Misc Reviews Yamaha YDS-150 Wind Synth

[6441]

Did you find any voice that is close to the sound of the violin?

You can do anything with midi, but internal sounds are mostly awful. The best (IMO) are flute and harmonica.

 

[Miles Green]

I got my YDS150 yesterday!!!

First a quick word about me and why i got the YDS: i've been playing soprano for 2 years about. I needed a silent practice tool, particularly to be able to practice scales and articulation. And also intonation, which is notoriously hard on the soprano which i play.

First impressions were good in general. Of course, I'd much rather play my sop. The YDS150 is not a sax replacement. I changed the "key response" setting to 2 from a default of 10 almost immediately. Other than that, it looks good. There is not much in the manual, but it's worth reading it so you know how to adjust the custom settings.

They keywork is nice. It felt right at home and got used to the small changes from my normal instrument within the first evening of playing around. Accidentally touching the octave key, or the palm and side keys was a bit of a nuisance. As the keys are digital, there is no such thing as a half-open key. The left tumb rest is a bit small, leaving little space for my thumb between the octave key and the low A key (which works on all instruments btw, not just bari). There is no high G key 🙁. Overall the keywork is light. The YDS is thicker that the sop, so it feels more natural to keep the fingers on the keys. I don't miss the rollers, i think this has to do with the light keywork. Also, i seem to make the same mistakes on the real thing as i do with the YDS, which is a good thing, it means that technique translates well from one to the other. At least at my level. I don't know about players that can play very fast. As the keywork is quite "picky" about half-pressed keys, it will accentuate inaccuracy. I think it will clean up technique well.

Regarding breathing, the resistance is adjustable. And you feel some vibrations as it says in the specs. But resistance is uniform over the instrument, same if you play a low Bb or a high F#. And the notes sound the same no matter what your embouchure is like, or where you have your tongue, if you are keeping your throat open, blowing hot air rather than cold etc. If you want sub-tones, you'll have to select a different instrument, maybe the "tenor #4 breathy". Embouchure is my only fear with the YDS: too much of it could mess with my embouchure. For a sound to come out, of course you need to blow enough air through the horn (e-horn?), otherwise the notes won't sound at all. If breathing technique isn't there (or if you're hooting while being passed-out on your sofa) notes might start to disappear. More pressure means more volume, so you can press hard. The reed isn't going to close on you, that's for sure. And you can play pianissimo of course.

Articulation works nicely, I'm happy to report.

Vibrato is there by default on most sounds, but it is possible to remove it completely with a global setting. But the sound will be quite a bit more sterile. I set it to 1. Btw, this only works for the headphone output. Also, i'm playing a lot of classical music, so vibrato often fits nicely. But you can't do vibrato with your breath, and the joystick button on the back makes it sound very synth-like.

Speaking of sounds, i think they are OK, i can deal with them for practice. The neighbours (and family) will be particularly fond of the sound when i wear headphones! 😛 There are 56 sax sounds, sop, alto, tenor and bari. I only have a sop, so i'm looking forward to playing some tunes on the other instruments. Remember you can get rid of the vibrato if you want to.

The mouthpiece is alto-sized. It's plastic, so it doesn't feel too good in the mouth. A toothguard will make it much better. The reed is also plastic. I've never used a synthetic reed on my sop, but if it feels like this, it's never going to happen. As soon as the shops open, I'm getting an alto-sized Rico plasi-cover. They are made of cane and don't need moisting before use, so I'm hoping it will be a match made in heaven for the YDS.

Next: tuning. Of course it's in tune, it's a digital instrument! And you can tune it to 442 if that is what the maestro wants. I mention tuning because the real horn can easily honk out of tune at the extremes. I'm looking forward to training my ear with the YDS, hopefully i'll play more in tune with the sop without relying on the tuner so much.

Metronome. There isn't one. It's a pity, almost all synthesizers have one built-in, and it's practical to have it. I think Yamaha just didn't think about this unfortunately.

Cleaning is easy. The horn drips out the bottom, so you want to clean that brass bell. And the mouthpiece.

I think that's it. I hope this is helpful for anyone who is reading this thread.

Happy playing to all, i wish you good health and patience with the lockdown!

 

[6441]

Vibrato is there by default on most sounds, but it is possible to remove it completely with a global setting.

Not that I've found, and this is my strongest complaint. Please tell me where this setting is?

Otherwise, thanks for the excellent detailed thoughts!

Even though Yamaha tells you not to use another mouthpiece, you can use any alto piece that fits.

 

[Miles Green]

I knew you'r like this one! 🙂

It's called "Reverb Effect"
Set it using Fn + G# key.
Settings 1-5 + off.
** it only works for headphone output **

Obviously if you use the YDS as a midi controller, you can pick watever vibrato-free sound you want.

 

[6441]

I'm most interested in USB, but aux would be good, too. Fn G# says OFF but it still has vibrato on C01 for example via headphone jack. Wouldn't "Reverb effect" mean "Reverb effect"?

Absolutely no change in the vibrato here, @Miles Green 😡

 

[Miles Green]

At least if works for the sax sounds/voices. I guess it is what it is...
Japanese is a very complex language, very different from english. A lot can get lost in translation.
I haven't connected my phone yet, neither USB, nor bluetooth, nor have i played with midi. I hope what you are looking for is in those settings.

 

[6441]

The best sounds on the thing are harmonica and flutes. That setting doesn't do anything to vibrato on those sounds. The auto robotic vibrato ruins these. By the way, you can do air vibrato, just as you can on a sax.

 

[Vadda]

I believe that the vibrato in the sounds is not removable as Yamaha has always described the internal sounds of the YDS150 as real and sampled, so I think they have already recorded them as well.

 

[6441]

I believe that the vibrato in the sounds is not removable as Yamaha has always described the internal sounds of the YDS150 as real and sampled, so I think they have already recorded them as well.

I'm sorry to hear that, I really wish there was a GLOBAL option. The auto vibrato is great for kids just starting, it will make them sound better. But if you already play, it will make you sound really amateurish, so you end up avoiding long notes. I know, I've altready complained in every comment everywhere about this. I got all excited when I saw Miles' post 😀

 

[6441]

@Vadda there's a store a few minutes from home that 3D prints, I want to see what they want to print one of your designs. If it's doable, I'll be happy to tip you!

 

[Vadda]

🙂
Don't worry, that's okay.
Let me know if you can print it and see that they don't charge you too high a price.
Otherwise send me a PM that we organize

 

[6441]

At least if works for the sax sounds/voices.

I initially noticed that in a few cases, there's no vibrato. In the four sax sounds, A02, S02, T02 and B01 have no or very small amount of vibrato. In the higher distorted end, a few synthy sounds don't have it. The global Reverb setting, which is Off by default, has no effect on anything but reverb, which makes sense.

 

[6441]

🙂
Don't worry, that's okay.
Let me know if you can print it and see that they don't charge you too high a price.
Otherwise send me a PM that we organize

I have no idea of what to expect. They have the industrial strength printers, I think. Maybe I could talk to Syos (3D mouthpieces people here in France)?

 

[Vadda]

Try to find a FabLab near you or a shop specialized in 3D printer ad filament.
I don't think they can ask more then 5-10€
You can try also weerg.com or other online 3D printing service

 

[6441]

Try to find a FabLab near you or a shop specialized in 3D printer ad filament.
I don't think they can ask more then 5-10€
You can try also weerg.com or other online 3D printing service

The shop is a few minutes walk, couldn't be better. This is all they do, but I have no experience with them. I walked by once, the guy was there and I asked about printing reeds, but I never went back with a sample to show. Syos is in Paris, but I asked them, too because maybe we could have a small run if a few folks want them?

 

[6441]

Those who own a YDS-150, the app was updated yesterday (19 Nov 2020)

 

[6441]

And here's the little trick to use my wireless guitar transmit/receive pair with the YDS:
I got the longer one because I can also use it standing in front of an amp.

 

[kccjazzman]

More info on that setup please. Description of Components used and where purchased. Thanks

 

[6441]

I bought all of this stuff from Amazon. This is a newer version of the Ammoon Guitar Wireless pair. There are many others mostly under £50. These work for about 3 hours on a charge.

The cable is something like this one, but mine is longer.

These solutions are much cheaper than wireless saxophone mics, because there's no mic involved, just the signal from the 1/8" headphone jack of the YDS. There may be different wireless pairs (transmitter/receiver), but since I happened to already have the one with a transmitter that plugs into a guitar, I chose the female 1/4" jack to male 1/8" plug and as I explained, I chose the longer cable to be able to use it without the wireless part. I also have other cables that take the 1/8" headphone output of the YDS to 2 male phone jacks.

 

[SaxJack]

Those who own a YDS-150, the app was updated yesterday (19 Nov 2020)

Are you using iPhone or Android? There isn't a new app version for iPhone yet. I'm using still version 1.0.1.18 which I unloaded one month ago. Is the any improvements in the new app?