Yamaha Reface Keyboard Promises Huge Sound In A Little Package (New Teaser Video)

yamaha-reface-synthesizer-teaser

Yamaha today released its second teaser video for the Reface keyboard(s), embedded below:

While official details are still to be announced, the Yamaha Reface appears to be a new keyboard synth line, inspired by Yamaha classics.

In the previous Yamaha Reface teaser video, several musicians share their impressions of the Yamaha Reface. Here’s what they reveal:

  • It’s reminiscent of ‘one of the main synthesizers in techno’;
  • It’s a keyboard synth that feels ‘like a piano player made the keys’;
  • The Yamaha Reface is ‘a new take on a classic concept’; and
  • It has some connection with the classic Yamaha CS synths of the 70s.

The most notable thing in the new teaser is the emphasis on the keyboard’s size, with one musician calling it ‘a very small amazing little thing’, another saying that it looked like a toy and another noting that it will fit in a computer bag.

The takeaway for this video is that the Yamaha Reface keyboard(s) promises huge sound in a little package.

Check out the video and let us know what you think Yamaha’s got in store!

65 thoughts on “Yamaha Reface Keyboard Promises Huge Sound In A Little Package (New Teaser Video)”

    1. I think he said “road” size. As in a good size to travel with.

      I thought he meant “rhodes” at first as well

  4. My hype for this just went out the window! My opinion is that why not just make a proper Moog/Dave Smith-Styled (great build quality, proper keyboard size, fully analog) synth inspired by the CS80 in a more modern package? Surely they read forums (Gearslutz) – It’s what people want! We all complained with Korg’s build quality and mini keys on the MS20 reissue, so why follow that trend? Cheap and disposable isn’t the way to go Yamaha. We don’t want toys. We want a quality instrument that will stand the test of time.

  5. for those who will inevitably complain about the mini-keys, would you prefer full size 1.5 octave? Im intrigued by this anyway, hopefully it has groovebox potential too

    1. If it has a good sound engine mini keys are irrelevant. Is it me or some people missing the whole point of things called midi? the purpose of a master keyboard etc .

      PS Rack format would be better as far as i am concerned. A studio full of modules is better than a load of keyboards.

      1. Minikey synths seem to be replacing rack modules, because you can use them with MIDI in the studio, but they also can be used as mobile keyboards.

        The other thing, which I don’t think most people think about, is that the minikeys keep the cost down so that mini synths can be mass-market items, which in turn keeps the cost down for serious synthesists, too.

        The Arturia MicroBrute is currently the best deal in synthesis, by far, and it’s because it’s designed to be a mass-market mini synth that still offers serious capabilities.

    2. I think a 2 octave keyboard like the BS2 is ideal if your going to put keys on it at all. Still plenty of room for hands on controls and you can actually play the keyboard while still being portable.

  7. I’m more hopeful that all the Yamaha Reface commercial peeps form a supergroup and tour this hot new kit in my town of Farmington, NM!

  10. It would be pretty cool to do something like a fully working hardware clone of the DX7 and other classics that is the size of a Korg Volca and costs $179.

  14. OK – you know it’s going to be a mini-synth, because they’ve got to compete with Roland and Korg, and the video as much as says it.

    If it’s inspired by the CS80, though, and sounds as good as the background tracks on these promos, I may be fine with the minikeys. If there’s a market, they’ll move onto full-size monster synths. But there’s no mass market for an $8,000 CS80 synth, which it would have to be.

  17. “It’s a keyboard synth that feels ‘like a piano player made the keys”…
    Well, if that’s the case it surely can’t have crappy mini keys…

  18. its something digital DX, it says “dx reface” in the bottom right corner of the video between 20 second and 22 second mark.

  19. I has minikeys.
    There are 4 engines: (The third video leaked on some sites).
    On the video you see the CS DX CP YC words over the Reface logo.
    So a DX synth, A CS one (analog/VA?), an organ (Yc) and a piano (CP).
    Slowing down the video you can see that there a four different interfaces (some with drawbars, some with other potentiometers).
    So it’s 4 minisynths (microkorg format) or Yamaha invented a way to change the face on a physical dock. I guess it makes sense as not a lot of users would like to buy a small sized key piano. So the modern way of using patch sheets 😉

  20. The CS-50 and 80 were not used much in techno right? Neither were most CS-5s, 10s, 15s, and 30s, well not famously a least.

    I don’t see a DX in this since it would need a tiny LCD or OLD screen given it’s announced form factor, you couldn’t edit for crap without hooking to a comp. That would defeat the portability aspect.

    My guess is that it’s a new version of the CS-01. It was tiny with shit little keys, but an analog monster. Especially the second version with more filter control

  21. bah
    in fact
    it will be finally a workstation ala kronos/kross/oasys korg with mutli synthesis , organ features with perhaps motorized faders and versatile toutchscreen virtuals knobs ?
    what a revolution !
    yamaha just bought neko open lab patents ?
    my two roubles

  22. The only Yamaha synth which was relevant for techno music back in the days was the DX100. Thus I guess reface will be a synth line based on digital fm synthesis in a small package.

  23. Don’t let the video fool you.
    I’m pretty sure each of the “artist” on these have tested a different keyboard and are not commenting the same beast. 🙂

    1. I have no idea who these artists are….I think they all work at my local Salvation Army and are commenting on a cheap Baldwin they got last week.

      1. I have no idea who they are, either. But–no joke–I just was given a 50s/60s Howard upright (the bargain Baldwin brand) for free this week (I had to pay piano movers) so I guess I should think of these guys as trendsetters. I’ll have what they’re having!

        1. Score!

          I was looking at a super low end Baldwin for 20 bucks and passed on it just for lack of space.

          Not sure what model, but it had really skinny keys, no draw bars, and just simple preset rocker switches.

            1. I don’t even know how I would move a piano……try calling friends out for that job!!

              The beer for bribes would cost more than the instrument.

  24. I guess they will be like Roland System 1, but you only have to buy a new synth for each “plug out”.

    “Reface” might mean changeable plastic face plates though. But any way, I’d rather take all those digital algorithms in one package; if you slice your product into too many slices, I will not buy even one of them, and 4 neat little synths is not really practical for gigs either.

    And if they release slightly renewed 80’s synth, I’ll be really salty.

  27. “Main synthesiser used in techno”??? I thought the whole point about techno was that you get the cheapest, shittiest synth out there that is sold in a bargain junk bin, and you make maximum music with it? Oh yes, that would be the TB-303 (I remember not bothering to buy one of these once when it was on offer in such a ‘bin’ for £25!). That would certainly explain the size, but in the world of Yamaha, who is this ‘Roland’ that we speak of? It’s gotta be a DX100 with fully weighted (mini- arghhhh!) piano keys and a mini CS50/60/80-like analogue input section?

    1. Great point , you seem to understand the vibe of house ! The posh kids have moved in since it all began!
      I also bought 303’s for next to nowt. I am still into all and all the upper spectrum synths are a waste of time, I still like and used crude gear and still get tracks out since 93.
      I do like nice effects and a good clean desk , but the rawer the sound the better. NO COMPRESSION

  31. The price will be $ 399 and $ 99 for the panels. In case that the panels are virtual on a touch screen, additional virtual synths will be downloadable for $ 39 each.

    The very limited first supply will be sold out fast (and given free to celebrity keyboardists) and the following orders will take up to 8 weeks.

    1. Which computer bag?

      I have a bag for my old Commodore SX-64 that could hold a pair of Moog Rogues at the same time.

        1. It is indeed!

          I use it to run an old Moog Song Producer interface that sequences a Simmons drum machine.

          I also have some old Sequential Circuits software for it.

  33. my guess is its the DX100 reboot. (which had mini keys). only synth i can really think of that was consistently used in Techno “famously” (eg Good Life stabs and bass). plus with that DX logo on the bottom right at 20 secs…seems logical.

    dunno why they would reboot the DX100 tho, it has always been cheap to pick up…

  34. Most of the classic gear we admire, covet, and model in DSP was developed with very limited customer input. Bob would talk to a few of his top tier customers and ask them if they wanted sleek white curved plastic, or simple wood, and what was important to have control over – and then you’d have your Minimoog D.

    But it’s no longer a mystery what people want – as far as virtual analogs go. All the comments on all the gear articles on the entire internet of the last 10 years point to a list of must-have features to be the perfect synth. It’s a free all-you-can-eat buffet of customer input.

    Sturdy knobs, stepless encoders, good action, deep engine, minimal menu-diving, 1:1 control, minimal aliasing, deep effects, classic layout, clever oscillators, color-coded lights, wood, metal, audio over USB, vocoder, audio in, aftertouch and velocity, sequencer and arp, analog-like behavior from filter and envelopes, multi-timbrality, steady clock, useful display, lots of patch memory, active panel mode, tasteful design.

    People would go above the $500 price ceiling for a VA. Yet no one makes it. (Though Roland gave it a try, sort of, with the System 1.)

    1. I don’t think there’s a $500 cap on VA. The Nord Lead is over $2000.

      I’ve seen products based on what people said they wanted in vocal community forums. Outcomes were not awesome. I’ll take an innovator with a flawed but interesting vision over a forum of desires any day. Forum users are very vocal and know what they want, but how large is the market of forum commenters, and do they want what most people want?

  35. The polyphonic after touch keyboard on the CS80 was what made that synth so playable.
    With out that it will sound dead and motionless.
    Come on Yamaha you can do it, please a remake with modern twist.
    There’s a CS80 going for £19999 on eBay now.
    That how fab they are.

  36. He does say, ‘loving the fact they are…’ and a DX in the corner under the hashtag. I’ve changed my mind, thinking one synth with a few engines build in, and changes layout for the control of each engine, unlike system 1 you reface the synth with a panel to control whatever synth you want CS or DX, and can play the multi-engines at the same time.

  39. I have no interest in a Yamaha “plugout” synth but hopefully this is just the beginning. Personally I lust for an FM synth with an overhauled, intuitive hands-on UI. Also it would be silly of the Yammies not to reissue the CS-01; you wouldn’t need much marketing hyperbole to shift those hot cookies!

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