[Picassosax]

I may have already said these things above, but since questions are coming up again, bear with me. I've had mine for over a month. I've used it extensively and recorded several examples of use. For me, there are two decent sounds, the rest need extensive effects to work in the odd context. Flute-like and harmonica-like sounds can be useful, at least for me. The clicking won't be a problem if you're not using a microphone, it's a small mistake they made producing the demo. The YDS audio can be taken from the 1/8" headphone output or via USB. I use the USB, it's excellent and noise-free. Some may be able to play really fast jazz riffs, but that isn't my goal nor was it Yamaha's I'm guessing. The advantages of this not inexpensive device are

1. Silent practice, obviously, but also developing ideas at 3 AM without waking anyone. I don't practice in the middle of the night.
2. If you have the trumpet stand, which I bought with it, you can pick it up without opening a case or assembling, adjusting or tuning it and play. I leave mine next to the computer with USB connected. Even my guitar has to be tuned and connected and the amp adjusted for sound before I can lay a track down. The YDS is instantly ready.
3. It's always in tune and the audio output is constant, meaning you can punch in days later and have the same sound.
4. It's lighter and more portable than, say, a WX5, because no sound module is needed.
5. It puts out decent MIDI, so you can get any sound you have access to on computer. I still don't know if there's a way to connect it to a hardware sound module like the VL70.
6. It doesn't need electricity, but can be powered by USB, saving batteries.

On the other hand...

Most of the sounds are really bad.
No sense of your embouchure, so no truly sax-like playing. (Pitch change with the right thumb controller)
The automatic vibrato on the majority of sounds ruins long notes and I wish they make it an option in further updates, if there are any.

By the way, I got a surprise the other day. I asked Pauline at Syos about printing @vadda 's plan for a curved neck for the YDS-150. She said she wasn't sure how hard it would be, so I sent the file along, after asking Vadda. Yesterday, I got this in the mail. It works great. I never sit when I play, but for recording short passage at the computer, it's easier to sit in front of it, which is not convenient with the soprano-like stick form.
View attachment 6322

Dear all,

I'm new here on the forum but am a sax player for like 10 years or so.....I read in the forum about your 3D printed bent neck for the Yamaha YDS150. I'm very much interested in the 3d print-file since I recently bought a YDS, am very happy with it, but could benefit from a more comfortable position. I tried sending @vadda a DM, but it seems I'm currently under newbie-restriction ;-) Could anyone do me a real favor by sending me the file?

Really hope to hear from you! Best musical greetings from The Netherlands!

Marc

 

[randulo]

Dear all,

I'm new here on the forum but am a sax player for like 10 years or so.....I read in the forum about your 3D printed bent neck for the Yamaha YDS150.

See NEW - Yamaha YDS-150 Digital Saxophone

 

[Picassosax]

Thanks! Very much appreciated

 

[zefiross]

Is a firmware upgrade of the YDS-150 planned?

 

[10kvClockMan]

Is a firmware upgrade of the YDS-150 planned?

I have looked extensively to try and find this out and even emailed Yamaha, so far there is no evidence of a firmware update, would love to be wrong about this

 

[randulo]

Especially nice if they make the robotic vibrato an option!

 

[Jazzed]

I’ve had my YDS-150 for a few months now. My thoughts:

-Valuable for working on fingering when you are in an environment where you need to be quiet.

- It is fun to control different sounds!

- I tried an EWI with non-moving touch sensitive keys years ago that I couldn‘t get used to and returned that after a few hours. With the YDS-150 after tweaking the settings via the app a bit I could immediately play it without issues.

- As many have said, the vibrato that you cannot control on 90% of the onboard sounds is horrid. There are a few sounds without this. Hey Yamaha - please give us a firmware update that addresses this.

- I find it valuable as a MIDI controller for my recording setup. It’s much easier for me to play the YDS-150 than a keyboard after 40+ years on sax. Really easy to lay down a bass line, synth solo…

- I’m trying to figure out how to best use it in a live setting. Since I don’t like most of the onboard sounds the best setup I’ve found so far is to go via USB into an old beater laptop and take the output of the laptop into an amp/PA. (Unfortunately that means carrying more gear.) I found a host program called Cantible that lets you run VSTs at a pretty low latency. I tried going thru a few DAWs with a recording track enabled but latency made that approach unusable. I also tried going thru my iPhone into some softsynth apps with a camera kit connection but couldn’t get any output, though I saw MIDI input triggering things. (No problem using a regular MIDI keyboard to trigger soft synths on the iPhone however which does not make sense to me. )

- Bluetooth is for tweaking settings via the the app. I think you can also input Bluetooth audio from another device to play along with thru the YDS-150, I’ve not tried that. No Bluetooth audio out for the onboard sounds.

- The brass bell is stupid. I‘d rather have a smaller instrument. I don’t care about feeling vibrations thru the instrument. Has anyone tried removing the bell? Or cutting it off?

- I highly recommend getting the add on 3D printed necks which have plans posted in this thread. One of the 3 works really well for me.

 

[Serafino]

- The brass bell is stupid. I‘d rather have a smaller instrument. I don’t care about feeling vibrations thru the instrument. Has anyone tried removing the bell? Or cutting it off?

In the review thread over at Cafe Saxophone someone opened one up to recover loose screws and saw how to remove the bell and has some pictures. I didn't see that anyone's actually done it FWIW. Search the thread for 'screws' and you'll find the posts.

 

[Richard901]

Jim puts the Yamaha YDS -150 against the Yamaha YBS-62 Baritone saxophone.

 

[111518]

Forgive me if this question is answered somewhere in the 23 pages above. I usually read all posts in a thread before I add, but, everyone has their limits, I guess...

Anyone know of a source for a completed neck angle adjuster or alto/tenor style neck for the YDS150? I've found the the YDS useful for scale etc. fingering practice, despite the oft-critiqued sounds. But, I don't like the position at which I have to hold it. (Maybe it's an unwelcome reminder of how bad I sound on a real soprano, or maybe it's the crick in my neck that made this morning's practice particularly uncomfortable.)

I don't own a 3-D printer or particularly want to futz with the process of printing and finishing. Just want to purchase something that works. Thanks for any leads.

 

[randulo]

Anyone know of a source for a completed neck angle adjuster or alto/tenor style neck for the YDS150?

You best bet is probably to find a store willing to do it. It ran me about $12 at the little place a couple of blocks from here.

 

[kuztardd]

Wow, this is quite a mammoth thread. Are we allowed to do new ones or does everything YDS150 have to go here?

Hope it is ok to ask anyway.
I have just gotten a YDS150, 2nd hand. Have installed the app, paired it with the sax (YDS-150 midi). but yet the app just comes up with "Device not found".
Tried on two android phones so far.

Has anyone else failed at getting the app to see the sax?
cheers

 

[randulo]

... comes up with "Device not found".
Tried on two android phones so far.
Has anyone else failed at getting the app to see the sax?
cheers

How did you pair it? Using the method in the manual that requires a combination of keys, or like any other device by going to bluetooth settings and finding the device? I haven't used it for a while, but I recall there's a prompt that comes up asking to share audio or midi or something like that and if you answer "wrong", it won't show the device.

 

[kuztardd]

think its my old phone

 

[Alroman]

Yamaha YDS-150 Digital Saxophone connection to a PC/DAW via Bluetooth BLE.
I have found a way to connect my Yamaha DYS-150 to my DAW via Bluetooth BLE, taking advantage of the BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) dispositive already included in the YDS-150.
WindSYNTHberry is a converter software to play the MIDI synthesizers and VST instruments by Wind Controller. It works in only one direction, from wind synthesizer to DAW.
loopMIDI is used to create virtual loopback MIDI-ports to interconnect applications on Windows that want to open hardware-MIDI-ports for communication.
By using Bluetooth MIDI (BLE MIDI) of YDS-150, you can enjoy wireless performance (only for Windows 10 Anniversary and later).
Latency can be a problem through a BLE. I have not noticed significative delay with the tests I have done so far in my current configuration; however, I haven´t measure the latency (I do not have a way to do it). So, you should do your own tests.
Find the procedure I have done, attached.
I hope you enjoy it!
Happy new year!

 

[EZ]

Are you experiencing MIDI delay or audio delay or both? Using a wireless MIDI BT transmitter, I’ve not experienced any noticeable delay, though BT audio delay seems unusable for live instrument performance.

 

[Fondevmusic]

I finally got mine yesterday. Did not have a ton of time with it yet, but my first impressions are:
1. Key click is not that bad.
2. Keys themselves - I wish the left off the useless brass bell and put more money into key feel. For the most part the key work is pretty good, except where i think it matters most, pink clusters. I feel like the left hand pinky table keys are ‘too close’ and a bit hard to discern B from Bb etc, but perhaps that will just take getting used to. I also feel like low C is VERY sensitive, maybe i am just not pressing in the best spot, but it keeps ‘wiggling’ off the note.
3. Fundementally, for me, looking for a quiet practice device for scales, fingerspeed, etc, this unit is a much better solve than the AE-05 I was using, and will translate to a real sax much more readily. For useful practice, I found the AE-05 useless, the key work just did not translate for me.
4. Yes the onboard sounds are challenged, but good enough for practice. Recording/performance? - I think there are a few that are useable, if you ‘play to them’ vs. thinking ‘make it a saxophone’. Like any horn, it has its own voice to adapt to. I do hope they allow for firmware updates to update voices later.

Still playing with the settings but I think i am getting them dialed in for my fingering, and haven’t yet linked this up to the SWAM engines I have, but I already know what they sound like.

I really only have 3 gripes...
1. It won’t go on my soprano pegs on my saxrax setup I have due to the drain line in the bell. This could have been fixed very easily. If you are putting the dopey bell on the thing, make it at least functional in some way. So. Now have to find a different stand (or try to snip the drain tube a bit). Has anyone found a stand that works?
2. The dopey bell. To me, a complete waste of money they could have used to improve something else, make the unit smaller, and more travel friendly (then again, where am I going right now).
3. Neck(s) - a ‘fake’ alto or tenor neck would have gone far ergonomically and comfort wise. I am awaiting 3D printed neck adaptors that vadda shared, which I am sure will help. I think an alto or tenor neck would position the horn in a place even more familiar. I don’t play much soprano, and it would be really cool to make the ‘body tube’ position itself like an alto/tenor. Perhaps I will try to take vadda’s design and work it into a tenor/alto solution (I have a guy who works for me who can do this.

Perhaps some of these issues will go away with time, and I get to know this horn like any other.
Net/net, it is what i was looking for to get in more practice time that is useful for me. So overall a win.

Hi if you do create a fake alto neck for the yds, can you let me know if you will be selling it. I am interested.

 

[spiffamafied]

Has anyone used the YDS-150 with the SWAM Saxophones VST? I just ordered a used YDS-150 from samash on reverb and am very interested in how it would work with the SWAM plugin, considering the samples sound so much better. If anyone has any experience or A/V of this combo, I would love to check it out and decide if it would be a worthwhile upgrade to my enjoyment of the YDS-150. I bought it mainly as a practice sax, but could see it potentially being useful for some recording with quality samples.

 

[ScannerD]

Hi guys, I bought the YDS last Friday and now it starts to hang to a tune no matter what I press. This is quite annoying. Anyone encountered this?
Hope this can be fixed!
Thanks for the answers!

 

[dburnand]

Not surprised! As I keep saying, "the YDS not a saxophone", it is a whole different instrument, like a Hammond organ is different from a piano, even though the keyboard feels similar. But I wonder, can't you make some kind of reed to replace the fake reed? IIRC, you can remove the mouthpiece completely and blow in the neck. That means a different mouthpiece, maybe 3D-printed and a different reed could be used. I don't think you need to sacrifice the fake reed, but replace it with something else that resists at the strength you want to feel?

I've slotted in a pTrumpet mouthpiece instead, which allows for more variation in articulation, especially on repeated notes. Looks weird of course.