Yamaha YC88 88-key Stage Keyboard Reviews

I was looking for a new keyboard that was geared for live use more than studio use. I didn't want something that had 1500 patches to sort through. I needed a friendly keyboard for stage use that focused on quality sounds and not every sound imaginable. The YC 88 provided me with everything I was looking for. This keyboard has the touch and feel (fully weighted keys at 41 lbs) as close to a real piano as I have experienced on an electronic keyboard.

It's been 60 years since I started playing the piano. I've been playing in working bands for 50+ years as a keyboardist / vocalist / saxophonist. The acoustic pianos, electric pianos, organs / with Leslie simulators and clavs are as good as it gets. All of the other sounds provided are very good too. I wouldn't hesitate to use it in a studio setting. The simplicity of setting up live sets or swapping the order of live sets is a welcomed feature. Tweeking sounds just the way you want them and saving them doesn't get any easier either. Yamaha provides many videos on YouTube with "How To" shortcuts for many topics for the YC series. Take advantage of them if you are not familiar with Yamaha. I had been away from Yamaha for a while. I am not disappointed to be back.

This keyboard has so much to offer. Be sure to at least look at. Try one out if you live near a music store before you decide on your new purchase decisions. I read so many good things about this keyboard while I was shopping, I bought mine without every touching one.

This bird is so user friendly!
The piano sounds in it are not fake but real time sounding!
The download patch with the u1 is very realistic!!
Love it very well for the money

I'm sorry but Yamaha just leads the pack when it comes to stage pianos sounding like concert grands and baby grands. If you have any kind of recording studio and want that sound you can't go wrong with them. Now this is not a complete work station piano. It is strictly a multi piano and organ sounding instrument. But with its hammered keys and that hammond B3 sound on it, it beats everyone else out for a stage or studio piano. You would have to get a second keyboard for a majority of different synth sounds. Not don't get me wrong it has some like strings etc. But in a studio you want an arsenal of sounds to do the job. I suggest the next generation of Yamaha motif keyboards. check them out.

This thing is the real deal!!
I've played a lot of them and outside the Nord there are no piano sounds that come close!!
Upgraded software to 1.3 and the pianos that were in it was the icing on the cake ! It's a Nord stage 4 with a few cheaper mechanical pieces like modulating sticks in place of wheel but worth every penny to me!!
Sweetwater (Alex , Brian) went way out of their way to make sure it was what I wanted also!! Thanks guys!!

I had previously purchased a different organ focused stage piano and sent it back, getting the YC. It's crazy good. I love the keybed (coming from a SL 88 Grand) and it's perfect. The four master controller functionality is also great and means I can use it as my only controller as well, though I do wish I could change the transmit CCs since I can't really change them on most hardware devices.

One thing that I'm not sure about would be the ability to send CCs even if the section is turned off, otherwise I need to mute the section if I just use it for CCs.

I think if they were to go the extra mile and add a programmable synth section it would really compete with the stage.

Haynes here, all I know is the Yamaha YC 88 is the real deal. Think of it this way. Thousands of keyboard manufacturers create outstanding sounds for consumers. I can't tell from listening to a record what keyboard was being played. I only know when a piano has caught my ear. Not the BRAND. My YAMAHA YC 88 will do just that. When a piano or an organ sounds great "GET THAT BOARD"! YAMAHA YC 88, build quality is well constructed with real wood weighted keys. The sound quality can fool the blind, that's all I desire when recording. No, one could tell what brand was played.

Was one of the early adopters of the YC series ( first the YC-61 ) then sold that and got the YC-88 (From Matt Masek, Awesome service as always!)
Loved the flexibility and HUGE internal library of sounds always available. Our Nord was nice but, always having to decide which sounds to load and then having to compromise on what quality sample set to choose to get the most amount of a live performance board was a REAL pain. By comparison, the YC-88 was a giant leap forward in this regard. The onboard sounds are stellar and cover a lot of ground and the quality of the acoustic and electric pianos have become this industry standard now. BUT, the original organ emulations unfortunately, were not. The Leslie emulation was sub standard and lacked the detail and the tonal characteristics of a real cabinet/B3. When Yamaha updated the firmware the first time, we all hoped they would address the Organ section but no. They DID however add some truly beautiful pianos ( Nashville, CF3 Live, Rhodes 73RD-74RD are incredible! )
And then... Firmware version 1.20 came out and literally everything changed overnight. Its like owning a brand new keyboard. The updates in the new firmware include all the updated sounds from the previous builds plus the addition of new FM synthesis, improved velocity controls, new EQ FX types and more but, the biggest change of all was the addition of the new Rotary Organ Emulation called 'Studio'. It is killer, plain and simple. Blows our Nord away and sounds as good, and in some ways better, than our Neo Ventilator 2, which we needed for the YC-88. I NEVER thought I would find a better Leslie Sim than our beloved Vent 2 but I'll just say it...this sounds as good or better. They didn't just improve the spatial width and motion of the emulation ( what I loved most about the Vent 2 ) but they worked on the actual frequency response of the emulation itself. No more shrill top end! The sound is extremely close to our 122 cabs at church. From this point forward...it basically judging wine types. Yamaha has clearly heard the voices of the used base and has responded with one of the best Leslie emulations I have heard to date. This has made the YC-88 the live performance board to beat right now and was worth the wait.

With the most recent v1.2 update, this has turned into the best stage piano/keyboard on the market. The update addressed a weakness (rotary sim) and turned it into an absolute strength. It's the best I've heard. Beyond that, the new FM synth capabilities controlled through the drawbars and new EQ features are great for sound design. This was always a great keyboard, but this update, for me, puts it right on par with the Nord Stage 3, but for less. As someone who has always favored the Yamaha "sound" to Nord's, this made it a no brainer.

I originally purchased a YC 61, which is clearly, like all the YC series, 'organ focused', but I returned it due to the Leslie sim being downright horrible. That was last year. Yamaha, to their credit, has GREATLY enhanced (more like replaced) the Leslie sim in the YC. As a keys guy through and through, I'm not exaggerating when I say we are in Nord, and ALMOST Ventilator territory here. The three dimensional feel of the horn and rotor actually moving from side to side in the stereo field, the way the reverb interacts with the speaker itself, and the corrected amp grit from the organ overdriving into the Leslie...is just so much better now. At the time of this review, I would say this is one of the best Leslie simulations on the market. I would have said that was a joke a year ago. I'm seriously leaving my Nord Stage 3 at home and using this for most of the gig. We bought a CP88 for my church, and it is wonderful, but when it came time to upgrade our 10 year old SV-1, we went with a YC 88. The action is a dream for piano players, and it isn't too heavy to play real organ techniques on either. The immediacy of the effects, quality of the piano samples (U1 upright is excellent) and the ability to shape sounds with LPH and HPF filters, as well as ADSR and individual EQ per patch - sets the YC apart. it has a built in audio/midi interface, and can address 4 midi zones - so you have a controller, killer stage piano, organ, basic bt capable sample synth, and can mix three sounds at once, with each section having a dedicated set of effects, including master reverb PER part...this is such a "Nord" way of doing things, it is obvious where the inspiration came from, but I have to say....from the company that made the MOTIF and Montage, which are not what you'd call easy to user approachable...this excellent Stage Keyboard is one any of my volunteers at church can use instantly - Bonus...the SOUNDMONDO app lets me create sounds at home on my YC, and drop them into the church YC by just plugging in an iPad. This is the keyboard the CP4 should have been, and this is currently the best combo of action, sounds, and ease of use - not to mention it is built very very well. Get a case. The Yamaha case is great for short trips, but get a hard case if you are going to be touring or fly. I cannot recommend the YC highly enough. It has almost no sounds that you won't use. Its just one of the best overall keyboards I've seen in a while. Nord, Dexibell, Roland, Korg, and anybody else that makes a "Stage Piano".... should definitely be taking notes. Jason Theile is awesome as always!

I've had this keyboard now for a year and there's still features and things to be learned and applied while shaping sounds. There is a new update that improves the rotary width/depth greatly in version 1.2. There are plenty of videos on youtube now that give you a step by step process on doing just about anything you would like to do with this board.

I have a footpedal that controls the rotary function. An fc7 expression pedal as well. The update also includes 3 new effects for eq separate from the master eq section that I cam see will be very useful.

I like the many different sounds it produces and the touch of the keys. Its easy to set up. The sound quality is very good. It has a variety of way to play it. To me this keyboard would work well in musical productions.

I have had this product for five months and the truth is I am delighted with it, I have never had a stage piano so versatile and with a sound quality as spectacular as this one.

To me, this may be the best all-around controller for those looking for authentic feel, incredible sounds, and ease of use. DRAWBARS! It's nice to have the feel and appearance of real drawbars on an 88-note controller. And the organ sounds are quite good... not "adequate," but REALLY good! The feel of the key bed reminds me a bit of a Steinway. The texture of the black notes is marvelous! Great throw, stiff in all the right ways, attention to lower and upper details of resistance... just feels fantastic, predictable and fun to play. The sounds are top shelf. Don't expect to get thousands of sounds, but handfuls of great, usable sounds that work well together. The ease of programming your own sounds is marvelous and well laid out. You don't have too many options, but enough to create the sounds you need. The effects are also top-shelf and easy to use. The price point is spot-on, and the YC rivals (and beats, in many ways) similar, popular keyboards costing much more. To me, this makes the YC88 a quintessential controller, for live or studio, and will be my centerpiece for years to come, perhaps even a lifetime!

This keyboard is the best I've played & one of the best I've ever heard. It was was made for a musician who loves to play music. I guess there are still a few of us left. After scratching my head, mumbling, & grumbling a bit, the operating system really makes sense. It's so easy now to get the sounds I want, edit them, store them, & recall them. I love this thing!

This keyboard is the best I've played & one of the best I've ever heard. It was was made for a musician who loves to play music. I guess there are still a few of us left. After scratching my head, mumbling, & grumbling a bit, the operating system really makes sense. It's so easy now to get the sounds I want, edit them, store them, & recall them. I love this thing!

I believe Yamaha nailed it when it came to designing this piano. From the fantastic action to the nice sound this keyboard is able to produce, they did quite a phenomenal job.
Besides that my favorite addition to this keyboard is the fact that it has its own audio interface which works very well. That alone brings this keyboard to a whole other level. I can hook it up to my iPad through a single cable and that alone allows me to play MIDI from the keyboard to the iPad and have the YC act as an interface for the iPad.
The included manual is nice and I highly suggest you give a read, especially when it comes to the effects area, plenty of useful information you will find.

Yamaha covered everything on this board! I had ordered the CP88 sight unseen 2 years ago but before I received it I played a demo and quickly cancelled the order and bought a Korg Grandstage. The CP88 was a huge disappointment for my needs. Really loved the Grandstage for live performing in a rock band. I thought it would be my last stage piano. Along comes the YC88 and everything the CP88 was missing is on this board!! Just amazing! The design is so much better with an organ section, drawbars and many, many more sounds suited for vesitile live performing. I received it yesterday and even without reading the manual saved 8 great live set sounds. I have not touched the tip of the iceberg with what this board can do but it was so easy to get great sounds immediately.the action seems better than the CP88 somehow. Supposed to be the same but feels tighter. Conner was a great rep and I recommend calling him. He was very helpful.

KEYBED FEEL -

This is the most important thing to me. I've read a lot of reviews that have said how close to a real piano this keybed is, and I disagree. I wonder if people think that heavier = piano-like. Piano keys actually have longer pivot lengths than you will get on 99.9% of digital pianos, so they are not necessarily heavy. I've played Kawais, Yamahas, and I own a golden-age Chickering, and this keybed is heavier than all those.

That being said, one of the reasons I bought this board was because I play a Nord Stage 3 at church, and I absolutely hate that keybed. Nord tried to make it good for both organ and piano, and ended up making it good for neither. I prefer the feel of the Montage 8 to the YC88, but taken with all the other design elements, I prefer the YC88 overall. It's keybed is good, just a little heavy to me. That is subjective, so you should try it. For organ, you will want a second board.


COMPARISON TO NORD STAGE 3 -

Where Nord wins:
1. Piano Sounds - Nord just nails piano sounds, especially uprights. This is funny to me, because I remember how unusable
the piano sounds were in the first Electros.
2. Synth Controls - many, many more synth controls
3. Number of simultaneous sounds (2 organ, 2 piano, 2 synth) - this is not a small issue to me. It is a big win for Nord.

Where the Yamaha wins:
1. Keybed feel
2. XLR outs (this is a pro feature)
3. Controllable 1/4" audio input - Nord uses a 1/8" headphone jack for input and offers no control of the levels - very
amateur.
4. Built-in audio interface - this is far, far better than being able to switch out sounds from Nord's library. With the
interface, the potential is not just limited to Nord sounds. You can play any VST that will run on your Macbook, and it
will be routed through the keyboard's output. It works flawlessly with Mainstage.
5. Intuitive controls. Nord has become so convoluted. I told a sales rep that I was on stage and could not figure out how
to get tremolo on my Rhodes sound on the Stage. I had selected it for the correct key section, but no matter how I
adjusted it, it wouldn't work. He said, "It's easy, you just do this...", then had the exact problem I did. I should
not have to read a manual to turn on tremolo. Most functions of a stage keyboard should be self-explanatory. Yamaha
just gets this better, though it isn't perfect.
6. Rhodes sounds - this is subjective, but man are they buttery on the Yamaha.
7. Organ sounds - If you have not heard Yamaha's new Leslie sim, you haven't lived. Nord's sim is good, too. Just not this
good.
8. Color - I cover the brand names on the back of keyboards with gaffers tape because I think it is insulting for a
company to expect me to pay thousands of dollars to promote their brand. The red seems like Nord's attempt to force the
issue. I am not so insecure that I get my validation from my gear. If you want me to promote your gear, you pay me, not
the other way around.
9. A true, sweep-able EQ. On Nord you select "timbres", such as "bright" or "dark". For this kind of money, I expect more
control.

Although I have a lot more "wins" in the Yamaha category, it really depends on what you want. Having a true synth and more sound layers is no small win for Nord, and those things may be more important to you. On balance, I much prefer what Yamaha is offering... and that is REGARDLESS of price.

You should know that some of the things I've listed are subjective, such as the quality of the sounds and the keybed feel. But some are just facts. Nord does not have an audio interface in their keyboards, which baffles me. So many other manufacturers offer it, and in this time where there are thousands of outstanding VSTs, there really is no excuse in a pro keyboard - especially at Nord's asking prices.

One more thing - In my opinion the Nord's mod wheel configuration is just better; but I didn't add this because, based on features, the YC probably competes more with the Electro, which has no mod wheel at all.

Finally I want to thank Nicholas Weaver at Sweetwater. I have bought many small ticket items (such as audio cables, etc.) over the years, and he treated me no differently from if I had been spending thousands. It was a no brainer to reach out to him when I did want to spend thousands, and he did not disappoint. Ask for him - you won't be disappointed.

I was comparing this originally against the Roland RD-2000. I liked the keybed and piano sounds better than the Roland but I believe that the Roland is probably more flexible as a workstation than the YC88. Being a piano guy, it was all about the sound quality of the pianos that sold me (and Jacob Dupre's video overview!). And, I didn't expect that the Hammond organs and digital rotary speaker would be SO GOOD! If you don't want to spend over $ for the Nord Stage 3, then this is a great choice.

Pro:
- the Hammond Organs are amazing, and the on-board rotary speaker in OS v.1.20 is just excellent, you can make the organs clean or gritty, driven hard or not at all. Lots of control over the on-board Leslie: high/low speed adjustment, acceleration speed, etc.
- the CFX piano is excellent
- the Rhodes sounds are also excellent
- very cool guitar sounds
- tons of effects (wah, compression, chorus, phasers, looper, delays, reverb, master EQ)
- using it as a MIDI controller, just worked right out of the box
- love the way the keybed feels
- lots of Blake Angelos tutorial/overview videos, sounds on Yamaha Soundmondo

Cons:
- I had to modify the touch/velocity of many of the pianos. Maybe I play too hard, but it seemed to me like the velocity curve is not linear. That is, if I strike a key 10 times incrementally harder each time, the volume seems to go like: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 10... After adjusting the Touch button (hard, soft, fixed, wide), if you go to "settings/sound/key-a/b settings/touch sensitivity/duration" you can adjust the Depth to clip this a bit.

I play in a country band and a 50's rock n' roll/R&B oriented group. The simplicity of the front panel controls on the YC88 appealed to me: any patch can quickly be adjusted using dedicated knobs for EQ, reverb depth, volume, tone, and multiple effects. My previous gigging board was a Roland VR-730 which was lighter, but lacked the touch I would prefer for playing acoustic piano parts. The action on this Yamaha is better, and I appreciate the different modes to compensate for firmer or lighter playing styles. The design on this axe really makes sense and it doesn't require hours of online tutorials or thumbing through the owner's manual to dial up sounds/program live scenes/sets. The Hammond organ drawbars and controls were a major selling point for this unit over the slightly less expensive Yamaha CP-series, and I just wish the organ section had wowed me a bit more. The sounds are sufficient for gigs, but I'll be seeking a Leslie speaker or high-end stereo Leslie simulation pedal since the internal Leslie on the YC88 to my ears is not very impressive. I'm sure an experienced tinkerer can connect the YC88 to a laptop/tablet/smartphone using patch editors to tweak and improve some of the factory patches. The electric piano sounds are great out of the box, with the robust effects section I can get far better Wurli and Rhodes tremolo and auto-pan tones than my old Roland had. Although I can't give this a perfect 5 stars, this is a good value compared to Nord and other brands charging nearly twice the price with marginally more authentic sample libraries. Most of my gigs are in bars or restaurants with small bandstands, this has a professional sleek profile, and does what I need. I've only gigged on it a few times, but it seems travel worthy. The switches for engaging each of the sections (organ, Key 1, Key 2) are small and thin enough I have concern they could snap if the keyboard ever took a face dive (or a drunk bar customer stumbled on it), but that's what flight cases and solid keyboard stands are meant to eliminate. My favorite Yamaha in the arsenal is still a 1979 CP-35, but I don't regret this purchase!
-Timechimp

Aside from the fact that I was not impressed by the sounds in this keyboard, I had an F# key on the far right side of the keyboard that was loose with a very noticeable click to it when touched/pressed. Said key would actually sit left or right when wiggled side to side (Definitely a manufacturer defect IMO). As for the organ side of things??? Yamaha just shouldn't have - I found the organs to be truly God awful (Yes I play true Hammond B3)! Thin, synthetic sounding and that Leslie speaker emulation is just Bad, to say the least.To be fair, Yamaha nailed it with the drawbars - they just feel… good! I wasn't impressed by the Keybed itself and if I'm being honest, the seamless transitions feature is flawed. I should have followed my first mind and not even took a chance on this one, really. Needless to say, I will definitely be returning this immediately! Not happy with this product at all especially when the price is considered!