Yamaha YDS-150 Digital Sax - All the Preset Sounds!

[@jccolon84]

Bari sounds 1, 2 and 4 are amazing 🔥🔥🔥

[@TheDavidmachin]

I have had one for a couple of months now. It sounds pretty poor, like cheap keyboard. Best sound is one of the bari sounds. I bought it so I could play in hotels while travelling for work. But I have used it much more than I expected. In the hands it feels like a proper sax. So you can practice tunes, chord changes over play-alongs, patterns, etc, just the same. So while I play my real horn a few hours each day. I will often sit with this later in the evening when i cant make noise. Its great. It responds to how hard/soft you blow so, to some extent, you use this in articulation. I do not think this is something I would treat as an actual instrument to play in its own right. But its a fantastic practice tool.

[@thesmellycatjazz]

I think there's too many subtleties that go into making a convincing sax tone. In the past only I've only heard one soprano sax sample that was good enough to trick my ears, but there's something weird going on with the attack with this one.

[@Kai-iq2ps]

Hi David. I am super glad we finally have a digital sax that's very similar to the real sax (all the digital "sax" before were not even "sax"). I am super hyped! Brian, so this 150 has a reed, i wonder if it will produce any sound at all if not using speaker or amp or headphone?

[@TheDavidmachin]

@@Kai-iq2ps I agree. I am really pleased with this. But no it makes no sound without the speaker. You could sit on an bus, or airplane and play with headphones. People would just hear the clicking of keys. This is what is so great about this. After a bit of practice you get used to working with the way it plays too - I mean to make the most of it as a practice tool. We are planning a trip next week where we will stay a few nights in a hotel. I will still get a few hours practice each day - often when the family are still sleeping.

[@robertalexander3067]

@@thesmellycatjazz I was thinking the same thing, it’s, it’s synthesized, it’s living up to its “digital” description! What I think they should do is implement the material of a quality sax in the inner parts and some how, combine the digital technology, then we would probably get a nice sound. Just seems a bit flat to me. Any idea if you can run VSTs with it?

[@thatboredgamer2269]

So do you recommend it lol I want it because my family hates loud noises

[@teacher5376]

One little of saxophone 's, can made so plenty of sounds , flutes, trumpets, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone 's, bass saxophone 's, clarinets, baritone 's, and soprano 's.in three to seven kind of different types of users voices plays....so solids.children 's , to old parents. Love it.....

[@Warrendoe]

Just got my YDS 150 and this is exactly what I need so thank you

[@jacktoddy9783]

A really useful demonstration - thank you.

[@NathanRenson]

Thank you for these informative videos guiding my purchases!

[@vonklinkenhoffn1]

I play Tenor sax, but I'm looking for something to practice silently with, using headphones. I wonder how this one compares to Roland AE-10. I understand the Yamaha has better buttons for practicing fingering, but still the Roland has pretty realistic buttons too. Both of them can be tounged, but only the Roland has sensor on the mouthpiece for vibrato and pitch. I don't care much which sounds better, if I want the best sound I'll use my regular tenor. I'm so torn between the Yamaha and the Roland, I just wish someone could tell me which one of those two gives the best quality in terms of practice.

[@chelavr2064]

Thanks for this demo, it really helped me understand the possibilities }

[@jazzhab1]

need to get my hands on one! great video👍🏼

[@meldavis7183]

Good demo. Needs good amp with good eq.

[@dziva6301]

Thx for the video. I also gotba YDS150, awesome thing 😄 Can u pls tell me which Voice settings are ur favorites which are closest to the original instruments? Many thx & take care 👍

[@robertalexander3067]

Wow the Tenors are pretty impressive! Can you use VSTs with this sax

[@darthvader2549]

Now this is a good investision

[@rolandbrigole1543]

Just a short question, does yds120 or yds150 has speakers on its own? What i mean is without connecting it to amp can i play and without any headphones? Thanks.

[@sharp_swf]

Is there a compressor on this??? It keeps dipping so hard

[@Sanjay-uu6zs]

Seeking help: I have purchased YDS 150 as a stepping stone hoping to graduate from Indian flute which plays like a recorder eventually into a acoustic Alto. I play the flute strictly by the ear, with no formal music training. Could you recommend the preset fingering setting that would precisely match with a traditional Alto! Thanks!!

[@muchmusicmcquade]

Go 2ith the Aerophone

[@normanski5074]

This has just convinced me to buy the Aerophone Pro.

[@ColeHenriques]

This has just convinced me to only stick with the EWI 4000s

[@PatrickKizny]

It’s 2020 and Yamaha are still in 80s sound wise. Ewi sounds 10 times better and even at the cost of ergonomics is probably a better go for a practice tool. These sounds are a no go. Go Roland or go home?

[@RonBowmanMusic]

@@PatrickKizny it’s actually a pretty cool practice tool. So far, however, pretty much everything else is rubbish. Not the piece of equipment to buy if you’re looking for any kind of realistic sounds and even the midi controller function is pretty spotty, given the incredible key sensitivity. But it’s fun and looks cool! 🤣

[@Filippo-Parisi]

LOL

[@muchmusicmcquade]

Funny same here. Playing 10 seems superior

[@SynergyMusicOficial]

Hello! Can chords be made as a midi controller? for example piano chords?

[@waynegram8907]

Mostly its a lot of sax sounds but what about the clarinet and flute, trumpet, trombone etc sounds any presets on those

[@muzharkhan1822]

It's ashame that Yamaha doesn't cover all woodwind and brass instruments, like all types of flutes, English, nIbdian Chinese etc., trumpets, trombone and others.

[@alessandrofrazzetto5561]

fantastico strumento, quanti suoni, lo compro.

[@yramhossoo8586]

Yamaha being sticklers for touch sensitive pianos..did they apply this technology onto the yds 150?

[@NiceGalNice]

It sounds *almost* good. The weak spot is the dynamics. On crescendo/diminuendo passages, I can hear a strong non-natural synthetic sound, especially on the tenors. If I hear the tenor on a recording, I would immediately recognize this is a synthetic sound and not a real instrument.

[@katrinarose2210]

Idk man, even with good dynamics, I dont think I desire sounding like a gameboy. Just my opinion tho

[@NiceGalNice]

​@@katrinarose2210 This guy here proves it can sound good: kzbin.info/www/bejne/e2m1qIV-mLNlqZo I could have been fooled to believe it to be a real sax. Of course, a good speaker is needed. If ones uses the built-in speaker, it would sound exactly like a gameboy :)

[@kevanbarrett7411]

Hi Jim. I purchased one of these from you a few weeks back, mainly for silent practice, but any thoughts on this issue. I was getting too many of what I would call 'electronic reed squeaks'. Adjusted key response to 3 and slightly better. However I have now fitted a cane reed and its 90% better. I'm thinking perhaps a tighter embouchure with a mouthpiece cushion might further improve things?

[@jimcheek304]

Hi Kevan, thanks for the question. You've definitely done the right thing by adjusting the key response. This needs to be really low or you get into all sorts of trouble, but I'm amazed that fitting a cane reed reduced your 'electronic squeaks'. Personally I got a lot of electronic squeaks too (when getting used to it) and I still find it a tough ride. I find the octave key action on the tougher side, and unless you've fully pushed it down the note will immediately hit the wrong octave (unlike on a real sax where the octave key is merely an aid). This is one of aspects that we have to come to accept with electronic saxes - the response is binary, it's either ON or OFF, there's no in-between like in a real sax, and as a result, unless your fingers are really precise when making a note change that involves more than one finger you are potentially going to hear a 'blip'. In some ways wind synths can be a great aid for us to increase our efficiency on real saxes!

[@kevanbarrett7411]

Thanks Jim. I’m glad you also mentioned the octave key issue. I’m having to concentrate on keeping sufficient pressure on that, and as you say fingering needs to be spot on, a bit like for clarinet else it will let you know with a squeak or blip. That said it’s fine for the purpose of silent practice and I never had any intentions of gigging with it as my ewi 500 does a reasonable baritone.🙂

[@brianpite0893]

Can you play altissimo on the Yamaha?

[@davida.musicdavideammendol4702]

So cool

[@Radjammin]

The Bari one sounds ok.

[@yramhossoo8586]

How do you deal with the static noise(white-noise) when you hook it up to an amp?

[@carlitospapa9080]

For those of us who are interested in digital sax to practice, those of us who need silence to coexist. Why don't you make an Emeo vs Yamaha 120?

[@MrJohnAndrewhall]

All those sax sounds and those more esoteric sounds and no flutes or clarinets?

[@corentinhamelin1212]

merci !!

[@karlhaese7183]

How DID you achieve the GROWL on 0:47? The regular way by singing/humming along? Or is it a velocity switch sound in your sound setup on the laptop?

[@thisisnotdom]

It must be either through a switch, or perhaps a volume thing with that particular sound. It won't be through the normal method since it doesn't have any way of detecting that.

[@Vloiduc]

I own the yds 120. Its just an auto feature the first time you make a sound with that preset.

[@thesilverfox9185]

Will it act as midid controller with ableton live do you know? Thanks

[@jager21x]

Is it the sound through the video or is the sound kind of underwhelming

[@overthetarget9401]

The presets don't sound that great to be honest, no pressure sensor as well, while this a good first attempt if falls short of what it could have been. Maybe a Pro model will have better sounds and a pressure sensor for double the price sometime in the future...

[@nehemiahstewart]

I want one but I know better versions are coming. When they integrate mouthpiece functionality instant buy.

[@vonklinkenhoffn1]

I'm thinking about this too. Do you know anything about when there might be a new version coming?

[@gamingorrtech8763]

How do you record the yds-150 on a computer

[@iolair1973]

Audacity is a good free sound recording and editing program.

[@mariomarcelo]

YAMAHA DO THE THINGS RIGHT ¡¡¡¡¡¡¡

[@gottab5381]

How do you growl on that thing?

[@hugovandermeer1566]

Alto 4 sounds very similar to an accordion.

[@lion037]

Thanks for the video. I'll save my money for something else.

[@muchmusicmcquade]

The Aerophone seems more real the tenor sound.

[@gregorywonderlike9852]

Let's hope for a pro version. However, I still like it.

[@ian_s7481]

I think they should have ditched every Sax sound on there, let’s be honest no one’s ever made an electronic instrument sound anything like a Sax they just sound like cheap toys. It would have been better to pack it full of synth sounds and sounds that actually sound like instruments. I saw the price and thought I could get the same sounds from a cheap 80’s Casio keyboard. The only use to a Sax player would be as a practice tool when you can’t make a sound. The only guy who ever made anything sound like a saxophone was Adolph Sax...

[@QuadLiebe]

😂

[@pimeye]

Are you sure there is only one harmonica setting - lol!

[@erginyilmaztenor]

I expected better from yamaha

[@piotrb7934]

I've had the YDS-120 for a week and I'm just begginer. Unfortunately, I am disappointed with the sound quality comming to the amplifier. While the samples are decent, they still have this strange screeching, distortion, crackling sound... listen to my video (sorry it's in Polish, but I'm sending this recording to the store where I bought the YDS-120) - is this normal? that the sound is not clean? Where do these disruptions come from? I tried factory reset, other cables, other headphones, amplifier, etc. Do You have the same ??? kzbin.info49kWBcs0yUY

[@businessstandard1737]

Good Sax. But the Roland AE-30 does so much more.

[@Filippo-Parisi]

Lucky me that bought Emeo 😅

[@kaiboger1839]

What is better on EMEO in your opinion? I am considering to buy a YDS or an EMEO.

[@rolfhein7336]

the performance is very good, but the sound is underground. Sounds like a Casio keyboard from the first generation

[@dkbvi]

kann auch Weihnachtslieder: kzbin.info/www/bejne/m4TMeaaDadqtiLM

[@madebythebird]

It doesn't sound great imho. Is there a synth engine? Surprised there's no pitch modulation the way a sax would have with vibrato.

[@QalinaCom]

Great demo, but all samples sound like a cheap keyboard to me. Not a patch on a real sax.

[@hertellandry8122]

Man,don’t want to be harsh but the saxs sound are little bit crappie!! For me,I prefer Roland ae-10 all the way!!😃😃

[@muchmusicmcquade]

Yes I Aerophone seems better.I think The sax tones better than on Roland yet could be demo player

[@ericdano]

Meh. It's a expensive toy. Sounds like crap.

[@bobfountain2959]

It does however enable me to practice without risking a divorce🤪

[@ericdano]

@@bobfountain2959 I would think she would divorce you for spending money on this.....

[@almanac520]

I wish I had this in school. I would have more inclined to practice. Apartment living woes

[@robertquay4451]

Useful if you must practice silently, but they still have an artificial sound not to my liking. I hope you can use your own mouthpiece, you use on your real sax, If not it's useless.

[@peterthenuts2313]

Too expensive for a toy. Much better Roland Aerophone Pro, which is a real musical instrument.

[@ichbinmartin]

Just ugly. The same as if you would to compare Steinway to Casio.