Yamaha YC73 73-key Stage Keyboard Reviews

The organs are excellent, the pianos are excellent, the brasses and strings are excellent.
Combined with the live controls, this keyboard is all I need!

This thing is pretty near perfect. The sounds are stellar, the key feel is a great balance between electric piano and acoustic piano action (it's not graded hammer action, but it IS weighted, not "semi-weighted" as some descriptions say - so playing piano on it feels VERY natural). The organ sound isn't going to outshine the likes of a Hammond, Crumar or Viscount (dedicated organ-only or organ-plus-other-sounds instruments), but it's on par with the Red Brand that this thing is clearly going head-to-head with. For any gig that needs legitimate, quality organ as one of your primary instruments along with piano, electric piano and other sounds, it's more than enough and light years beyond the simple "organ patch" sounds on most stage pianos.

The piano sounds are fantastic. They're Yamaha samples - on the bright side, but there's a good variety to choose from. The Hamburg Grand gives a nice, darker sound great for jazz gigs, the Nashville is great for honky-tonk playing. It gives some of that great "worn-in" character WITHOUT the over-the-top out of tune saloon piano sound that's just so corny to my ears. And the CFX piano (which is the main sample) is perfect for live settings - bright enough to cut through, but still complex enough to be inviting to the ears.

The EP's are much better than I had anticipated. I'd still give the nod to Nord, ever so slightly. But these hold their own. They've got presence, dynamic sounds, real bite when played hard, and the effects section gives some great sounding amp simulations, tremelos, reverbs, and a whole lot of other effects that can be inserted in the chain. And speaking of, ALL of the effects are available for ANY sound, so you can add crazy amp, tremelo, phaser, distortion, etc. effects to piano to get some really interesting sounds. Running the piano through the very high quality Leslie simulation (another area where this thing really outshines most other stage pianos) is a cool effect.

Lastly, the layout is (almost) perfect. I often bounce back and forth between organ and piano/EP in a single song. I like to be able to change my drawbar settings, Leslie speed, C/V or percussion settings BEFORE I switch to the organ so that I have the exact sound dialed in for that upcoming section from note one. AND I don't want all of those settings to revert back to their initial patch settings when I switch to another patch. The "section hold" function gives me this. There IS one odd thing about this, though: when you tell the organ to go into "section hold" mode, it means it will ALWAYS be an active voice in your presets, and therefore ALWAYS sound. So if I switch to piano, for example, the organ will still sound with each note. There is no "mute" option, so I thought I was stuck either having the organ revert to initial settings every time (which completely destroys its usefulness for me), OR HEARING organ on every patch (also a non-starter).

BUT THEN..... I discovered the "split point" workaround. Just set the split point for a key HIGHER than the keyboard goes, and assign the organ to the upper zone on any preset where you don't want the organ to sound. Then, you can assign the piano, EP or whatever else to the "lower" zone (which is the whole keyboard), and abra cadabra, the organ settings "hold", you can tweak them, set them ahead, not lose them when switching to other patches, and then go to your your organ patch (where the split point is set for a key BELOW the keyboard, making organ sound on the whole thing) and have your live settings. Brilliant!

So far the ONLY downside I have found is that there is no option to change the behavior of the assignable food switch. It can be set to "leslie speed", but the behavior can only be "momentary", so a half-moon switch (which must be "latching") isn't usable here. I hope a future OS update adds this bit of functionality, but in the meantime it's easy enough to just use the pan button to switch my leslie speed, and this is a VERY minor annoyance in the scheme of things. Overall, I'd say this is the best stage piano I've owned, by a pretty large margin.

I was invited to join Fifty Bucks For Betty (https://fiftybucksforbetty.com/home) just as I was recovering from CoViD pneumonia in early 2022. I've played music in the DelMarVa area most of my adult life. As a guitarist/keyboardist, I've become quite familiar with the basic staple of sounds necessary to hit the stage in a Rock Band. I had been using a Roland Jupiter 50 on stage and a Hammond XP-Pro in my home studio. The Korg Kronos was discontinued around this time. I love the Kronos, but spending that amount on an unsupported piece of gear is out of the question. The sounds of the Jupiter 50 were definitely professional and competent; but the singer and the band demand much more live tweak-ability than the Roland could provide. Many suggest the Nord instruments, but I never bonded with them. The Hammond would do nicely, but I needed a stage specific instrument that could also enhance my studio. The Yamaha YC 73, with its Balanced Hammer Action Keys and absolutely INCREDIBLE sounds fills the bill as nicely as anyone could hope. The YC 73 is a great complement to the SK-Pro. Sweetwater, shipped me the YC with OSv1.2 plus a flash drive with added sounds. Yamaha just released OSv1.3. This firmware update demonstrates Yamaha's ongoing, active support. Suffice it to say, The YC 73 works and sounds incredible onstage with the band. In fact, I can honestly say the Yamaha could just about replace the Hammond XK-Pro; it's organ sounds are just that good! I really am enjoying the best of both worlds at this point! The YC OSv1.3 has just been loaded. Yes, I saved my sounds and live sets, but they remain on the flash drive while I spend the next few days checking out all the new sounds/sets. It goes without saying that the YC lends itself to improvising, composing, writing and arranging in the studio as well. Well done Yamaha!!

Currently have a Yamaha CP88, P515 and now the YC73. The keybeds on the CP88 and P515 are almost identical. P515 adds escapement but I can't really tell. Both play lovely. CP88 is a wonderful and easy to use stage piano. The only thing that outshines the CP slightly is the newer YC series. Biggest difference of the YC is the brilliant organ section. The Keybeds on the YC series are like the equivalent size CP series except the YC61 has the waterfall keybed for organ focused playing. Be sure to watch reviews with firmware 1.2 or newer regarding the YC organ engine. The new 'studio' setting creates an amazing Leslie speaker effect with perfect stereo separation. Prior to 1.2 the reviews are quite flat regarding the organ sound and rotary effects. Organ sound is also improved with 1.2. I don't have a Stage 3 Nord but the organ comparisons are coming in as equal or better on the Yamaha with the 1.2 firmware. Plus you get physical drawbars on every version of the YC! Silly Nord.
Piano sounds are lovely on the YC, especially if you like Yamaha exclusive pianos. Perhaps not as warm as Nord pianos but incredible for live settings. My daughter records with our CP88 and it sounds lovely.
I chose YC73 to get a lighter piano (only 30lbs) and to try the Balanced Hammer action. It's a slightly lighter feel than the 88. For me it seems perfect for being playable for synth, piano and some organ. If you're primarily an organ player, get the 61 and put it on top of your 88 key controller for piano.
I have to say, I can't think of too many activities more enjoyable than getting lost in this piano (although I can think of a couple). The effects alone are incredible and so easy to use. You can basically turn a classic CFX piano into a modern synth sound with a few selections if desired.
This is an instant classic and will gain a following as word gets out. I compared this to Nord Stage 3 for months and so glad I went with the Yamaha. All respect to Nord but Yamaha is bring the heat with the YC series. Definitely get a pro level speaker setup. I went with JBL 305 speakers and Sub. There's better speaker setups (more expensive) out there but the YC sounds great through these.
-Enjoy

YouTube will tell you everything you want to know about this machine look for "Yc-73 firmware 1.20 from featherlight studio for a great rundown to add to sweetwater's videos here. I'd like to simply add that the keyboard action is absolutely stellar. So don't hesitate. This is so playable. Every time my fingers hit it they're happy and it's ruined my experience with other boards completely it feels so great.

First I have to give props to Mac at Sweetwater, who I've worked with for more than 10 years. He is the most knowledgeable, responsive, patient and thoughtful rep I have ever worked with. Just the best! Kudos to the entire team at Sweetwater for their superb service - especially in these trying times of supply chain issues.

I've owned Yamaha keyboards for decades - from the original YC45D organ, CP70 Electric Grand, DX7, S90, MX series and most recently MODX. I can honestly say that for me, the YC73 is the best of them all. Playability of the keybed hits the sweet spot between fully weighted hammer action and lightweight synth. Plenty of expression and depth for solo piano but can fly when you need to rip a synth solo. In my opinion, Yamaha has the best quality piano sounds in the business - noticeably better than Kurzweil and beating Roland by a mile. The synths and acoustic instruments are pure and authentic - especially the guitars and brass! The sound library gives you the best of the bunch, with all the options I need to cover any genre, without having to wade through hundreds of too-similar sounds. Putting together splits and layers is fast and intuitive, and the onboard effects allow me to easily shape any sound just the way I want, with actual knobs (finally!) - no need for deep menu diving. I've gigged with it on solo, duo, trio and full band jobs, doing jazz, pop, classic rock, country and more. It sounds beautiful on its own and blends fantastically with other instruments. I play a lot of left hand bass, and acoustic, electric and synth basses are full and punchy enough to hold down the fort in a group setting. The YC73 build is rock solid and confidence inspiring.

The only criticism I have is what others have noted on many forums - the Leslie sim is just lame. The organ and amp sections have all the needed controllers, drawbars etc. to recreate and fine tune any organ sound you want, but the rotary sound just doesn't have the desired fullness and depth - on either fast or slow speed - no matter how much I try to tweak it. Yamaha should have spent more time getting this right instead of wasting it on an "authentic" reproduction of the air hiss of a rotating speaker. Purists who really dig the air sound will be turned off by the weak Leslie anyway. Another desired upgrade would be a 3rd keys engine to allow Piano, synth (e.g. strings or pads) along with bass to be played simultaneously. As it is, it's pick 2 (along with the organ).

Still gets five stars for me because, while the Leslie leaves a lot to be desired, the authenticity of sounds, playability and ease of use outweigh the shortcomings.

This board has so many features I don't know where to begin. First the Piano sounds are realistic and are the best out there. There are pianos from a full size grand to the gritty electric pianos of the 60s. Then you have the instrument section which sounds like the real instrument with inflections of breathing of the brass and plucking of the strings. Not the "Oh, this sorta sounds like it" instruments that are dialed in. Then you get to the awesome organ sounds and organ platforms, all which can be modified with the drawbars. I am not a professional by any stretch so I won't go into all the modifications that can be made to the basic sounds such as drive, shape, reverb, rotary, amp type, and mixing right on the board without needing to go through menu upon menu to get to where you need. The weighted keys are awesome for a real piano feel but you can still glide through them for an organ run. The unit is solidly made with its aluminum frame. I got the 73 as I had 2 61 key boards and wanted a little bit more space on the board but not the full 88 keys. It gives the perfect flexibility for transporting to a gig or jam. As these just started arriving in the U.S.in February 2021, already the reviews have been great. As usual the manual leaves a lot to be desired for me but there are a lot of good tutorials on You Tube. However that doesn't take away anything from the 5 star rating I gave it. You will not be sorry getting this board!!!