Recording - December 2016 - 29

Speaking of knobs, the most obvious
new part of the Montage is the Super
Knob. This huge dial with color backlighting can be assigned to multiple
parameters, all of which can be controlled simultaneously with a single turn
during a live performance. For example,
you could adjust reverb time up and turn
part of your EQ curve down when a
song reaches a more intimate part, or
assign multiple parameters to change in
all directions, morphing one tone into
something completely different as you
play. The Super Knob can also be
turned using an expression pedal. It's
the most fun addition to a keyboard I've
played with in a long time.
The front panel also features a fullcolor touch display and eight backlit
parameter adjustment knobs, making the
Montage easy to navigate and use in a
studio session or on a darkened stage.
Another performance-friendly addition:
Seamless Sound Switching, which lets
you change Performances without cutting
off the sounds or effects processing of
whatever you had been playing before.
The Montage sports a built-in
sequencer that allows you to quickly
capture your playing and export it to
your DAW for further tweaks. While you
can quantize your performance and
punch in for overdubs, there's no eventlevel editing, a function Yamaha believes
is best left to your DAW (I agree).
The Montage's built-in USB interfacing lets
you play up to 16 stereo audio channels

directly into your DAW! There's also 16channel MIDI, of course, and a stereo A/D
converter for external sounds to be
processed by the Montage's effects.
While the Montage continues the
AWM2 technology of the Motif
(Advanced Wave Memory, synthesis
based on an internal sample library), it
now has a 5 GB onboard sound library,
almost ten times what was available on
the previous Motif XF. This library actually includes the full Motif XF sound set,
making patch import to the Montage
very simple, but the new sounds are
incredible... my favorite is the
Bösendorfer Imperial Grand Piano

Premium, the best acoustic piano sound I've ever played on a synthesizer. 1.75 GB
of flash memory lets you add your own samples.
Yamaha is of course famous for FM synthesis, and the Montage now includes
Yamaha's new 8-operator FMX engine available side by side with the AWM2, which I
find has more sonic "weight" than the traditional DX7 6-operator FM. The two engines
are tied together via a Motion Control Synthesis system that lets you morph and change
many parameters over time with the Super Knob or the built-in Motion Sequencer. You
can even use an envelope follower for external audio as a control source!
The Montage sounds fantastic, and is very rewarding to use whether you like to
use presets or dive deep into complex sound programming. Yamaha has revolutionized the industry again. Now excuse me, I'm going back to playing!-SL

Zoom G5n
$299.99; www.zoom-na.com

Zoom's flagship guitar effects processor, the G5n, combines deep and complex patch
creation with a stage-friendly layout and computer-savvy expandability. If you can think
of something you wish a digital pedalboard could do, you'll most likely find it here.
The G5n is laid out like a chain of stompboxes-not only in its software emulation
but in its physical design. You can chain up to nine effects at a time, and at any
given moment, four of them are displayed in a row of virtual stompbox interfaces,
with four parameter knobs and an on/off footswitch for each. Below those switches
are four more switches that let you scroll back and forth through the chain, access
program banks, tap tempo, or activate a tuner with one touch.
With five backlit displays (one per stompbox and a large global display above
them), there's a ton of information constantly at hand, and you can switch between
Memory mode (selecting from up to 200 onboard patches) or Stomp mode (looking
at the displays of stompboxes in the chain). The top panel is finished off with dedicated Master Level and Output Boost controls and a built-in assignable expression
pedal for volume, wah, and lots of other uses.
The rear panel has a guitar input jack, an Aux input minijack, stereo outputs, a
headphone minijack, a 1/4" input for an extra control pedal, USB, and power switch
and wall-wart input. The unit is solidly built and reassuringly heavy, and stands up to
hard use; after months of studio and live work, my review unit worked and sounded
like it was fresh out of the box.
Under the hood, you get a choice of 68 stompboxes, five amp emulators, and five cabinet emulations. (Just before press time, these numbers have jumped to 98, 10, and 10,
with more to come.) The effects cover all the bases, with tons of famous fuzzes, overdrives, dynamics controls, modulations, delays, reverbs, and special effects. As is common on recent Zoom products, there are great-sounding rhythm loops built in for practice
or accompaniment, and a full-function looper for multilayered composition.
The G5n can act as a USB audio interface, letting you record at 24/44.1 to your DAW
with zero-latency monitoring. There's also a free software librarian called Zoom Guitar Lab;
it lets you order, sort, and back up effects patches, and offers an easy way to download
and audition new patches created by well-known guitarists and made available on the
Zoom website on a regular basis (there are over 200 new sounds as of press time).
As for the sound? Guitar effects are a very personal thing; some folks will love the
emulations and some won't. I've always been a huge fan of Zoom's effects, particularly modulations and delays, and they're all over most of my albums. The G5n carries that signature sound to the next level, with so much flexibility that you can get
happily lost in creating new sounds for hours on end. If you're looking to give your
guitar sound a major shot in the arm without breaking the bank, the G5n has a lot
to offer.-MM
RECORDING DECEMBER 2016

http://www.zoom-na.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - December 2016