Yamaha MX49 Music Production Synthesizer, Blue

Great instrument.

The media could not be loaded. I absolutely adore this keyboard! If you're considering buying one, I highly recommend watching this 3:30 video to ensure it meets your expectations.

Excellent pro keyboard (the blue one looks & sounds great). I wanted a compact great sounding board & this is it. I thoroughly researched all the 49-key boards & the mx49 dominates by far, especially in the sample/sound quality.In the 80s I used to gig with pro boards like the DX7 & Roland D50. This little beast blows em away.TIP: I always set it one octave down (easy to do w/button) for best sound.Pros:+ breathtaking sample quality & choice. strong piano, ep & synth patches, & lots to choose from.+ it looks awesome in blue+ hardware 4 knobs excellent for realtime pitch shifts+ performance mode w/drum tracks & arpeggiator brings it to life+ USB card port makes it easy to tweak & save many different setups; works great. tip: save factory defaults into usb file as well; vs job/restore fxn+ total pro patches; same as on $2k+ synths; it sounds Awesome and its a great valueCons:- no looper/sequencer (I bought a digitech pedal looper)- no layer & split simultaneous mode- no aftertouch or weighted/semi weighted keys; though keys are still excellent- almost no 3rd party patches for this available (!); I only found 4- I'd like more dance/EDM style soundsI have lots of fun with this; its easy to use; very smart design engineering; classic high quality Yamaha synth. Update: this works great with the Digitech JMSXT Jamman Solo XT Stereo Looper Phrase Sampler Pedal... must-have gear; i use it w/alto or behringer mixer. I hate DAWs; the idea of using software in front of a pc is ridiculous to me (I'm oldschool); using a hardware pedal looper works great. Last night I jammed for 2 glorious hours with this keyboard + looper. Tips: use auto-quantize mode on looper, and set tempo in looper & MX49 to match performance (120 or 106bpm etc). record 8-16 bars or whatever of mx49 performance drums & bassline into looper, then store as main loop. Next i added lots of mx49 percussion bits one loop at a time. then bg chord comps with clav or pads. so it stacks /overdubs til it sounds fantastic. then i play over it with organ or synth lead patch for improv. Huge difference in fun vs playing over performances alone.Question: why do so many patches play just one note max at a time? like synth leads... I like playing 2-3 notes in chords; am i missing something? tiato the music,kenUpdate 2/2019 The more I play this, the more I like it. I play along with music videos on youtube with a mixer. HIGHLY recommend this keyboard; also I love the patches in the 3rd-party "mx dance pro" download (under $50); those are what I use primarily to play along w/edm like tiesto umf etc; stunning quality that beats the built-in patches (thx Peter).

I got this specifically as a second keyboard for live performance, to avoid the dreaded mid-song patch changes on my Yamaha MOXF6. I am TIRED of switching a single keyboard from a piano to an organ and back again! The four octave size was perfect for what I needed, I prefer synth action to weighted, and I knew the user interface would be familiar. If you've played any Yamaha synths from the last many years, it's easy to get going with just a skim through the manual.Given this was originally released in 2012, the sounds are decent but not stellar. A small number have annoying ticks or minor glitches in them, the few mellotrons included have way too much low-end noise, and some of the underlying samples are looped a little too tightly. Due to the looping to save raw wave memory and keep the cost down, some of the voices sound a little weird soloed, but fine in an ensemble context. There is no good brooding rock 'n' roll B3 organ in here. The build feels a little flimsy compared to my MOXF6, and the keyboard is that "narrow-guage full-size" type that Yamaha uses for its cheaper instruments.All that said, I got this bundled with an MX49 gig bag for well under $500 via Amazon Prime, and it is fitting into my rig exactly as expected. Pianos, organs, electric pianos, strings, brass and woodwinds are all by and large excellent, though of course not as good as the much more expensive MOXF6. There are some decent synth sounds, though I wish there were more diversity. The drums are perfectly fine (but again, not stellar). Once I got used to the keyboard, the real musicality of the instrument started to become apparent.After spending one day with the MX49, it's pretty much what I expected it to be and it's perfect for my peculiar needs. For other needs, this would be a decent first synth if you can live with four octaves. It is simply amazing you can get an instrument that sounds this good for less than $500, with a gig bag to boot. I remember paying that for a Casio CZ-101 in 1984 dollars! If you can afford an MOXF6 or something comparable, though, start there instead...UPDATE: in the last few days I have been exploring the layer function, which couldn't be easier to use. Press the "LAYER" button, cursor down to the 2nd patch in the display (which is inaudible without layer turned on) and pick whatever patch you want. The sounds on this MX49 are organized very intuitively, so if you have a Rock Grand Piano as your primary patch and want to layer it with the "String Quartet," it couldn't be easier to find. Whichever of the two voices the cursor is on in the display is the voice the knob parameters like volume, pan, attack, decay, etc. apply to. This couldn't be easier for on-the-fly layering & tweaking during live performance, jamming or songwriting. This is a feature I plan on using a lot in the future...

There should be more synths like this MX49 and Korg Kross 2. A joy to perform with. Additional sounds are available for free, and make sure to make use of MX Tools by Mr. Melas to edit the tones down to waveform level.Connect ot a computer with USB, and audio plays on the keyboard, practice along silently using headphones. Takes a whole lot of tasks from the computer away like effects, mixing, EQ, thus unburdening the computer..I recommend read the manuals that come with it, and buy two of these instead of one 61 or 88 keys, switching between upper and lower and splitting is easier than plugging it in.Saves/loads from USB pen drive and USB connection both, and also makes a heck of a MIDI controller. Does have the the standard 5 pins DIN for in/out, through is missing though.Instead of getting a flight case, I took the factory bag, cost about $125 extra. The bag comes in blue only, while the keyboard can be black, blue, or white.AND, don't forget to download the free B.O.M.B version 2 for free: Best of Motif Banks.Making/saving/exporting sounds and songs are easy, system file format is .A5X Sounds from certain S series synths can be edited and loaded in it.