Really good quality samples - superb when heard thro headphones (to please the neighbours!) - if thro an amp and speakers will depend on the quality of the amp and speakers!

i like the way u can program a kit to your own liking - each sample can be altered in frequency (to make it higher or lower), u can add various echos ,change cutoffs etc etc - so tis possible to get a set of tuned percussion with a bit of work!

when u hit the pads fast u get every beat (some cheaper kits miss hits) - the harder u hit the louder the sound - u can alter the positioning and angle of the pads to some extent to suit u

overall im very happy with it !

I have bought a lot of musical instruments over the past 20 years but i would have to say that this is the best value for money i have ever owned.This is a lot of instrument for the money.I sat staring at it in wonder for the first couple of days thinking "wow its genius, it's a normal classical headstock and a relatively normal classical neck stuck on to the body of a tenor uke, genius". I restrung mine with a set of aquilas (high c) and then used some thin gauge martin wound a and d strings and it sounds ok compared to my other ukes ,some of which have cost me £500 plus. My only complaints would be that the sound board is thick ply so it loses a bit of resonance and one of my frets is not seated as well as it could be so i get the occasional grating but for £60 these thing are to be expected, and i'm suprised of the high quality for the price but can generally expect a bargain from yamaha.

I thought long and hard about the right desk for my project studio. It is for our Gospel group and used for making/mixing backing tracks. Finally I choose the N12 to be the backbone and boy am I glad I did.

At First it was a bit daunting, the N12 shipped to me had the old firmware and so this had to be updated! I read the instructions and sweated as I watched the update praying there would not be a power failure so if you not prepared to go through this check the version you are getting. I have to say it went smooth. You have to install the software and have it all running first then a combination of switching on holding two controlls puts the desk into update mode and you send the update from the computer. If you read and understand all the instructions fully before you do it, it should be ok!

Speaking of the software as my new computer is Vista 64bit I had to discard the disks that came with the desk and download my versions from Yamaha this was no trouble and it is running 64bit native perfectly. I'm using it with Cubase 5.1 so I also downloaded and printed out the new section of the manual (about 10 pages but it was worth it) The manual with mine was for Cubase 4.

Anyway what about the desk. Well, it is awsome. Looks fantastic in the studio and the sound is clean and crisp. the controlls are really intuitive and controlling cubase from the Daw remote control is a dream. Having the N12 multi template to choose from when you open Cubase takes care of all the Vst connections and your ready to record, ther is also other templates including 5.1. When it came to mixing I flicked the switch and my Cubase mixer channels switched to my N12 and I mixed with real faders and channel strips. I run the Speaker A to my Nearfields and then the others to a small desk and a speaker splitter which runs 3 other sets of speakers for referance. I also use it with a CC121 (also needed a firmware update just lucky I guess!) and both Cubase ready lights come on and work together no problem. There really is too many features to go into but check them out on the web and then believe me they all work sweetly.

I have to say Dolphin's price is excellent and as usual the delivery was as specified.

All in all if you are looking for a digital desk with all the feel of an analogue board then this is the baby for you. Its a lot of money but you will never regret it for years to come.

This is the best value for money. For under £400 you can expect the quality of a Yamaha Tour Custom without burning a hole in your pocket. This kit sounds really good. It comes with double braced hardware, a pedal better than the one that comes with the Yamaha Stage Custom Noveau and the bass drum comes with 2 black maple hoops whereby the bass drum resembles the Steve Gadd Snare. This kit can easily be compared to the likes of Yamaha's top of the range kits and is a kit worth investing in. Unlike other makes, Yamaha took time to ensure that the kits they produce at entry are on point whereas with other makes you can clearly discern between models. Yamaha never fails to please and is a make that professionals are in demand of.





www.myspace.com/duaynesanforddrummerboi

guitar lives up to the description, does everything its supposed to, and amplifies superbly. I would recommend to anyone, What REALLY impressed me was the service provided by Dolphin. Ordered 11am 23 december,by phone, delivered by 9am the next day, Christmas eve! Not only that, but a query I emailed on the evening of the 23rd was answered on the 24th, the day when all business usually ceases.
I will certainly use these again. Thank you Dolphin

Sturdy and a nicely matching the piano but for the money it should have had a hinged seat for music storage.

I bought this piano on recommendation from a friend and have not been disappointed! Ideally I would have liked an acoustic piano, but money and space could not afford. This piano however really impressed me! It sounds so much like an acoustic and really feels like one too.

The Yamahas YDP140C's simplistic nature with basic digital settings is ideal for my two young children who are keen to tinker around on it. There is of course the added bonus that you can plug in headphones and turn the volume setting down! I did read a review that said that the maximum volume setting was too quiet, but I could not disagree more. If used in a domestic setting it is more than loud enough and I often turn the volume down!
All together an extremely good buy for beginners and children providing a piano that looks attractive and plays beautifully without too many confusing buttons that some more exprensive digital piano's come with!
Thank you Yamaha!!

I have had my Stagepas 300 for 12 months. And I dont know how I did without it. I am the keyboard guy in a 10 piece soul, disco and motown band and I use it for my stage monitoring. Previous I had a Peavey KBA150. I can now play in stereo which makes my sound brilliant, both on stage and front of house through the main PA. I use a Yamaha S80 as my main and a Roland G7 and my top keyboard. I was worried about the small size speakers before I bought it but I get a lovely rich sound including plenty of bass. I get plenty of on-stage volume despite being in a 10 piece! I use the speakers in wedge format, sitting on some makeshift stands to give it some physical lift and keep the speakers close in to me. www.SoulDevotion.net

I have been an avid acoustic guitarist for 10 years now and along the way have built up a nice collection of guitars, but there was one thing missing and with this little Guitarlele from Yamaha I think I may have found it.
First off I often write a lot of songs using a capo up above the 4th fret to suit my vocal range and this instrument seemed like a natural choice as it's essentially like having a miniture classical nylon stringed guitar with a capo on the 5th fret.
It's got a great sound, much better than I was expecting and is easy to play and suits the average to the pro player. It's a perfect little songwriting tool thanks to it's size, it's so easy to take with you and just pick up wherever you may be and jam out a tune or two.
Whilst I have no problem whatsoever with the sound of this guitarlele I have a couple of issues with the general finishing, therefore the 8/10.
There are some nasty little nicks on the fretboard which is generally quite poorly finished and the top/front of the body on mine came with little marks, scratches and varnish runs on, which look pretty ugly and leads me to believe that not much care and attention was lavished on the prodcution of the Guitarlele, but the sound and easy playability more than makes up for these cosmetic gripes.
I would recommend this to any lover of acoustic guitars, it may seem like a novelty at first, but it quickly becomes a very practical and useful studio/songwriting tool.
I love mine and am very happy with my purchase.

Whilst it’s easy to offer criticism, there’s no getting away from the fact the Yamaha MG166 represents excellent value for money.

Dealing with the niggles first, the 19U rack ears are fixed, there’s no aux output monitoring, the faders are small, the switch buttons are noisy (that’s audible-noisy, not electronic noisy) the variable compressors (channels 1-6) only really have one setting (on or off) and finally the power supply weighs almost as much as the mixer!

Is that the worst? Well, pretty much yes. On the plus side, it’s great value, the routing is flexible, there’s three axillaries, a mid-sweep eq on most channels and each channel has an illuminated on/off button (meaning you can pre-set fader levels)

Is there anything else? Well, yes; it looks good, all the inputs are on view which means it’s excellent as an educational mixer, it’s made by Yamaha and I really can’t see it letting you down if you look after it. Oh, did I mention it’s incredible value for money?

I’m now using my MG166 in video edit suite where I need to monitor multiple sources. Taking this piece of kit on the road or using it 24/7 might actually be asking a little too much so I would recommend it for a fixed installations with light to medium use.

Verdict: If it ever died, would I buy a replacement?. Answer; Yes. Recommended as a “decent piece of reliable studio kit”

Mark

nice guitar. well made and arrived the very next day... so 10 stars.
this is the second time I have been asked to review it so I will. I wanted to change the strings so that it can be tuned like a conventional guitar rather than like a guitar at the 5th fret. I asked the good people at Dolphin if they had or could obtain a set of suitable strings. they said they would get back to me but didn't........ which is unfortunate. I also recieved the stunning advice of "use ordinary strings, but cut them shorter " ????. Anyway, I have found some LaBella FG114 strings from Germany and it sounds great.

I needed a portable and lightweight piano for use in a church, mainly to play worship songs written for piano. The 76 key Yamaha was the perfect choice for our needs as the lack of the additional bass notes is not required. I was impressed by how light the piano is to carry and move(which we do a lot of) and of the sounds available. limited but very good quality. One added bonus was the fact the piano will run very happily on 6 AA batteries.. useful, if like me, you forgot to order a power supply!

I have recently returned to guitars - carpal tunnel syndrome put an end to my playing a while ago - but I have since had successful operations and regretted having sold my old guitars...including a lovely 1965 Hofner Verithin. I bought a Line 6 Variax 700 - and have been very pleased with it but now decided I wanted something acoustic and smaller to pick up an play without necessarily plugging it in.

I chose the Yamaha APX 500 having done some research on youtube - partly for its playing qualities but also for the fact it looks good. I got a blue one to match my eyes and the lounge. I wasn't disappointed - kept out on a stand it does look good just as a piece of furniture.

It plays well out of the box - I found the action a bit heavier than the Line 6 - but of course it is a an acoustic and has heavier gauge strings. You could fit lighter strings if you wanted. Being rather a small guitar the unplugged sound wouldn't fill a large space - but for home practice it's great. Plugged in - it sounds even better - bright sounding and clear with sharp intonation and dynamics.. The cut away shape allows easy access to the top end of the fretboard - and the guitar falls nicely to hand. It has a three channel EQ system and a tuner which is handy.

Quality of finish is very good - some reviews I read were snobbish about the choice of woods - the back and neck are "Nato" which is a cheaper sustainable hardwood somewhere from the East - but that is reflected in the price of the guitar. If you want more exotic woods then you have to pay a lot more. The soundboard is spruce and the fret board rosewood with abalone inserts. White stringing round the body of the guitar is stylish and provides protection. Some people don't like coloured guitars.

If you want a good looking semi acoustic with a bright sound that is reasonably priced then I think you could do much worse than this guitar.

My guitar teacher likes it too.

These are my first pair of monitors, and i couldn't be happier. I record and listen to anything from classical piano to quite bass heavy rock.

The clarity of the sound is quite excellent, and the room control switches are very useful (and come with a big booklet describing in very simple terms how to use them).

Every review on the planet explains how these give a great reference, and if they sound good on here, will sound good anywhere, and after a few hours listening, i can see why. Poor quality mixes and bit-rates are exposed incredibly- quite upsetting in a way.

I'd get these, but read a lot of reviews first just so that you get the feel of what these speakers are about; particularly the bits about how the NS10s became so popular (these were built to better the ns10s...if you can)

The Yamaha MM6 review.

I have only had mine for a few weeks and to start with I didn't like the sound of it at all, except when it was playing the 3 demo songs which sounded great.

I found that the modulation wheel had a really negative effect on the pure instrument sounds and turned it down to zero and then by using the main voice also as the dual voice, this added a much better depth to the sound.

Later, after playing with the effects settings the MM6 has produced some wonderful sounds and I am very glad that I bought it.

Considering the price compared with the Motif Synths I consider the MM6 to be a very good first synth.

I just wish I could find more time to use it!

I took the nylons off, lowered the bridge insert, and put on martin light steels. Its fantastic, sounds like a national guitar, all the resonance you could wish for. Lets you play anywhere and when you go back to full size it seems easier. good to sing to as g becomes d. i can't put mine down, its the best thing you can have for home or travelling.