At Superbooth 2025 – held May 8-10 at the FEZ-Berlin – Yamaha was showing the PG-ANX and PG-FMX– a pair of hardware controllers that bring deep tactile control to their flagship Montage M synthesizer.
The two hardware programmers were designed to unlock the full potential of the AN-X and FM-X sound engines found in the MONTAGE M synthesizer, with a focus on immediate tactile interaction. They describe it as “a radically hands-on approach to synthesis, with hundreds of dedicated controls at your fingertips.”
“As part of the Yamaha Synthesizer 50th Anniversary Project, we developed a hardware programmer that can narrow down the number of controls by carefully selecting parameters and linking multiple parameters and deliberately abandoning the direction of fitting it tightly into a set space, eliminating the physical constraints of the instrument and fully controlling the sound potential of the sound engine,” notes Shinichi Ohta, Producer of MONTAGE M / PG-ANX / PG-FMX.
“In the MONTAGE M, the AN-X and FM-X sound engine sections alone control all these parameters. We hope that by experiencing this hardware programmer, you will be able to feel even more profoundly the sound of the MONTAGE M.”
The PG-ANX gives you physical access to nearly every parameter of the MONTAGE M’s AN-X engine. With 164 knobs and 40 switches, it brings greater immediacy to sound design. Connected via USB and powered separately, it works seamlessly alongside the main unit, giving you unprecedented control with your hands.
The PG-FMX delivers 247 knobs and 60 switches for precise FM synthesis programming. Connected to the PG-ANX via LAN, it allows deep editing of FM architecture, all with a user interface designed to reveal the structure and flow of FM sound creation intuitively.
Note: The two controllers are concept designs at this point. See the Yamaha site for details.
It better be affordable since it’s just a midi controller in a wooden enclosure… But, nice to see Yamaha doing stuff like this. Reminds me of the Dtronics DT-7 programmer for the DX7.
yes, looks very affordable
ROFL
Most modern instruments are “just a midi controller in a wooden enclosure”, or even cheap plastic case.
The only difference is that they are connected to cheap analog circuits or a cheap computer, like the Raspberry PI.
The big problem with these custom knobby controllers is that your stuck in time if they update the synth engine.
?rület, ?rület, de van benne rendszer!
gosh …
Original yamaha Montage interface is impenetrable for me, i struggle even selecting a single patch.
The fact that external controllers are needed speaks for itself.
Ps.: i use yamahas speakers and mixers – they are great!
it’s interesting to see a knob-per-function rendition of a workstation synth! This shows the depth of the instrument and it’s abilities, while also letting you know that most owners use the presets ?. That said, this controller would be more commercially viable by just adding a couple of switches to manage user focus — that right panel has 8X of the same set of controls, which could be reduced to 1 set without much loss. Left panel has redundancies too.
When the parameter you want to tweak is beyond arm’s length all this “immediacy” becomes less immediate. Not that I’m complaining, I love a wall of controls, Cold War era nuclear reactor control rooms had such a cool aesthetic. A cluster of BCR 2000s and an afternoon’s worth of mapping might get the same results but wouldn’t look nearly as nice.
If Yamaha manufactured this, even in small numbers, I’m sure it would sell more than Korg’s PS-3300 reissue.
Is there a race going on? Is there a prize for the most entrenched mentality?
I’m just saying there’s probably actually a market for this (not necessarily as a MIDI controller, but as a proper synth with the illustrated interface).
Well, Korg sold out the full production runs of PS-3300 the day they were made available globally so following your logic this would sell like hotcakes! Or would it now… Highly unlikely.
I said they could probably sell more of these than the PS-3300 reissue. That isn’t synonymous with “selling like hotcakes”, hence my comment about manufacturing in “small numbers”. Both the ANX and FMX engines are popular and if built with these interface they would still be a lot less expensive than the (sold-out) PS-3300 reissue, so I see a market here.
You don’t know that the ANX and FMX are less expensive than the PS-3300, since Yamaha has said nothing. My only assumption is that a Montage with these two cabinets will probably cost less than a Schmidt which is around $20,000, but that is all I am willing to estimate. I think Yamaha actually sold a fairly large number of CS80s, but it took a couple of years to do it. Is that the same as selling like hotcakes? The DX7 is what sold like hotcakes.
Many YouTubers would buy it to look more “pro” and “vintage” in their videos.
“Concept designs.” Ha! Either of those knobby beasts would surely cost far more than even a Montage 88. I think its more realistic to see them as items you *may* see in a reduced form, if the Montage holds its place in the market for a while yet. They’re impressive, but its also a lot of overload for some players. Its definitely into modular territory.
For the gigging musician. Personally, I’ll only be interested if they’ll have bakelite knobs.
Unacceptable lag and low resolution.
Very cool concept, nice looks but very lazy technological implementation
Yeah… as if you could buy them, as of right now…
How does one turn a $4,500 synthesizer into a $10,000 synthesizer? Make it one knob per function, like the Schmidt. If you really, really like the Montage, here is your wet dream.
Why can’t Yamaha just come out with an analog workstation with tons of polyphony (128 at least) instead of these (sorry – ugly?) looking boxes of knobs? Maybe it’s the current lack of either customer purchases or materials. Sigh.
Why can’t they? Because it hardly makes any sense.
First and foremost extended analog polyphony is tremendously expensive to develop and manufacture (Korg’s PS-3300 remake comes to mind) and doesn’t realistically offer much benefit over more reasonable voice counts or digital alternatives. Whilst a halo product in that sense is certainly cool, Yamaha hardly needs one.
An analog workstation also makes very little sense, since you’d be locked into the sounds possible with the chosen synthesis implementation. A workstation keyboard is specifically useful since you can work with multiple completely different sounds due to the power of digital technology.
Speaking of analog, Yamaha’s last analog synthesizer was made in 1982. I don’t think they have any interest exploring that space realistically.
These concept controllers by comparison are just a bit of fun and they aren’t on sale anyways.
How do you fit 128 voices in a mix?
Two-hundred and fifty-six voices in a piano makes sense for when there is frantic playing. In a synthesizer, massive voices is usually beneficial for overlapping multitimbrality, such as the Supernova II Pro-X. Polyphony can have different reasons for being. A particular use of an instrument may require far more than six or eight notes at any given moment. If your only concern is “the mix” then you are thinking like a sound engineer, not a musician. The engineer must be subservient to the musician’s art, not vice versa. If you don’t know how to “fit” 128 voices into a mix, perhaps someone else should be mixing.
Presenting a huge controller labeled “AN-X” does tend to make you wonder why they can’t seem to market a current, more souped-up VA. The MODX line is certainly respectable. Between those and the Montage, workstation-ism is covered. What’s missing is an analog ‘performance’ synth along the lines of a Nord.