hive and Reveal Spire, but this sounds nice with lots of options in a hardware format. I wonder if the AN-X engine will eventually be split off into it's own keyboard at a lower price?
For me, simple arpeggios with immediate settings like note order, up, down, random, octave range, time division, swing, etc. help to springboard into inspiring sessions that evolve very easily, yet Yamaha has made the arpeggiator one of the most difficult tools to implement in the moment. It’s completely contrived and non-intuitive on the original montage (I have deep resentment toward my Montage 6 for this absurd oversight). Has this changed on the M series? Sequential nailed this type of implementation on the 6 series as have many lower cost alternatives from other manufacturers. I feel like this should be standard on something as elaborate, complex and pricey as Yamaha’s latest and greatest flagship. Please tell me that this has been rectified, otherwise this is just another expensive, tedious programming headache with absurd, over-the-top layered “motion” sounds no one asked for and few of us will ever actually utilize.
Awesome sound and presentation as usual Dom!!! Poly Aftertouch is not something I need to have on a new synth for myself personally, but if it were there I would use it and probably love it! I am an 88 key synth guy that values pianos and weighted key action more than any other sound or feature in a synth. After reading many posts on many forums and comment sections of videos like this, I get the strong feeling that Yamaha made a huge mistake in deciding to add a keybed that has polytouch on the M8x, but not on the M6 & M7. If they had just not added it to any of the new M models, it would have been less of an issue, a some would have complained that they wished it were there. But to include it on THE one sized keyboard that is more for piano enthusiasts, least likely to be bought for polytouch and not as much for synth enthusiasts, which really didn't need it, and then to not include it on the two sizes whose customer base audience would have wanted it most, I fear they made a massive blunder. I feel like Yamaha's sales for the M8x are going to be way more than double what the Montage 8 sales were, exceeding all expectations, but that the sales for the M6 & M7 will be far lower than they ever anticipated on. Yamaha have lost touch with their customer base and with synth enthusiasts. Whoever at Yamaha made the final decision to still include polytouch on the M8x, despite it being left out of the two most important sizes for that functionality, is going to see M8x sales go through the roof, and M6 / M7 sales be relatively dismal... Yamaha really have lost touch with their customers and with keyboardists, synth enthusiasts, piano enthusiasts. It is a simple "NO BRAINER" that if you ask most keyboardists that value pianos the most, they will want the 88 key with weighted key action and will value that over PolyTouch any day of the week, and that if you ask most keyboardists that value synth sounds, sound design and having fun with their synth, the are going to value Poly Aftertouch probably as much as they would the AN-X engine as a feature on the new flagship Synth. Who at Yamaha thought otherwise..!!? It is quite unfortunate. They had all the right design and pieces of the puzzle, and the awesome new AN-X...and just blew half their sales or more, simply by adding PolyTouch to the M8 and made it an M8x. They lost touch with their customers and I guess their costs & profit margins were much more of a factor, because including polytouch on the 6 & 7 would have increased manufacturing costs a bit. They should have either swallowed that cost and made it up on volume by including a keybed on the 6 & 7 that had polytouch, or just not include it on the M8! If they had been following the forums for that past 3+ years that they remained completely silent and out of touch, they would have known this and known that the ones who will buy the 6 & 7 sizes are the ones that really want Poly Aftertouch badly. Not the ones who want the 88 key... It is really sad & very unfortunate, because Dom and so many others are so excited about the new M series, and this will likely cause the new Montage M to be a failure overall in terms of projected sales, and most posts will have complaints about the polytouch not being on the 6 & 7. I see it already happening. I would expect a complaint or a criticism here or there with any new product, but this is becoming big and the negative is starting to weigh against all the positives. And I see how excited people are to buy the M8x, loving the Poly Aftertouch, while others who wanted the M6 or M7 are not showing their enthusiasm anymore over the AN-X like they were, and are focused on the Polytouch issue...and many if not most are planning to skip this generation and wait for the next.
What can I say ? There is no modern workstation (say like Kronos, Oasys, Montage, ...) in my current instruments so far. Why ? None embeds a VA engine that could rival my fellow AN1x ... yet. Reintroducing THIS engine as an enhanced version within a modern workstation is truly appealing to me. Still, I'm waiting to be able to get my hands on it in a store to try it... Despite the price tag, it may eventually join my synth squad.
For 3 years now I am using Montage. All the functions and features I explored so far work well, however at the arpeggio part I am struggling. There are 3 types of arpeggio: fixed , normal and original notes. The fixed note function works well with the drums, but with any other instrument channel, like a bass or any other instrument which has chord patterns, this function is not accurate. If the chord changes are not 100% in time and on the first beat of the bar, than the notes from the pattern are shifted and come later. However, in the user memory of the instrument, I found an arpeggio type, that works just like what I would like to do. For example, with MA_8Beat Slow_C arpeggio it does not matter on what beat I am changing the chords, all the instruments come smoothly in the right time from the arpeggio pattern, without any note shift and independent from the midi note length. My question is, how could I create an arpeggio like MA_8Beat Slow_C on my instrument?
Gread vid dom! As I see it, the smaller keyboard versions have no advantages apart from the price. Even fast synthesizer solos seem to be super playable on the 88-key version! What do you think?
Thanks Dom, for giving us an overview of the AN-X engine, which I found in no other video on YT. One question: Can you use AN-X on more than one part? For example to layer sounds, or do keyboard splits?
Hi, Dom. Would you know, if I use a polyphonic aftertouch keybed from another controller (NI S88 MKIII, for example), can I utilize aftertouch with an M61 or M76?
I'm always a bit unsure how I feel about workstation type keyboards. Of course they can do everything, BUT they're also huge and heavy and the interface is usually clunky (bc they have 10^99 features and parts). In the studio, I love to do my sound design in the DAW with analog synths, VIs and FX plugins. And when I play live I'm a Nord guy. Super intuitive workflow and 19kg for the 88 keys (vs 29kg for the montage). Each their own, I guess. BUT I have to add that I am not too impressed by the AN-X engine's sound, to me the Nord and Roland VA engines sounds a LOT better. I think Dom's facial expression at 10:20 kinda reflects that :D
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I have had the Montage M8x for 3 days now and I can confirm... This board is a BEAST. The second screen has made the M8x a dream to worth with. The sounds are out of this world. I am into film scoring and the strings are the best I have ever heard. The added power has made this board a force to be reckoned with. I know Dom is going to have many more videos showing us how to deep dive and I for one will be waiting patiently for new content! ... this is all MINDBLOWING stuff!!! - PS - The new action is AMAZING!
Many users are complaining about the fan being noisy? You can give your opinion with your M8X, thanks
@@djfilippo1 Fan?... where in the world are you getting that information from. It seems that people force themselves to find something negative to complain about! No sound what-so-ever. The only problem is peoples ability to complain 😌
Hi, question. Does the new keybed make a lot of noise? Like a bonk sound. or are thy quiet when you play on it with no sound?
Thank you for this! Congrats on being part of the sound design team! PLEASE make more videos on the Montage M 8x like about combining sounds and editing them.
It's great and i love it, BUT Yamaha missed a huge opportunity by not adding one long ribbon over the keys (as on the CS80) and also the polyphonic aftertouch should be standard on all 3 keybeds. Hope they add these in the next Montage M+ line. Great presentation, Dom!
yes that doesn't make any sense because I would expect that more synth-oriented players would like to have poly aftertouch who maybe don't want or need 88 keys or don't have the space.
It’s so disappointing when the best ideas are already out there in an affordable synth like Hydrasynth for Yamaha not to match the implementation of full-length ribbon controller or poly AT in their latest flagship keyboard, including the M6 & 7. I could have been persuaded to sell my ES7 & Montage 6, plus spring for the extra cash to get an M7 had it included those two features. Adding AN1x without adding those two things keeps this update from achieving truly revolutionary update status.
Buy and use the kurzweil one?
@@sebastiandior1315 , buying an add-on ribbon MIDI controller would be one possibility. I was more wishing that with Yamaha's CS80 legacy still looming so large that this new Montage M6/7/8x would harken back to the long ribbon and poly AT of that iconic instrument. Just a dreamer's dream!
@@mudi2000a Exactly - I wanted 76 version and I was so much disappointed the PAT is only at 88 :-( I didn't want that hard job with hammer keys anymore and also my space is bit limited... OK, will have to handle that.
It's a total beast, but man, it's so darn expensive! 😊 I just wish the M6/7 had poly aftertouch too. Such a bummer!
M6 m7 do have mono after touch. Poly after touch is actually quite difficult to operate especially for classical pianists. It is a shame poly at is not on m6 m7 as they are more portable and the 88 is too heavy for gigs still?!
@@wilkopianoexactly, which is even more stupid that they included PolyAT only in the model aimed at pianist. Such a stupid move, as is the lack of ribbon controller.
Add to that the fact that NI came out with the MK3 of their Kontrol line, which all feature PAT. Seems like Yamaha just put that feature on their most expensive brands to entice customers to buy the big daddy instead of the cheaper models. I use the term cheaper in a consecutive manner of course.@@X22GJP
هل ابتكارات الاصوات والتعديل عليها موجود في هذا المنتج فقط؟ ام هي موجودة في ال montage 8 و modx 8+
وهل يعتبر هذا المنتج الجزء التاسع من ال montage 8 وشكرً
I wish Vangelis was still with us . He would of loved that poly aftertouch much like the CS80
Wow amazing sounds I want I need . Dom your face was like seeing my kids faces on Christmas morning so happy an excited
❤❤❤
Just ordered the M8X from Sweetwater... I cannot wait! thank you Dom for the hard work you put into this board (aswell as everyone at Yamaha) it looks incredible!
Enjoy my friend you’re in for a treat!
Just ordered my M8x from Sweetwater, LOL. My sales agent said they sold half of their entire M stock (all models) the first 12 hours after the official release last night.
Looks like a lot of us were eager for this!
Thank you, Dom!
@@vanessajazp6341 Really! wow! I bought mine last night because I was afraid they would go out of stock!
Me too! A M8x from Sweetwater a few hours ago. Now the wait begins.😎
Brilliant video Dom! What an amazing beast of a synth this is - I absolutely love it! The scope and ease of creativity available with this boggles the mind! More please! ❤😀👍
I'm so glad we finally went back to 1977 (CS 80 release) and started to go "to the future" again with some additional digital advances. :)) Top notch synth. Montage was great, but this is the beast we've been looking for. There are no limits or excuses now. It's all about you.
Thank you, Dom. Yes! Please add more videos on the Montage M!
Hopefully you lend that to Dr. mix. I want to hear his creations too. You guys are awesome! 👏 🎉😊
Now we know WHY you weren't at SYNTHFEST sat 7th October 2023 - and all the Yamaha people soooo quiet about this new revelation.!!! Well done for your input into this new machine.!! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK...!!!
Yep, I was there, and the lack of Montage M is obviously down to the fact they know they have screwed it up and pissed off a lot of fans with its lack of universal PolyAT. This is why I like companies such as UDO who care about the customer. Instead we have Apple-like moves where certain features are behind a pay wall on a larger device most people don’t want or need. Should have been feature parity save for number of keys and key weight.
Thank you Dom!!!! YES!!! Please do (MANY!!) more of these videos!!! VERY helpful !!!! Thank you Dom!!!
I love how it looks so quick and easy to change the PAT parameter. You tell us you can make it affect this parameter or that, and then you just make one or two quick adjustments and that’s it. Love it!
Thanks DOM!! I have been waiting for this since I first heard about it a few months ago. I so want to get one in my hands. Your demos are the best so keep them coming.👍
Thanks Dom, been chomping at the bit for this. Kudos for your work and getting involved with the sound design.👍
Thanks Dom for the fantastic demonstration. I now truly understand that this beast machine is a mega sound generator, and if you have vision of a sound in your mind, you probably be able to create it. And one really need a good understanding of how to shape sound from a basic wave. Like a craftsman. 😉
great synth, great video... your language is so clear it's very easy to understand for non-native english listener.... i don't need subtitles at all with you!
Q - Q gosh I wish I could afford this ❤❤
Thank you for showcasing this Dom. It's so amazing that you got to be part of the sound design team for Yamaha on this incredible synth. I learn a lot from your other videos. Thanks always for your hard work. Because of you, people like me have more access to education. Can't buy this synth, but but I bought your drum kit a while back. 👍🏻 :)
Thank you my friend! I've been sound designing for Yamaha for a long time- you can find my sounds even on the original Montage, MODX and MODX+ :)
@@DomSigalas We're looking forward for any other demos of the new Yamaha Dom. So sad that so many local music Stores closes down. Have to drive all the way to Germany from Denmark to maybe find some with a decent showroom. The stores local here simply don't have the money for showrooms. Will only take these instruments home if we put in an order 😕
Hopefully a knob filled an-x synth one day. Loved the AN-1x back in the '90s. Not everyone wants a giant workstation. Some customers really just want a great VA. The An-1x and Reface are two of the best. I think it would sell like crazy.
I 100% agree!
With multitimbral and more than only 8 voices of polyphony ;) There's a void in VA market since NL and Virus were abandoned.
@@BattleAngelSoundMayer Emi MD900, Iridium, Quantum, Hydrasynth, Mininova and Ultranova, Kyra... they all do VA
Mininova and Ultranova - barely a few controls, not fun to use except if someone loves to menu dive. Ultranova is discontinued so no better than NL or Virus.
Hydrasynth - monotimbral, only 8 voices. Sounds worse than plugins. I don't see any value in this synth.
Quantum - this one cost as much as Yamaha and has only 8 voices lol. I would take Yamaha in that case. But still, I’m talking about a smaller VA synth with lower price, not something that cost as much as this Yamaha behemoth.
Iridium - 16 voices but only duotimbral and it cost over $2k for just this.
Emi MD900 - this one is interesting but also very expensive for a pure digital synth (although it's more like a Groovebox than just a synth).
I would still take NL2 or Virus B/C/TI over any of those if they were in production/under guarantee.
Yamaha could easily do a knobby AN-X synth sub-$2k with a fine/ok keyboard, at least 16 voices and 4 parts. AN-X seems to sound much better than Hydrasynth (high resonance - not even a contest). This way they would stand out in the crowd.
Technology is moving forward; CPUs are faster and more powerful with every year yet purely digital synths are getting less and less voices than 20 years ago. Some may say that it’s because the sound is better but then I hear Hydrasynth and I think “really?”
I had a Montage7, I sold it some months ago. To play live it was much easier to edit sounds on VSTs. Now on new Montage I see a much better editing (buttons on top left with connection to big screen), better analog simulation, better polyphony, maybe better DACs and analog circuits.
If, and only if, the plugin version will be really a complete instrument with full editing on computer, I will buy it. Dom made a great job showing us new things. Very appreciated.
So sad about 61 and 76 keys version without PAT, huge chance missed.
This thing has sound. At least AN-X. Wow. I mean this is real. Finally. Right now Not only Nord doing a thing that you wish to have on the stage.
I just ordered an M8x from Sweetwater!! Being psyched is an understatement. Got the manual…time for some reading.
Just purchased an M7 but it’s F***** frustrating not having polyaftertouch and the only option for that is a very heavy 88 keys. Very exciting to put my hands on it. Will be coming a lot to your channel Dom😅
Eu nu sunt incantat ......
I wanted to buy but not buying anymore. I will wait for Korg to release something greater
@@judsonchristudasMe as well. Dropped the ball Yamaha, and a bit over priced as well.
awesome! my ole montage is out da door!
Hey Dom, I have a MODX8 and the thing that got my interest was the 8 elements per part, with 8 playable parts per sound. The fact the new Montage M has 128 elements astounds me! Could you make a video breaking down a few sounds to show how the elements are implemented?
The best synthesizer my money can't buy.
This is the best video. I watched lots of other videos demonstrating poly after touch on a guitar sound ... Thank you. Rock on✌
After having a Montage 7 Mk1 for some time now, I am feeling positive about much of the information coming through. The only thing I find perplexing from Yamaha is.. No Poly-AT for M6/7,
I do think Yamaha are going to get their pants pulled down over this, so perhaps we will see a re-enactment of Korg Nautilus with their adaptation of AT kit's sometime in the future?
From excitement to hesitation now...M7 with no Poly-AT :(
We need a Polyphonic after touch on all three Montage M's
Great! As always. Thank You 🙏
Dom watched this video for the third time, just so amazing!!!
I'm so jealous Dom. I wish I could've done some sound designed on this.
A great in depth video of the capabilities available. Interestingly, polyphonic aftertouch was available on the Roland A80 master keyboard back in the 1980s (I still have one, though you need to have incredibly strong fingers to use it!|). AN-X appears more capable than the Fantom's Zen-Core, albeit the latter has four oscillators and greater polyphony. The latter may be an issue with the Montage. Thanks again for a very informative video.
Thanks for the video, Dom! I've been waiting for a new iteration of AN since the old Motif PLG150-AN times, which was my favourite VA. Can't wait to get my hand on a Montage M and play with your presets. Cheers!
Thanks for a great video. I was so amazed to know that Korg has introduced after touch in its Keyboards from its Triton Extreme model in 2004. Great job Korg.
I do like this keyboard which is well designed and very beautiful. Well done and great job Yamaha.
Nice video Dom.AN-X Engine with Polyphonic Aftertouch has much potential.Just SAD its not in the 76 key version
Yes only for the M8X I'm afraid- it has to do with the technology they used for the keybed. It's really unreal, REALLY good polyphonic aftertouch
@@DomSigalas Hi Dom, This time Yamaha did not do the R&D properly. Please refer Waldorf-Iridum synth. They have Poly-AT in its Synth Action Keybed. Such a disappointment.......
@@DomSigalas I have a moxf modx7 and a cp 88 would have bought the m7 had it have aftertouch not sure I need another 88 keys
It kind of makes sense, @@DomSigalas but not anyone has space for 88 keys. It is just too large.
First thing you played reminds me of Pink Floyd.
The AN-X engine sounds great. Can't wait to hear the difference in the new samples. Just a pitty Yamaha didn't give us poly aftertouch on the synth keybeds + the wiggle control from the Stagea models. poly aftertouch makes much more sense on synth action keybed imo. I would go for the M 7 personly. They could have bumped at least the user memory up 8x times more. 3.8gb is kinda sad in 2024.
korg is coming for them
@@DimapicStudio Nah Korg is only interested in making Pi gadgets lately, sadly 😥 ... Not saying that the Wavestate, Modwave and the other mini synths isn't great. They are just overpriced for what it is, when you easy could combine all of those in one real instrument with a decent keybed. The Modwave is as the FM-X just as interesting. I doubt they will come with another workstation, when they can keep milking the Nautilus that realy isn't the Kronos successor people had hoped on
@@mrdali67 I'm glad they offered VST3 versions though. I ended up selling my hardware Wavestate and replacing it with the VST3. The hardware itself felt cheap, plasticy and hollow. Not inspiring. Like you said a Pi gadget.
@@BananasananaBI would actually rather buy the native plugins if they werent a bit expensive and use it with the new NI mkIII board than buying the 61key versions Korg have announced
Looks like i could fly out into space with that synth
More Montage M8x videos please! Your demo of how to assign poly AT is invaluable. The Yamaha Synth channel still hasn't published this info.
Just a little question Dom, is there any chance to load the AN1x files and sounds and collection into this new Synth Engine?
same question
this is actually the only question that really matters, is it compatible with AN1X Y/N
I may be incorrect but I thought the AN-X engine first arrived in the Yamaha AN-1X in the late 90’s?? I have an AN-1X and it’s by far my favorite VA.
Magnifico.💪💪💪💪💪💪
Fantastic demo. I had a Montage and loved it, but now, with the long awaited AN engine, this is finally the do-it-all synth I've been waiting for from Yamaha. Can't wait to have one.
Oh, and you managed to make this thing sound like my Prophet 5. That will be a fun comparison 😁
Yamaha missed the opportunity to give polyaftertouch to all models😢
I almost bought a Montage 8 a few months back. So happy I didn’t. I will get this one instead.
Dom is a super dope programmer/producer and all around artist. Love this video.
My take on it, FROM A BEAT MAKER/PRODUCER PERSPECTIVE:
I tried it out at Guitar Center and it was underwhelming (for me). I'm a multi-timbral producer on an MPC and it's no different than the MODX in that regard. In multi mode, the "Super Knob" doesn't work, only the filters, same as MODX, there's DRASTIC volume levels when combing thru sounds, same as MODX. If you're a live player or a sound designer, go for it but only if you don't have a Montage or MODX already. Oh, the workflow has changed a bit too. If you're trying to be a hitmaker, just take the sounds from it and keep it moving. If you're trying to score film, make packs, perform live and be complex, this is DEFINITELY for you.
Hey dom can you show daw control with CUBASE on the montage M? Dope video as always
Do we finally have some type of PWM with this engine?
If so, can we modulate the PWM with an envelope?
Gigging musician synth.
New Roland Fantom Ex!
One of the best to ever do it!
Thanks Dom - looks awesome! Fingers crossed for an M7x sometime in the near future as I would put in an order right away. Could you use something like a Hydrasynth to access the poly aftertouch capabilities in an M6 or M7?
Great video. Yes Dom I hope you make a lot of video's about Montage M , how to program and recording and how everything works .
Hi Dom! I have no doubt that this "sFz Tremolo BPM Sync" performance it's one of yours!!! Awesome... Congrats!
Can't wait for more Dom Montage M goodness.
Yamaha was always a favorite of mine when it comes to synthesizers, and they didn't cut any corners with this one! Congratulations on your involvement! :D
Sigalas, as always, you know how to use this machine very well.
Dom. Any way you might consider doing a tutorial on creating some super fat Moog like sounds on the Montage M. Loving this machine.
For Yamaha it is new. I can do it with Roli Seaboard 2 and Spectrasonic Omnisphere for years.
Do either the AN-X or AWM-X engines have wavetable synthesis?
For AN-X, does Unisom mode reduce Polyphony? I have Roland Fantom and Nautilus and an Access Virus TI2. For all three, the polyphony is reduced when I turn on Unison mode. I really like what I see and hear, but I'm sorry that the AN-X didn't get more polyphony. The same would have been exciting with 128 polyphony like FM-X. I have another question! I saw that there is a Saw1 and Saw2 Oscillator. I don't know if the Virtual Analog motor has anything to do with the AN1x, or if AN just means Analog, but in the past, the Multi Saw Oscillator was added to the AN200 Groove Box and the PLG-AN extension to the later version of the AN1x motor. This was a very good thing, because it offers the same solution as the Unison Mod, but does not consume more polyphony. Its essence was that it made the sound thicker with several Saw waves, which can be detuned from each other with the Detune button. This was a great solution for pleasant PAD and Bass sounds, and with the aggressive Detune effect, a typical Super Saw sound was created, which was a sound known in classic Trance music. My question is, is that Saw2 a Mullti Saw or does it have nothing to do with it?
Just Analogue Engine
Dom, a year later, do you still think the Montage is a great purchase? Curious for your thoughts. Thanks again for these wonderful videos, they're a learning adventure and extremely well-done.
That's EPIC!
Hi Dom. Nice review. Does the new keybed make a lot of noise? Like a *bonk* sound. or are thy quiet when you play on it with no sound?
Amazing demo! Thank you so much!!! Love this VA sound since I had Yamaha AN1x. Very hope to get the AN-X as an update for my MODX6+.
I believe It Will never happen... But who knows...
@@fmartins777 I still hope))
It looks like Surge XT is going to have a serious competition ;-)
I like the anx engine i own a yamaha an1x should i keep it or sell all more smaller synths for a montage m? I am happy with my portable nord stage4 for now. Does the anx engine record filter automation like the an1x for instant play back?
Congratulations brother, did you ever think you'd be a part of something like this as you started your career in the music? I would have to pinch my to make sure I wasn't dreaming 🙂
Yo. This new ANX engine man. This is legit 🤯
Man - as someone who did not enjoy programing synth sounds on the AWM2 engine this looks like a dream. Love the tabs that you can cycle through and the parameter is clearly listed over the corresponding knob. Subscribing for more sound design tutorials, would love to see how snappy the filter envelope can be on this engine
Dom, great video! Please ask Yamaha to put a wave table synth in there!
I really hope this, and its smaller brother, has some kind of MIDI 2.0 DAW integration that uses the parameter exchange functions being discussed a few years back. All those controls and twin screens would make it the perfect all rounder.
It sounds great like Reface CS
Nice video. Seems like a nice release. My question is why doesn't Yamaha do a keyboard controller for Cubase? From the latest Club Cubase, Greg Ondo says that Yamaha apparently isn't interested in doing one. Any idea why Cubase folks?
This is what I've been hoping for too! Such a missed opportunity
@@circaxx85 Wonder why they don't want to do it though. Big missed opportunity.
Dom, talk to the team about an additional fader for 9 drawbar organ and then whatever additional parameters when not emulating a b3.✌🏾
This sounds just like from another world. It will be ineteresting to compare it with original An1X to see a clear difference. I have An1X, and i'm interesting is it will worth the money to get Montage M just because of ANX
As an an1x owner of almost 30 years I don't understand why is the anx engine only 16 note polyphonic (an1x is 10) , one cannot set the filters in parallel, why is there no Edge parameter and why aren't the osc shapes fading to each other. And where is supersaw of plg150-an?
Exactly! It's weird such a powerful synth offers only 16 voices in AN-X... I think most users would've gladly paid extra $250 for more CPU power and 32 voices.
In some demos of AN-X, I've heard quite unpleasant note stealing. Of course, most analog or analog modeling synths don't give your more than 16 voices, but come on, this is the newest flagship synth! It should be a big step forward in that area!
What does the M stand for? I did not find any explanation but old vs. new Montage easily can be mistaken for each other only by reading their similar name in Synthesizer sales lists.
please more video about this synth
Hy there! I have an AN1X and love it, always have, since 1997. But it is missing the multi saw.
Before watching the entire video, as I know the AN back to front including the expansion card on my MU100R lol (so I could have 5 more voices of it and then I found out about the multisaw).
1) Does the Montage version feature the multisaw?
2) If I use all of the 16 AN-X voices on the Montage, can the Montage still have polyphony for its other synth engines, like FM or AWM?
Cheers and thanks so much! Love your vids, you are so clear and practical in your explanations.
I'm still in love with MOTIF ES 7 and that's because I still don't know if there's a better instrument for orchestrating creating a song from start to FINISH or editing each note step by step separately in each part of the song, very very very good mixing before DOW(cubase 12) and more.
I realy want you to convince me that it's time to replace it with MONTAGE M.
XF
So true. I use my ES7 (and its baby cousin the MOXF6) for that kind of sequencing, and a Montage 6 as purely a live performance synth. It would have been ideal had the new M combined the best of both worlds.
Halion Owner here. Interesting that they sound totally different. Like not the same at all. The Montage has a very smoothed top end and maybe more compression across the master outputs? I want one!
Hey Dom thanks for the review! Can shed some lights on how ANx engine compares to AN1x? AN1x has two LFOs, modulation capabilities like two operator FM, ring modulation and white noise. It can layer up to 5 oscillators in unison.
As a side note I found having poly AT an awkward addition. I don’t know any hammer action keyboard with PAT ever built and I believe it should have been added to 6 and 7 instead of 8.
Damn...i am sure that i will cheat Roland with Montage M6 . ( i don`t have enough space for M8X ) This sounds and looks way too good.
Great video Dom. How do the drums and prec sound?
Can you just make a sounds preview video of the string's sections? Do you still need other string libraries, or can this suffice?
I already own the previous version of the Montage and a Hydrasynth Deluxe. Don’t see the need to get the Montage M just for the AN-X
I love my softsynths like u-he Hive and Reveal Spire, but this sounds nice with lots of options in a hardware format. I wonder if the AN-X engine will eventually be split off into it's own keyboard at a lower price?
An1x is 25 years old technology.
For me, simple arpeggios with immediate settings like note order, up, down, random, octave range, time division, swing, etc. help to springboard into inspiring sessions that evolve very easily, yet Yamaha has made the arpeggiator one of the most difficult tools to implement in the moment.
It’s completely contrived and non-intuitive on the original montage (I have deep resentment toward my Montage 6 for this absurd oversight). Has this changed on the M series?
Sequential nailed this type of implementation on the 6 series as have many lower cost alternatives from other manufacturers. I feel like this should be standard on something as elaborate, complex and pricey as Yamaha’s latest and greatest flagship.
Please tell me that this has been rectified, otherwise this is just another expensive, tedious programming headache with absurd, over-the-top layered “motion” sounds no one asked for and few of us will ever actually utilize.
Awesome sound and presentation as usual Dom!!!
Poly Aftertouch is not something I need to have on a new synth for myself personally, but if it were there I would use it and probably love it! I am an 88 key synth guy that values pianos and weighted key action more than any other sound or feature in a synth.
After reading many posts on many forums and comment sections of videos like this, I get the strong feeling that Yamaha made a huge mistake in deciding to add a keybed that has polytouch on the M8x, but not on the M6 & M7. If they had just not added it to any of the new M models, it would have been less of an issue, a some would have complained that they wished it were there. But to include it on THE one sized keyboard that is more for piano enthusiasts, least likely to be bought for polytouch and not as much for synth enthusiasts, which really didn't need it, and then to not include it on the two sizes whose customer base audience would have wanted it most, I fear they made a massive blunder.
I feel like Yamaha's sales for the M8x are going to be way more than double what the Montage 8 sales were, exceeding all expectations, but that the sales for the M6 & M7 will be far lower than they ever anticipated on. Yamaha have lost touch with their customer base and with synth enthusiasts. Whoever at Yamaha made the final decision to still include polytouch on the M8x, despite it being left out of the two most important sizes for that functionality, is going to see M8x sales go through the roof, and M6 / M7 sales be relatively dismal... Yamaha really have lost touch with their customers and with keyboardists, synth enthusiasts, piano enthusiasts. It is a simple "NO BRAINER" that if you ask most keyboardists that value pianos the most, they will want the 88 key with weighted key action and will value that over PolyTouch any day of the week, and that if you ask most keyboardists that value synth sounds, sound design and having fun with their synth, the are going to value Poly Aftertouch probably as much as they would the AN-X engine as a feature on the new flagship Synth. Who at Yamaha thought otherwise..!!?
It is quite unfortunate. They had all the right design and pieces of the puzzle, and the awesome new AN-X...and just blew half their sales or more, simply by adding PolyTouch to the M8 and made it an M8x. They lost touch with their customers and I guess their costs & profit margins were much more of a factor, because including polytouch on the 6 & 7 would have increased manufacturing costs a bit. They should have either swallowed that cost and made it up on volume by including a keybed on the 6 & 7 that had polytouch, or just not include it on the M8!
If they had been following the forums for that past 3+ years that they remained completely silent and out of touch, they would have known this and known that the ones who will buy the 6 & 7 sizes are the ones that really want Poly Aftertouch badly. Not the ones who want the 88 key...
It is really sad & very unfortunate, because Dom and so many others are so excited about the new M series, and this will likely cause the new Montage M to be a failure overall in terms of projected sales, and most posts will have complaints about the polytouch not being on the 6 & 7. I see it already happening. I would expect a complaint or a criticism here or there with any new product, but this is becoming big and the negative is starting to weigh against all the positives. And I see how excited people are to buy the M8x, loving the Poly Aftertouch, while others who wanted the M6 or M7 are not showing their enthusiasm anymore over the AN-X like they were, and are focused on the Polytouch issue...and many if not most are planning to skip this generation and wait for the next.
10minut pisania cały czas o tym samym. .wszystko to można było napisać w dwóch zdaniach 😂
What can I say ?
There is no modern workstation (say like Kronos, Oasys, Montage, ...) in my current instruments so far. Why ? None embeds a VA engine that could rival my fellow AN1x ... yet. Reintroducing THIS engine as an enhanced version within a modern workstation is truly appealing to me.
Still, I'm waiting to be able to get my hands on it in a store to try it... Despite the price tag, it may eventually join my synth squad.
For 3 years now I am using Montage. All the functions and features I explored so far work well, however at the arpeggio part I am struggling.
There are 3 types of arpeggio: fixed , normal and original notes. The fixed note function works well with the drums, but with any other instrument channel, like a bass or any other instrument which has chord patterns, this function is not accurate. If the chord changes are not 100% in time and on the first beat of the bar, than the notes from the pattern are shifted and come later.
However, in the user memory of the instrument, I found an arpeggio type, that works just like what I would like to do. For example, with MA_8Beat Slow_C arpeggio it does not matter on what beat I am changing the chords, all the instruments come smoothly in the right time from the arpeggio pattern, without any note shift and independent from the midi note length.
My question is, how could I create an arpeggio like MA_8Beat Slow_C on my instrument?
Finally they got a synth engine that is decent
Gread vid dom!
As I see it, the smaller keyboard versions have no advantages apart from the price. Even fast synthesizer solos seem to be super playable on the 88-key version! What do you think?
Do you know when it is available in europe?
Thanks Dom, for giving us an overview of the AN-X engine, which I found in no other video on YT. One question: Can you use AN-X on more than one part? For example to layer sounds, or do keyboard splits?
Hi, Dom. Would you know, if I use a polyphonic aftertouch keybed from another controller (NI S88 MKIII, for example), can I utilize aftertouch with an M61 or M76?
When I get my hands on one of those I will definitely try it! I want to say yes but I cannot be 100% sure… 99.99% though :)
@@DomSigalas Great, thank you!!
There gonna be montage sounds on new genos 2? Nice work yours
I'm always a bit unsure how I feel about workstation type keyboards. Of course they can do everything, BUT they're also huge and heavy and the interface is usually clunky (bc they have 10^99 features and parts). In the studio, I love to do my sound design in the DAW with analog synths, VIs and FX plugins. And when I play live I'm a Nord guy. Super intuitive workflow and 19kg for the 88 keys (vs 29kg for the montage). Each their own, I guess. BUT I have to add that I am not too impressed by the AN-X engine's sound, to me the Nord and Roland VA engines sounds a LOT better. I think Dom's facial expression at 10:20 kinda reflects that :D